The retirement home killed my aunt. Benzo & Opiods combination

My aunt was 81 years old and she had been ill with heart failure for about a year. After she got medication for that, she also got kidney failure and dementia. Or was it just side effects from the medications? Nobody knows.

However, she could eat some food and drink. She could live at home with home care.

After about a year, she had 5% heart function left, and the doctor decided to remove one of the heart medication, without any tapering. He removed it probably because he suspected that this one caused the kidney failure.

After she was off this heart medication, she got worse and was put on a retirement home. She was there for a week, and soon she wont eat or drink. Or maybe they was depriving her from it?

Later on her breathing issues was back.

They gave her Midazolam and morphine in the same syringe, (a deadly combination).

”We are helping her with the back pain, breath problems and anxiety with midazolam and morphine”.

She passed away that night. (Yesterday)

I told them that they gave her a deadly combination, and their answer was ”Well, there is much we won’t like to do”.

My heart is broken..

She was fragile but this was actually illegal euthanasia, accelerating of death in my opinion. Execution.

What can I do, where to report this?

I do not have an answer for you on what to do, but I just wanted to stop by and say how sorry I am for your loss. And how sorry I am for the circumstances that lead to this.

No one deserves this and I am truely sorry it happened to your aunt and you are faced with the consequences. 

I do not have an answer for you on what to do, but I just wanted to stop by and say how sorry I am for your loss. And how sorry I am for the circumstances that lead to this.

 

No one deserves this and I am truely sorry it happened to your aunt and you are faced with the consequences. 

It's shocking that they didn't saw the risks with this combination.

Many thanks for your concern, it's very much appreciated. <3

 

Later on her breathing issues was back.

They gave her Midazolam and morphine in the same syringe, (a deadly combination).

”We are helping her with the back pain, breath problems and anxiety with midazolam and morphine”.

She passed away that night. (Yesterday)

 

I told them that they gave her a deadly combination, and their answer was ”Well, there is much we won’t like to do”.

Midazolam is very short acting and would not help with anxiety. Morphine is a CNS depressant, and would make breathing problems worse. Midazolam is an anesthetic. Combined in a healthy person, the combination wouldn't be fatal. I was on Dilaudid and had conscious sedation with Midazolam administered by a Nurse Anesthetist with an oxygen cannula. I'm guessing they didn't have her on oxygen, and my understanding is that Midazolam must be given by a Nurse Anesthetist or Anesthesiologist. Somebody didn't follow accepted medical practices. 

She was fragile but this was actually illegal euthanasia, accelerating of death in my opinion. Execution.

 

What can I do, where to report this?

Your state Department of Health and Human Services. They are the ones who usually carry out inspections. If the facility accepts Medicaid and/or Medicare assignment, you can contact the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). If they find the facility did wrong, they can take away their ability to receive payments from CMS. I'd be calling the coroners office and asking for a tox screen to determine how much they gave her. Do this ASAP. I'd be talking to a lawyer as well, most will take the case on a contingency basis. Your family might have grounds for a lawsuit. And they could possibly face criminal charges. 

I'm sorry for your loss.

I worked in nursing homes, the worst are ones run by Beverly Enterprises, I heard stories from the nurses aids when I worked at one. They also tried to illegally push me out the door after I had a run-in with a charge nurse who demanded I disobey my boss's orders while he was on vacation. The DON pushed the administrator to get rid of me. They cut my hours to 1 day a week, hoping I'd quit. I collected unemployment instead, and they said I couldn't do that. I sued them in arbitration court and won. Judge ordered back pay on top of unemployment. Then they fired me, and I continued collecting unemployment until I found another job. When I moved to Maryland, I heard stories about the Beverly Enterprises Home in Frederick. The state shut them down.

Please report this home. Look up the phone number for Health and Human Services and call them Monday.  They will do an unannounced inspection and review records. Sounds like nursing home abuse, plain and simple. You lost your aunt, but you just might save another family from suffering such a loss.

 

Later on her breathing issues was back.

They gave her Midazolam and morphine in the same syringe, (a deadly combination).

”We are helping her with the back pain, breath problems and anxiety with midazolam and morphine”.

She passed away that night. (Yesterday)

 

I told them that they gave her a deadly combination, and their answer was ”Well, there is much we won’t like to do”.

 

Midazolam is very short acting and would not help with anxiety. Morphine is a CNS depressant, and would make breathing problems worse. Midazolam is an anesthetic. Combined in a healthy person, the combination wouldn't be fatal. I was on Dilaudid and had conscious sedation with Midazolam administered by a Nurse Anesthetist with an oxygen cannula. I'm guessing they didn't have her on oxygen, and my understanding is that Midazolam must be given by a Nurse Anesthetist or Anesthesiologist. Somebody didn't follow accepted medical practices. 

 

She was fragile but this was actually illegal euthanasia, accelerating of death in my opinion. Execution.

 

What can I do, where to report this?

 

Your state Department of Health and Human Services. They are the ones who usually carry out inspections. If the facility accepts Medicaid and/or Medicare assignment, you can contact the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). If they find the facility did wrong, they can take away their ability to receive payments from CMS. I'd be calling the coroners office and asking for a tox screen to determine how much they gave her. Do this ASAP. I'd be talking to a lawyer as well, most will take the case on a contingency basis. Your family might have grounds for a lawsuit. And they could possibly face criminal charges. 

 

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

I worked in nursing homes, the worst are ones run by Beverly Enterprises, I heard stories from the nurses aids when I worked at one. They also tried to illegally push me out the door after I had a run-in with a charge nurse who demanded I disobey my boss's orders while he was on vacation. The DON pushed the administrator to get rid of me. They cut my hours to 1 day a week, hoping I'd quit. I collected unemployment instead, and they said I couldn't do that. I sued them in arbitration court and won. Judge ordered back pay on top of unemployment. Then they fired me, and I continued collecting unemployment until I found another job. When I moved to Maryland, I heard stories about the Beverly Enterprises Home in Frederick. The state shut them down.

 

Please report this home. Look up the phone number for Health and Human Services and call them Monday.  They will do an unannounced inspection and review records. Sounds like nursing home abuse, plain and simple. You lost your aunt, but you just might save another family from suffering such a loss.

Exactly, morphine would make the breathing issues even worse. I can't believe how they could do this. It was a nurse but no they didn't have her on oxygen.

I'm sorry to hear the story you had with Beverly Enterprises,  It's shocking that those things could ever happen. But I'm very glad to hear that they shut them down, and you won! When did this happened?

I'm living in Sweden, and I've heard many bad healtcare stories. Whats going on in the world?

I'll be checking for the phone number for Health and Human Services

Many thanks for your concern, it's very much appreciated. <3

 

 

 

Exactly, morphine would make the breathing issues even worse. I can't believe how they could do this. It was a nurse but no they didn't have her on oxygen.

I'm sorry to hear the story you had with Beverly Enterprises,  It's shocking that those things could ever happen. But I'm very glad to hear that they shut them down, and you won! When did this happened?

 

I'm living in Sweden, and I've heard many bad healtcare stories. Whats going on in the world?

 

I'll be checking for the phone number for Health and Human Services

Many thanks for your concern, it's very much appreciated. <3

Are you a US citizen living in Sweden or do you, and did your aunt, live there as citizens? Different agencies in different countries, but should have similar government oversight. If you aunt lived in the US, I assume you got your information from updates by family members. If so, they should also contact the state's Dept of Health and Human Services. If the home your aunt was in has a website, the website should state if they accept Medicare and/or Medicaid. If not, make an anonymous call and ask if they do. If you find that they do, then follow through with a complaint to CMS.

My incident with Beverly enterprises took place in the 1980's. They are a big chain in the US that run nursing and rehabilitation centers. And get terrible rating on the CMS website which bases it's ratings on state inspections and the number of complaints and investigations. I don't know why they are still in business. They get shut down in one location, they open another (usually by buying a struggling independently-owned facility). 

When I worked at Beverly, a disabled vietnam vet fell out of a second story window that should have been locked. The DON ordered the nursing aides to carry him back upstairs, place him on the floor, and she called 911 and lied saying he fell out of bed. One of the aides came down to the kitchen and was crying, saying she'd quit if she didn't need the job. Shortly after that my boss went on vacation. I was working the evening supervisory shift in dietary, an LPN was on supervisory shift on the patient floors.

There was a substitution list we were required to follow, for residents who didn't like what was on their tray. The DON agreed to the list. The LPN calls and requests a substitution, I ask her which from the list she wanted, she said none, you must make this item instead. I told her I couldn't do that. She then got snotty with me. Nevermind we were both equals, both supervisors, and she had no authority to order me to do anything. Plus, she was not my boss. She calls the DON, the DON calls me and orders me to provide the item not on the approved list. I told her that first of all, she was not my boss, second, she was demanding I disobey my boss, and the answer was no. She was livid and told the Administrator. My boss was informed when he returned, and he was told to cut my hours. He did but wasn't happy, as I had done nothing wrong. Meanwhile, the nurses aid who told the story about the veteran said she was leaving, and she reported the incident, a whistleblowers complaint. Found out the paramedics were highly suspicious, because the man's injuries were not consistent with the DON's story, the ER doctors felt the same, and they notified the attorney general. The home fixed the broken window lock just before state investigators showed up unannounced.

So these sleazy people cut my hours to force me to quit, not expecting me to file for unemployment. Then they lied and said I voluntarily reduced my hours, so I sued. They sent my boss with a lawyer to testify on their behalf. I didn't use a lawyer. The arbiter who oversaw the hearing for the case, asked me my version, then asked my boss. My boss sided with me while the lawyer angrily glared at him. He turned to her and said he refused to lie under oath, he was told to cut my hours to force me out, and that he was upset that while on vacation the LPN, and then the DON ordered me to disobey his rules. He revealed that the DON got the Administrator to side with her.

3 days latter a letter from the court arrives in the mail. I won. Next day I went to work and was fired when I arrived. Got a nice big fat check shortly after. My boss quit a month later and took a position at a nicer home who paid him more. He called me to tell me this. Also, the state investigation was complete, the DON was criminally charged, fired, the Administrator was fired and Beverly was ordered to sell or they would shut it down. The DON later lost her RN license.

I moved to Maryland in the 1990's, learned about the Beverly run home in Frederick, it was all over the news. State pulled their license, CMS stopped reimbursing them, they put the home up for sale, and a small company bought it and made improvements. Beverly Enterprises is still, sadly, in business. There needs to be more government oversight of these frequent violators. After so many infractions, they shouldn't be allowed to operate at all. Families NEED to complain when they see issues with their loved ones care. Time magazine investigative reporters did a series on nursing home abuse in America. They found male nursing aides raping and sexually abusing female residents. Medical mistakes. Lethal medicine mistakes. A laundry list of atrocities. Half the homes in the series were owned by Beverly Enterprises.

I hope you can get justice for your aunt, and that some heads roll at that facility.  Again, so sorry for your loss. It's murder, plain and simple.