Senior Citizen Constrained in Chemical Straitjacket

This is absolutely terrifying.

I've worked in many mental health facilities and this person's nightmare with his (or her) father in law is common -- the rule vs. the exception. Meds are used to achieve certain goals for unit management (keep the person in bed, quiet, less anxious, etc.) which personal contact could have achieved and should have achieved, but there's insufficient staff and time.

More meds are added to ameliorate the side effects caused by the first meds, creating an ever more complex medication picture -- and the circle tightens down, often robbing the poor PATIENT of functions unadulterated by the core symptomology, functions he or she should have retained.

This is quite cruel, when you think of all they've lost already! Loved ones are advised to keep an eagle eye on the patient's meds, ask questions, self-educate, and basically QUESTION AUTHORITY, especially when things don't seem right.

You could make all the difference in the loved one's final years.

I offer my condolences for what horrors happened to your father and the grief you suffer. Similar things happened to my father. He had trouble walking and was in the hospital. The nurses did not want to bother with him trying to get up to go to the bathroom, so they drugged him and roughly forced a catheter into him causing heavy bleeding and an infection.

If I left the hospital, they would give him heavy duty drugs he should not have. He already took a daily aspirin for stroke prevention, but the hospital doctor ordered double doses of Plavix although he had no need for Plavix. (I later learned her hospital nickname was Dr. Death.)

The second or thrid day on Plavix, he had massive hemmorhaging from his lungs. A pulmonary doctor put a scope down into his lungs and when he came out of surgery he was so heavily sedated he was paralized and could not move or speak. The nurses told me it was "up to god" if he lived through the night. He didn't.

Many doctors will not even see Medicare patients and they dump their long time patients when they go on Medicare. My father's fine, long-time internist had just retired and moved back to Boston.

The medical field is so filled with greedy, uncaring, incompetent people and it is gettng worse. A surgeon friend told me residents see patients in teaching hospital (she teaches residents) and she said third world country residents have no concept of sterile procedure and no interest in learning. She had surgery and she was infected with an incurable bug that required many more surgeries and may end her career.

The medical field is in decline and I fear is getting worse as greed takes over. Don't go to the doctor alone, and never go to the hospital without a friend or family member with you at all times. Even then it will be a battle, a battle you lost through no fault of your own. I am very sorry for your loss. I hope you speak out and make your voice heard to warn other patient and their families.

I had a similar problem when my 89 year old mom was hospitalized for congestive heart failure and an eventual heart attack. Instead of explaining to her (she was totally lucid when admitted) they dosed her with Haldol. My personal pharmacist told me it should never be used at that age-caused hallucinations and dementia which took about three months to resolve. They also never bothered to ask if she could walk and kept her in bed for two weeks. As a result she was so weak, she ended up in a nursing home. You can't be in a hospital without someone there who can be your advocate!

This is absolutely shocking and horrible and should be illegal! So sorry for your loss. It makes me wonder what really went on when my parents were in nursing homes during their final months. I barely have words to describe my outrage.

Actions taken as described in the article are not the ministration of beneficial medical treatment but outright felonious assault with an intent to cause harm. These individuals performing these perverse acts know full-well what they are doing and know what the results will be. That is felony assault and those individuals performing these actions should be charged and prosecuted.

These victims have no ability to defend themselves from the very people who pretend they are there to help.

My father died 48 years ago... he was hallucinating. We never thought to question doctors... at that time, doctors and staff were considered a step below God. I thought things and people had progressed but I see that they hasn't. I've told my sons not to put me in a nursing home; put me in front of a speeding Mack truck!

I can relate to the tale told here. My Mom went into the hospital for diabetes and never came out. After a amputation, drug induced calming, straps to restrain her and a diagnosis of dementia, she developed sepsis and died. I was in the waiting room to see her when a doctor came to me said "shes expired" like Mom was some damn parking meter. Mom's favorite saying whenever hospital conversation came up was "a hospital is no place for a sick person." In her case it turned out to be true.

Caution: All patients in hospitals, rehab, assisted living and nursing homes require daily in person advocacy from someone who cares deeply about their well-being, is willing to self-educate, question everything kindly and assertively, and consult with trained medical advocates for hire as needed. These common stories would cease if people would simply show up for each other in person and in control of their personal power. Seldom does someone from the persons family and friends and church show up on their behalf. Signed: seen too much!

A sad - but not surprising - story.

I live in Sweden and, unfortunately, it`s the same problem here, but most people don`t have a clue what`s going on.

Some years ago, my father spent a week in a nursing facility and came home as a wreck.

I immediately suspected drugging.

Sure enough, two medications had been added to my father´s very, very long list of medications (12-15 medications).

They were Melleril (Mallorol in Sweden) and Aricept.

Melleril belongs to the same group of medications as Serequel and Haldol - neuroleptics and they can all cause many, terrible side effects.

Aricept is for dementia and the effect has been questioned.

I was sure my father did not suffer from dementia, but he had an awful lot of medications that could case confusion as a side effect - and he was 95!

Thanks to the Internet I found out that Mellaril was withdrawn in England because it could cause serious heart arythmias among, many other side effects.

In Sweden it was prescribed for another year.

I wrote to the doctor and asked for immediate stop of those two medications.

I also asked the doctor to go through my father´s medications to see what medications were really necessary.

After two months my father passed away and I received a reply. The doctor motivated his Aricept-prescription with - I thought about your father`s future.

Sometimes - there`s a frightening lack of common sense

Serequel has been in the news lately.
Thousands of patients in the U.S. will receive payments from the pharmaceutical company because they suffer serious side effects.
If I am not wrong - it has to do with increased blood sugar and diabetes-2.

If you want to learn more about the effects/side effects of psychotropic drugs, including neuroleptics, read books by Peter R. Breggin.

He has also described how to stop this type of medications in a good and secure way and what symptoms that can appear during tapering out.

The best thing you can do for yourself and your relatives is to educate yourself.

Last, but not least, I want to draw your attention to the fact that statins (Lipitor, Simvastatin (=Zocor), Pravachol etc) can cause cognitive/emotional side effects that can be misdiagnosed as dementia.

Yes, It is incredible and horrible. For some reason many doctors feel that they are gods and act like one. Their prestige, which don't want to lose, and greed is the most important thing in their minds. In Europe, doctors are considered as anyone else and are expected to act like that. All these horrible stories should be illegal and family members should report this and take the doctor and anyone involved to the appropriate place and make it public so everyone can learn and are able to speak up defend their family and refuse bad treatments.

Thank you so much for this information. I worked as a night nurse in a 'well thought of' nursing home in my town. I thought it was awful....the food, the care, the attitude of both medical and administration staff.

Twenty five years later my mother wound up there at the age of 99. The food improved a bit, but the rest of the 'care' was pitiful. I had heard they had improved....same business owners and my mom lasted only a couple of months there. They wouldn't even follow the Hospice Doctor's orders as she had been admitted as a Hospice patient. She was a vibrant older woman with several health issues.She had been in her own apartment in assisted living until she slipped getting into her chair.

Among her disabilities, she couldn't see in the dark [they wouldn't give her a small light at night even though her roommate didn't mind]. She eventually fell in the dark and cut her head severely an the bedside stand corner and broke her nose...she bled severely and they just put her in a tub and bathed her [at ~3:00AM] and neglected to let me know a thing until I saw her the next day.

After repeatedly asking them to protect her from falling...no side rails....no 'tucking in', no lights, etc...they said there was little they could do. After the horrible fall, they made a pallet on the floor for her and removed the bedside stand. If my husband weren't ill, I would have brought her home. I was later informed that the state turns a blind eye to elder abuse in nursing homes, no matter what level.

How can we get 'bad' business out of the business of caring for the children and the elderly? And, How can we sue them if there aren't sufficient laws on the books?

So please give me the steps to do something if I see something. WHAT CAN I DO???

I cannot say all nursing homes are awful. I worked as a CNA and some may be worse, but I was fortunate to work in a nursing facility that had dedicated, caring staff and weren't managed improperly. It was clean and neat. The problem is whenever anything comes down to money you will find abuses. Money is truly the root of all evil when it comes to caring for people. I will say though as a CNA you are not trained, supported much or given any help. Some nursing homes run you into the ground and its all you can do to manage to do the basics for 15 - 20 people!

I think they would step up their act if people were more vocal and called not only the nursing home managers but medicare, insurance companies et. al. I would not sign any papers until you saw what type of service you received. I would sign the admission papers but none of the other papers until you watched their care. If people would take back the power from these awful places they could find proper and affordable care.

I"m beginning to think there are more bad ones than good. It's often not the care givers but the management that is trying to save/make money at the expense of both employees and residents.

I've tried everything, it's not easy. In some states (Texas) if you "make trouble" they can (and do) throw your family member out!!

I am an almost 40 year old white female born and raised in the good ole USA...
after suffering my first rare stress induced heart attack I was given Seroquel.
I wasn't asked of course or explained to what it was... I was very stressed and agree
I needed the rest for sure... however... I was out of it on this meds...someone from smoking cessation came to talk to me and I would have thought it was a dream but he left paperwork beside my bed. I was amazed as I have never had a medicine that just literally paralyzed me physically and mentally... had they wanted to admit me me to a facility and continue until I died I would have opened my mouth and took the pill and did as instructed.

My whole mentality of being able to think and/or say no was gone... want to know the amazing thing? I am a single mom of 3 and they actually sent me home with a script for this stuff...

I pitched it before leaving the hospital grounds!!! Anyone with a loved one on this no matter the age must realize you have to be their words of wisdom and end it because they are "gone".

This is my second comment in this discussion thread. Y'know, we've mainly been talking about seniors here, but really, every single thing that constitutes "senior abuse" applies equally to mental patients! Perhaps even more so, as mental health problems can confound loved ones who notice the person "is not him/herself" but don't know whether the difference is due to symptoms or medications.

One thing I know for sure: when docs change meds, the patient is rarely asked his/her opinion and usually not even informed! I know this because I hear the patients' expressions of surprise and concern routinely when meds are passed. And just like with elder abuse, anger and frustration on the patient's part is routinely ascribed to paranoia, confusion, delusionality, uncooperativeness, lack of insight -- and often this translates to even more meds! Same thing when patients complain of side effects: they simply are not given credibility!

This isn't to say many psych meds aren't good... many are absolute lifesavers for patients. But, OVER AND OVER, I've heard patients say things like, "I can't see clearly," "My head feels like it's in a tightening vice," "I feel electric all over," "I'm dizzy," "I don't feel like myself," "It seems like I'm living in a haze or fog, like in a dream..." and these things are routinely brushed off. Just like in facilities for elders, one med may disturb sleep or cause constipation or agitation; then more meds are Rx'ed to take care of THOSE side-effects; then more meds to ameliorate unwanted effects of THOSE meds... and so it goes.

Little wonder many psych patients "throw out the baby with the bathwater" the very second they're discharged.

Reading these comments has firmly decided me to stop taking Simvastatin. I quit once after reading about potential problems, then restarted when my doctor pooh-poohed my concerns. I am 68 and have started having memory problems over the past few months. I need every bit of memory I can pull up!!! No more Simvastatin for me.

This sounds so familiar to me. My Mother was 95 when we moved her to assisted living. She had lived comfortably in a retirement community with help coming in every day for 8 hours. When we realized she needed care 24 hours a day, we moved her to an assisted living facility. At the first interview, they asked about prescription drugs. I told them she was healthy and on no drugs except during rare bouts of illness when she may have had an antibiotic.

After we moved her there, she began to be confused and act very strange. We had somehow managed to be allowed to retain her longtime caregiver. She told us they were giving her all kinds of medication. She nearly died before we begged and pleaded with her family doctor to intervene. Apparently there are standard drugs given to patients entering into this facility. When she became confused they added others including Haldol.

It was a nightmare and scary.

My mother was in a nursing home for 3 months... she was 99 and lived alone since 1969 until she died in 2005. She managed pretty well until the last 3 months of her life. I've never seen such poor care which began the day she used up her funds and went on Medicaid. It was horrible! They would do nothing to accommodate her or relieve her pain, although she was under Hospice care. The staff did not understand what this kind of care is [provided by our local Hospice group].

They were belligerent and hostile toward me and Mom. One day a couple of weeks before she passed away, I received a phone call from a friend who had dropped in to see her... her face was black and blue and swollen, her nose was broken and there was still blood in her hair. I had seen her the day before and this happened during the night. No one from there let me know. They said she 'fell' but her roommate suggested otherwise. Mom died in 9 days and the roommate suddenly died shortly after that while her daughter was out of the country.

The physician initially wrote the cause of mothers' death as the 'fall' but erased that and said it was because she had dementia. When I had pictures taken of her by the funeral home prior to the cremation, they did that and notified the coroner. When I questioned the coroner, he said he accepted the change on the death certificate and his own father had a lot of trouble with the nursing home prior to his death. I was encouraged to 'forget about it. If my husband hadn't been so ill, I probably would have pursued this.

I have told my children I cannot go into a nursing home when I'm older. Maybe I'll have the good fortune to drop dead!

Once a state representative told me that the state was hesitant to bring charges against nursing homes because it was a business and the state didn't want to appear business unfriendly. He was honest and solemn, he understood what this really means.

Oh my God, Kathleen, I would've sued their pants off! That isn't just lazy or negligent, it's criminal!!!! I'm so sorry for your loss (and everyone else's too).

Anyone who thinks there are far more bad nursing homes than good ones is right. Many people assume that when caregivers are lazy or negligent, it's probably due to "burnout." "Burnout" is when you care so much, invest so much of yourself into a problem situation, that you take on too much of the stress and anxiety and sadness yourself, and it eventually affects your ability to deal with the situation.

Well, I'm here to tell you that "burnout" is not the problem. What the problem IS, is something I've termed "habituation to stimulus." In high school biology class, "habituation to stimulus" is often demonstrated by attaching an electrode to a bit of frog leg-muscle tissue (minus the frog). When the muscle tissue begins to "jump" less and less with the continued application of "jolts" and finally stops, that's habituation to stimulus. The "stimulus" can no longer elicit the "response," such as when you can't smell your own perfume anymore after about 2 hours.

In the caregiving situation, the staff has (eventually) seen SO much misery, SO many sad stories, SO many irritable/irritating/confused/needy/ill/dying patients -- that they can no longer dredge up sufficient compassion or motivation to give more than just the bare minimum level of service. I've seen the same thing literally hundreds of times in the MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES I've worked in for years. Many of them were considered "high quality" places, but I'm here to tell you it happens everywhere, even at the best places! People will give "adequate" care (hopefully) and do "adequate" chart notes. But, while the staff has plenty of time to socialize and sit around, they almost NEVER take the initiative to look through the patient's chart to gain greater info and insights on the patient.

Who IS this person, really? How do all the "givens" converge to bring us to the present time? Social history, medical history, treatment history... Knowing these things allows caregivers to give much better, more personal, more appropriate care. But a preponderance of the staff I've worked with just don't care! And what "fills in" for the lack of personalized, appropriate care? MEDS, of course. And if the patient balks, complains or exhibits problematical responses... well, there's meds for that too. And if this is true in mental health facilities, where there's a reasonable chance for improvement (a major motivating factor for staff), I shudder to think how it is in geriatric/hospice facilities! Believe me, I speak the truth.

Were I to find myself destitute, terminally ill and headed for one of these facilities, I'd never make it through the door... I'd have bitten down on the cyanide capsule I'd carefully saved for such an occasion, and I'd be far better off.