Sunday, May 11, 2014

Vets home is still over drugging veterans without proper medical or legal oversight.

From the office of the Michigan department of of the Auditor General Report April 2013.
Page 15. The Home has been found guilty of not providing proper mental health supervision as required by federal law since the home takes federal money to pay for the care of the veterans.

Nor has the home had an on staff psychiatrist since August 2011. Yet the home continues to administer drugs (medications) that require a licensed Psychiatrist. In fact, according to this audit, the home on average has been giving these drugs to 81 percent of its 509 veterans.

And that the home administered anti psychotic drugs to 41 percent of its 509 members, verses 18 percent in other nursing homes in Michigan. And they did this without proper medical attention.

In short, they are over drugging the veterans. And this we already knew. But it still goes on.

According to this report, the home was supposed to reduce the amount of medication over time, due to lack of properly trained and certified medical personnel, but the home did not. 

The home is STILL over drugging its veterans. THIS MUST STOP. It is KILLING veterans.

One veteran stopped taking the drug Depakote. This was unbeknown to the staff. Instead of swallowing it, he spit it out in his bathroom. At his Care Conference in March, all those in attendance commended him on how well behaved he had been, referring to the drug and how good it was working. He recently was hospitalized because of other issues and it became known that this drug wasn't in his system! In other words, his improved behavior was because he was not taking the drug. And because he was not taking it, they are now punishing him, by forcing him to take a drug he does not need.  NOW, they are forcing him to take the drug, mixing it with applesauce. He has NO CHOICE now. To further punish him, they stopped giving him the drug Baclofen. Without this drug, this veteran has to deal with spasticity and the inability to move his legs. He needs help getting out of bed. He needs help getting to his chair. Every move he makes is very painful. I did some research on this drug Depakote. I am including it here for your reference.

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/depakote-side-effects.html. This veteran is suffering from many of the side effects. The big one is dementia. This veteran suffers from EVERYONE of the common side effects in one form or another. He has been diagnosed with COPD. Why give him a drug that causes difficult or labored breathing? We can all understand why they want the veteran to take a drug that causes depersonalization. This kind of "Care" is a criminal act and should be investigated and prosecuted.




Learn about the potential side effects of Depakote (divalproex sodium). Includes common and rare side effects information for consumers and healthcare professionals.


Another man is fighting the administration who is trying to force a guardian upon him, because he will not take drugs for something that runs in his family, which he is not showing any signs of having. The drug makes him disorientated and since is not showing signs of the illness, he figures he should not have to take the drug.  The home disagrees, and is trying get the state government to impose a guardian upon the man, (making him a slave and taking away his freedom), so that the guardian can force him to take the drugs. This just isn't right.  The guy found out the home had been secretly talking to his wife about getting a guardian for 6 months.. He is extremely upset about this, as he should be.

This is the "quality" care Deputy Director James Dunn keeps telling Michigan Government that our veterans are getting..







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