Discharging a patient from a hospital should be a gateway to healing, not a potential source of injury. Many patients are discharged from a hospital to a nursing home or rehabilitation center, and this transfer of care, known as a “medication handoff,” can be fraught with danger and errors. In Georgia, when there is a breakdown in medication handoff, it can result in wrongful injury or death.
Reconciliation Gaps Create Dangerous Disconnections
Medication reconciliation sounds simple: Make sure the new care team knows exactly what medications the patient is already taking. But in practice, this step often gets rushed or skipped.
Facilities are supposed to match hospital discharge orders with in-house treatment plans. When they don’t, say, by omitting a critical blood thinner or restarting a drug with a black-box warning, the risks skyrocket.
Federal and Georgia regulations require close attention to high-risk medications. Yet, many facilities fail to perform even basic double-checks.
High-Risk Meds Demand Higher Oversight
Some drugs are especially dangerous during care transitions. Anticoagulants, opioids, insulin, and antipsychotics top the list. These medications are flagged by federal agencies for their potential to cause harm if mishandled.
For example, antipsychotics carry an FDA black-box warning for use in dementia patients, a common population in nursing homes. If a facility resumes these meds without justification or fails to monitor side effects, the result can be fatal.
Connecting the Dots Between the Hospital and the Harm
To prove that a medication error caused a specific injury, we trace the paper trail. This includes the hospital’s discharge notes, the facility’s medication logs, and pharmacy reviews.
Did the nursing home receive the correct orders? Did they administer the drugs as written or not at all? We also bring in expert witnesses, often including pharmacists, to show what should have happened. In Georgia, these expert affidavits are required at the time a lawsuit is filed.
We Help Families Expose and Prove the Truth
At The Williams Litigation Group, we represent families who suspect a loved one was harmed during a hospital-to-facility transition. If your parent or spouse suffered a preventable injury after discharge, we’re here to help you find answers and justice. Call us at 1-866-214-7036 to discuss your options.