Criminal prosecution for overmedication
BakersfieldNow.com had another article about the criminal prosecutions of nursing home employees who drugged against their will. The article mentions that Kern Valley Hospital administrator Pamela Ott was charged Tuesday on eight felony counts of elder abuse for allowing staff to forcibly administer psychotropic medications to patients for their own convenience, rather than for their patients' therapeutic needs. The druggings led to the deaths of three nursing home residents. Medical complications, including lethargy and the inability to eat or drink properly, resulted from the forced medications. Twenty-two patients were given high doses, and one surviving patient was greatly harmed, the investigation determined. Three other people were charged in February for their alleged roles in the case. All of the defendants worked for Kern Valley Healthcare District's skilled nursing facility including the former director of nursing Gwen Hughes, former pharmacist Debbi Hayes and staff physician Dr. Hoshang Pormir.
Management at the nursing home ordered staff to give high doses of psychotropic medications to Alzheimer's and other dementia patients to make them more tranquil and easier to control. The medications were given to patients who argued, made noise or were otherwise disruptive.
"As hospital administrator, Pamela Ott was ultimately responsible for safeguarding the welfare of her patients," Attorney General Jerry Brown said in a news release. "Instead, Ott abdicated her responsibility and allowed the staff of the Kern Valley Hospital to forcibly sedate patients who questioned their care."
Prosecutors said last month that former pharmacist Hayes was placed on probation and agreed to cooperate with the attorney general's office in its prosecution of the other defendants.
