Psychotropic drugs given to nursing home patients without cause

New report from Tribune Watchdog Section. 

Frail and vulnerable residents of nursing homes throughout Illinois are being dosed with powerful psychotropic drugs, leading to tremors, dangerous lethargy and a higher risk of harmful falls or even death, a Tribune investigation has found.

Thousands of elderly and disabled people have been affected, many of them drugged without their consent or without a legitimate psychiatric diagnosis that would justify treatment, state and federal inspection reports show.

Tribune identified 1,200 violations at Illinois nursing homes involving psychotropic medications since 2001. Those infractions affected 2,900 patients.

unprecedented review of more than 40,000 state and federal inspection reports found that nursing homes ranging from "five-star" establishments on the North Shore to run-down facilities in urban neighborhoods have been cited for improperly administering psychotropic drugs.

In 2003, an 83-year-old woman without a diagnosis of mental illness was placed on Haldol -- among the most dangerous antipsychotic drugs -- two days after being admitted to the Heartland Health Care Center in Moline

Click on the following for more details:  Compromised Care: Psychotropic drugs given to nursing home patients without cause -- chicagotribune.com