Higgins Firm Wins Another Nursing Home Neglect Trial

The Higgins Firm recently won a nursing home neglect case that shows just how little some facilities value the final weeks of a person’s life.

A family brought their diabetic mother to a Tennessee nursing home for a short respite stay. They told the staff she needed her insulin. The facility took the medication at intake. Then they never gave it to her.

Her blood sugar spiked. She ended up hospitalized. The family lost two to three weeks with their mother during her final days on hospice.

The nursing home offered $220,000 to settle. The jury awarded $350,000.

What Happened in This Medication Error Case

The patient was on hospice care with limited time remaining. Her family arranged a short respite stay so they could prepare to bring her home for Thanksgiving.

The family explicitly told facility staff their mother was diabetic and needed insulin. The nursing home took the medication during intake. Then the staff failed to administer it.

Without her insulin, the patient’s blood sugar spiked dangerously high. She required emergency hospitalization. The medical crisis cost the family approximately two to three weeks they could have spent with their mother at home during her final days.

Key facts from this case:

• Patient on hospice care needed insulin for diabetes management
• Family explicitly informed nursing home staff about insulin requirement
• Facility took medication at intake, but never administered it
• Patient’s blood sugar spiked, requiring emergency hospitalization
• Family lost 2-3 weeks of precious final time together
• Nursing home offered $220,000 pre-trial settlement
• Jury awarded $350,000, rejecting the facility’s valuation of those lost weeks

The jury’s verdict sent a clear message: nursing homes cannot provide substandard care to hospice patients and claim those final weeks have diminished value.

Why Medication Errors Kill Nursing Home Residents

Medication mistakes represent one of the most common and deadly forms of nursing home neglect.

Research shows medication errors are widespread in long-term care facilities, with studies documenting error rates as high as nearly two errors per resident.

For diabetic residents, insulin isn’t optional. It’s life-sustaining. When nursing homes fail to administer diabetes medication properly, residents face:

• Hyperglycemia (dangerously high blood sugar)
• Diabetic ketoacidosis requiring hospitalization
• Increased risk of heart attack and stroke
• Accelerated organ damage
• Preventable suffering during the final days

Federal regulations under 42 CFR § 483.45 require nursing homes to follow physician orders and maintain accurate medication administration records.

When facilities take possession of medications, they assume full legal responsibility for proper administration.

How Nursing Homes Get Away With Medication Neglect

Medication errors don’t happen in a vacuum. They result from systemic failures:

Chronic understaffing: Facilities don’t hire enough nurses, so medication rounds get rushed or skipped entirely.

Inadequate training: Many employees don’t receive proper training on medication administration or understand the consequences of missed doses.

Poor documentation systems: Outdated medication administration records make it easy for doses to be missed without anyone noticing.

Lack of oversight: Facilities without effective quality control can’t catch medication errors before they cause serious injuries.

Corporate profit priorities: Many Tennessee nursing homes prioritize profits over resident safety, operating with minimal staffing to maximize revenue.

These aren’t accidents. They’re business decisions that put residents at risk.

Warning Signs Your Loved One Isn’t Getting Medications

Watch for these indicators:

• Unexplained changes in health status or behavior
• Symptoms returning that medications should control (high blood sugar, seizures, increased pain)
• Complaints about missing doses or staff forgetting medications
• Medication bottles not decreasing as expected
• Incomplete medication administration records
• Staff unfamiliar with medication schedules
• New health complications that proper medication would prevent

If you notice these signs, document everything. Take photos, keep written notes with dates and times, and request medication administration records.

What to Do If Your Loved One Suffers Medication Neglect

Act immediately. Early intervention prevents minor problems from becoming catastrophic.

1. Communicate with facility leadership. Speak with the charge nurse, director of nursing, and administrator. Make specific complaints and document these conversations in writing.
2. Request complete medication records. Under 42 CFR § 483.10, you have a legal right to access these documents within 24 hours. Review them for patterns of missed doses.
3. Talk to other families. Other residents’ families may share similar concerns, indicating facility-wide problems.
4. Report to authorities. Contact the Tennessee Department of Health, which licenses and inspects nursing homes.
5. Contact an attorney if harm occurred. Once medication neglect causes injury, hospitalization, or death, you need legal representation immediately.

Why Families Wait Too Long to Get Legal Help

We hear the same story constantly: families noticed problems weeks or months ago, but hoped the facility would fix them. By the time they call us, critical evidence is gone.

What disappears fast:

• Security footage (deleted after 30-90 days)
• Staff witnesses (high turnover means employees leave)
• Unaltered records (facilities can change documentation)
• Clear medical connections (harder to prove causation over time)

Don’t let the facility convince you to “give them time to fix it.” If your loved one has been harmed, contact us immediately so we can preserve evidence before it disappears.

How We Handle Medication Error Cases

We handle nursing home abuse and neglect cases exclusively. That specialization means we understand the complex regulations and know how to prove when facilities fail.

Our approach includes:

• Sending immediate preservation letters requiring facilities to preserve all records, footage, and evidence
• Analyzing medication administration records to identify patterns of missed doses and falsified documentation
• Interviewing witnesses while memories are fresh
• Working with medical experts who explain how errors caused injuries
• Reviewing facility staffing levels to prove the connection between understaffing and neglect
• Investigating the facility’s history of violations

In this recent case, our preparation convinced the jury that the lost weeks had real value.

The verdict exceeded the facility’s offer by more than $130,000 because we proved the full extent of the family’s losses.

Your Loved One’s Final Days Have Value

The $350,000 verdict sends a clear message: Tennessee nursing homes cannot cut corners on basic medication administration and claim it doesn’t matter because a resident was dying anyway.

Those final weeks are precious. Families have a right to spend them with loved ones instead of in emergency rooms dealing with preventable crises.

If you suspect medication neglect in a Tennessee nursing home, don’t wait. Contact The Higgins Firm today for a consultation. We’ll evaluate your concerns, explain your options, and start preserving evidence immediately.

Your loved one’s life matters, and we’re here to prove it.