Guest guest Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Hey friends, Im posting to help a fellow caregiver, who apparently told her loved ones doctor he could have no more than 2.5 milligrams of zyprexa and whose doctor gave her lovedone 10 mg only to have her lovedone decline a great deal rapidly from it.Her question to me is ...Is there any printed official info that states that a patient should not be given this much zyprexa or is there an authority that could be contacted to verify that this should not have been done? to help this person get together a lawsuit against this doctor as her lovedone has decline drastically from this?Thanks for any help in advance Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Hi, Ron. The first thing I would ask is if this caregiver has legal or medical Power of Attorney. If not, she doesn't have a lot to back up any action she might take. If her loved one is still competent enough to assign POA, it should be done right away for just such occasions as this. (Next of Kin isn't enough in most places.) If her loved one isn't competent and POA wasn't assigned before this, she may need to apply for guardianship. Without these legal protections/responsibilities, she can't legally direct her loved one's medical care and the doctor can't take her direction (though a smart one would take her concerns into consideration). If she is thinking about any legal action, these things need to have been in place before the medication was administered. I don't know much about zyprexa. But you might want to do a web search on it. The manufacturer's web site should list all of the facts about the drug, including recommended and maximum dosing, what conditions it's use has been approved for and side effects. Even with POA, if the patient could be considered competent and has OK'd the prescription, you are in a grey area. POA is dependent upon the subject's acceptance of the actions of his/her representative. A subject can revoke or reassign POA easily and at any time. Note, too, that the subject is considered mentally competent until found in a court (guardianship procedures) to be incompetent. Interestingly, most residents of dementia units are still able to vote in elections, as they are there under POA action, rather than having been committed by a guardian. Kate > ** > > > Hey friends, Im posting to help a fellow caregiver, who apparently told > her loved ones doctor he could have no more than 2.5 milligrams of zyprexa > and whose doctor gave her lovedone 10 mg only to have her lovedone decline > a great deal rapidly from it.Her question to me is ...Is there any printed > official info that states that a patient should not be given this much > zyprexa or is there an authority that could be contacted to verify that > this should not have been done? to help this person get together a lawsuit > against this doctor as her lovedone has decline drastically from > this?Thanks for any help in advance Ron > > > -- Kate Knapp, OIT University of Minnesota You were born with certain gifts and talents. In kindergarten you were taught to share. The world needs all of the gifts it can get. Don’t be shy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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