When you entrust a New Jersey nursing home with the care of a loved one, you expect a high standard of safety and professionalism. This trust is fundamentally built on the facility’s ability to manage their health, and a significant part of that is administering medication correctly. Unfortunately, medication errors are a shockingly common event in long-term care facilities, and they can lead to severe health declines, injury, or even death.

If you suspect a loved one has been harmed by a medication error, you are likely feeling a mix of anger, confusion, and distress. You may be wondering if the mistake was simple human error or something more—something that constitutes neglect. This guide explains what constitutes a medication error in a nursing home, when it crosses the line into legal negligence, and what your rights are when seeking justice for the harm caused. The answer to the question, "Can you sue?" is often yes, provided certain legal standards are met.

The Dangerous Potential of a Nursing Home Medication Error

To understand why these errors are so frequent, it is helpful to look at the environment of a typical nursing home. The average resident in a long-term care facility takes multiple prescription medications, a condition known as polypharmacy. Managing complex medication schedules for dozens or even hundreds of residents is a demanding task.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, adverse drug events are a significant problem in skilled nursing facilities, harming a substantial number of residents each year. Many of these events are preventable. The root causes often point to systemic issues within the facility rather than a single isolated mistake.

Common contributing factors include:

• Understaffing: When there are not enough nurses or medical aides to properly care for all residents, staff members are rushed. This pressure can lead to shortcuts and mistakes in the medication administration process.
• Inadequate Training: Staff may not be properly trained on new medications, administration protocols, or the use of electronic health records. Lack of ongoing education can create dangerous knowledge gaps.
• Communication Breakdowns: Poor communication between physicians, pharmacists, and nursing home staff can lead to incorrect prescriptions being ordered or administered. Shift changes are a particularly vulnerable time for information to be lost.
• Poorly Managed Pharmacy Services: In-house or third-party pharmacies that fail to properly label drugs, check for dangerous interactions, or fill prescriptions accurately contribute to the risk.

These factors create an environment where mistakes are not just possible but probable. When these mistakes cause harm, the facility can and should be held accountable.

What Constitutes a Medication Error in a New Jersey Nursing Home?

A medication error is more than just giving the wrong pill. It encompasses any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional or patient. In the context of a New Jersey facility, these errors can take many forms.

Here are some of the most common types of medication errors seen in nursing homes:

• Wrong Medication: Administering a drug that was prescribed for another resident or a medication that was not prescribed at all.
• Wrong Dosage: This is one of the most dangerous errors. It includes giving too much of a medication (overdose), which can cause toxic effects, or too little (underdose), which can render the treatment ineffective. For example, an insufficient dose of a blood pressure medication can lead to a stroke.
• Wrong Time: Administering a medication at the wrong time of day or missing a dose entirely. Some drugs must be given at specific intervals or with food to be effective and safe.
• Wrong Route of Administration: Giving a medication in the wrong way—for instance, crushing a pill that is designed for slow release or administering an oral medication via an injection.
• Failure to Monitor: After a new medication is given, staff have a duty to monitor the resident for adverse reactions or side effects. Failing to do so can allow a minor reaction to escalate into a major health crisis.
• Ignoring Contraindications: Administering a drug that is known to have a dangerous interaction with another medication the resident is taking or a pre-existing health condition they have.
• Improper Preparation: Mixing or preparing a drug incorrectly, such as diluting it improperly, which can alter its potency.
• Documentation Errors: Failing to accurately record when a medication was given. This can lead to a subsequent shift, giving the same medication again, causing an overdose.

Any of these errors can have devastating consequences for a resident's health and well-being.

From Medication Error to Nursing Home Neglect: The Legal Standard

Not every medication error automatically gives rise to a successful lawsuit. To sue a nursing home for a medication error, you must be able to prove that the facility’s actions—or lack thereof—amounted to nursing home neglect or medical malpractice. In legal terms, such an action requires establishing four key elements.

The Four Elements of Negligence

1. Duty of Care: This is the easiest element to prove. When a nursing home accepts a resident, it enters into a contract and assumes a legal duty to provide care that meets the established medical and safety standards. This includes the proper administration of medication.
2. Breach of Duty: This obligation is the core of the case. You must show that the nursing home staff failed to meet the "standard of care." The standard of care is defined as what a reasonably prudent and competent healthcare provider or facility would have done under similar circumstances. Giving the wrong medication, for example, is a clear breach of this duty.
3. Causation: This element links the breach of duty directly to the harm suffered. It is not enough to show that an error occurred; you must also prove that the error caused your loved one’s injury. For example, if a resident was given the wrong medication and subsequently had a fall and broke their hip, you must demonstrate that the medication's side effects (like dizziness or confusion) were the direct cause of the fall. A personal injury lawyer works with medical experts to establish this critical link.
4. Damages: Finally, you must show that the injury resulted in actual damages. This includes tangible costs like additional medical bills, hospital stays, and rehabilitation therapy. It also includes non-economic damages, such as physical pain, emotional suffering, and a diminished quality of life.

When these four elements are present, a medication error is no longer just a mistake—it is actionable negligence, and you have grounds for a nursing home lawsuit.

Is It Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect? A Key Distinction

While the terms "nursing home abuse" and "neglect" are often used together, they have different legal meanings.

• Nursing Home Neglect is typically characterized by a failure to provide the required standard of care, often due to carelessness, indifference, or systemic issues like understaffing. Most medication errors fall under the category of neglect. The harm is not necessarily intentional, but it is a direct result of the facility’s failure to act responsibly.
• Nursing Home Abuse, on the other hand, involves an intentional act meant to cause harm. In the context of medication, this could involve the deliberate withholding of pain medication from a resident or, more commonly, the use of chemical restraints. Chemical restraints refer to the practice of giving a resident antipsychotic or sedative drugs not for a valid medical reason, but to make them docile and easier to manage. Such treatment is a form of abuse and a violation of residents' rights.

Whether the act was one of neglect or abuse, the legal path to holding the facility accountable is through a personal injury claim.

Key Evidence for a New Jersey Nursing Home Lawsuit

Building a strong case requires more than just a suspicion that an error occurred. A successful nursing home lawsuit is built on a foundation of solid evidence. An experienced personal injury attorney will know how to gather and preserve the necessary documentation.

Essential pieces of evidence often include

• The Resident’s Complete Medical Records: This includes records from before, during, and after the suspected error. These documents create a timeline of the resident's health and can clearly show a decline following the medication mistake.
• The Nursing Home’s Records: This record includes the Medication Administration Record (MAR), which documents every dose of medication given, as well as nurse’s notes, care plans, and incident reports. Discrepancies or omissions in these records can be powerful evidence.
• Pharmacy Records: These records show what medications were prescribed for the resident and when those prescriptions were filled, providing a baseline to compare against what was actually administered.
• Witness Testimony: Statements from family members, visitors, or even compassionate staff members who observed the resident's condition or the circumstances surrounding the error can be very persuasive.
• Expert Witness Testimony: This is often the most important evidence. A qualified medical expert, such as a doctor, geriatric specialist, or pharmacologist, can review the records and provide a professional opinion that the nursing home breached the standard of care and that this breach caused the resident’s injuries.

Gathering this evidence can be a complex process, as nursing homes are not always forthcoming with records that show their own negligence. This is why having a skilled legal advocate on your side is so important.

What Damages Can a Family Recover in an NJ Nursing Home Neglect Lawsuit?

Filing a lawsuit cannot undo the harm that was done, but it can provide the financial resources needed to help your loved one recover and can hold the negligent facility accountable. A NJ personal injury attorney can help you seek compensation for a range of damages.

In a nursing home case in New Jersey, you may be able to recover compensation for:

• Economic Damages: These are the verifiable financial losses resulting from the injury, including:
  • Past and future medical expenses (hospital bills, doctor visits, and corrective surgeries).
  • Costs of rehabilitation and physical therapy.
  • The cost of transferring to a new, safer facility.
• Non-Economic Damages: These damages compensate for the intangible, personal losses that have no exact price tag, such as:
  • Pain and suffering.
  • Emotional distress and mental anguish.
  • Loss of enjoyment of life.
  • Disability or disfigurement.

In tragic cases where a medication error leads to a resident's death, the family may file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover funeral and burial expenses, medical bills incurred before death, and compensation for the loss of companionship.

Need Legal Help? Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law, is One Phone Call Away

Discovering that your loved one was harmed by a preventable medication error is a deeply upsetting experience. You trusted a facility to provide care, and that trust was broken. You do not have to face this situation alone. New Jersey law provides a path to justice, but it is a path best navigated with an experienced legal guide. The laws are complex, and nursing homes and their insurance companies have powerful legal teams dedicated to minimizing their liability.

At Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law, we dedicate ourselves to defending the rights of nursing home residents who have suffered injuries and their families. We understand the medicine and the law, and we know how to build a powerful case to hold negligent facilities accountable. Contact us today for a free consultation to discuss your case and learn how we can help you get the justice and compensation your family deserves. We are available day or night to assist you.