It's a form of medical abuse that may cause life-threatening problems in the medium or long term. I have told friends and relatives about it, though haven't reported it to the authorities yet. Firstly, when I called Adult Protective Services, their offices were closed, now that I told my mom she's warned me about not telling the authorities because she fears the owners may try to do something against us in retaliation.
We come from a country where there the law is corrupted and people constantly live in a state of alert and inner fear. We are also aware of the history of crime, violence and corruption in the U.S. since its origin and up to nowadays. I fear that Adult Protective Services won't be able to maintain our confidentiality when they perform the investigations because no one else would know what's going on except me. And if they don't immediately apprehend whoever is responsible for the abuse, chance is the accused may want to retaliate.
Second, if you get no satisfaction from the DON and SW, contact the Ombudsman for your locality. Every state has a Joint Commission on Nursing Home Accreditation and an Ombudsman to oversee these kinds of issues. Let us know how this works out.
Do you feel your LO is being over medicated or under medicated?
Do remember that your LO has a right to refuse medication though so although YOU might think abuse is happening that may not be the case - do you feel you could speak to her doctor about it? It might be a better route in the short term.
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