Link to Ventura County Star article.

I want to pass this link onto you regarding a class action suit here in Ventura County involving informed consent. The Ventura County ombudsman office investigated and filed this complaint with Department of Public Health and it was substantiated.

I want to thank CANHR for bringing the problem of toxic drugs to the forefront and partnering with us a year ago to educate the public on the adverse effects of antipsychotic drugs for elderly persons with dementia.

This is a huge step forward for least medicating. Thank you to everyone who has supported this effort!

Sylvia

I am so excited to share some very special news with you!!! Many of you may
recall that a little over a year ago the Ventura County Ombudsman Program
and California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform hosted a symposium in
Oxnard, “Toxic Drugs – The Problem with Drugging as First Resort in Dementia
Care”. It was the first of its kind in California and was well attended by
250 providers and interested parties. I have attached the flyer announcing our event if you didn’t get a chance to attend.

Many of you who did attend our symposium may recall that it was not well
received by everyone and actually created a bit of indignation on the part
of some. It did create controversy, most significant causes do, and much of that was reported in the Ventura County Star at the time.

But because of the perseverance of CANHR and other local ombudsman advocates the trend continued, and last fall, two more symposia, based on the model we created in Oxnard, were held in northern California with almost 1,000 attendees.

Since then, this subject has garnered attention and late last year became
the focus of national attention, with experts appearing before the senate in Washington to give testimony about the inappropriate use of anti-psychotic drugs for elderly persons with dementia.

I cannot tell you how exciting it is to share this press release from CANHR with you.

Thank you so much for standing with us and for your support!

Best
Sylvia

Sylvia Taylor-Stein
Executive Director
Long Term Care Services of Ventura County, Inc.,
2021 Sperry Avenue Suite 35
Ventura, CA 93003
T: 805.656.1986 ext 102
Fax: 805.658.8540
www.ombudsmanventura.org
a 501 (c) 3 non profit organization

CALIFORNIA ADVOCATES FOR NURSING HOME REFORM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 28, 201

ADVOCATES FOR NURSING HOME RESIDENTS APPLAUD NEW FEDERAL CAMPAIGN TO END USE OF ANTIPSYCHOTIC DRUGS AS CHEMICAL RESTRAINTS

Advocates for nursing home residents who have been working for many years to eliminate all misuse of antipsychotic drugs for nursing home residents
applaud the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’s
(CMS’s) new national initiative to address the drugging epidemic.

CMS’s “National Initiative to Improve Behavioral Health & Reduce the Use of Antipsychotic Medications in Nursing Home Residents” will be announced via webcast on March 29, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. PST. “We thank former CMS Administrator Donald Berwick for his leadership in responding so forcefully to this national disgrace and for setting the wheels in motion to implement this long- overdue initiative,” said Janet Wells, Director of Public Policy, The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care.

CMS is developing a national action plan that includes raising public
awareness of misuse of antipsychotic drugs, regulatory oversight, technical assistance, and research. The Initiative will be launched with a video streaming event at 1 p.m. EDT, March 29.

http://surveyortraining.cms.hhs.gov/pubs/VideoInformation.aspx?cid=1098

Several hundred thousand nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s Disease or other dementia are given one or more antipsychotic
drugs. The HHS Office of Inspector General reported last year that
the overwhelming majority of Medicare claims for antipsychotic drug were
inappropriate.

“Hundreds of thousands of nursing home residents are inappropriately given
antipsychotic drugs each day, despite the Food and Drug Administration’s
‘Black Box’ warnings that these drugs can kill residents who have dementia,” said Michael Connors, Long-Term Care Advocate with California Advocates for
Nursing Home Reform. “Too many nursing homes use antipsychotic drugs as a
way to control residents when they don’t have enough well-trained staff who know their residents well and can give them the time and attention they
need,” he said.

Richard Mollot, Executive Director of the Long-Term Care Community Coalition in New York, agreed that “poor staffing levels and inadequately trained staff lead to the gross misuse of drugs as chemical restraints.” He continued, “The word needs to get out that chemical restraints are as
dangerous for residents as physical restraints.”

“Nursing home staff who take the time to understand what residents are
communicating with their behavior can provide care to their residents
without using chemical restraints,” said Claire Curry, Legal Director, Civil Advocacy Program, Legal Aid Justice Center, Charlottesville, Virginia. “We have seen good care like this in some facilities and know that all facilities can do the same.”

“Federal law, to a large extent, already prohibits the drugging of
residents,” said Toby S. Edelman, Senior Policy Attorney, Center for
Medicare Advocacy, Washington, DC, “but the law is too timidly enforced.
CMS needs to dramatically step up strong enforcement of the law to ensure
that all residents get the care and services they need. CMS needs to ensure that no resident receives antipsychotic drugs except in full compliance with the law.”

In August 2010, CANHR launched a campaign to end nursing home misuse of
psychoactive drugs in response to the longstanding, widespread misuse of
these drugs to chemically restrain residents. The campaign features a
special website, educational presentations, consumer advice, administrative and legislative advocacy, stop-drugging blog and much more. For more information about CANHR’s Campaign or the CMS initiative, please contact Michael Connors or Tony Chicotel, (415) 974-5171, or visit CANHR’s website www.canhr.org/stop-drugging.

CLICK HERE (35) for a PDF of press release from CANHR

Contacts:

Michael Connors Tony Chicotel
(415) 974-5171 (415) 974-5171
Michael@canhr.org tony@canhr.org

Claire Curry Richard Mollot
(434) 977-0553 (212) 385-0355
Claire@justice4all.org Richard@ltccc.org

Toby S. Edelman Janet Wells
(202) 293-5760 (202) 332-2275, ext.
205
tedelman@medicareadvocacy.org
jwells@theconsumervoice.org

At Tena Alonzo’s nursing home, residents sleep as late as they want. Care schedules revolve around their convenience, not the staff’s. If they’re used to a small cocktail at night, they have one.

And they eat what they want — chocolate or dessert before dinner — regardless of their health.

“If you’re 85 and you’re demented and it’s the end of your life, isn’t it time to eat lemon pie even if you’re diabetic?” she said before talking to Ventura County nursing home operators Thursday about following a style of care presented as a national model. “Isn’t it time to just enjoy whatever in life is important to you?”

Called a culture of comfort, it revolves around the principle that if residents are comfortable they’ll be happy. There won’t be the need for physical restraints or powerful antipsychotic drugs to control their behavior, Alonzo said.          Continue reading …

Read more—

Dear Colleagues,

In collaboration with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), we are pleased to host a very enlightening and informative symposium, coming for the first time to Ventura County.  Toxic Medicine – What You Need To Know and What You Can Do About It.  We have lined up some excellent and knowledgeable speakers on this subject who will bring proven and working methods and options for those who care for and advocate for seniors.  We will examine the dangers of giving medications that can double the risk of death for older persons with dementia, and are not approved or intended to treat dementia.  

We are inviting you to join us on March 24th at the Residence Inn by Marriott at River Ridge in Oxnard (details in attached flyer).    We believe that it is important for representatives from the Eldercare community, and anyone else who is concerned about the quality of life, and dignity of the seniors of Ventura County, to attend this symposium.  Please circulate this to all your associates and anyone you feel could benefit from this information.  

CEs and CLEs  available for LCSWs and Attorneys.

Hope to see you there

Sylvia

~~~~~ 

Sylvia Taylor-Stein

Executive Director

Long Term Care Services of Ventura County, Inc.,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLICK HERE FOR FLYER

“What you should know to fight the misuse of psychoactrive drugs in California nursing homes and assisted living facilites.”