Yes, the doctor determines the medications for the family. A doctor can prescribe a drug or not prescribe it using his/her own judgment. Which drug was it and what is the concern you have about it? Was it an anxiety medication?
Appparently,the Dr, can change it.My Mother was on morphine for 8 years straight and suddenly it was taken away and she was put on oxycodone along with her fentynl patches and I think it was because of Mother's Hospice.They said oxycodone pills were much cheaper.Mother didn't do good with the change either and she really needed the morphine at her end.I thought it was cruel and I'm sorry that now your Mother is facing a change too and if the drug has helped your Mom 10+ years,Why change it now?!!
MatildaLyons2, if someone has been taking a certain med for 10 years, it probably is time to try out the new generation of pills available for the illness. It's worth a try, and could be better than the older generation of some pills.
Unless your family is a family of doctors, RN's, or pharmacists, and even then why would a doctor need the family consent to change the medicine? I would go with my parents to all of their doctor appointments, and not once did any doctor ask for my approval to try a different medication for my parents.
Does someone in your family have DPOA and has that person made a request to be notified of any changes to your loved one's medication regimen? Generally, doctors can prescribe what they want and usually a patient is assigned a primary care doctor within the nursing home who rounds on them weekly. It is within their authority to make whatever changes they deem suitable. However if your family has requested to be notified of changes, someone from the nursing home should have contacted you.
Having said that, there were numerous times that my grandpa's dr made changes where we got no call. My mom would notice something was off, and we'd ask a nurse to see the med list. Then my mom would request to speak to the dr or would ask the nurse to let the dr know she wanted my grandpa off the medication. Usually the dr agreed right away to switch him back or take off the new medication. If it was something he thought grandpa needed, he'd explain why.
So yes they have the authority to make the change, but they may also have an obligation to notify you, and you have every right to talk to the nurses and physician and express your thoughts on their decision. The caveat is that if you don't have DPOA or medical POA, they may not be able to give you any information back.
Do you have Medical POA (aka healthcare proxy)? If not, you don't have authority to even insist on notification of changes. The facility may agree to do that, with your mother's consent.
My mother never signed any POA papers (grrrr) but she consented to her children having access to her medical information. The nursing home always called one of us (from a list in priority order) to tell us of any med changes. Note they told us -- they did not ask us for permission. "Your mother seems to be sleeping well now. We are taking her off the trazadone. We will monitor to make sure she still sleeps well."
You say she is in a nursing home and that "she's not in there to be treated for anxiety or depression. She's in there for COPD" Those two statements don't seem to go together. A nursing home takes on responsibility for the resident's total health, not just a particular condition.
Is your mother there for temporary care? Many nursing homes have sections for tcu (Temporary Care Units) and/or rehabilitation units. Is your mother in that situation?
Yes I should have stated that. I'm her MPOA . Regardless how long a person has been on a medication it's not safe to stop cold turkey. I met with the administrator, dr (via FaceTime) nurse practitioner and unit manager. IF something bad would have happened to my mother they would have been sued. The dr is on vacation. The NP was the one to stop the medications . The dr was very disappointed and on my side about the whole situation . I was informed that he(the dr) did not want any medications changed except antibiotics. I'll also add. Before they do anything different from changing diets, haircut, nail trimming etc. I as well as my sister's are to be notified. So those saying "yes they can" dr himself said " no not without family consent and no because she is short term care"
Also I'm her caregiver at home. I go to every dr appointment and am told the pros and cons of medications they recommend. And I do decide, simply because I have 3 small children. Work 2 jobs and pay " babysitters" for my mother and children when house calls aren't scheduled . I'm not even 30 and have a lot to handle. But she's my mother and i feel it's my job..
That is great that you were able to get things straightened out for your mom. I hope she feels betters soon. Can't imagine how full your days must be taking care of 3 little ones and your mom!
If your mother were to become hospitalized (again), you can bring the bottle of medication from your home, telling the doctor that your mother must have this medication in place of a substitute - and you will not take no for answer. You tell the doctor to have hospital pharmacy to verify its contents before the doctor will okay this medication for use. It's routine for hospital doctors to stop or change medications based on costs.
When my mother was hospitalized, she was on Lunesta at home for months. The hospital staff didn't tell me they stopped her Lunesta and instead put her on Ambien. After a few days, I saw that my mother wasn't sleeping - at all - and was about to suffer a psychotic break. I was told by the nurse that Lunesta is too expensive, so the doctor automatically switched my mother to Ambien and didn't tell me. Prior to this hospitalization, Ambien was tried for my mother's insomnia but it didn't work, so Lunesta was tried next and this did work beautifully. Immediate stoppage of Lunesa without slowly tapering it down will cause a massive insomnia withdrawl effect. It's a well-known side effect. The hospital nurse is the one who told me I could've brought in my mother's Lunesta, telling the doctor to have the pharmacy verify its contents before the staff will administer to my mother.
Often the facility your loved one is sent to do not have all medications available to them and have one supplier that provides medications. They do not have space nor money to carry all so often the patient's meds are rewritten (staying in the same class of drugs just another name). As a Home Care nurse I can attest to this being an issue that causes a lot of confusion when the patient comes home as it looks like the medication sheet is totally different. Reconciling the meds was of most importance as sometimes the patient ended up taking the wrong med.
Unless your family is a family of doctors, RN's, or pharmacists, and even then why would a doctor need the family consent to change the medicine? I would go with my parents to all of their doctor appointments, and not once did any doctor ask for my approval to try a different medication for my parents.
Having said that, there were numerous times that my grandpa's dr made changes where we got no call. My mom would notice something was off, and we'd ask a nurse to see the med list. Then my mom would request to speak to the dr or would ask the nurse to let the dr know she wanted my grandpa off the medication. Usually the dr agreed right away to switch him back or take off the new medication. If it was something he thought grandpa needed, he'd explain why.
So yes they have the authority to make the change, but they may also have an obligation to notify you, and you have every right to talk to the nurses and physician and express your thoughts on their decision. The caveat is that if you don't have DPOA or medical POA, they may not be able to give you any information back.
My mother never signed any POA papers (grrrr) but she consented to her children having access to her medical information. The nursing home always called one of us (from a list in priority order) to tell us of any med changes. Note they told us -- they did not ask us for permission. "Your mother seems to be sleeping well now. We are taking her off the trazadone. We will monitor to make sure she still sleeps well."
You say she is in a nursing home and that "she's not in there to be treated for anxiety or depression. She's in there for COPD" Those two statements don't seem to go together. A nursing home takes on responsibility for the resident's total health, not just a particular condition.
Is your mother there for temporary care? Many nursing homes have sections for tcu (Temporary Care Units) and/or rehabilitation units. Is your mother in that situation?
Thank you all. God bless ❤
When my mother was hospitalized, she was on Lunesta at home for months. The hospital staff didn't tell me they stopped her Lunesta and instead put her on Ambien. After a few days, I saw that my mother wasn't sleeping - at all - and was about to suffer a psychotic break. I was told by the nurse that Lunesta is too expensive, so the doctor automatically switched my mother to Ambien and didn't tell me. Prior to this hospitalization, Ambien was tried for my mother's insomnia but it didn't work, so Lunesta was tried next and this did work beautifully. Immediate stoppage of Lunesa without slowly tapering it down will cause a massive insomnia withdrawl effect. It's a well-known side effect. The hospital nurse is the one who told me I could've brought in my mother's Lunesta, telling the doctor to have the pharmacy verify its contents before the staff will administer to my mother.
As a Home Care nurse I can attest to this being an issue that causes a lot of confusion when the patient comes home as it looks like the medication sheet is totally different. Reconciling the meds was of most importance as sometimes the patient ended up taking the wrong med.