FATALITY INQUIRY – JUNE 21, 2010 – DEATH AT THE RADWAY CARE CENTER – FIRST DAY OF INQUIRY
Home > Blog > FATALITY INQUIRY – JUNE 21, 2010 – DEATH AT THE RADWAY CARE CENTER – FIRST DAY OF INQUIRY1) A professional doctor, attending at the Radway Long Term Care Center prescribed
a neuroleptic
drug for a patient whom he did not first go to see or assess. He never
did go to see her.
He allegedly prescribed the drug on the recommendation of a psychiatrist located in
St. Paul, AB. The psychiatrist also had never assessed or even seen the patient for
whom she recommended the drug. The prescribed medication, Zyprexa, (Olanzapine) is
contraindicated for elderly dementia patients & has a Health Canada black box warning
that it is not approved for such patients.*
Furthermore, both prescribing physician & psychiatrist, failed to counsel patient
& caregivers to immediately report signs of potential CVAEs such as sudden
weakness or numbness in the face, arms or legs, and speech or vision problems.
According to the
The Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties: The Canadian
Drug Reference
for Health Professionals, (CPS), Zyprexa (Olanzapine) has no proven
benefit to elderly dementia patients.
2) Another physician, who is based in Smoky Lake, signed a Death Certificate, cited
the cause of death, yet never had assessed the patient or ever saw the patient prior
to death. At no time did he view or identify the body. The same physician could
not recall the nursing staff who had called him concerning the decedent.
3) An R.N. reported that after a diagnosis of Norwalk virus, no chart entries were
made in the patient’ file for an entire week. Intake and out put was not recorded.
*Eli Lilly Canada Inc., following discussions with Health Canada, would like
to inform
you of important new safety information
pertaining to
cerebrovascular adverse events,
that have occurred
in elderly patients with
dementia-related psychosis treated with
ZYPREXA (olanzapine) in clinical trials.
ZYPREXA is not approved for use in elderly patients with dementia-related
psychosis.
Signed by Loren D. Grossman,
MD, FRCPC, FACP
Vice President, Research and Development, Eli Lilly Canada Inc. 2004
*