What???!!!
Quote cybernanna:
The protocol for each institution may vary. Yes. Patients are allowed to keep medications "on them" while hospitalized. The health care institutions have changed dramatically over the past 30 years, with the Patient Bill of Rights and the third party payors advocation of cost containment.
Days of the condescending nursing staff who dictate what patients do are gone.
If the patient's death was ruled an accident and not a suicide, there is no basis for negligence nor wrongful death
NO NO NO NO....For God's sake....
NO. A hospitalized patient is NEVER allowed to keep two bottles of narcotics discovered in his room. EVER... PERIOD....NO GRAY AREA HERE.... Drug addicts with depression are even less favored for stockpiling personal narcotic stashes. No institution allows this. The patient's bill of rights does not allow this. Third party cost containment has absolutely nothing to do with this so why it is mentioned we will never understand.....
Can you possibly be implying that patients are allowed to bring thier own meds and administer them as a cost containing measure??? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND????
Nurses are not to tell patients what to do? How can one even respond to that??
"If the patient's death was ruled an accident and not a suicide, there is no basis for negligence nor wrongful death" Incorrect. Initial rulings such as this are turned over daily. It is not the final say in an uninvestigated negligence or wrongful death cause of action. Further, if the patient was reveiving medications administered by the hosp. staff as prescribed, and these medications exacerbated the effects of the narcotics the patient wass allowed to keep, and the patient self medicated with those narcotics causing his unintentional death, HE may have accidently OD'ed....but the failure of the staff to protect the patient's saftey by removing narcotics they knew were prestn and a danger (as medical professionals), due to potential interactions, the patients HX of drug abuse and depression, is NOT an accident. It is negligent. ALWAYS...EVERYWHERE
Spare the OP any childish nonsense in responding. Attack the SUBSTANCE of my post....use facts, personal attacks (probably unavoidable) are immature.