Contact:
Mischa Sogut (Gottfried), (518) 455-4941, Sogutm@nysa.us
Richard Mollot (Long Term Care Community Coalition), (212) 385-0356, richard@ltccc.org
For Immediate Release
PRESS ADVISORY
Drugging Nursing Home Residents:
Assembly Health Committee Hearing on Antipsychotic Drugs
in Nursing Homes
Each day in New York, nearly one in five nursing home residents is medicated with powerful and dangerous antipsychotic drugs as a form of “chemical restraint,” according to data from the federal Nursing Home Compare website.
On Wednesday, February 18, the New York State Assembly Health Committee will hold a hearing on the use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes. A recent report by the Long Term Care Community Coalition (LTCCC), an advocacy group for the elderly and disabled, shows alarming above-average antipsychotic drug usage rates in some regions of the state and in many nursing homes.
This hearing will include sworn testimony by representatives of residents, families, advocates and providers, voicing their observations and making recommendations.
What:
Public hearing on the use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes
Who:
-Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried
-Representatives of nursing home residents
-Patient advocates
-Provider agencies
-Legal analysts
Where:
250 Broadway, Hearing Room 1923, New York, NY
When:
Wednesday, February 18, 10 AM
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