What Can You Do if a Nursing Home Gave Your Parent Medicine They Were Allergic To? 

 Posted on April 23, 2025 in Medication Errors

Every nursing home resident deserves to be treated with proper care. Unfortunately, some nursing homes fail to meet this standard, leading to adverse health outcomes. If your parent had an allergic reaction triggered by medication administered by a nursing home, you can take action against the facility by filing a personal injury claim. If your claim is successful, you can recover compensation for the harm your parent suffered.

However, taking legal action against a nursing home by yourself is far from easy. The nursing home may attempt to deflect responsibility for an allergic reaction, aggressively denying any liability. At Schwartz Injury Law, our Illinois nursing home injury lawyers can help you investigate negligence from the staff and file a personal injury claim on your behalf.

Health Complications Caused by Allergic Reactions

When a medication inadvertently triggers an allergic reaction, the effects can be devastating. Even a mild reaction can result in hospitalization, especially in older individuals with fragile health. Common allergic reactions to medications include:

• An outbreak of rashes or hives

• Swelling in the affected area

• Fever

• Nausea and vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Seizures

• Increased heart rate

In some cases, an allergic reaction may result in anaphylaxis, in which the immune system releases chemicals in response to an allergen. This can have immediate, life-threatening complications, especially if the victim’s airway is blocked as a result of the reaction. Going into anaphylactic shock is a medical emergency, and should be treated at a hospital as soon as possible. Oftentimes, medical professionals use an epinephrine injection to mitigate the effects of anaphylaxis.

If the nursing home does not address the allergy as soon as possible, they could be held liable for failing to treat the resident promptly.

Causes of Improper Medicine Administration

In many cases, improper medicine administration in nursing homes can be traced back to poor training or a lack of communication between the staff. If an individual staff member is not aware of a resident’s needs, he or she could end up triggering an adverse reaction. Some antibiotics and painkillers that are commonly used to fight off infections or relieve chronic aches have been known to cause allergic reactions in certain people.

As long as staff members communicate with each other about a resident’s health needs, these incidents can be avoided. However, when the facility does not have adequate documentation detailing a resident’s allergies or sufficient policies in place to ensure information sharing, the worst may come to pass. At Schwartz Injury Law, we are prepared to look into the nursing home on your behalf to understand who was responsible for the error.

Damages in a Personal Injury Claim

By filing a personal injury claim, you can recover a financial remedy for all of the damage done to your loved one. Typically, this includes compensation for any medical expenses, such as surgery, a visit to the emergency room, and physical therapy. However, your claim for compensation can also include non-economic damages such as emotional distress and unnecessary suffering. At Schwartz Injury Law, our lawyers can fight for your parent’s right to a full settlement, and we are prepared to take your case to trial and aggressively advocate on your behalf if needed.

If your parent has died as a result of an allergic reaction caused by improper administration of a medication, you can file a wrongful death claim to recover compensation for the cost of a funeral as well as your personal grief.

Gathering Evidence to Prove a Medicinal Error

One of the most important aspects of a personal injury claim is proving who was at fault. Without evidence of the nursing home’s negligence, your claim could be denied. The average person may not have the time, legal knowledge, or resources to carry out a full investigation into a nursing home in search of evidence. At Schwartz Injury Law, our lawyers can gather evidence for your claim, looking for proof of negligence.

If any video footage of the incident is available, it could strengthen your claim by showing when and where the accident took place. We might also cite a resident’s existing health records, demonstrating that the nursing home should have known about the allergy but failed to take preventative measures to avoid triggering a harmful reaction.

Is Understaffing an Excuse?

Understaffed nursing homes are a nationwide epidemic. At many of these facilities, there are too few employees to reasonably keep track of every resident’s individual healthcare needs. These same facilities may also attempt to cover up their staff shortages with inaccurate reporting about how many employees man each shift.

Understaffing is not a valid excuse for health complications caused by improper administration of medicine. At Schwartz Injury Law, we can compare a nursing home’s reported staff numbers with the facility’s daily operations to find any discrepancies and dishonesty. If we uncover any clear understaffing issues, we can cite that as evidence for your claim, fighting to hold the facility accountable for its reckless disregard for safety.

Why Health Plans Matter

Having detailed documentation about a resident’s health needs is critical for avoiding these kinds of incidents. During the intake process, nursing homes should make note of any existing allergies so that they know ahead of time not to administer certain drugs or treatments for a resident. If this step is skipped, or the facility’s recordkeeping is disorganized and inefficient, a resident could be left to suffer the consequences.

If your parent’s health plan was not followed by his or her nursing facility, our attorneys can make a fierce argument to hold the staff responsible for their negligence. We can refer to your parent’s individual health plan as evidence in your claim, noting the specific procedures that should have been in place for his or her care.

Meet With a Cook County, IL Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer Today

In older populations, any kind of allergic reaction can be a cause for concern. If your parent had an allergic reaction triggered by a medication that should never have been administered by the nursing home, our lawyers are ready to represent you in a personal injury claim.

At Schwartz Injury Law, our Chicago, IL nursing home injury attorneys can lend compassionate assistance to help you get justice, fighting for a fair remedy. Call us at 312-535-4625 for a free consultation.