Group Home Negligence Fecal Impaction

Key Takeaways

• Routine Medication Management Failure: Group home staff consistently failed to administer a physician-prescribed daily stool softener (Miralax) despite having multiple bottles available on-site.
• Severe Physical Complications: The facility’s systematic neglect caused the 22-year-old client to lose over 30 pounds and suffer recurrent, severe fecal impactions requiring multiple emergency hospitalizations and surgeries.
• Early Pre-Litigation Settlement: Recognizing the indefensible level of poor care provided to a vulnerable resident, the group home’s insurance company agreed to a favorable settlement at an early mediation.

Group Home Neglect

In this case, our twenty-two-year-old developmentally disabled client was in a group home near Orlando where he received assistance with his activities of daily living and was supposed to be administered medication order by his physician.  The client had recurrent constipation, so his doctor prescribed Miralax stool softener to be given daily for constipation and to prevent the client from becoming impacted with hard stool. Although the facility had multiple bottles of Miralax it obtained pursuant to the client’s orders, staff routinely failed to give the client the Miralax which resulted in him losing more than 30 pounds and suffering recurrent episodes of fecal impaction that necessitated multiple hospitalizations and surgical procedures. Thankfully, the group home’s insurance company recognized the poor care provided to the client and settled his case at an early mediation before the family was subjected to much litigation.