A popular Chicago psychiatrist, Dr. Michael Reinstein, recently had his license suspended by the Illinois medical board due to his illegal prescribing of clozapine, an antipsychotic. He prescribed the dangerous drug to countless nursing home residents despite clear and irrefutable evidence that it could cause premature death in the elderly. Nursing home abuse lawyers at Pintas & Mullins highlight this case and how residents succumb to corrupt doctors.
According to investigative reports, Reinstein, who worked out of an office in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, gave clozapine to more than half of all his patients. Clozapine is a powerful antipsychotic drug, recommended for patients as a last resort. It can cause seizures, serious drops in white blood cells, heart wall inflammation, and death.
Reinstein received at least $350,000 in illegal payments from clozapine’s manufacturer – a fact that came to light after a joint investigation by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica, a non-profit advocacy group. After this investigation, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation stepped in, beginning a two-year legal fight.
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Reinstein has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in his practice, and is seeking an to stop his license suspension in Cook County Circuit Court. He claims that every clozapine prescription was medically necessary, despite immense payments from the drugs’ manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceuticals. Reinstein reportedly received $50,000 every year from Teva in a “consulting agreement.”
In addition to this annual agreement, Reinstein also received numerous gifts from Teva, including free travel to and from Miami, fishing trips, lavish dinners, a boat cruise, and many tickets to sporting events. He enjoyed these gifts from 2003 to about 2009, when the investigation began, and Reinstein, undoubtedly feeling the heat, asked the drug maker to stop payments.
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The legal battle is not looking promising for Reinstein. In March of this year, Teva agreed to pay a $27.6 million fine over claims that it paid Reinstein to prescribe the drugs. Another 2012 lawsuits against the disgraced doctor is currently pending in federal court regarding hundreds of thousands of false Medicare and Medicaid claims.
Nursing Home Deaths Tied to Clozapine
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In addition to his Uptown clinic, Reinstein also served as a psychiatric medical director at over a dozen local nursing homes; one year he issued more prescriptions for clozapine than all doctors in Texas combined. It is impossible to understate how much damage he single-handed caused in the lives and wellbeing of his patients. At least three patients died of clozapine intoxication while under his care, and countless others lost their quality of life from this powerful antipsychotic drug.
One of his victims was a 50-year-old man named Alvin Essary, who was a resident at Somerset Place nursing home when he died in 1999. According to his medical records, he had over five times the toxic level of clozapine in his blood at the time of his death. Consequently, Essary’s family sued Reinstein for his negligence, ultimately settling for about $85,000.
Another of Resinstein’s patients was just 27 when she died of medication intoxication. According to investigations, Reinstein increased the dosage for Wendy Cureton at twice the recommended pace, and combined the drug with a sedative despite clear medical warnings not to do so. After yet another dosage increase, Cureton collapsed and died.
Unfortunately, nursing homes often try to manage “difficult,” or “unruly” residents plagued by dementia with antipsychotic drugs like clozapine. This practice is known as chemically restraining the resident, and is illegal. Although this practice is
reported to be on the decline, it does still happen, and family members need to keep a watchful eye on their loved one to make sure they are not being over-medicated or given dangerous drugs.
We have handled many cases of serious injury and death in elderly residents wrongly prescribed to antipsychotic drugs. If you have any questions regarding nursing home abuse, neglect or mistreatment of any kind, contact our team of skilled nursing home injury lawyers. Our legal consultations are always free, confidential, and available to concerned families nationwide.
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