Mother suspects someone is stealing stepfather's feeding formula

October 20, 2017 7:50 AM

Mother suspects someone is stealing stepfather's feeding formula

My stepfather had a brain aneurysm in june. He's been in a rehab/nursing home for a period of time and was taking to hospital for a fever and then returned. He has been tube feed and my mom is purchasing formula for him to make things cheaper and healthier. Since he's come back to the nursing home, the formula has been used up faster. Nothing has changed regarding how much he is supposed to be fed. My mom believes someone must be stealing bags of the formula over time.

My question is this: what are her options to find out? I've suggested putting a spy cam in the room. I'd much rather she has proof before accusations are made.

posted by blackmage to Law & Government (18 answers total)

Seems like it's pretty straightforward. The packages must have the contents listed? And there must be a certain allotment he is supposed to have per day? Can't she just meet with staff and find out if there is truly a descrepancy & find out why they think that is?
posted by Orange and gray at 8:02 AM on October 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

Has she brought it up to the rehab facility and to her husband's medical staff? If they know someone's paying attention and is angry about it, they will mention it to the whole staff and hopefully that alone will be enough to stop it. How much is missing? Could it be as simple as there spoilage/spillage? She should definitely start by talking to the rehab facility's administration and his direct care staff.

You don't mention what country you're in, so you'd want to check on local laws for spy cams.
posted by clone boulevard at 8:03 AM on October 20, 2017 [6 favorites]

Does the facility keep a log/record of your stepfathers feedings & how much he is fed? If they do that would make working out how much formula should be used in a time frame pretty simple & compelling evidence if there is a variance. Even if they don't if the meals are a standard size you should be able to calculate how much should have been used.You could approach them & say the bags hold x he gets fed y a day why is there this difference is usage.
posted by wwax at 8:03 AM on October 20, 2017

This seems like a pretty big jump from 'Formula is being used up faster' to 'SPYCAMS!' Ask the staff, they might just be messing up or unclear on his dosage requirements. There is a space between where you are now, and 'making accusations' and that step is asking what is up, and clarifying their practices.

Also, placing a spy cam in the room, depending on your jurisdiction, is at best murky territory, and likely illegal.
posted by furnace.heart at 8:04 AM on October 20, 2017 [2 favorites]

who is feeding your stepfather ? Are there records of how much was given and at what time ? (there should be medical records/logs of that, I'd start there.)
posted by k5.user at 8:07 AM on October 20, 2017

Response by poster: Update on info I forgot. This is in Michigan. I'll ask her the various questions.
posted by blackmage at 8:38 AM on October 20, 2017

Another possibility is a change in policy/implementation regarding hang times for feeds. Depending on the rate and the type of system, a bag may have a greater volume than can be infused during the maximum allowable hang time; therefore, potentially significant amounts of formula may be discarded each day.

Is his formula stored in a private area and/or clearly labeled? Another possibility is staff (probably innocently?) taking from his stash assuming it's facility-provided and could be used for anyone.
posted by charmcityblues at 8:43 AM on October 20, 2017 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks for all the ideas.

I do know there are steps in between.

Regarding variance, he is supposed to get 1 bag per feeding and there should've been 2 bags left this morning. There were none. I'll encourage her to do the various steps that are definitely legal, ie no cameras.

Thanks for all the answers/ideas
posted by blackmage at 8:47 AM on October 20, 2017

Something to keep an eye on: "this seems incorrect therefore someone is stealing from me" (versus "this seems incorrect and could make my husband sicker if there is a mistake, and if it's not that then I'll worry about what comes next") is paranoia.

Caretakers who are under a huge amount of stress can suffer from a number of semi-silent health problems or lack of self-care (like taking prescribed medications correctly) that might very well manifest in part as paranoia, and from experience I know it is hard as hell to tell the difference between normalish behavior for that person when she's really stressed and something being definitely wrong. Especially if you aren't there in person to see if there's other weirdness or physical symptoms.

It's just something to be mindful of. All it takes, especially in women, is a UTI or a pretty moderate amount of sustained sleep deprivation.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:04 AM on October 20, 2017 [9 favorites]

I wouldn't be surprised if someone was stealing them, actually. There was a scam going on in the last city where I worked where people who were prescribed nutritional supplements (like Ensure or Boost) would sell them back to the pharmacy for cash, who would then dispense them again to another patient, thereby increasing the delta between their cost and the insurance payments. That stuff's pricey and actually has street value, and a lot of people take the attitude that "the government's paying for it, so it's a victimless crime". There's also the possiblity that they're using it for other patients.

I would start by having a meeting with whoever's in charge of the clinical side of things and going through the records of his feeds. If it's notably off, I would ask them to come up with a plan to keep the formula secure. It's likely that just knowing someone is paying attention will improve things.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 10:14 AM on October 20, 2017 [4 favorites]

I wonder would your stepfather be eligible under any of the programs under your state’s protection and advocacy system? (I think this is Michigan’s- http://www.mpas.org/) You could call and see if this is a type of complaint that they would investigate, or record the complaint down to see if there is a pattern with this facility.
posted by inevitability at 10:20 AM on October 20, 2017

Response by poster: I'll look into the advocacy and I actually was wondering about potential paranoia due to stress causing her to jump to conclusions.

Thanks sooo much for all the suggestions and thoughts. This is the first time I've ask a question on metafilter in awhile or ever IIRC.
posted by blackmage at 10:52 AM on October 20, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm confused as to why she's buying tube feed formula if he's in a skilled nursing facility. Is she paying out of pocket? Usually we just use one of the formulas from the supply company for the building. Bringing in outside food is usually an 'add on', not a resident's primary food source.

She can ask to meet with the staff RD regarding his nutritional needs and what tf they would use.
posted by cobaltnine at 11:01 AM on October 20, 2017 [2 favorites]

I had a family member in a rehab facility in a similar situation and spillage was fairly common, both due to human error and an issue with a mismatch in the connections for the feeding tube, which was put in at a different hospital. Might be something worth checking -- I'm not sure it would add up to such a difference over time, but certainly a possibility.
posted by sparrow89 at 3:46 PM on October 20, 2017

I echo the suggestion to talk to the Nurtition Director, or the social worker if that’s an easier person to get to. (I’m a social worker at a skilled nursing facility.) I would be surprised if it were being stolen in that from my understanding different people have different formulas for feeding when using tubes. This isn’t the same thing as a nutritional supplement like Ensure that many people could take.

I’m very sorry that your family is dealing with all this. I hope there’s an innocent explanation.
posted by We'll all float on okay at 6:53 PM on October 20, 2017

Can she's label the bag with the date and time it should be used? It'll help keeping track, and may stop more innocent reasons that it disappears, and might dissuade stealing because they know someone's tracking it.
posted by kjs4 at 10:38 PM on October 20, 2017

I have always heard from people who have had family members in care situations that theft is common. Sometimes the thief is another patient, especially if mentally affected patients are present. Many are child-like and simply take anything "pretty". A friend could not provide enough throws (small lap blankets) to keep her mother's knees warm in her wheelchair. The throws just disappeared constantly.
posted by Cranberry at 1:06 AM on October 21, 2017

Is there an Ombudsman that you can get in touch with? This is a resident rights advocate. They advocate on behalf of the resident for just about anything. For advice, you can try the CARIE Line and more info at https://www.carie.org/
posted by PeaPod at 1:18 PM on October 25, 2017