Michigan family and care home clash over sedating a woman with dementia

In December 2024, the sons of Marjorie Tingley, 85, received an urgent email from the dementia care unit at Vista Grande Villa, a Michigan senior living community, saying their mother was a major safety threat and asking permission to sedate her. 1 2 Facility behavior logs said she had hit, kicked or elbowed aides on at least 10 days in the previous month while they helped her with dressing, bathing and toileting. 1 2 The family and the facility disagreed over antipsychotic drugs, which the FDA requires to carry a warning of increased risk of death in older people with Alzheimer's and similar diseases. 1 2

Records show administrators called 911 after altercations and she was taken to the emergency room repeatedly; after four trips the facility issued a 30-day eviction notice and sent her to hospital four more times. 1 2 She died at another facility in January 2025, and the cause was plaque buildup in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer's. 2 Her sons sued Vista Grande and its then-director for negligence, emotional distress and wrongful eviction, alleging the hospital trips were retaliation. 1

Vista Grande and its director deny the allegations, calling the drugs "routine medication" and saying it sent her to hospital because of the family's refusal to allow on-site treatment. 2 1 A Michigan Circuit Court judge dismissed the negligence claim on legal grounds, and a trial on the rest is scheduled for early next year if mediation fails. 1 Nationally, a JAMA study estimated 1 in 4 Medicare beneficiaries with dementia are potentially inappropriately prescribed antipsychotics or similar drugs, despite a 14-year federal campaign to reduce use. 1 2

Geriatric psychiatrist Lauren Gerlach said non-drug approaches often work better but that "for some patients, these behaviors are so severe that medications will be required." 1