---
title: "Antipsychotics, Benzodiazepines, and Memory Care: One Family’s Fight Over Dementia Sedation"
id: "kff-health-news-0-drugs-are-widely-used-to-sedate-dementia-patients-her-sons-wanted-to-keep-her"
canonical_url: "https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/kff-health-news-0-drugs-are-widely-used-to-sedate-dementia-patients-her-sons-wanted-to-keep-her"
content_type: "clinical_feed_article"
specialty: "Neurology"
source_name: "KFF Health News"
source_url: "https://kffhealthnews.org/aging/dementia-drugs-antipsychotic-dangers-memory-care-seniors-alzheimers-michigan/"
published_at: "2026-09-30T09:00:00.000Z"
evidence_level: "Verified Feed"
license: "CC-BY-NC-4.0 / Informational Use"
---
# Antipsychotics, Benzodiazepines, and Memory Care: One Family’s Fight Over Dementia Sedation
## Provenance & Clinical Metadata
- **Canonical URL:** https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/kff-health-news-0-drugs-are-widely-used-to-sedate-dementia-patients-her-sons-wanted-to-keep-her
- **Specialty:** [Neurology](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/neurology.md)
- **Primary Source:** KFF Health News
- **Source URL:** [Original Journal Publication](https://kffhealthnews.org/aging/dementia-drugs-antipsychotic-dangers-memory-care-seniors-alzheimers-michigan/)
- **Published At:** 2026-09-30T09:00:00.000Z
- **Evidence Rating:** Verified Feed
## Executive GIST (TL;DR)
- An 85-year-old woman, Marjorie Tingley, was living in memory care at Vista Grande Villa in Michigan; her adult sons disputed the facility’s efforts to sedate her with psychotropic drugs after incidents of agitation and aggression. - The family says Vista Grande repeatedly asked to medicate their mother and, after disagreements, called 911 and sent her to the emergency room multiple times; facility records show at least eight ER trips and a 30-day eviction notice. - The facility characterized recommended drugs as “routine medication”; the sons allege retaliatory ER transfers and wrongful eviction and have filed a lawsuit alleging negligence, emotional distress, and wrongful eviction. A negligence claim was dismissed; other claims remain pending with a trial possible next year if mediation fails. - Federal warnings and research: the FDA requires warnings that certain **antipsychotic** drugs increase the risk of death in older people with dementia-related psychosis; studies and reports estimate substantial and potentially inappropriate prescribing of antipsychotics and other brain‑altering drugs among Medicare beneficiaries with dementia. - National efforts: CMS launched the Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in 2012, which reduced antipsychotic use in nursing homes to some extent; inspector general reports and recent studies still identify alarming inappropriate use, especially in assisted living and memory care settings that are state‑regulated. - Clinical context: dementia damages brain regions governing impulse control and perception; aggressive behaviors often reflect fear, unmet needs, pain, or infection. Nonpharmacologic interventions are recommended where possible, though clinicians acknowledge that severe behaviors sometimes require medication. - In Tingley’s case, facility records show staff logged episodes of hitting, kicking, and wandering. The family requested infection testing (a recurrent cause of agitation); a UTI was later confirmed. The family consented to use of Ativan (lorazepam) as needed; records indicate other medications and prescribing by hospital clinicians or a nurse practitioner serving the facility. - Vista Grande later became a subsidiary of Otterbein SeniorLife; Otterbein is not named in the suit. The facility denies allegations. The family reports the resident died in January 2025 from plaque buildup consistent with Alzheimer’s disease. - Broader implications: assisted living and memory care often lack round‑the‑clock skilled medical care, are regulated by states, and serve large numbers of people with dementia; research shows variable prescribing patterns and continuing concerns about overreliance on sedating medications in long‑term care.
## Clinical Analysis & Structured Key Points
This website stores cookies on your computer to collect information about how you interact with our website. We use this information in order to improve and customize your browsing experience and for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media. To find out more about the cookies we use, see our **[Privacy Policy](https://khn.org/privacy-policy/)**. Accept [ Skip to main content ](https://kffhealthnews.org/aging/dementia-drugs-antipsychotic-dangers-memory-care-seniors-alzheimers-michigan/#main) The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news. [ ](https://kffhealthnews.org/) [Subscribe](https://kffhealthnews.org/email-signup/) [Follow Us](https://kffhealthnews.org/follow-us/) [Donate](https://www.kff.org/about-us/support-our-work/?utm_campaign=KHN?utm_campaign=KHN) Search Search for: [ ](https://kffhealthnews.org/) * [Trump 2.0](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/trump-administration/) Back * * * ## Trump 2.0 * [Agency Watch](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/agency-watch/) * [State Watch](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/state-watch/) * [Rural Health Payout](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/rural-health-payout/) * [Public Health](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/public-health/) Back * * * ## Public Health * [Vaccines](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/vaccines/) * [CDC & Disease](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/cdc/) * [Environmental Health](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/environmental-health/) [All Public Health](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/public-health/) * [Audio Reports](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/audio/) Back * * * ## Audio Reports * [What the Health?](https://kffhealthnews.org/podcast-series/what-the-health/) * [Healthcare Helpline](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/health-care-helpline/) * [KFF Health News Minute](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/listen-kff-health-news-minute-2026/) * [An Arm and a Leg](https://kffhealthnews.org/podcast-series/an-arm-and-a-leg/) * [Health Hub](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/health-hub/) * [HealthQ](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/healthq/) * [Silence in Sikeston](https://kffhealthnews.org/podcast-silence-in-sikeston/) * [Epidemic](https://kffhealthnews.org/podcast-series/epidemic/) [All Audio](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/audio/) * [Special Reports](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/investigation/) Back * * * ## Special Reports * [Bill Of The Month](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/bill-of-the-month/) * [Common Ground](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/common-ground/) * [Diagnosis: Debt](https://kffhealthnews.org/diagnosis-debt/) * [The Body Shops](https://kffhealthnews.org/the-body-shops/) * [Priced Out](https://kffhealthnews.org/priced-out/) * [Guns, Race, and Profit](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/guns-race-and-profit/) * [Broken Rehab](https://kffhealthnews.org/broken-rehab/) * [Dead Zone](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/dead-zone/) * [Denied](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/denied/) * [Opioid Settlement Tracking](https://kffhealthnews.org/opioid-settlements/) * [Eleven Minutes](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/eleven-minutes/) [All Special Reports](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/investigation/) * [More Topics](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics) Back * * * ## More Topics * [Elections](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/elections/) * [Healthcare Costs](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/health-care-costs/) * [Insurance](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/insurance/) * [Prescription Drugs](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/drugs/) * [Health Industry](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/health-industry/) * [Immigration](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/immigrants/) * [Reproductive Health](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/reproductive-health/) * [Technology](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/technology/) * [Rural Health](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/rural-health/) * [Race and Health](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/race-and-health/) * [Aging](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/aging/) * [Mental Health](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/mental-health/) * [Affordable Care Act](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/affordable-care-act/) * [Medicare](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/medicare/) * [Medicaid](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics/medicaid/) * [Children’s Health](https://kffhealthnews.org/tag/childrens-health/) [All Topics](https://kffhealthnews.org/topics) * * * * [Medicare Advantage Billing Probe](https://kffhealthnews.org/medicare/medicare-advantage-cms-elevance-crackdown-overcharging-payment/) * [School Vaccine Mandates](https://kffhealthnews.org/health-industry/ending-vaccine-mandates-schools-florida-joseph-ladapo-measles/) * [Weight Loss Drugs Coverage](https://kffhealthnews.org/health-industry/health-care-helpline-glp-1-zepbound-weight-loss-insurance-coverage/) * [Opioid Settlement Money](https://kffhealthnews.org/health-industry/opioid-settlement-money-harm-reduction-services-rural-kentucky/) * [Abortion Pill Access](https://kffhealthnews.org/courts/louisiana-fda-mifepristone-misoprostol-abortion-pills-mail-federal-court-case/) Search Search for: Drugs Are Widely Used To Sedate Dementia Patients. Her Sons Wanted To Keep Her Off Them. Share This Story * Republish this story * Copy link * Print * Email [ Memory Gaps ](https://kffhealthnews.org/series/memory-gaps/) # Drugs Are Widely Used To Sedate Dementia Patients. Her Sons Wanted To Keep Her Off Them. By [Jordan Rau](https://kffhealthnews.org/author/jordan-rau/) Sept. 30, 2026 Republish ![A senior woman with long white hair lovingly kisses her adult son on the side of his face.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/09/nov_2024.jpg) Mark Tingley was concerned about his mother being given an antipsychotic drug that the FDA warns carries an increased risk of death in older people with dementia-related psychosis. In a response to a pending lawsuit filed by Marjorie Tingley’s family alleging emotional abuse and wrongful eviction, the senior living facility where she was in memory care called the drugs she was given “routine medication.” (David Tingley) In December 2024, Marjorie Tingley’s adult sons received an urgent email from the dementia care unit at Vista Grande Villa, a Michigan senior living community. They were told that their 85-year-old mother was a major safety threat. [ ![Partner logo](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/07/npr-hi-res-logo.png?w=500) ](http://www.npr.org/sections/news/) This story also ran on [NPR](http://www.npr.org/sections/news/). It can be [republished for free](https://kffhealthnews.org/republish/aging/dementia-drugs-antipsychotic-dangers-memory-care-seniors-alzheimers-michigan/). On at least 10 days the previous month, Tingley had hit, kicked, or elbowed aides when they were trying to help change her briefs, get dressed, bathe, or go to the bathroom, according to Vista Grande behavior logs. Vista Grande wanted permission to sedate her. Into the new year, Tingley’s sons and Vista Grande fiercely wrangled over one of the most contentious topics in long-term care: the use of antipsychotic medications to pacify agitated people with dementia. The medications come with risks: The Food and Drug Administration requires pharmaceutical companies to warn that these potent drugs increase the chance of death in older people with Alzheimer’s and similar diseases. More than [5 million Medicare beneficiaries](https://www.dementiadatahub.org/reports/2021-report.html) have a diagnosis of dementia. Despite a 14-year campaign by the federal government to reduce the use of psychotropics, 1 in 4 Medicare beneficiaries with dementia are potentially inappropriately prescribed antipsychotics and other brain-altering medications that can cause delirium, falls, and hospitalizations, a [JAMA study](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2843713?guestAccessKey=af578da3-4974-4e5c-8dd9-27824278476d&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=011226) estimated. While some families and guardians agree that the benefits of these drugs outweigh the risks, those with misgivings confront a wrenching choice: consent to drugging loved ones or risk eviction from a long-term care facility. As the Tingleys alternately acquiesced to and resisted Vista Grande’s insistence on medication, administrators started calling 911 after altercations, according to ambulance and police dispatch records. Tingley was repeatedly taken to the emergency room for assessment, hospital records show. After four trips, Vista Grande gave Tingley a 30-day eviction notice, and it sent her to the hospital four more times while the family was arranging a new placement, medical records show. “I want her out of here,” a flustered administrator told an ambulance crew, one entry shows. ![A senior woman in a stretcher is loaded into an ambulance.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/09/ambulance.jpg)Marjorie Tingley was taken to an emergency room eight times after a series of incidents in which she exhibited aggressive behavior at her memory care facility, according to medical and facility records. A pending lawsuit by her family alleges Vista Grande Villa, the senior living center in Michigan, initiated the ER trips in retaliation for disagreements with the family about Tingley’s care. Vista Grande and its director have denied the allegations. (David Tingley) Tingley died at another facility in January 2025. The cause was plaque buildup in her brain, a [hallmark of Alzheimer’s](https://today.usc.edu/why-dementia-causing-plaques-become-trapped-in-the-brain/), a degenerative brain disease and the most common type of dementia. “They just wanted to have her drugged up,” David Tingley, one of her five sons, said about Vista Grande in an interview. “It’s a lot easier to take care of someone who’s just out of it.” Her sons’ lawsuit against Vista Grande and its director at the time accused them of negligence, causing emotional distress, and wrongful eviction. The suit also asserted Vista Grande initiated the ER trips in retaliation for the family’s disagreements about Tingley’s care. Vista Grande and its director have denied the allegations. Their attorneys and the director did not respond to requests for comment. In a legal filing, Vista Grande called the drugs recommended to the Tingleys “routine medication” and said it sent their mother to the hospital “because of her family’s refusal to allow Ms. Tingley to be treated on site.” A Michigan Circuit Court judge has dismissed the negligence claim on legal grounds. A trial is scheduled for early next year on the remainder of the lawsuit if mediation fails. Earlier this year, Vista Grande, which was a nonprofit, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Otterbein SeniorLife, which renamed it Otterbein Jackson SeniorLife Community. Otterbein is not named in the lawsuit, and representatives did not respond to requests for comment. **Dangers of Aggression** Diseases that cause dementia damage the parts of the brain that regulate impulse control and perception. Impaired people can become aggressive because of fear — especially when they no longer recognize their caregivers — or because they have no other way to communicate that they are in pain, are hungry, or have some other need. Altercations between agitated people with dementia and other residents or workers charged with caring for them are [disturbingly common](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2818241?utm_campaign=articlePDF&utm_medium=articlePDFlink&utm_source=articlePDF&utm_content=jamanetworkopen.2024.9668#google_vignette) in long-term care facilities and private homes. KFF Health News previously found that federal inspectors have cited nursing homes more often for [resident-to-resident abuse](https://kffhealthnews.org/health-industry/dementia-violence-assaults-nursing-homes-assisted-living-california-minnesota-virginia/) than for any other type of abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Those dangers are particularly true in the more than [6,000 assisted living facilities](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/npals/webtables/overview.htm#table4) that specialize in dementia care, usually in locked buildings or units populated by people with cognitive damage. These memory care facilities promise specially trained staff and meaningful activities for residents and usually charge more than standard assisted living. The long-term care industry’s reliance on tranquilizing medications has been a concern of Congress for half a century. A [1975 Senate report](https://www.aging.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/reports/rpt175.pdf) stated that “an ugly pattern of prescription drug misuse, with harsh consequences to patients, exists in many nursing homes of the United States.” ![Newsletter Icon](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/plugins/kff-shared/dist//images/newsletter-icon.png) #### Email Sign-Up Subscribe to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing. Your Email Address Sign Up **A National Campaign** In 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched its [Partnership to Improve Dementia Care](https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-announces-partnership-improve-dementia-care-nursing-homes) to target overprescribing. It has shown some success with reducing the use of antipsychotics, which the FDA has approved primarily for people with schizophrenia. Excluding those patients, antipsychotics were given to [1 in 7](https://www.cms.gov/files/document/data-report-national-partnership-improve-dementia-care-nursing-homes-antipsychotic-medication-use.pdf) nursing home residents in 2025. An inspector general [report released in March](https://oig.hhs.gov/reports/all/2026/nursing-homes-inappropriate-use-of-antipsychotic-drugs-poses-a-risk-to-residents/) identified “alarming instances of inappropriate use of antipsychotic drugs.” Nationally, nearly [half of the 1 million people](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/npals/webtables/overview.htm#table4) in assisted living facilities have Alzheimer’s or other diseases and conditions that cause dementia. Unlike nursing homes, assisted living facilities don’t provide skilled medical care around the clock, but they help people with fundamental activities like bathing and eating. States regulate them, not the federal government. A study published in 2023 in JAMDA, the journal of the society representing post-acute and long-term care medicine, found that, on average, assisted living residents with dementia [were prescribed an antipsychotic](https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610\(23\)00088-9/abstract#%20) for 13% of the time they lived there. Other researchers [looking at prescribing trends](https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jgs.18004) through 2017 concluded the federal campaign “did not appear to affect antipsychotic prescribing” in these residents. Lauren Gerlach, a geriatric psychiatrist and an associate professor at the University of Michigan Medical School, said there is evidence that aggressive behaviors are better addressed by non-medication interventions, like looking for underlying medical issues or heading off situations that typically upset the person. But, she said, “for some patients, these behaviors are so severe that medications will be required.” **A Steady Decline** The details of Marjorie Tingley’s time at Vista Grande — as alleged in documents filed in the lawsuit; records provided by the Tingleys and their lawyer, Ron Marienfeld; and interviews and emails with the family — provide an unusually intimate look into what can happen when families and caregivers clash over brain-altering drugs. A Detroit native, Tingley was a volunteer reading teacher in the Jackson, Michigan, public school system and worked in the general office. Later, she was a certified financial planner. Her sons said she was successful but made less money than she might have, because she didn’t direct investments to get the highest commissions. Instead, she did what she thought was best for clients. “She was just so honest,” David Tingley said. She was an active member of the Catholic Church. Her husband, Eugene, died in 2010. ![A senior woman is lying on her back in bed and looking up at the camera.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/09/jan_2025_1.jpg)Vista Grande Villa gave Marjorie Tingley an eviction notice after her sons resisted requests to sedate their mother with medications, medical records show. She died less than two weeks after moving to a new facility. (David Tingley) Around 2018, her sons noticed she was becoming forgetful, not taking her regular medications or recognizing aides they had hired. David and his brother Mark, who shared power of attorney, said in an interview that their mother’s memory deteriorated further after a head injury in a 2019 car collision. They hired caregivers to help at her home in Jackson, but by 2021, they decided she needed to be in a facility, choosing the assisted living unit at the nonprofit Vista Grande. In 2023, Vista Grande told them that their mother’s dementia had progressed and that she needed to go into the memory care unit or leave. Vista Grande’s memory care marketing materials said its “dedicated team creates an individual program of support for each resident” and “provides for the precise services you need.” David said they reluctantly agreed to the move but thought the quality of care was better in general assisted living, even though memory care cost more. Vista Grande charged Tingley $9,150 a month for memory care, her lease shows. **‘These Pills Have Side Effects’** Vista Grande first contacted the Tingleys in early December 2024 about behavioral incidents. According to facility records, Marjorie Tingley pushed an aide trying to help her use the bathroom and the aide almost fell. She yelled and kicked at staff trying to put on her shoes and socks. She wandered into another resident’s room and took a walker. The facility requested permission to medicate Tingley, but her sons said they first wanted her checked for a urinary tract infection, which they said had caused her agitation in the past. “These pills have side effects,” Mark said. “I thought, ‘Personally, I don’t want her to have that.’” Vista Grande collected the sample but didn’t ensure it was tested by a lab for more than a week, by which time the test had to be redone, according to facility and medical records. In mid-December, Vista Grande sent Tingley to Henry Ford Jackson Hospital for a mental health evaluation, at which psychiatrists could decide whether she required involuntary hospitalization. Doctors did not find that necessary, but they confirmed a urinary tract infection and she was given antibiotics. Vista Grande declared she could not return unless the family agreed to sedating medication, according to hospital records. In a court filing, Vista Grande said Tingley had become a “danger to herself and others.” Mark recalled feeling at the time that: “It’s like they’re holding her ransom unless I say she can have that pill.” **Medication Begins** The specific medications were prescribed either by hospital doctors or a nurse practitioner working for a medical group that serviced residents of Vista Grande and other long-term care facilities, medical records show. David said Vista Grande had encouraged the family to replace their mother’s longtime physician with that medical group. The lawsuit did not name the nurse, the medical group, or the hospital as defendants. Henry Ford Health declined to comment. The brothers allowed Vista Grande to give their mother the drug Ativan, the brand name [for lorazepam](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2023/017794s049lbl.pdf#page=14), as needed. Ativan is not an antipsychotic but a benzodiazepine that the FDA [has approved](https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/
## Related Clinical Research

- [Retinal changes on OCT may predict atrial fibrillation risk years earlier](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/medical-news-today-0-how-changes-in-the-eyes-may-help-spot-afib-risk-years-early.md)
- [Multi-organ imaging genetics: integrating brain–body links for neurological disease](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/nature-reviews-neurology-0-multi-organ-imaging-genetics-towards-an-integrated-view-of-brain-body-and-brain.md)
- [NeuroMark dFNC: Transferable Templates for Subject-Specific Dynamic Connectivity](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-6-neuromark-dfnc-transferable-dynamic-state-templates-for-subject-specific-and.md)
- [Safety of Stroboscopic Light Stimulation: Observational Evidence and Guidelines](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/plos-one-23-stroboscopic-light-stimulation-safety-within-and-beyond-laboratory-settings.md)
- [High-definition 0.75 Hz so-tDCS for older adults with SCD and sleep disturbance: randomized trial](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/plos-one-13-personalized-assessment-of-high-definition-slow-oscillatory-transcranial-direct.md)

## Navigation
- [← Back to Neurology Feed](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/neurology.md)
- [← All Clinical Specialties](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed.md)
## Medical & Regulatory Disclaimer

> [!CAUTION]
> MedicHelpline content is structured for research, educational, and professional discovery purposes. It does not constitute individual medical advice, clinical diagnosis, or treatment recommendations.
> Always verify dosing, contraindications, and regulatory alerts against official product labeling and primary regulatory sources before clinical decision-making.