20 residents received incorrect medication at Vienna care home

ORF reported that 20 residents at a retirement home run by Vienna’s Häuser zum Leben were given incorrect medication over an extended period. The team leader of the home’s medical support team and the home’s director have been relieved of their duties.

A report outlining the facts has also been submitted to the public prosecutor’s office, according to a spokesperson cited by the Austrian Press Agency. The medication involved included the painkiller Seractil, which was administered twice a day instead of the three daily doses prescribed by a doctor.

Residents also received a different vitamin D product in drops rather than the prescribed product in tablet form. A medicine for an overactive bladder was not administered at all, contrary to the prescription. Other medicines were given at the wrong time of day, such as at midday instead of in the evening, while some medicines that had already been discontinued continued to be administered.

First case reported in March 2025

The first such case occurred in March 2025, the spokesperson said. A complaint was investigated at the time, but the measures taken proved insufficient. Existing control procedures were not followed, according to the organisation.

The irregularities came to light while the director of the Leopoldau home was absent. The deputy director was alerted to problems with medication and immediately ordered a review of medication provision.

Häuser zum Leben described the incident as a failure by staff and said further employment-related consequences would follow. It is not yet known how many employees were involved.

The residents are doing well. All residents of the home and the affected residents’ relatives have been informed. However, according to information from the Austrian Press Agency, residents were apparently only told about a change in the home’s management and were not given the reasons for it.

Laboratory tests are still pending for two residents to fully rule out health consequences.

External investigation under way

“The safety of our residents is our highest priority. This should never have happened,” said Christian Hennefeind, head of Häuser zum Leben. Peter Hacker, Vienna’s city councillor for health and president of the organisation’s supervisory body, called the incidents unacceptable.

An additional level of control was introduced at the Leopoldau home after the problems were identified. Häuser zum Leben said this would ensure that its medication-management quality procedures were followed again there, as in all its other homes.

The wider circumstances remain unclear. Two experts have begun an external review, and the responsible municipal department for social affairs, social and health law has also been involved.