NPWT is a topical negative pressure, sub-atomospheric pressure dressing or vacuum sealing technique generally indicated for the management of wounds, burns, ulcers, flaps and graphs. NPWT apply negative pressure to the wound in order to remove fluids, including wound exudates, irrigation fluids and infectious materials. The system is thought to benefit wounds healing by removing wound fluid and dessicated tissue, decreasing the level of bacteria in the wound, improving blood flow in the wound and surrounding tissue, promote granulation tissue, and pulling the wound edges together and stimulating cell growth.

However, the FDA has received reports of six deaths and 77 injuries associated with NPWT systems over the past two years. Bleeding was the most serious complication, occurring in all six deaths and in 17 of the injuries. These complications can occur in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and at home.

Of the 83 reports to the FDA, 27 reports indicated worsening infection from original open infected wounds or from pieces of dressing that remained in the wound, and 32 reports noted injury from foam dressing pieces and foam sticking to tissues or clinging to the wound. Most of these patients required surgery, additional hospitalization, and antibiotics.

The agency is advising health care professionals to select patients for NPWT carefully, after reviewing the most recent device labeling and instructions. Risk factors and characteristics that should be considered before NPWT use include patients at high risk for bleeding and hemorrhage; patients on anticoagulants or platelet aggregation inhibitors; patients with infected blood vessels, infected wounds, exposed organs, or sharp edges in the wound (such as bone fragments); and patients with spinal cord injuries. A full list of risk factors and contraindications can be found on the FDA’s letter to healthcare practitioners.

Patients should be monitored frequently in an appropriate setting by a trained practitioner, and should be vigilant for potentially life-threatening complications, such as bleeding, and be prepared to take prompt action if they occur. Patients who use NPWT at home should receive adequate training from their health care provider on how to use the NPWT device; understand the possible complications that may be associated with using the NPWT device; get NPWT patient instructions their doctor, NPWT distributor, or the manufacturer’s Web site; and talk to their doctors if they do not feel capable of managing the NPWT device at home.

Consumers may report adverse reactions related to negative pressure wound therapy to FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Reporting Program.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › FDA warns of death, complications from type of wound therapy

WSLS began investigating reports of a crime at Waddell Nursing and Rehab facility earlier this week, after they learned Galax police were investigating multiple nursing home abuse claims at the facility. Initially, nursing home administrators told the reporter that there was evidence some residents’ rights had been violated. The TV station later learned that those violations involved pornographic images of the residents taken without their knowledge.

Police also have arrested former nursing home worker Sharon Walker. Both women were charged with two counts of “knowingly and intentionally videotaping or photographing a nonconsenting person who was 18 years of age or older when such person was nude or in the state of undress without the person’s permission.”

Crisan told WSLS reporter Lindsey Ward that nursing home facility staff questioned her about the photo she took using her cell phone, of the man in her care. She says she showed the photo to nursing home staff and they deleted it, and she was sent back to work.

Crisan told the reporter, “I want people to know that I did nothing wrong.”

The case is currently under investigation by the Galax Police Department.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Crisan says innocent in case of nude photos of nursing home residents

According to the WSLS report by Ashely Roberts, the Galax Police Chief says social services workers received an anonymous tip that led them to investigate the nursing home for what were described as pornographic images of residents.

Yesterday, 29-year-old Sharon Ann Walker was arrested on two counts of knowingly and intentionally videotaping or photographing a non-consenting person who was 18 years of age or older when such person was nude or in a state of undress without the person’s permission. Today, police announced a second arrest in the case, charging Livia Dawn Crisan of Galax with two identical counts. Crisan also was arrested Thursday.

Both women worked at the nursing home facility, and both were terminated.

WSLS reported nursing home administrator Jim Wooddell as saying no residents were physically abused, but did admit their rights were violated. He said the nursing home is cooperating with investigators.

In a bizarre twist, one of the arrested suspects, Livia Crisan, is a professional model with her own web site to promote her work, some of it scantily clad. In the police mug shot featured on the WSLS web site,  she is seen smiling.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Virginia women take nude photos of nursing home residents

According to police reports, the nursing home workers held down residents, put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their screams and cries for help, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” the residents. It was all done as some sort of sick on-the-job entertainment, according to coworkers’ reports.

The attack-for-thrills case has made headlines across the country and spurred the creation of an advocacy group for called Families Against Nursing Home Abuse. The group is made up of family members of victims. Jan Reshetar and Myrna Sorensen are the co-founders of the organization and have started their own blog, which can be found at FamiliesAgainstNursingHomeAbuse.Blogspot.com.

“It’s been over one year since we first got the phone call that Mom ‘may or may not be a victim of what may or may not be abuse,’” the daughter writes in her first entry, which tells the gripping story of how she copes with the realization that her mother was among those targeted by the nursing aides. “I question things now. I question what kind of world we live in. I question respect. I ask how we have lost respect for the people in their care; for each other.”

It is up to the judge to decide if the statements made by Broitzman’s coworkers can be used against her and if there is enough evidence to take the case to trial. Meanwhile, the families of the victims, such as the founder of Families Against Nursing Home Abuse, will fight for justice: “I think. I question. I wonder. I wish. I advocate. I pray. Tomorrow, I will pick up where I left off today. I will make the phone calls. I will write the letters. I will work for policy, procedure, training and laws that will help the elderly.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Judge to decide if nursing aide abuse case goes to trial

Based on interviews with patients and nursing home employees, the report states that the male resident touched female residents’ breasts, tried to kiss them and cussed loudly in the common areas. One aide said the alleged abuser would target women with cognitive disorders.

According to the report, the alleged abuse began in December and continued until early June, when the male resident was moved to an inpatient psychiatric unit. “Due to Administrative staff’s failures to implement policies and procedures for abuse, failure to recognize abuse, and failure to effectively manage facility resources, sexual abuse occurred for 10 residents,” the report states.

The simple fact that the nursing home did nothing to protect its residents is unfathomable, not to mention a direct violation of nursing home residents’ Bill of Rights, which states that residents are to “be free from mental and physical abuse.”

To condone such acts makes the home just as guilty as the abuser, if not more guilty for sitting by and allowing the abuse to happen. Yet, no criminal charges have been filed nor fines levied against the nursing home for its role in the abuse. Authorities say those measures should be handled by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and an investigation is underway.

Sources:
News Tribune
CBS 2 Chicago

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home did not stop resident’s sexual abuse

But no one was laughing when the reports went public and lit up news media across the country. Two aides now face at least 10 charges, and family members of residents who were victims to the crimes have come together to raise awareness of elder abuse and advocate for reform in long-term care facilities across the country. The group, which has held town hall meetings about the Albert Lea incident, is called Families Against Nursing Home Abuse.

The group is now gathering more supporters through social media. It has pages on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Some members have videos on YouTube, and one writes a blog.

“We’re trying to get the community involved,” says Jan Reshetar, co-founder of Families Against Nursing Home Abuse. “We’re trying to get the attention of our local people.”

Reshetar writes in her blog about her experiences as a family member of a victim of the horrible crime at Good Samaritan Society. “How I long for the days before that, when I was in total ignorant bliss, where I lived in a naïve world in which people took care of one another, and would not intentionally hurt anyone; especially someone so vulnerable as Mom,” she writes. She continues to say that the organization “is trying to get the community to understand that changes in policy procedure and law have to come or this is what we can expect all our last years on earth to be.”

Source: Albert Lea Tribune

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Families of nursing home abuse victims speak out using social media

CMS Acting Administrator Charlene Frizzera calls the revisions groundbreaking. “The improvements in the guidance are intended to support efforts underway to transform nursing homes into environments that are more like their homes through both environmental changes and resident-centered caregiving,” she was quoted saying in EmaxHealth.

The guidelines put much emphasis in making the nursing home environment much more homelike by no longer serving meals on institutional trays and eliminating noise from paging systems, alarms and large nursing stations. More focus will be put in individualizing care and building relationships with the residents. Residents will now have the right to make choices concerning their schedules such as daily walking, eating, bathing and bedtime.

The new guidance aims to be a roadmap for environmental and cultural change, and facilities are encouraged to be proactive in adopting the new guidelines. However, the guidance states: “many facilities cannot immediately make these types of changes, but it should be a goal for all facilities that have not yet made these types of changes to work toward them.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › New guidelines aim to improve nursing home care

June 15, 2009 has been designated as the 4th annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and will be celebrated by several hundred organizations and governmental bodies at international, national, regional, local, community and neighborhood levels in every continent in the world.

In Montgomery, Alabama, Jere L. Beasley, founding shareholder of Beasley Allen Law Firm, will speak at 10:30 a.m. at an Elder Abuse Rally at the Alabama State Capital. Beasley Allen Law Firm is one of the country’s leading firms involved in civil litigation on behalf of claimants, having represented hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom sought justice in cases of elder abuse.

For more information on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day or how to organize an event in your community, visit INPEA’s Web site and refer to the Community World Day Tool Kit.

Sources:
National Center on Elder Abuse
International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

The nursing home was cited for failing to have a comprehensive care plan for treating the patient’s broken leg, which resulted in an “infestation of maggots,” according to the inspection report. The man’s injury should have been treated every three days but the nursing home was only able to document weekly treatments.

In April 2008, just four months before the above-mentioned incident report, inspectors cited the home for a series of isolated events that it said put the health or safety of residents in immediate jeopardy. The nursing home was put on a watch list and given just one star out of five in the government’s five-star rating system to help consumers gauge the quality of care provided by nursing homes. The citations apparently did little to improve quality of care at the home.

Azalea Court is appealing, arguing that the home is cooperating fully with regulatory agencies. “Quality care is our highest priority,” reads a statement issued by the nursing home. “Government ratings are a valuable tool, but they’re no substitute for visiting a facility and meeting the staff.”

The $16,000 fine against Azalea Court is the largest fine waged against any health care provider or facility in Palm Beach County this year.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Maggots found crawling out of nursing home resident’s leg cast

The complaint, filed in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Ark., alleges defendants including Central Arkansas Nursing Centers, Inc., Nursing Consultants, Inc., Park Health Care, LLC, and Michael Morton, misrepresented the skill and number of its nursing staff in order to qualify for government funding. The complaint was filed in conjunction with Little Rock attorney Robert M. Sexton of Rainwater, Holt & Sexton, P.A.

According to the complaint, the Defendants held themselves out to the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) and the public at large as being properly staffed, supervised and equipped to meet patient needs with a skilled nursing, rehabilitative and medical support staff, in an effort to have government-funded patients placed at the nursing facility. However, the complaint alleges, the Defendants actually hired and retained unqualified and untrained nursing staff and was understaffed, and was unable to provide even the minimum standard of care to the weak and vulnerable residents.

As a result, Frank Mayweathers suffered emotional and physical trauma as his health deteriorated and he developed severe bedsores from the neglect.

“It is absolutely shameful that a facility with the responsibility to care for the most vulnerable people would put profits first and knowingly place their patients’ health in jeopardy,” Sawyer says. “Not to mention the humiliation Mr. Mayweathers endured as he was neglected and ignored.”

The complaint alleges medical malpractice, negligence, and violations of the Arkansas Long Term Care Residents’ Rights Statute.

Read the complaint.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Beasley Allen files complaint against Arkansas nursing home

Iowa Governor Chet Culver

Under the new law, nursing homes would no longer be fined for not having competent, licensed administrators or caregivers in their facilities; not having a qualified nurse on duty, or for understaffing at the facility, one of the leading contributors to resident neglect.

The few fines that can be imposed can be reduced by 35 percent if the nursing home agrees not to formally appeal the state’s findings. Financial penalties for intentionally killing or injuring residents will be doubled, though state regulators say such violations are unlikely.

A spokesman for the governor’s office said the bill was signed to “promote better care by encouraging nursing homes to develop pro-active quality assurance programs and allowing facilities to identify and correct problems right away.”

John Tapscott, an advocate for Iowa seniors said the new law “only proves that our legislative leaders and governor are willing to sell out the most vulnerable of our citizens – the sick and elderly residing in nursing homes – for a few thousand campaign dollars.” The bill was opposed by the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs and the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals.

The legislation was supported by the Iowa Healthcare Association, which last year made political contributions totaling nearly $90,000.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing homes that jeopardize safety no longer face fines in Iowa

The Inspector General’s Office of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services didn’t see the humor in the incidents and has requested Kentucky facilities to prevent the same such use of cell phones among staff.

Some residents were photographed only partially dressed or in compromising situations, such as walking into the bathroom. Others’ voices were recorded as they screamed or made other comments.

In once incident, a woman with Alzheimer’s disease was recorded saying, “I gotta do-do,” to indicate she needed to use the bathroom. The employee who recorded her reportedly played it back to at least 15 people standing at the nurse’s station. At least one staff member said the use of cell phones during the weekend night shift was “out of control.”

Reports of inappropriate cell phone use have sprung up in recent months. Last March, an Oklahoma nursing home employee was arrested after using his phone to videotape his abuse of residents. Last month in Tennessee, two nursing home workers were fired for using their cell phones inappropriately in the home.

A representative with Bluegrass said that all employees involved in the incident at the Kentucky home have been fired and that all 10,000 employees with Signature Healthcare, the company that owns Bluegrass, have been re-educated on the company’s cell phone policy. Those who use cell phones in a resident area are subject to immediate termination.

Source: Kentucky.com

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Kentucky investigators urge nursing homes to ban cell phones

Interviews with Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation Center in Lexington Kentucky staff including aides, licensed staff and housekeepers revealed that no one recognized the photos and recordings as abuse and as a result did not report the incident to management.

The nursing home received a Type A citation from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services for not enforcing its policy prohibiting staff members from having cell phones in resident-care areas. A Type A citation is the most serious citation a nursing home can receive. “The facility failed to have an effective system in place to ensure (that) residents were protected from abuse,” the citation said. “The facility’s failure placed residents in imminent danger.” The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services found residents to be in immediate jeopardy and imposed a $6,550 per day fine on the nursing home.

A spokesperson with Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation Center said the facility conducted an internal investigation and as a result fired several employees who participated in the activities. Management also said it is working with state and federal agencies to insure that residents are protected. The facility’s “foremost concern is the care and protection of its residents, and we have taken this matter very seriously.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home staff fired for taking inappropriate photos of residents

Bledsoe, founder of the watchdog group A Perfect Cause, returned to Albert Lea, Minnesota, to rally support for his efforts. Bledsoe has been to Albert Lea numerous times in response to news reports about the “abuse-for-thrills” case at Good Samaritan Society nursing home where two nursing aides have been charged with a linty of crimes including disorderly conduct, assault and criminal sexual abuse.

According to prosecutors, Brianna Broitzman and Ashton Larson held down residents, put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams for help, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” some residents. They told coworkers that they partook in the crimes for “work fun or to get a good laugh.”

Bledsoe explained the problem with the five-star reporting system by poring through Minnesota Department of Health reports, including one that was released last August in which the “abuse-for-thrills” case was reported by Good Samaritan. He said since nursing homes self report incidents of abuse and neglect and implement a plan of correction before the state Department of Health arrived, Good Samaritan received no deficiencies for the abuse.

Since the federal database tracks deficiencies at homes and not substantiated abuse cases, people who refer to the federal database have no way of seeing an accurate picture of the care a nursing home provides. Bledsoe is fighting to get substantiated abuse cases added to the federal database, and urged others to contact their state legislators, U.S. congressmen and senators.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Advocate wants federal nursing home database to include abuse cases

Nursing homes

Bedsores, also known as pressure ulcers, are often caused by unrelieved pressure to any part of the body. Though easily prevented by turning a patient every two hours, if left untreated, bedsores can be fatal.

Researchers pulled from two data sources – the national repository of the Minimum Data Set, a federally mandated report of health status, function and demographics on all nursing home residents; and the Oscar database system, which collects information on patients and nursing homes through the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The research included nursing home residents who were 65 years old and older and living in nursing homes in California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona or Colorado.

The study was led by Michael Gerardo, adjunct assistant professor of community health at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Co-authors included Joan Teno, M.D., professor of community health and medicine and end-of-life care expert, and Vincent Mor, chairman of the Department of Community Health. Mor also served as lead author for a 2007 study that suggested blacks were more likely to live in poor-quality nursing homes than whites.

The researchers concluded that more research was needed to determine the implications of their findings.

Source: Brown University

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Study: Hispanic nursing homes provide lower quality of care

Hidden video surveillance

The indictments follow the guilty plea of a third nursing aide, Jaclyn Dawn VanWinkle. Van Winkle was sentenced to 12 months in jail but will serve two years probation for agreeing to testify against other cases of criminal conduct at the nursing home.

Family members of Madison Manor resident Armeda Thomas became suspicious about her care and placed a hidden video camera in her room. The videotape showed a total of nine nursing assistants physically abusing the woman and failing to clean or feed her. Thomas’ family members moved her out of the home, and she later died from complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

Extendicare, the Wisconsin-based company that owns Madison Manor, fired the nine nursing assistants, made staff changes, and set up a retraining program for staff as a result of the videotape. “We do not condone this kind of behavior,” said a spokesperson for Extendicare.

Hidden video surveillance has led to convictions of numerous nursing home residents since the practice has been approved in select states. New York has used the practice throughout the state, which has led to the conviction of more than 25 nursing home employees.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Hidden cameras lead to nursing home abuse charges

The lawsuit claims that Skilled Healthcare Group issued a rule that Latinos must speak English only, even with other Spanish-speaking residents at the home, while on nursing home grounds, and during breaks. However, that rule was not enforced with individuals from other ethnic groups, such as Tagalog. The Latino workers also claimed they suffered from other forms of harassment from nursing home management.

The nursing home group disputed the allegations, saying it settled the lawsuit to avoid an expensive and time-consuming lawsuit.

One Latino nursing aide said a Spanish-speaking resident told her in Spanish that she needed to use the bathroom. When the aide responded in Spanish she was told by a supervisor that she would be disciplined and possibly fired if she continued to speak Spanish while at work.

The conscent decree requires Skilled Healthcare Group to divide $180,000 among 53 workers as well as offer them English classes. Upon completion of the classes, each worker will receive an additional $2,500. The nursing home group also will provide antidiscrimination training. The group was also instructed to hire a monitor to ensure the home complies with federal law.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home group must pay Latino workers in discrimination lawsuit

In January 2008, two employees at Radius Health Care Center in Quincy, Maine, saw their co-worker Elizabeth Landry, a 25-year-old nursing assistant, slapping a man on the head with an open hand, swearing at him and calling him and obscene name. She also reportedly pulled the man out of his wheelchair and threw him into a bed. The man was a stroke victim and used a wheelchair for mobility.

Landry said the man had struck her in the face with a menu, but the incident was enough to get her fired from Radius Health Care Center. The nursing home, as it is required, reported the incident to Maine’s Executive Office of Elder Affairs. A social worker informed the man’s stepdaughter of the alleged assault two days after it occurred.

Landry was charged with assault and battery on a disabled person over 60. She entered a plea agreement in the Plymouth District Court. Based on her previous military service and lack of criminal record, the judge gave what the man’s stepdaughter considered a lenient sentence. Landry was ordered to complete an anger-management course and to stay away from the man she abused. The case will be dismissed in one year if Landry manages to stay out of trouble.

Source: Patriot Ledger

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Woman disappointed in judge’s treatment of abusive nursing aide

Silver Lake Care Center

Investigators cited the nursing home in February saying it failed “to screen for, prevent, identify, report and investigate abuse.” Former director of nursing Terri Conley said she resigned from the home in January because the home was severely understaffed. “If you don’t have enough staff, the residents are not going to get the care they need,” she told the newspaper. “Families of the residents noticed and came to me asking why there wasn’t enough staff.”

Several families have filed suit against the home for neglect and wrongful death, and a caretaker at the home, Jason Pearl, was charged last month with abuse. He is currently in Washington County Jail awaiting a preliminary hearing scheduled for next month.

The nursing home is also facing a litany of financial woes. The Housing and Urban Development’s Public Affairs Office said that an FHA-insured mortgage at was in default, which prompted the home’s closing, and at least one staffing agency is reportedly suing the nursing home owner for nonpayment.

Eddie Martin of Sallisaw is listed as a part owner in the home. Martin also holds an interest in seven other homes in Oklahoma, three of which no longer receive Medicare and Medicaid dollars because of serious code violations. A fourth home is currently under order to clear up deficiencies by May 8 or lose its federal funding as well.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › OK nursing home closes amid allegations of abuse, neglect

Linda Darlene Carter was living at Hillcrest North nursing home where she was receiving care following an automobile accident during which she received multiple blunt force injuries. She was the passenger in a vehicle that collided with another automobile at an intersection, according to reports. She died at the nursing home on March 27, 2008. The medical examiner who reviewed the case said that Carter died of “dehydration due to inadequate care” following the accident and listed her death as a homicide.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the “suspicious” death of Carter and may turn the case over to the Knox County District Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s office would then decide whether to present the case to a grand jury for any criminal charges.

The lawsuit, alleging nursing home abuse and/or neglect, was filed by Cater’s son and daughter, Andrea Lawson and Anthony Cohoon, against Hillcrest Healthcare North and Hillcrest Healthcare LLC. Since the lawsuit was filed, the nursing home forged a partnership with Grace Health Care. Grace is not named in the lawsuit.

Hillcrest Healthcare President and CEO Carolyn Pointer referred comments to Grace Health Care, which declined commented based on lack of knowledge.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family of neglected woman sues nursing home for $35 million

According to police reports, a Hillcrest employee found Shaw sitting on the woman’s bed last month with blood on his face and hands. She was menstruating at the time of the alleged attack. Shaw had his shirt off and sweat pants down to his knees but his boxer shorts were on.

A warrant was issued for Shaw’s arrest, and two psychiatrists who interviewed Shaw testified he understood the charge and thus, Shaw was found competent to stand trial. However, the public defender representing Shaw said the ruling was surprising. “I am still trying to grasp, as a layman, how a psychotic is competent to stand trial,” he told the newspaper. If found guilty of the Class D felony, he faces six months to three years in jail.

Shaw was moved from Hillcrest Centre to Clark Memorial Hospital’s behavior health unit before being transferred to the Clark County Jail. Hillcrest Centre released a statement saying it provided a detailed report to the Indiana State Department of Public Health and that it would take measures to ensure all residents of the facility remain free of any abuse.

Family members of the victim are calling for the home to close down, and they are pursuing a lawsuit against the nursing home on their daughter’s behalf.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Schizophrenic man to stand trial in nursing home sexual abuse case

The meeting was his second since early last month, when he held a town hall meeting with an audience of more than 200 focusing on recent allegations of sexual abuse of residents at Castle Manor by a nursing home aide at the home. According to family members, it took days for the nursing home to file the sexual abuse claims with the Department of Health, and the accused abuser continued to work at the home for weeks after the initial complaint was made.

Concerned family members of one of the victims contacted Bledsoe, founder of the victims watchdog group A Perfect Cause, who has received much publicity for his efforts to fight elder care in nursing homes. He traveled to Hot Springs to conduct a town hall meeting last month and returned last week after receiving dozens of calls from family members of victims wanting advice on how to best seek justice.

One audience member last week asked Bledsoe if he planned to contact Castle Manor administration, which Bledsoe was quoted in the Rapid City Journal as replying, “I don’t make a practice to meet with administrators. By the time I am called, the time for talking is past, and it is time to take action.”

Bledsoe said he had talked with the Fall River County State’s Attorney about the case, but did not disclose the details of that conversation. But he urged those in the audience to join his fight. “Call your state and national representatives and senators,” Bledsoe was quoted in the newspaper. “We can address many things through advocacy, but I need more help.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Eldercare advocate rallies family members to fight for better care

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of family members of four people who died in the homes from dehydration, malnutrition and blood poisoning caused by neglected bed sores. The suit is also filed on behalf of a man who lost a testicle after being scalded during an act of abuse at the home. The suit cites “grossly substandard care, life-threatening care,” and negligence.

The nursing home group is also being sued for deceptive trade practices for promoting its nursing homes as providing quality care when, in fact, the homes have among the worst records in the state, according to the report.

The Health Care Availability Act requires all nursing homes be insured for $3 million each year with a cap of $500,000 per incident. In 2004, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment adopted a policy that allowed nursing homes to be self-insured provided they submit an affidavit stating that it has set aside $1 million for insurance claims.

However, investigators have found the affidavits are false and that the homes have no money set aside for any insurance claims. Attorneys for the families claim that the state did nothing to verify the affidavits were valid and that the nursing homes had set aside the money even though state law requires approval of self-insurance plans.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home chain accused of substandard, life-threatening care

The elderly nursing home resident lives in an Alzheimer’s unit at Champaign County Nursing Home in Urbana, Illinois. The nurse who is accused of attacking him had worked at the home for just a few weeks before the incident occurred. Two people at the nursing home witnessed the attack and called police. Though the victim didn’t require medical treatment, Hill was arrested and charged with aggravated battery to a senior citizen. It is a Class 3 felony, which carries a sentence of probation to two to five years in prison.

According to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, aggressive behavior is common among people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. According to the Foundation, “Disruptions commonly occur if a person with Alzheimer’s feels their personal space has been invaded, for example, during dressing, bathing, or a doctor’s appointment. It’s important to understand that someone with Alzheimer’s is more likely to misinterpret certain actions and respond aggressively.”

That said, those who care for individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia should be specifically trained on how to minimize aggression in patients and how to handle aggression when it occurs. For more on caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s who has become disruptive, see the alzinfo.org discussion at http://www.alzinfo.org/treatment/communicating/default.aspx#4.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home aides need training to handle dementia patient aggression

One report says that John Mitchell-Whiteford, the former manager at the Drey House Nursing Home in St. Neots, left a fallen resident on the floor for an hour and a half, stepping over her at one point while she lay there. He reportedly shouted at the resident and took a walking stick away from her even though she needed the stick for mobility.

The daughter of that victim, Carol Porter, claims her 90-year-old mother who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease was left unclean and freezing cold in a room with open windows. Porter referred to the home as a “war zone,” adding that the staff at the nursing home were negative and the facility was overrun with concerning incidents. Porter said her mother “looked as if she was fading away, she seemed malnourished.”

The allegations date back to 2002, when Mitchell-Whiteford was named clinical manager. He claims the complaints stem from employees who resisted actions to improve the quality of care at the nursing home. The mental health nurse faces charges brought by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Mitchell-Whiteford could be fired if found guilty of the actions. A hearing, which began late last month, has been scheduled to resume in September.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home manager faces claims of abuse, neglect

Caregivers of individuals who suffer from dementia and live at home should take precautionary measures to ensure their family member’s safety. This includes installing deadbolt or slide-bolt locks on exterior doors and limited access to potentially dangerous areas of the home. (Never lock a person with dementia in a home without supervision.)

Many nursing homes also take steps to keep patients suffering from cognitive disorders from wandering out of the home, such as keeping units locked and making sure residents prone to wander wear bracelets that trigger an alarm if they wander outside a safe area.

Even with such measures in place, some patients still manage to escape. Earlier this week the Chicago Tribune reported that an 81-year-old Illinois man who suffered from dementia was found dead on the side of a road after wandering out of his nursing home. He had slipped out a window.

And late last month we told you about an Ohio woman with dementia whose body was found 100 feet from the nursing home where she had wandered from earlier that evening.

For information on how to keep your family member safe, visit the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Wandering injuries, deaths a big concern for those with dementia

According to the investigation, only 20 minutes passed since a nursing home staff member saw the victim and the time of his death. An alarm also sounded when the man passed through a security door.

The resident who died suffered from dementia, a condition that often makes its victims prone to wandering. Many facilities who treat patients with cognitive disorders have security doors and alarms to alert staff when residents wander out of range.

Just last month we told you about a resident of a Massachusetts nursing home who died after the wheelchair she was in rolled down a flight of stairs. The woman had wandered off from the nursing home unnoticed. Family members argued nursing staff should have taken stronger measures to ensure her safety. She was not wearing the doctor-prescribed security bracelet that would sound an alarm if she wandered too close to the facility’s exit. Regardless, family members want to know why no one on staff even noticed her leaving. In that case, the parent company, Life Centers of America, which owns Life Care Center of Acton, was charged with manslaughter neglect of a long-term care facility resident. The company faces up to $6,000 in fines.

Sources:
Brenham Banner-Press

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home resident dies after fall down steps

“We were surprised by that,” says Claudia Hutton with the New York Health Department. “You call the police as soon as you realize someone is missing.” Federal regulations state that the facility must report persons who have been missing for more than 24 hours.

Constable was a resident of Lakeside Manor Home for Adults, a facility that allows residents to come and go as they please. Residents there must be able to function on their own at a basic level but may require assistance with some tasks.

A therapist discovered Constable was missing when Constable was not at the home for a regular therapy session. The police are actively searching for Constable. They won’t say what condition Constable suffers from; however, they do not believe he is in imminent danger.

People who live near the home have made several complaints saying the residents of the home are publicly drunk, urinate on lawns and litter the area with cigarette butts and trash. Many neighbors don’t blame the residents of the home, but the staff there for not keeping up the property.

“It’s the staff; they’re just nasty, miserable people. They don’t care,” says neighbor Anthony Caccamo.

A representative from the health department says the facility likely won’t face more than a citation.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Man wanders away from assisted living facility

Earlier this week the sisters were arrested and charged with a third-degree felony of one count of operating and/or maintaining an assisted living facility without a license. If convicted, the sisters each face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to All Headline News.

The arrests followed an investigation by law enforcement and Attorney General Bill McCollum’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The unit’s Patient Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (PANE) team also was involved in the investigation.

Earlier this year, the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration sent notices to each of the homes requiring the facilities to close. The women stand trial in the Judicial Curcuit Court on April 17th.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Assisted living facility owners, sisters arrested for cheating government

The daughter of Millie Slatten, who has cerebral palsy, was a resident at Hillcrest Centre for Health and Rehabilitation in Jeffersonville. Her condition left her unable to walk or talk. According to a probable cause affidavit, a staff member reported seeing a male patient sitting at the end of Slatten’s daughter’s bed with his pants down and his shirt off. The victim’s undergarments were also undone. The male patient suffers from schizophrenia and had expressed to staff members previously about his desire to be close to the victim.

The male patient is charged with sexual battery. A warrant is issued for his arrest. But that news is hardly comforting to family members of the victim, who is now living at home with her parents.

“I just don’t see how they could not see that man go in that room,” Slatten told WHAS-TV.

Hillcrest Centre released a statement saying that it provided a detailed report to the Indiana State Department of Health and that “appropriate measures continue to be taken by Hillcrest Centre to ensure all residents of the facility remain free of any abuse.”

Slatten says reporting the incident just isn’t enough. She wants the home closed, and she is filing a lawsuit against the home on her daughter’s behalf.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Rape victim’s family wants nursing home shut down

Iowa

Medical Director Dr. Melissa Bruhl said she recommended the change to the home’s administrator Dan Steen because she was having a difficult time finding relief for the 24-hour coverage. As a result, the arrangement increased Bruhl’s salary from $244,000 per year to about $319,000.

The nursing home’s human resources director said the change didn’t save the facility money or have an affect on the quality of care provided to its 720 residents. But some are questioning how Bruhl was able to make a decision that benefited her to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.

Bruhl says she is working with the human resources director to determine whether four staff medical doctors are needed on call, or if a better system would be that which is implemented by many nursing homes – to transport patients by ambulance to the hospital if medical care is required.

State lawmakers are questioning whether the governor’s office or the veterans commission played a role in the decision. Following a meeting with lawmakers, Bruhl said, “I guess I have to assume the decisions were made pretty much in-house.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Lawmakers question veterans home officials about schedules, salaries

The announcement was spurred by a recent state and Federal Center for Medicare-Medicaid Services inspection that found the center in violation of physician services, nursing services and medical records.

The inspection also raised questions about several patients whose weight had dropped dramatically. A spokesperson for the home says weight fluctuation among the elderly is not uncommon and oftentimes is unavoidable.

The state also claims a nurse did not keep proper medical records on a patient and didn’t notify the patient’s physician about problems with that patient’s health, which put that patient in immediate jeopardy.

Quality Care Health Center was ordered to put together a corrective action plan, which already has been approved by the state. The state will now perform another inspection of the facility. If no deficiencies are noted and the problems have in fact been addressed, the state will lift the suspension and Quality Care will be able to admit new residents. However, if the state inspection finds that action has not been taken to correct the problems that caused the admissions ban at the home by April 3, the Federal government will halt Medicare and Medicaid funds for residents.

“We are working with the state of Tennessee, as well as CMS to get this corrected immediately,” the nursing home spokesperson said to News Channel 5.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Tennessee nursing home cited, residents in immediate jeopardy

California nursing homes

Ombudsmen provide a valuable service to the elderly. Not only do they serve as advocates to nursing home residents, they also investigate and resolve complaints and make unannounced visits to nursing homes to ensure residents’ needs are being met. An estimated 40 percent of nursing home residents have no family or friends to visit with or advocate for them.

A spokesperson with Ombudsman Services of Northern California says mandatory reporting of incidents has dropped though the number of residents in the homes has increased – a formula which doesn’t make sense. The group is concerned that the 1,600 northern California nursing homes and assisted living facilities regularly serviced by the program will begin to see a rise in senior abuse.

Instead of visiting assisted living facilities once a month and nursing homes weekly, since the budget cuts ombudsmen visits have dropped to once a year for assisted living facilities and monthly for nursing homes.

According to the report, Assemblyman Dave Jones, (D) Sacramento, has co-authored legislation to restore ombudsman funding. That bill would direct money to the ombudsman programs from fines levied against care home operators who break the law.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › CA long-term care facilities suffer from cuts to ombudsman program

Warren’s daughter Linda Meldrum repeatedly warned nursing home staff about her mother’s propensity to wander. She felt her mother was finally safe in a home with a locked unit. But Friday evening something went terribly wrong.

Last Friday, Warren’s body was found on the side of the road just 100 feet west of the nursing home. She was rushed to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, where she died hours later. Police say Warren disabled the alarm on the door of her room and wandered up the home’s long driveway to Detroit Road, where she was struck by a vehicle that then left the scene.

Warren’s family wants justice and is filing suit against the nursing home for allowing Warren to escape, which resulted in her tragic death, according to The Chronicle-Telegram.

Good Samaritan, which has an 87.7 overall satisfaction by the Ohio Long Term Care Consumer Guide, released a statement stating, “Out of respect for the privacy of the resident and their family, we cannot share any further information, other than to note that all other residents of our health care center are safe.”

Meanwhile, police say they are “basically working with minimal evidence” in the case and hope someone comes forward soon with information about the hit-and-run.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family sues nursing home over resident’s hit-and-run death

Mentally ill people ages 22 to 64 make up 9 percent of the nation’s 1.4 million nursing home residents, a number that has climbed 6 percent since 2002. That increase is attributed to the closing of state mental institutions and a shortage of hospital psychiatric beds.

Allowing mentally ill patients, many with a history of aggression toward others, to live in nursing homes with the elderly has had tragic results. In 2003, a 23-year-old woman was accused of starting a fire in the nursing home where she lived, which killed 16 fellow residents. The woman was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to a mental institution.

Earlier this year, a 21-year-old nursing home resident diagnosed with bipolar disorder with aggression was charged with raping a 69-year-old resident. Seventy-seven-year-old nursing home resident Ivory Jackson died a brutal death when his mentally ill roommate – 30 years his junior – bashed his face in with a clock radio.

“Sadly, we’re seeing the tragic results of the failure of federal and state governments to provide appropriate treatment and housing for those with mental illnesses and to provide a safe environment for the frail elderly,” said Janet Wells, director of public policy for the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, to the Associated Press.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Mentally ill threaten safety of nursing home patients

The victim, 54, was a resident of Raintree Convalescent Hospital. He suffered from dementia and schizophrenia which caused him to have difficulty swallowing his food. When he moved into the home in June 2006, doctors ordered that he follow a soft diet and required supervision while he ate as he “stuffs his mouth with food.”

On Nov. 19, 2008, the man was given a lunch of spaghetti with two whole meatballs, tossed salad, roll, two cookies and milk. A certified nurse’s aide served the man in his room and then left him alone to eat. While the man ate, the meatballs became lodged in his throat. He walked out of his room and up to a nurse in the hallway. He was pale and unable to speak and then collapsed. Nurses performed the Heimlich maneuver but were unable to dislodge the food from the man’s throat. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed but the man died.

The cook and the nurse’s aide were fired for negligence and the nursing home conducted a dietary training for all nursing staff. Though new procedures were put in place, the home received a AA citation from the California Department of Public Health. AA citations are rare and are the most serious penalty a California nursing home can receive, according to the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home receives steepest penalty in resident’s death

“Improving the quality of care in nursing homes is a constant challenge. More transparency, better enforcement and improved staff training are needed, and this legislation works to make changes in those areas and improve the quality of life of nursing home residents and to empower the family members and loved ones of those residents,” Grassley said.

Grassley and Kohl also released a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled “Medicare and Medicaid Participating Facilities: CMS Needs to Reexamine Its Approach for Oversight of Health Care Facilities.” The report suggests that the survey and certification system is significantly under-funded relative to the scope of its oversight responsibilities, which have greatly expanded in recent years.

The report found that because of resource constraints, some facilities have been receiving inspections once every ten years rather than yearly. The Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act seeks to strengthen the federal government’s survey and certification system.

Grassley and Kohl have worked together previously to improve nursing home quality by heading up the government’s new five-star nursing home rating system and releasing the Special Focus Facility program participant list, which names the 135 worst nursing homes in the country.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Grassley, Kohl reintroduce legislation to improve care at nursing homes

The most shocking complaint involves a mentally disabled female resident. One worker says she had to force her way into that resident’s room because the door had been secured with a chair. When she entered, the worker says she saw Bautista-Meraz bent over the resident, who was partially dressed. The woman was bleeding from the vagina. Bautista-Meraz claimed he was cleaning the woman though he had no cleaning supplies with him. The nursing home countered the claim by saying it was not unusual for staff to secure the resident’s door with the chair, and that the bleeding was not uncommon in the resident as she suffered from abdominal cancer.

Other incidents include one resident claiming Bautista-Meraz ordered her to undress while he watched. Another says the aide grabbed her breast. And others say he was he was rough or handled them in a sexually suggestive manner. Bautista-Meraz has yet to be charged.

The home was cited by state inspectors in November 2006 for not reporting the allegations of abuse to the state Department of Health and not investigating the matters further. The home appealed the fine but Administrative Law Judge Jose Anglada upheld the decision saying the home “displayed indifference and disregard to resident care and safety.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Iowa nursing home fined for indifference to sexual abuse claims

Two daughters of one of the victims, Sharon Deboer and Gwendolyn Ketterer, say they became suspicious when their mother, who suffers from dementia, began acting unusual last year. In January, one of the sisters was contacted by another employee at the home, who told her that a male nursing assistant had been sexually molesting her mother. The sisters say they received no further notification from the nursing home about the incident even though a complaint had been filed with the Department of Health three days earlier. Worst of all, the man suspected of the assault continued to work at the home for weeks after the initial complaint was made. The sisters began to feel the home was trying to cover up the wrong-doing.

“It was just, everything changed. The whole atmosphere of the place changed that’s why we felt that and when my sister went to talk to an authority up there, everything was denied,” Ketterer told the newspaper.

Castle Manor Board President Rich Nelson says he has received other “minor” complaints and is aware of the three victims’ complaints. He says the nursing home took action and fired the nursing assistant following an investigation into the incident.

Castle Manor, which is operated by Fall River Health Services, is the only long-term care facility in Fall River County.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home fires CNA weeks after allegation of sexual assault

Had McCauley been wearing the doctor-prescribed bracelet that would sound an alarm and lock the doors if she wandered too close to the home’s exit, perhaps her story wouldn’t have ended so tragically. Attorney General Martha Coakley believes the home was negligent by not ensuring that McCauley was wearing the bracelet.

The home’s parent company, Life Care Centers of America, headquartered in Tennessee, is charged with manslaughter neglect of a long-term care facility resident. Trial began this week in Middlesex Superior Court, according to the Wicked Local. The company faces up to $6,000 in fines if found liable.

Life Care operates more than 200 facilities in 28 states and has been in the spotlight for erroneous practices in the past. In 2005, the company shelled out $2.5 million to resolve a Medicaid/Medicare fraud case. In 2007, the company paid an additional $164,000 for deficiencies directly related to deficient resident care that put resident’s in harms way.

Meantime, the Massachusetts legislature is considering a change in law that would increase the maximum fine for a corporation convicted of manslaughter from $1,000 to $250,000. If the law is passed, it would not apply retrospectively to McCauley’s case.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home corporation faces manslaughter charges

The bipartisan Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2009 “prevents nursing homes from deliberately hiding clauses within the fine print of contracts that force seniors to surrender their right to trial by jury and enter an unfair and one-sided mandatory binding arbitration process,” according to the American Association for Justice.

This is good news for the thousands of nursing home residents and their families, many of whom have already signed these one-sided agreements that leave them defenseless, like the family of Dean Cole.

In January, we told you about Cole, whose family had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home where Cole lived for just 22 days. During his short stay at Golden Living Center Greeley, Cole, who suffered from dementia and required assistance, stopped eating or taking medication and dropped an alarming 20 pounds. Even after his wife questioned nursing home staff about his weight loss, they told her Cole was fine. He was later admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with severe dehydration, renal failure, pneumonia and colitis. He died 10 days later.

Unfortunately, Cole’s family was made to sign a one-sided mandatory binding arbitration clause, which denied them the right to trail by jury. The case is still pending.

“The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act will make sure negligent nursing home corporations can be held accountable by our most vulnerable citizens,” said American Association for Justice President Les Weisbrod. “This bill will prevent nursing home corporations from unfairly preying on seniors and stripping away their legal rights. Arbitration should only be voluntarily, not hidden away in the fine print of contracts during our seniors’ greatest time of need.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Bill protects nursing home residents from signing arbitration clauses

Former nursing home worker Walter Small was arrested and charged with homicide in connection with Young’s death, and released Friday on a $5,000 bond. No court date has yet been set.

Young’s family has since filed lawsuits against Standifer Place in Chattanooga and the Tennessee Department of Human Services for “hiding the death and burial” of Young. The family is seeking $35 million against the nursing home for its involvement in Young’s wrongful death, and $900,000 against the Department of Human Services to compensate for negligence the family says the department showed following Young’s death.

County Medical Examiner Frank King says he did not perform an autopsy at the time of Young’s death because he was told the victim had fallen and fractured his skull as the result of a seizure.

The attorneys representing Young’s family also contend that Adult Protective Services, which had legal guardianship of Young, did not try to locate Young’s family when he was dying. Instead, the agency made arrangements to bury him in a pauper’s grave.

A spokesman for the state Department of Human Services has said that the department attempted to contact Young’s known relatives prior to his death, but to no avail.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Aide arrested for wrong death of nursing home patient

State Sen. Dan Kotowski

Sen. Kotowski says the basis of the bill is to ensure that problems at nursing homes get fixed. The Illinois Department of Public Health would be charged with overseeing the system and deciding if homes were using the refunded fines to remedy problems. If passed, Illinois would become the only state to refund nursing home fines.

“We really want to use the enforcement system to fix the problem,” said Terry Sullivan, a representative with the nursing home advocacy group Health Care Council of Illinois. “Why take funding away from the facility just when they need it?”

Wendy Meltzer, director of the Illinois Citizens for Better Care said the idea of refunding moneys paid by nursing homes that have been cited for abuse or neglect in “the rape or death of a resident is ‘morally repugnant,’” according to the news report.

The bill will also siphon funds from a special state fund that currently pays for Public Health employees to monitor troubled nursing homes and who take temporary control over troubled facilities.

Facing mounting opposition, Sen. Kotowski says he is willing to modify the legislation to please both sides for the greater good of those living in nursing homes.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Illinois nursing home advocates fight proposed bill to refund fines

The three staff members in charge of the 39-bed home that night had been enjoying a 7- to 15-minute smoke break when they entered the facility and heard the bell. They went to the men’s room and found the one man on the floor of the bathroom. The workers notified the Health Department. The man who fell died three days later at a hospital, though the incident report says “there is no evidence to conclude that the resident’s death was, or was not, related to the allegations of neglect,” according to The Canadian Press.

It remains in question when the man fell – whether it was before the workers went outside or while they were outside. It is also unclear whether the bell was rung while the staff was on smoke break, or if the call came only after they re-entered the building. The workers claim they were just outside the building in the courtyard and that they would have heard the bell from a nearby open window.

The Health Department report claims the bell could not be heard outdoors. The nursing home responded by issuing a memo to staff about not leaving residents unattended. The home also took disciplinary action against the employees, firing one for his role in the incident. The College of Registered Nurses held a professional misconduct investigation and issued a formal reprimand to a nurse in the unit.

A spokesman with the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly in Toronto said leaving residents unattended is very serious. “Even a 10-minute period can result in someone’s death if you have a serious situation.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Staffers leave nursing home residents unattended

DuPage County, Illinois

The freezing death of Sarah Wentworth has sent chills through the Itasca, Illinois, community where she lived – and subsequently died – at a nursing home. Wentworth suffered from dementia, which leaves its victims prone to wandering. She wore a band that would signal an alarm on the door if she wandered through it. Unfortunately, the nurses aide on duty the night Wentworth died was too caught up on a television show to pay attention to the alarm. Wentworth was left outdoors for five hours before she was found. By then it was too late and nursing home staff are being blamed for trying to cover up their negligence.

A state attorney wants to ensure more needless deaths like Wentworth’s don’t happen in nursing homes. He is urging the Illinois Department on Aging to establish an Elder Abuse Fatality Review Team to investigate claims of violence against elderly residents age 60 and older, including accessing previously restricted information such as nursing home records. The team would be made up of state attorneys, the sheriff, the county coroner, nursing home associations and senior citizen agencies.

A similar death review team was established last summer to review fatalities among senior citizens in domestic living situations. That team can investigate home care cases and retirement homes, but cannot investigate nursing home claims.

State approval for the Elder Abuse Fatality Review Team should come within the next few months. Team membership would be solicited shortly thereafter.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › State attorney hopes to form nursing home death review team

The man’s wife had had enough. She sought legal counsel and as a result, Elderberry Square is facing a $1 million lawsuit in the severe neglect and abuse of the man, according to Salem-News.

Falls among seniors pose a major medical problem. While many injuries from falls can be minor, others can result in major cuts and bruises, broken bones and head trauma. Some may lead to hospitalization, disability, the need for continuous skilled nursing care, or even premature death. Falls also can have psychological consequences, such as depression, isolation and a decline in physical function due to lack of activity.

This is not the first lawsuit of this nature that Elderberry Square has faced. Two years ago, a similar lawsuit was filed against the home involving an Alzheimer’s patient who was repeatedly left unattended. That patient fell numerous times over a two-week period and soon died as a result of a fall.

While an investigation into both cases by the Oregon Department of Human Services found the charges of neglect to be substantiated, a second review resulted in a reversal of the investigators’ conclusion. Attorneys plan to challenge the finding through an appeal.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Facility facing lawsuits for leaving patients unattended

The challenge is that both the 83-year-old assailant, Verne Gagne, and the 97-year-old victim, Helmut Gutmann, suffer from Alzheimer’s-related dementia. Not only can the disease dissolve memory, it also can make its victims agitated, anxious and aggressive.

According to family members, the two men had been in the lobby of Friendship Village nursing home’s memory loss unit near the nurse’s station when Gagne grabbed Gutmann and threw him to the floor. No one was present at the time and no one seems to know what caused the scuffle.

Family members said Gutmann didn’t remember how he hurt his hip, just that it hurt. He had surgery and was recovering until he stopped eating and died just shy of three weeks after the fall. The men had at least one other disagreement in the past, according to family members.

Gutmann’s family says they do not plan to press charges against Gagne but have questions as to the precautions the nursing home has in place to protect residents against such attacks. “It’s hard enough for people and families who are afflicted with Alzheimer’s. They shouldn’t also have to worry about physical vulnerabilities or the risk of harm,” says Gutmann’s daughter, Ruth Henning.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home resident, wrestler not likely to face charges in death case

The cost to refund the program would come from penalty accounts, or accounts paid into by nursing homes who have been fined for not complying with federal and state laws.

Feuer also introduced a bill that requires nursing homes to prominently post quality care ratings so that individuals seeking long term care for family members can make educated decisions on the care options available to them. The ratings are based on a federal five-star program that rates nursing homes based on health inspection results, staffing levels and quality measures.

A third bill introduced by Feuer seeks to establish the Reverse Mortgage Elder Protection Act of 2009, offering new rights for senior citizens considering reserve mortgages. Reverse mortgages are a special type of loan that gives homeowners access to their home’s equity in cash payments to supplement income. While reverse mortgages can be beneficial, they may not always be in the best interest for seniors. The bill establishes new guidelines between consumers and reverse mortgage salespeople in an effort to protect seniors from being taken advantage of.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › California lawmaker proposes bills to protect vulnerable seniors

Apparently the new rule slid under most radars, but the results have left those pursing lawsuits fighting a more difficult battle than before to prove their cases against nursing homes. The rule designates state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as federal employees, which helps prevent them from getting involved in private litigation without approval from the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Litigants now must jump through more hoops – like obtaining court orders – to get information that was once much easier to obtain, such as inspection reports. Those inspection reports can often reveal signs of abuse or neglect that the average person may not be aware of.

Proponents of the ruling say that it was necessary in order to hire new contractors to carry out activities like federal payments to providers, perform audits and oversee certification and surveys of nursing homes.

A representative from the American Health Care Association says the organization also is having difficulty getting details on how state inspectors determine penalties and citations. But, it seems, it’s the victims of potential abuse and neglect who will suffer the most.

According to a representative with the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Los Angeles, “This change hurts nursing-home residents and their families by allowing bad practices to be kept in secret by nursing homes and inspectors. … Government inspectors have the right to go into nursing homes and investigate, and they learn things that residents and families otherwise could never find out.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › New rule makes obtaining nursing home information more difficult

Now Maryland may be following suit. MSNBC reports that a bill is making its way through the house that would require nursing homes in Maryland to let people install cameras into patients rooms. The cameras would have to be purchased by the patients or their families and would not be allowed in bathrooms, according to the report.

According to the bill, the cameras could not be hidden, and a sign would hang on the door announcing that the room as being monitored. But even if staff is aware that a patient’s room is being monitored, it may serve as a deterrent against potential abuse and neglect.

The cameras would also give family members peace of mind, especially for those family members of patients who have lost the ability to speak, says Tyonja Bathgate, whose husband lives in a Maryland nursing home.

“He can no longer talk, so if something happens during the day, he can’t tell me any longer. If he wants a drink, he can’t call out,” she told MSNBC.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Maryland may allow video surveillance of nursing home rooms

Bedsores are one of the most serious problems facing people with disabilities or the elderly who are bed ridden, use a wheelchair for mobility, or are unable to change positions without help. They can develop quickly, progress rapidly and are often difficult to heal. They are often caused by sustained pressure on the body and usually happen in areas that aren’t well padded with muscle or fat, such as the spine, tailbone, shoulder blades, hips, heels and elbows.

An autopsy listed Gerhardt’s death as caused by complications from a hip fracture and that the manner of death was an accident. Despite the ruling, the attorney general’s office continued to investigate the case.

Last week, the owner of the nursing home was found guilty of felony abuse and neglect in Gerhardt’s death. The nursing home faces a possible $5,000 fine and could be stripped of its ability to receive federal payments for health care. Sentencing is schedule for March 13.

The family of Gerhardt filed a civil suit in 2006 against the nursing home. It was settled out of court.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home found guilty in death of man left on bedpan for 24 hours

Apparently an Arbor nursing home employee was so engrossed in the television program she was watching that she simply ignored the sound of the security alarm, according to MSNBC. When employees did finally see her body lying out in the bitter cold, they tried to cover up the fact that she had wandered away on their watch and froze to death. They brought her inside, covered her up, and told police she had died in her sleep.

But police were suspicious when they found the woman, still cold to the touch, in a hospital gown and lying on a gurney hooked up to an oxygen machine. Authorities quickly surmised that the staff never made the 3 a.m. bed check and ignored the door alarm. The woman’s daughters contend that gross neglect lead to their mother’s wrongful death. They filed suit against the nursing home just one week after their mother died.

Up to four female nursing home employees are expected to face criminal charges in the case.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Police: nursing home staff tried to cover up patient’s cause of death

Authorities began to investigate Kern Valley Healthcare District’s Lake Isabella facility in January 2007 after an ombudsman reported to the California Department of Public Health that a patient had been held down and given an injection by force. An investigation revealed that at least one patient was given injections of mood-altering drugs because she was biting, hitting and kicking others. She never regained consciousness. Another received an injection after arguing with the nursing director and stayed in a zombie-like state for a week.

The California Attorney General’s office says 22 patients were involved. All victims suffered from dementia. Three patients may have died from complications from the drugs and one other may have suffered injuries.

An investigation led to the arrests this week of director of nursing Gwen Hughes and pharmacist Debbi Gayle Hayes. Dr. Hoshang Pormir, a staff physician, is also facing charges for approving the medication requests without first examining the patients. Hughes and Hayes face eight felony charges of causing harm or death to an elder or dependant adult and two felony charges of assault with a deadly weapon through overmedication. Pormir faces eight felony charges of causing harm or death to an elder or dependent adult. If convicted, all three face up to 11 years in prison.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home staff arrested for administering mood-altering drugs

Robert’s 80-year-old mother, Emily Townsend, was a resident at Kettle Brook Care Center, a nursing home owned by iCare Management when she fell from her bed last January and was hospitalized. She returned to the nursing home but suffered a second, more serious fall that caused a break in her hip. She was once again hospitalized and died three days later. Robert’s lawsuit contends that the home was negligent in its care of his mother and contributed to her wrongful death.

Robert reportedly had complained to authorities both before and after his mother’s initial fall. He claimed that the nursing home staff had removed a bed alarm, a personal alarm and a walker – items ordered by her doctor.

Robert learned that while his mother was at the nursing home, it was operating under an unpublicized consent order from the Connecticut Department of Public Health. That consent was given after the home was reprimanded and fined $25,000 and was put on probation for two years after a survey found the home had seriously jeopardized the health, safety and welfare of residents there. The original order would have prohibited the home from admitting new residents. The consent allowed the nursing home to continue operating but hire an independent physician as a medical consultant and an independent nurse consultant. Other actions were also required such as setting a minimum staff ratio and complying with various quality measures to prevent accidents.

Robert’s suit seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Man files wrongful death lawsuit against nursing home

It was DeLeon’s job to make sure Palko’s care was paid for. Instead, she went on a shopping spree, even paying cash for a new car and using Palko’s vehicle as a trade-in. Within two years, Palko was left with just $47 in her bank account and more than $55,000 in nursing home fees.

Last February, DeLeon applied for medical assistance government benefits, which led to the investigation that uncovered the theft.

”In my 18 years on the bench, I’ve never seen one with such an exorbitant amount,” District Judge David Plachko told DeLeon at her arraignment on two felony theft counts and one of theft by failure to properly handle Palko’s finances and pay for her care. While this is the largest fleecing seen by authorities there, District Attorney James Goodman said, “unfortunately, we’re starting to see cases like this, with large amounts.”

Cases of financial abuse are not uncommon among the elderly. In January, we told you about Connie Gay Cole, who conned her grandparents out of nearly a half million dollars. And then there is the story of Larry Bekis, who swindled all the money from his mother’s account leaving her in debt to the nursing home where she lived.

Safe State, a program by the California Attorney General’s Office, offers these tips to help identify the signs of elder financial abuse. Those who suspect financial abuse of a loved one should contact police.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Another nursing home resident becomes a victim of financial abuse

Pressure sores, also known as bedsores or pressure ulcers, are areas of damaged skin and tissue that develop when sustained pressure – usually from a bed or wheelchair – cuts off circulation to parts of the body. The sores are most often found on the skin on the buttocks, hips and heels. Lack of adequate blood flow can cause tissue in the area to die. If left untreated, pressure sores can lead to serious or life threatening infections of the skin, muscle or bone.

Bledsoe urged a group of concerned citizens at a town hall meeting last week that vigilance and frequent visits can help prevent neglect.

Bledsoe’s advocacy group has continued to look out for the rights of nursing home residents. The group has lobbied for a stand-alone, long-term care facility in Oklahoma for sex offenders so they would not have to be admitted into other facilities. The group also has fought to have all allegations of abuse be reported to police for investigation, rather than just to state agencies that don’t always follow through with a formal investigation. The group also has helped garner attention for cases of abuse and neglect in nursing homes, most recently the “abuse-for-thrills” case at Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home advocate says to heed warning signs of neglect, abuse

Last April, a staff member at the nursing home noticed a bump on the victim’s head. The woman was sent to the hospital where doctors discovered a significant fracture to the woman’s cervical spine. Doctors suggested the fracture, which was at the C2 vertebrae near the base of the skull, was the result of a fall or trauma days earlier that possibly caused the woman to hyper-extend and injure her neck.

The victim’s family opted not to put her through surgery. She was placed in hospice care and died 10 days later. The Minnesota Department of Health filed a report on the incident and though it could not identify the cause of the injury or the party responsible, it did rule that maltreatment lead to the woman’s injury and death.

In a letter to the state Department of Health, the home’s director asked the state to reconsider the maltreatment ruling, saying that the incident was unfortunate but that there was no substantial evidence to identify the cause of the incident. The accident, the letter said, could have easily been caused by accident rather than neglect or abuse on the part of the home.

The Minnesota Department of Health is continuing its investigation into the matter and hopes to have a resolution soon.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Health dept rules maltreatment was cause of patient’s broken neck

This week in Framingham, Massachusetts, the Boston Herald reported that a former nursing home aide was charged with sexually molesting a 62-year-old woman at Sudbury Pines Extended Care who had recently suffered a stroke which had greatly limited her ability to speak.

Despite her condition, investigators were able to interview the woman. She was able to answer yes and no questions and point to various parts of her body. From that, investigators ascertained that nursing aide Kofi Agana reportedly walked into the room of the victim while she was awake and her roommate asleep, and closed the door nearly all the way. He then rubbed the woman’s breasts and pinned her arms down as he touched her genital area. Agana was accused of assaulting the nursing home resident. He pled not guilty and is being held on $500 bond. He also was fired from the facility where he had worked since August.

In the same week just states away, 2 News TV reported that a Nampa, Idaho, man was arrested for sexually assaulting a mentally disabled resident of an assisted living facility where he worked as a case worker.

The accused, Thomas Hamlin, was arrested and charged with sexual abuse or exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The victim is reportedly in her 50s. The name of the assisted living facility where the incident occurred is not known, though reports say the incident occurred within the past few months.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Sexual abuse reported at nursing homes, assisted living facilities

Gregory Logan chose instead to fight the charge.

Last week, Attorney General Martha Coakley cleared Gregory Logan of larceny, according to Wicked Local Braintree.

The announcement comes nearly three years after charges were initially filed against the men. All three were initially charged with taking more than $600, 000 of the $34 million in Medicare funds during that time while also failing to provide basic goods and services to the residents of their facilities. They also were accused of failing to remit deductions withheld from employees’ wages and for a company-sponsored retirement plan. The investigation also revealed that the facilities frequently experienced shortages of food, medicine, personal hygiene items and linens. Vendor bills often went unpaid which resulted in lapses of services such as pest control and medical waste pickups.

“There are two sides to every story. I was accused of stealing from the elderly, and I refused to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit,” Gregory Logan said to reporters.

In 2003, a judge put four of the homes into receivership and the fifth went into receivership a year later. Since then, two of the homes have closed and three were sold to other companies.

Now cleared of wrongdoing, Gregory Logan says he is distancing himself from his family and hopes to continue in health care management.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home founders’ grandson cleared of larceny

Which makes Wentworth’s death even more mind-boggling. She was found dead Feb. 5 outside in the nursing home’s courtyard wearing nothing but a hospital gown, according to the Chicago Tribune. Investigators say she must have been outside about 90 minutes before she was found. But that was plenty of time for the elderly woman to freeze to death.

Wentworth’s family is understandably distraught as they deal with the unfathomable way the elderly woman died. In an effort to find answers and justice, the family has filed a lawsuit alleging neglect and abuse on the part of The Arbor of Itasca nursing home.

Unfortunately, these sad cases of nursing home residents wandering outdoors and perishing in the cold, winter temperatures is not uncommon. In December we told you the story of a 95-year-old Missouri woman, Fannie Mae Rooks, who wandered outdoors in the early morning of Christmas eve. It was between 36 and 40 degrees outside and a light rain was falling. By the time she was found, it was too late. Investigators in that case believe the weather contributed to her death.

In both cases, no criminal charges have yet been filed, but Wentworth’s family members hope justice is served and their mother’s death vindicated.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Illinois woman freezes to death outside nursing home

Last fall, Thelma Bryant was a resident at Kane Glen Hazel nursing home in Pittsburgh when nursing home employees alerted officials that they had seen fellow employees on several occasions hit Bryant in the head, strike her in the chest with an elbow, throw oranges at her, stomp her feet and cuss at her. An investigation led to the arrests and firing of five employees.

Danielle Taylor, Shelly Keene and Karen Perry were charged with aggravated assault. Shalaya Hatten was charged with simple assault and neglect of a care-dependent person. And Mary Ann Bower was charged with summary harassment. Bower is the licensed practical nurse in charge of the nursing aides. Other nursing home staff members told officials they had seen Bower throw objects at Bryant and pour water over her head.

This week, charges were withdrawn against Taylor after the district attorney’s office said there wasn’t enough evidence to build a case against her. The court heard testimony from four other nursing home employees who witnessed the abuse those charged with the crime inflicted on Bryant. As a result Keene, Hatten and Perry will stand trail. Bower, the nursing supervisor, is still awaiting her preliminary hearing.

There is no explanation why Bryant was singled out by her abusers. Allegheny County executive Dan Onorato released a statement about the incident saying he was “incensed by the alleged actions by these five individuals…. We will absolutely not tolerate any level of disrespect, neglect or mistreatment of Kane Center residents.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Three to stand trail in Kane Glen Hazel abuse case

Lloyd was indicted earlier this week on eight charges, seven of which are felonies, by a New Castle County grand jury for financially exploiting and physically neglecting the man, who had suffered from strokes, partial paralysis and seizure disorder. He has since died from unrelated causes.

According to the report, police were asked to go to the home in September of 2007, after someone had reported a man was unattended in Lloyd’s home. The man was found unattended on the second floor of the home. The home had no electricity, was unkempt and was littered with dog feces. Adult Protective Services was called but did not remove the man from Lloyd’s care.

Seven months later the man was admitted to Christiana Hospital with four bedsores. He was later released back into Lloyd’s care, but at a different address. Six weeks later, a caseworker from Protective Services went to check on the man and found him alone in the dining room. He was lying on a hospital bed with no sheets and surrounded by debris and food on the floor around him. He was admitted back to the hospital and treated for bedsores. This time, Protective Services removed the man from Lloyd’s care.

An investigation also determined that Lloyd was still taking the man’s Social Security checks even after the man was taken from her care.

Police are now looking for Lloyd. Anyone with information of her whereabouts should contact Newark Police Detective Andrew Rubin at Andrew.Rubin@cj.state.de.us or call Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) TIP 3333.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Police look for woman accused of neglect, exploiting elderly man

The NDP reports were created by a union representing health-care workers. Those producing the report recorded each time one of the five facilities surveyed were short-staffed. Staffing levels at nursing homes in Alberta were reportedly as low as two aides per 79 residents. NPD alerted an assistant deputy minister of health last fall and recommended staffing levels be legislated at one aide per five residents.

A spokesperson for the health ministry says that efforts have been made to address the staffing shortages at area nursing homes, including increasing funding in each of the past three years so that nursing homes could hire more employees. Determining effective patient-to-staff ratios, he said, should be well thought out and allow for flexibility rather than be randomly selected.

Canada’s nursing shortage has been an issue for years, prompting a series about “Failed Cure” in The Star. According to the 2008 report, as many as 20,000 nurses were needed in Canada and 40 percent of the country’s 250,000 nurses were poised to retire within the next five years. That report showed Canadian nurses working 18 million hours of overtime each year – the equivalent of 10,000 full-time jobs.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Canadian nursing shortage leads to resident neglect

Three deaths that occurred in three weeks on the same floor of the 240-bed home for the developmentally disabled have raised the suspicions of Nebraska Advocacy Group. “This demands an immediate response, not a promise to do something in the future. They’ve had a history of un-kept promises,” Nebraska Advocacy Group litigation director Bruce Mason told the newspaper.

The group sent a letter last week to state leaders including Gov. Dave Heineman. They have yet to get an answer. In the letter, the group recommended that the state make arrangements to have residents treated at Omaha hospitals or by medical professionals.

The Gage County Attorney’s office is investigating the three deaths for any criminal wrongdoing. But the advocacy group wants the investigation to go further. The group wants to know a cause of death and establish liability in hopes of preventing more deaths in the future.

A U.S. Justice Department investigation revealed that about 200 cases of abuse and neglect have been reported at the Beatrice home since 2006. It concluded that the center had a “cultural undercurrent that betrays human decency at the most fundamental levels.”

The problems at the state-run home now put Nebraska in jeopardy of losing its certification and thus $29 million in federal funding. To keep the federal government from pulling the certification, the state appealed the feds decision. A ruling is expected this summer. Meantime, Gov. Heineman is proposing spending $17 million to improve problems areas at the center and get it back up to par so that keep the federal funds.

If the home loses its funding, state officials may role to shut the center down all together.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Advocacy group demands answers from state

The single-story building burned so quickly that it was entirely engulfed in flames by the time fire fighters arrived. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined but many are beginning to suspect the 45-year-old building’s poor infrastructure and the gross negligence of a nursing home manager, who had been fined several times prior to the fires for neglecting fire safety rules. For one, he was repeatedly told to install smoke detectors but never did. The home’s staff also reportedly left residents unattended at night.

Russia has been plagued with fire deaths in recent years. In 2008 alone, more than 15,000 people died in fires – five times more than in the U.S. And thus far in 2009, 2,000 Russians have perished in fires. Over the past two years, at least six Russian orphanages, nursing homes and schools have caught fire, killing more than 100 people.

The country is populated by numerous aging buildings with weakened infrastructures and outdated electrical systems, making the buildings unsafe. Inadequate and dysfunctional fire fighting equipment makes fighting the fires difficult. That paired with social issues such as high rates of smoking and alcohol abuse have only exasperated the problem, according to the story.

Critics say the government would rather focus on defense spending, security services and “showy displays of the country’s military,” according to the story. Perhaps the biggest problem, says Boris Nemtsov, a member of congress and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister, is the government’s indifference to its own people.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Russian nursing home fire kills 23, proves fire safety lax in country

The police launched an investigation at the home, interviewing everyone there who had contact with Asher. It was only then that the staff director admitted to wrong doing – she had burned him with hot water. That admission led to the arrest of Seijdra Eribo on suspicion of felony injury of a disabled person causing severe bodily injury, according to the report.

A spokesperson with Medical Case Management said the company performed a routine criminal background check on Eribo before she was hired in 2007. She began work at the home as a nursing aide. The company fired Eribo for not fully cooperating with the investigation.

The home has not received any disciplinary action by state regulators in the past, and doesn’t plan to make any changes in the future as the home, he said, followed followed state regulations. “It bothers us. It really bothers me if she did it,” said Robert Taylor, program director for Medical Case Management.

Asher’s family still cries when they think about the burns their son sustained while at the nursing home. “That house should not be open for business,” said Asher’s sister Katrina, to CBS11 TV.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing aide arrested for burning disabled man

Washburn was working as marketing and admissions coordinator at Montrose when she spotted a coworker chiding a resident who was in a wheelchair. The worker, who had been with the facility 11 years, called the resident pathetic, reducing the patient to tears. Washburn reported the incident to the nursing home administrator, David Payne, but days later when he didn’t take action, Washburn took the matter into her own hands, calling state authorities to report the incident.

After all, it is state law to report suspected abuse. The “mandatory-reporter” law, which states that it is a crime for employees not to report cases of suspected dependent-adult abuse, exists in 45 states.

Washburn went one step further. She talked to coworker Tammy Hopp and encouraged her to tell the inspector everything she saw during the incident of abuse. But when Hopp met with inspectors she did not fully disclose the details, choosing instead to protect her coworkers. As a result of Hopp’s testimony, the abuse was ruled unfounded. And shortly thereafter, Hopp was promoted and Washburn was sent packing.

Washburn’s firing was not based on her reporting the incident of abuse, contends Payne. He says she was let go because, by coercing Hopp, she interfered with a government investigation.

Hopp has since testified under oath that she downplayed the incident to state authorities. The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals has reopened the case.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home worker fired after reporting abuse

She also gave authorities a false name, for there was a warrant out for her arrest after she failed to appear in court two weeks ago on a charge of driving with a suspended license. She was also on probation after pleading guilty to a Jan. 6 marijuana possession charge.

Deputies placed Peay under arrest and charged her with two counts of neglect of a disabled person. They also arrested her for the outstanding warrants and for giving a false name to a law enforcement officers. She is being held in Manatee County jail on $12,120 bond.

The nursing home administrator said Peay had worked for the company for several years, but that she was fired over the incident. Residents of North West Care Center are routinely taken on field trips to sporting events or to the theater; however, employees must follow strict guidelines, such as never leaving a resident alone. As a safety measure, North West Care Center is conducting training sessions for all staff.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Caregiver leaves patients alone at ball game

Sloan gradually began to hear the truth. CNA Karen Buck had hit and slapped Talbott numerous times in the face causing a black eye and two other facial bruises after Talbott spit at her. Sloan contends that Buck caused her mother pain while putting stockings on her sore feet.

The executive director of Williamsburg Village, now known as Golden Living Center, issued a statement saying that the nursing home had reported the situation to authorities and that the incident had been fully investigated by the state, the ombudsman, the police and the attorney general’s office. The statement claimed, “After the investigations were concluded, the alleged abuse was not substantiated, and the prosecutor has declined to pursue the case.”

However the prosecutor’s office did charge Buck with felony battery resulting in bodily injury. Battery becomes a felony offense when the victim is, among other things, an endangered adult, as was Talbott, who moved into the nursing home after suffering a stroke.

Talbott died less than three months later. Attorneys hired to represent Talbott’s estate claim that the brutal and savage assault and beating Talbott suffered at the hands of Buck, and the nursing home’s negligence, resulted in serious complications that ultimately led to Talbott’s wrongful death.

Golden Living Center has a four-star rating by the federal government, which his based on inspections, staffing levels and quality measurements.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › CNA punches, slaps nursing home patient in face

Broitzman and Larson are charged with abusing seven nursing home residents at the Good Samaritan Society. As many as 15 residents were abused and each had a previous diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease. A total of six aides were charged in the crime, but only Broitzman and Larson were charged as adults, as the other aides were juveniles when the crimes occurred.

Broitzman is charged with 11 gross misdemeanors and Larson faces 10 for fifth-degree assault, physical and sexual abuse of vulnerable adults, disorderly conduct by a caregiver and failing to report suspected abuse, according to the Star Tribune/Associated Press. The abuse involved aides allegedly holding down residents, putting their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams, hitting and rubbing their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humping” some residents. A coworker said the aides called the abuse “work fun or to get a good laugh.”

Among the four juveniles charged, one pleaded guilty to failing to report the alleged abuse and three others pleaded not guilty.

Because the crimes Broitzman and Larson are charged with are considered gross misdemeanors, the aides will likely face suspended jail sentences and probation.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Albert Lea abusers meet with judge, enter pleas

Connie’s grandparents, James and Anne Morgan, had saved nearly $500,000 for their care as they aged. The two moved into a retirement community in 2005 and had turned over power of attorney to their granddaughter. Anne suffered from dementia, and James, who had received a brain injury a few years earlier, was kept heavily medicated by his granddaughter. Connie charged her grandparents $7,000 per month to care for them, though other family members said that care was less than adequate.

During that time Connie had squandered her grandparents’ money away on cars, boats and gambling trips, often lying to her grandparents to get more money. As the funds in their bank accounts began to dwindle, family members began to get suspicious. They moved the Morgans into an assisted living facility, where their social security checks and the state could pay for their care. And they alerted police. When investigators talked with James and Anne, the Morgans defended their granddaughter. But the paper trail was already laid. Connie is now serving time in jail for embezzlement.

The Morgans are just one example of how the elderly are taken advantage of by friends, family and even strangers. Bryan Brock, a deputy district attorney in Clackamas County, says he has seen a dramatic rise in financial abuse among the elderly. Five years ago he used to see only two cases of a year. Now he sees about a dozen per year.

Families of the elderly who suspect financial abuse are advised to contact police with their concerns.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Woman jailed for embezzling from grandparents

The assistant attorney general accused the men of taking more than $600,000 of the $34 million in Medicare funds during that time while also failing to provide basic goods and services to residents of their facilities. Both pleaded guilty in July to misappropriating Medicaid funds, conspiracy, larceny, embezzlement and patient neglect. They were put on a five-year probation and were ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution.

Charges were filed after a three-year investigation which also revealed that the Logan facilities frequently experienced shortages of food, medicine, personal hygiene items and linens. Vendor bills often went unpaid, which resulted in lapses of services such as pest control and medical waste pick-ups.

The Logans also are accused of failure to remit about $55,000 in deductions withheld from employees’ wages for a company-sponsored 401(k) plan. They also are charged with failure to remit more than $22,000 in employee wage withholdings for short-term disability policies and individual life insurance policies.

Gregory Logan’s grandparents Samuel and Florence Logan founded the nursing home operation. The family once owned and operated one of the largest and oldest nursing home operations in the region. In 2003, a judge put four of the homes into receivership, and the fifth home went into receivership in 2004. The order was spurred by mismanagement of the homes. Since then, two of the homes have closed and three were sold to other companies.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Owner of nursing homes faces larceny, conspiracy charges

The members of the group share a terrible connection – each had a family member who was abused by a group of nursing aides at Good Samaritan Society in Albert Lea. The victims were all cognitively impaired and were subjected to abuse that included being held down, having aides’ fingers and hands over their mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams, having their breasts and genitals rubbed and hit, and being sexually “humped” by nursing aides. A coworker who told investigators she was aware of the heinous acts said the nursing aides called the abuse “work fun or to get a good laugh.”

The group’s members were first brought together when watchdog group A Perfect Cause founder Wes Bledsoe came to Albert Lea last month to talk with family members. Bledsoe has since been called on again by the group, which spurred a second trip by the activist.

Six aides have been charged in the crime. Two of the aides – 19-year-old Brianna Broitzman and 18-year-old Ashton Larson – are charged as adults and face various charges including assault, abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, and abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact. Members of the group are outraged that the charges the two aides face are considered gross misdemeanors, and the aides will likely face suspended jail sentences and probation. The group is gathering documentation for Bledsoe in hopes he can help in the fight for justice for the victims of the Albert Lea case.

Broitzman and Larson have arraignments scheduled for later this week.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Albert Lea victims family members form support group

The town of Albert Lea was rocked last year when an investigation revealed that six nursing home aides at Good Samaritan Society were charged in connection to disturbing cases of abuse on patients who suffered from diseases that affect memory and cognition. A coworker told authorities that she had seen the aides holding down residents, putting their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams for help, hitting and rubbing their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humping” some residents. The coworker said the aides called the abuse “work fun or to get a good laugh.”

Two of the aides – 19-year-old Brianna Broitzman and 18-year-old Ashton Larson – were charged as adults and face various charges including assault, abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, and abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact.

Bledsoe held a press conference and town hall meeting last month in Albert Lea. He says his return visit this week is in response to several family members of victims who have contacting him asking for guidance.

A Perfect Cause is a victim’s advocacy organization that fights “to end needless suffering and preventable deaths while protecting the rights of citizens from corporate greed and negligence.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Watchdog group founder plans second visit to Albert Lea

Last week, Riems entered an Alford plea to four counts of sexual battery and one count of gross sexual imposition. According to AP, an Alford plea is one in which the defendant does not plead guilty but does admit there is enough evidence against him for a conviction. Riems was sentenced Friday to 12 ½ years in prison.

According to earlier reports from Fox News/AP, Riems was accused of raping and assaulting a paralyzed patient. Coworkers reportedly complained nursing home management that he had a temper and had verbally abused patients. One former coworker of Riems said she saw him go into patients’ rooms for long periods of time. When questioned what he was doing in the rooms for so long, he would say “This is none of your business,” according to Fox News/AP.

Riems was videotaped last year admitting that he had abused about 100 patients at nursing homes since the 1980s. His attorney argued that the testimony was coerced and fought to keep the videotape out of trial. The judge ordered that the tape would be allowed in court, which led to Riems’ plea agreement just days before he was to stand trial.

The sentencing offers some closure for the heartbroken family members of the victims. ”I don’t think that anyone knows the hurt and the anger that I am holding for you,” AP reported Bilgen saying to Riems during the sentencing hearing. “It’s something that I will never forgive you for.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Ohio man sentenced for sexual abuse of nursing home patients

Bixby police arrested Marshall and charged him with making a lewd proposal and sexual battery. He was transported to Tulsa jail where he was held on $27,000 bond. He was released Saturday.

“There might be nothing to this, but we felt the authorities must make that call,” said Scott Pilgrim, the nursing home owner. “Because our resident safety and well being is what we stand for, we took this action.”

Cases of nursing home abuse and neglect are not uncommon. In Oklahoma alone, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services recorded 160 referrals of abuse, neglect or exploitation. Forty-four – or 70 cases – were verified by caseworkers, according to a related story on Tulsa television station Fox23.

Wes Bledsoe with the advocacy group A Perfect Cause who spoke with a reporter about the case says that the nurse who walked in on Marshall did the right thing, adding that all cases of suspected of abuse or neglect of nursing home patients should be immediately reported to law enforcement and the state Department of Health.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Oklahoma man accused of sexually abusing nursing home patient

If Winchester Centre loses its contract, the home will stop receiving Medicare and Medicaid payments from the federal government and will no longer be certified to care for patients receiving those services. In that event, patients at the home would then be transferred to certified nursing homes, which may result in the closing of Winchester Centre. Officials say they are unsure what will happen to Winchester Centre and that other options besides closing are available, such as bringing in a new group of professionals to run the nursing home and incurring daily fines until specific citations are resolved.

Currently, 166 patients reside in the 183-bed facility. The home offers skilled nursing and rehabilitative care as well as a special unit for patients with dementia. Central Kentucky already has lost 400 Medicaid beds for nursing home patients, said Gannoe. “It’s a disaster for Central Kentucky,” she says.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Kentucky nursing home facing most serious citation

The product, sold by the King Nut Co., of Solon, Ohio, under the brand names King Nut and Parnell’s Pride, are sold primarily to institutions such as nursing homes, hospitals and schools, or as one health official pointed out in the story, “This product could be in institutions with some pretty vulnerable populations, people who are ill and children.”

King Nut Co., voluntarily asked customers to stop selling the peanut butter, and its distributors are pulling tubs from cafeterias.

Salmonella is a bacteria usually found in poultry, eggs and meat, but also can grow in uncooked processed foods. Salmonella attacks the stomach and intestines, causing diarrhea or constipation, nausea, headaches, fever and vomiting. It is most often spread by improper disinfecting in food preparation. In 2007, an outbreak of salmonella that sickened more than 300 people was linked to Peter Pan brand peanut butter.

Federal health officials say the contamination could have occurred during the manufacturing process or from one of the ingredients. They continue to pinpoint the source of the bacteria, according to the report.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Salmonella outbreak linked to death of nursing home resident

The AARP and trial lawyers say that the nursing home industry is simply trying to protect itself at a time when reports of violations at nursing homes are running rampant in the media. The opposition already has caused the powerful nursing home industry to revamp its “The Nursing Home Patient Protection Act of 2008” proposal, raising its proposed cap from $300,000 to $500,000. The lobby group also removed language opposed by AARP that would have allowed nursing homes to require their patients to sign arbitration agreements to prevent lawsuits and to require nursing home suits to have the same legal restrictions as medical malpractice claims.

According to a study conducted by the nursing home industry, Tennessee nursing homes paid nearly $5,000 on average per patient on liability costs, whereas states that had tort reform paid about a quarter of that on average per patient. A nursing home representative said that the mounting costs paid by nursing homes to defend lawsuits eats into profits that could be invested to improve patient care.

Tennessee Rep. Mike Turner, a firefighter who fought the 2003 Tennessee nursing home fire that killed 16 people, says the caps would open the door for more negligence. “These are our most vulnerable people and they earned the right to be treated with dignity in their old age,” Turner said to the paper. “I just think by capping it, we’ve done a disservice to them.”

The nursing home industry and trial lawyers have agreed to meet later this week to discuss a reasonable compromise.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Tennessee nursing homes lobby for caps on damage claims

Rose of Sharon nursing home pressured Larry to pay his mother’s bill. He promised to sell her house, but instead took out the loan. And still, the bill was left unpaid. The nursing home contacted the county’s adult protection department which found that Larry had been pocketing his mother’s social security and pension checks, totaling $3,000 per month. Reports also show that Larry drained nearly $11,000 from his mother’s checking account, leaving her with a balance of just $86.

Larry told police he was using the money from the sale of his mother’s house to carry out her wishes. He paid utilities and medical bills, paid his son’s mortgage, and gave another $10,000 to $20,000 to his nephew. But none of the money went to pay for his mother’s care.

Larry was accused of intentionally exploiting his mother, though he claimed he was simply just poor at managing money. He was charged in Ramsey County District Court last week with theft by swindle.

The county began paying for Nora’s hospice care last spring, according to reports.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home resident’s son charged with theft by swindle

The study, conducted by the University of Iowa, surveyed more than1,000 nursing home social workers. The results were shocking. Only half of the nursing home social workers questioned had a degree in social work, and 20 percent reported not having a four-year degree at all. The study also found that only 38 percent are licensed in social work.

Nursing homes with 120 beds or more are required to employ a social worker. Often times those nursing homes employ just one social worker, making it difficult for that social worker to devote adequate time for each patient.

Qualifications for social workers also vary from state to state, according to the study. Some states do not address qualifications for nursing home social workers, and others do not appear to comply with federal standards. Twenty-one states require a social work degree, and most others require a four-year degree, but not in social work, according to the report.

Social workers in some areas earn as little as $15,000 per year, whereas social workers in other areas earn more than $60,000 per year.

Mercedes Bern-Klung, the study’s leader says standardizing nursing home social worker qualifications is necessary for social workers to do their jobs properly and effectively.

Results from the national study will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of American Medical Directors Association.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Study finds nursing home social workers inadequately trained

The Canadian Health Department, which investigated 73 reports filed under the Protection of Persons in Care Act, legislation that was passed and put into practice more than a year ago, qualified 30 of those reports. No details of the types of abuse were identified, but officials said that more than half of those cases were of physical or physical and emotional abuse.

“We know the staff-patient ratio are in some cases unacceptable. There are too many patients with very high needs for the number of staff on a shift,” said Maureen MacDonald, a New Democrat member of the legislature who was quoted in the story.

Health Department director of monitoring and evaluation Donna Dill said that most of the abuse cases reported were not serious physical harm. She says most of the time staff didn’t realize they were abusing patients. “We need to work with them so they can understand what abuse is,” Dill told the news service. Only a few of the cases resulted in staff firings, she said. Most are handled through disciplinary measures and training.

The Nova Scotia Association of Health Organizations, which represents most of the area’s nursing homes, released a statement saying it is working to create abuse-free environments and is working with its members to create anti-abuse policies and procedures.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Canada nursing home abuses linked to understaffing

The report was released last month and is based on the outcome of a February inspection and interviews at the nursing home. It alleges that the home had “inadequate nutritional and hydration services; improper and dangerous psychotropic medication practices; inadequate pressure-sore treatment and skin care; inadequate restorative care and specialized rehabilitation services; failure to protect residents from harm due to falls; failure to adequately investigate allegations of resident abuse; and the inappropriate use of restraints.”

Veterans Affairs Department spokesman Bob Horton says nursing home administrators and state officials were first made aware of the allegations when they received the report last month.

“If the citations in the report were so severe, you would think the department would have been notified sooner, if there was any potential of veterans being harmed or a risk of harm,” Horton told the Press Register reporter.

The Justice Department said the delay was typical and due to heavy paperwork following an onsite visit. The department has yet to issue penalties to the home based on the report, adding that it is likely a settlement will be reached between the Justice Department and the home, eliminating the need for a lawsuit.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Veterans home cited for putting residents at risk of harm

William’s tragic story is not uncommon. The man was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and caring for him at home was getting too trying for his family. It was a hard decision, but his family decided William would fare far better if he could receive 24-hour skilled nursing care. They researched their options and decided on Beechwood Park nursing home. Shortly after William was moved there in August, his family began to sense something was wrong.

William started developing bed sores. His doctor also had previously prescribed medication for Parkinsons’ disease and two paracetamol four times a day, however paracetamol was out of stock at the nursing home for 11 days, according to the report. The family also contends that the buzzer to call staff was routinely kept too far out of William’s reach, and that he suffered from dehydration.

A general practitioner was brought in to look at William’s bed sores and was horrified, the family told the newspaper. Just six weeks after he had been admitted to the nursing home, he was sent to the hospital. He died 10 days later.

The family is heartbroken by the pain William endured. They are filing a civil suit against the nursing home and hope the publicity will raise awareness of the dangers of nursing care at Beechwood Park and other deficient nursing homes.

“The Care Commission says only five per cent of homes in Scotland meet the standard they expect. The worrying thing is all of us will be old one day – we could all end up there,” the family told the newspaper.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family of deceased man files civil suit against nursing home

The nursing home claimed she had not paid her bill in months, and they had no choice but to discharge her. With no family to call on, nursing home officials dropped her off at the next best place they could think of, the hospital emergency room. Later that evening, Ko was taken to Aiea respite home for temporary care.

“I wish someone (at the nursing home) had the courage to tell me what was going on,” Ko told the newspaper reporter.

A Hawaii state agency determined that that no abuse had occurred because the nursing home had dropped Ko off at a safe place, a hospital. However, the Department of Human Services called the drop-off inappropriate, and said it would refer the case to the Department of Health.

Nu’uano Hale is rated as “poor” on a new rating system recently unveiled by the federal government, earning one star out of a possible five.

Ko is in a situation referred to by officials as the“gap group.”  Her personal finances did not allow her to qualify for Medicaid but she earned too little from Social Security and an annuity to cover nursing home costs.

“We will likely see more people needing assistance,” says Anne Holton, a long-term-care ombudsman specialist with the Hawaii Executive Office on Aging. “With the boomers coming up, there’s going to be a whole new tide of people looking at that.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home resident discharged, dropped off at ER

Last week, Cole’s family filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against the nursing home seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

Cole’s wife visited her husband daily and, noticing his weight loss, questioned nursing home staff about his eating habits. She was told he was fine, according to the story. However, a State Health Department investigation noted that staff had reported that Cole refused to eat or take medication and that he ate nothing at 15 out of 24 meals he was served during his first 20 days at the facility when he lost all the weight. A nutritional supplement was recommended by a dietary manager but the supplement was never ordered. A doctor was notified about Cole’s refusing of medications and food but there was never any mention of his dramatic weight loss, according to the report.

On Dec. 29, 2006, Cole was sent to the hospital. He was discharged to a different nursing home for hospice care on Jan. 10. He died on Jan. 21, 2007.

The investigation into the case found the home negligent in the care it provided Cole by “not preventing his dehydration, not maintaining his weight and not notifying his doctors of his dramatic weight loss,” according to the story.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home sued for wrongful death of man with dementia

The story first broke in May with reports that investigators were looking into allegations of abuse at the nursing home. By August, the details began to be revealed. An employee at the nursing home told facility authorities that she was aware that other aides in the home were holding down residents, putting their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams for help, hitting and rubbing their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humping” some residents. She said the aides called the abuse “work fun or to get a good laugh.”

The laughter ended for those who engaged in the abuse when the story came to light. In total, six former certified nursing aides at Good Samaritan Society were arrested – two are charged as adults. The remaining four are charged as juveniles as they were younger than 18 at the time of the incidents. All six face gross misdemeanor charges in the alleged abuse of 15 cognitively impaired residents.

Details of the abuse radiated through the country, garnering attention from national media, including the “Today” show on NBC. The story also drew the attention of A Perfect Cause, a national watchdog group dedicated to ending “needless suffering and preventable deaths while protecting the rights of citizens from corporate greed and negligence.”.

“The story will continue to reverberate in 2009 as the wheels of the legal system move,” the news story continues.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › ‘Abuse-for-thrills’ case top 2008 news story in Albert Lea

While she was away, a 47-year-old disabled woman had a heat stroke and seizures. She was found around 5 a.m. by another resident who called 911. The woman who had fallen ill was rushed to the hospital, according to the story.

An investigation found that the air conditioning had been out for days at the facility and the temperature in the room in which the woman was found was extremely high, according to an affidavit.

A housekeeper at the home told investigators that Shaw said she was headed to the beach. Another report said she was heading home to get medication. Regardless, she never returned. One resident said that Shaw had played the disappearing act before in her 10-year career at Personal Care II.

An investigation into Shaw’s past revealed she had a history of mental health problems, including bipolar disorder. She, too, had been a resident in an assisted living facility for a decade. She also has previous convictions, one in 1991 for retail theft and 1994 for assault and battery.

Shaw was arrested and faces up to five years in prison for a charge of neglect of a disabled adult, a third-degree felony.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Caregiver leaves 16 unattended at assisted living facility

Five days later, the same woman was found lying in her bed naked while Chandler sexually abused her. When the nursing aide found Chandler he asked the nursing aide not to tell authorities. Meanwhile, his victim cried hysterically. For months after the incident, the woman refused to eat and would have crying episodes.

Chandler was charged with first-degree sexual abuse and unlawful sexual penetration for the alleged molestation of the woman. A judge found him unfit to stand trial and committed him to a mental health unit.

The lawsuit, filed Monday against Healthcare at Foster Creek, alleges that the nursing home failed to protect one of its most vulnerable residents. The lawsuit also contends that 38 complaints of abuse or neglect were substantiated at the home between 2004 and 2008.

Nursing home administer Bill Swanson, who came to Foster Creek three months before the sexual abuse incident, says he is aware of the nursing home’s troubled past but he and a new management company are working to change things for the better.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home faces $2 million lawsuit for sex abuse incident

On Nov. 24, 2006, just two days after arriving at the nursing home, Earll suffered a horrendous fall while staff was attempting to transfer her to the bathroom. She sustained injuries to her right elbow, forehead and cervical spine, and fractured her newly replaced hip. Five days later, Earll’s hip incision became infected and staff sent Earll to Internal Medicine Associates. Nurse practitioner Pamela Barr did not take x-rays. Instead, she arranged for Earll to see an orthopedic surgeon nearly two weeks later.

The next day, Earll’s niece Melody Lucero, distressed from the pain her aunt was experiencing, ordered the nursing home to transfer her aunt to the emergency room at Great Plains Regional Medical Center. There, doctors found Earll’s hip was fractured in three places. Lucero says the injuries her aunt sustained have left her dependent on a wheelchair for mobility for the rest of her life. She wants someone to pay for the pain they caused her aunt.

Lucero filed a lawsuit on her aunt’s behalf against North Platte Care Centre, now known as Premier Estates, and its parent company, The Boyle Company Inc., and Davbo Co. LLC. The suit also names the nurse practitioner at Internal Medicine Associates. The suit contends that North Platte Care Centre had conscious disregard for Earll’s rights and safety, arguing that the staff was underqualified and untrained and that the home was chronically understaffed.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Niece files lawsuit on behalf of aunt injured at nursing home

The outside temperature was between 36 and 40 degrees and a light rain was falling. Officials say the cold and rain likely contributed to her death, though autopsy results are pending.

Florissant Police Chief William Karabas said it is too early to say whether criminal neglect was involved. Officials say she went outside sometime after the 9 p.m. rounds. It is still unclear how Rooks managed to get outside – whether on her own or by another person pushing her wheelchair – or how she could have remained outdoors for hours without anyone noticing. Once the investigation is completed, the police report will be forwarded to the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney’s office for review. The Missouri Department of Health also is conducting interviews.

A spokesperson with Northgate Park Nursing Home, which is owned by CommuniCare Health Services, says no employee faces disciplinary action at this time.

Rooks family members are understandably distraught. “I’m just not going to let it go,” said Rooks’ stepson Eugene. “It hurts me so bad just for her to be outside for four or five hours in the rain by herself.” Eugene believes staff may have tried to cover up the scene by bringing her body inside and trying to “clean her up and dry her off” before calling police, according to the report. The nursing home says staff followed proper protocol after finding the woman.

“There’s a great deal of sadness and we want to get all of the answers for the family,” the nursing home spokesperson told the newspaper. “We know they’re upset and we understand that.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Elderly woman found dead outside nursing home

Kane Glen Hazel, located in Pittsburgh’s Glen Hazel neighborhood, is run by Kane Regional Hospital. An investigation into the alleged incidents there resulted in the firing of five employees, and charges of aggravated assault and neglect of a care dependant have been filed against the suspects.

The investigation began in October, spurred by concerns from other employees. Officials relied on testimony from coworkers who had witnessed the abuse on several occasions from the five different former employees. Danielle Taylor, Shelly Keene and Karen Perry were charged with aggravated assault. Shalaya Hatten was charged with simple assault and neglect of a care dependent person. Mary Ann Bower was charged with summary harassment. She is the licensed practical nurse in charge of the nursing aides. She reportedly was seen throwing objects at Bryant and pouring water over her head.

Arrests were made in late November. Preliminary hearings have been scheduled for Jan. 5 for all but one of the suspects. No hearing has yet been set for Bower.

There is no explanation why Bryant was singled out for the abuse. Allegheny County executive Dan Onorato released a statement about the horrendous incident: “The care and safety of the residents is of paramount importance. I am incensed by the alleged actions of these five individuals. … We will absolutely not tolerate any level of disrespect, neglect or mistreatment of Kane Center residents.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Five employees fired, charged in abuse of elderly woman

But the damage had been done. Even after Raybon had been stabilized by a hospital and then admitted to another nursing home, his health spiraled downward. He suffered from more bedsores and infections and died soon after.

Raybon’s daughter, Yolanda Latimore, repeatedly pleaded to management at Tucker Nursing Home to take better care of her father, to no avail. A DeKalb County jury found that Raybon’s months of suffering was unjust. After a four-year lawsuit, the jury awarded Raybon’s daughter $1.25 million. The defendants are expected to appeal the case, according to the story.

Bedsores, also known as pressure sores or decubitus ulcers, are a serious problem with patients who are bedridden. Nursing home patients are among the most susceptible. Bedsores form when skin and tissue break down from constant pressure and bad circulation. They occur most often in the hips, lower back and heels. At first, the skin becomes red and irritated and eventually open sores develop.

If left untreated, the open sores can bore down into the muscle and bone, known as decubitus ulcer formation. Treatment of serious decubitus ulcers may include drying out the wound, excising the dead tissue, and administering systemic antibiotics. To prevent the occurrence of bed sores, bedridden individuals must be moved every two hours to minimize rubbing, pressure and friction.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Patient’s daughter wins lawsuit in death from serious bed sore

After discovering numerous bruises all over her body, the family of resident Armeda Thomas hid a video camera in her Madison Manor room. For three weeks they recorded nursing assistants physically abusing and taunting Thomas and failing to feed and clean her, according to state records. In one instance, a nursing aide was seen dancing in front of Thomas while another staff member held the resident’s arms.

The video tape showed several nursing assistants partaking in the physical abuse of Thomas. Extendicare, the Wisconsin company that owns Madison Manor, fired nine nursing assistants, made staff changes, and set up a retraining program for staff as a result of the videotape. “We do not condone this kind of behavior,” said a spokesperson for Extendicare in the report.

A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office says the investigation is ongoing and additional charges could result. The home also was cited by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, threatening its Medicaid certification. The state later issued a statement saying that the nursing home’s management had taken steps to correct the problems.

Thomas’ family members moved Thomas home after seeing the tapes. She died last month after complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home aide shocked by wanton neglect charge

Measuring the quality of a nursing home is not always clear-cut. More that 1.5 million people live in 15,000 nursing homes throughout the country. Each facility is inspected annually and must meet federal standards in order to participate in Medicaid and Medicare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has established the site to give the public a better understanding of how nursing homes compare to others.

The site rates three criteria – health inspection, nursing home staff and quality measures. Those three criteria make up the nursing home’s overall rating. The “health inspection” criteria is the data from the last three standard health inspections and all complaint inspections that have been conducted in the last three years. “Nursing home staffing” criteria is gathered from the most recent health inspection and ranks homes based on overall staffing hours and the type of staff employed. “Quality measures” criteria is reported by each nursing home and is based on 19 quality measures collected from residents.

Five stars indicate a nursing home that is “much above average,” and one star indicates a nursing home is “much below average.” An orange icon indicates homes that are considered Special Focus Facilities (SFF), or homes that have a history of persistent poor quality of care.

Those who visit the site can look up nursing home by name, zip code, state or county. Those listings can be further refined into subsets such as “nursing homes within a continuing care retirement community,” “nursing homes within a hospital,” and “nursing homes with resident and family councils.”

While the Nursing Home Compare site offers valuable information, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recommends that family members visit nursing homes they are considering; talk with doctors or other healthcare practitioners, family and friends about their choices; and contact the long-term care ombudsman or State Survey Agency before making a decision.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Web site lists ratings of all nursing homes in country

Working off of a grant from the Kansas Department of Aging, researchers trained staff at three Kansas nursing homes on what sexuality means to older adults, identifying barriers to fulfilling the sexual needs, finding strategies to help residents and how to discern appropriate from inappropriate sexual behaviors. That includes identifying the root of the patients’ needs – be it sexual desire or simply loneliness – and also understanding if a sexual overture or relationship involves abuse or is borne of real need.

“It wasn’t like we hadn’t cared for these needs in the past, but it was liberating to some folks to have an open discussion with university researchers,” says Lillian Claassen, vice president of health services at one of the homes that received training. “It empowered people to think about how they could help folks.”

Advocates say that sex education in nursing homes will become more important as more baby boomers age and need skilled care. The researchers say that guidelines need to be in place to ensure that sexuality in nursing homes is dealt with in a positive way.

“The ultimate goal should be to value the desires and needs of people who have lived long, productive lives and do not forfeit their rights simply because they have aged,” says Robin Dessel, a national expert on dementia, in the report.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Sexual intimacy among residents not unusual in nursing homes

“I’d never give any kind of consent for any of that,” says Martin Bowman, Bruce’s son and legal guardian, to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Martin approved all his father’s medication but said he was never told that the drug given to control his father’s agitation and physical aggression could kill him. In clinical trials, patients who died while taking Risperdal suffered from cardiovascular or infectious complications. Other side effects include vomiting, weight loss and muscle stiffness.

Risperdal is approved by the FDA to treat people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism with irritability. In 2005, the FDA issued the black box warning about the possible death in patients with dementia. A public investigator found that the nursing home was using consent forms that were seven years old, and thus didn’t show the black box warning.

Bruce died at the Taylor Park Nursing Home on June 19. His family says they visited him weekly and noticed he had started to deteriorate. They questioned nursing home aides who provided no answers. It was Bruce’s ex-wife, a former registered nurse, who discovered the medication Bruce was taking had a black box warning. The state Bureau of Nursing Home Resident Care investigated the home and found no violations of federal regulations by administering the drug.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family says nursing home didn’t reveal black box warning

“What they did was awful. My mother-in-law tried to tell us … she did everything to keep people away — biting, hitting, striking out,” she was reported as saying in a story by the Star Tribune. “Somebody needs to stand up for our moms and grandparents.”

The abuse is part of a investigation into the “attacks-for-thrills” case where six nursing home aides were accused of abusing cognitively impaired residents at Good Samaritan Society for on-the-job entertainment. According to prosecutors, the aides held down residents, put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams for help, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” some residents.

Two of the accused – 19-year-old Brianna Broitzman and 18-year-old Ashton Larson – are charged as adults with assault, abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, disorderly conduct, and failure to report suspected maltreatment. All are gross misdemeanors. Four other aides, all charged as juveniles, are charged with not reporting the suspected abuse. The Freeborn County Attorney says Broitzman and Larson will likely face suspended jail sentences and probation, which family members think is an outrage.

A family member, who is not named, contacted Wes Bledsoe, president and founder of A Perfect Cause, a watchdog group that fights “to end needless suffering and preventable deaths while protecting the rights of citizens from corporate greed and negligence.” Bledsoe came to Albert Lea to organize a town hall meeting, which was preceded by the press conference. At the gathering, Bledsoe denounced the county attorney who filed the charges, Good Samaritan, and the Minnesota State Health Department. Bledsoe argued that had the two women charged with the crimes been men, they would be facing much more serious felony charges instead of misdemeanors.

“They thought they could get away with it, because the residents had dementia, couldn’t speak up for themselves. Well, if they are guilty, maybe they will get away with a slap on the wrists,” the Star Tribune quoted Bledsoe.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Families, advocate speak out at Albert Lea town hall meeting

The family members raised concerns of their aunt’s welfare, and questioned the choices of a third niece, who had power of attorney over the aunt. It was she who placed the elderly woman at Bissell Hospital.

After communicating by e-mail with the hospital, the two nieces in late July released the DVD evidence to the Delaware Division of Long Term Care Resident Protection. The agency inspects the 46 skilled nursing homes and four intermediate-care facilities and oversees licensing, conducts criminal background checks, enforces regulations and monitors the welfare of nursing-home patients.

Shortly thereafter, all three nieces were banned from the facility until mediation of a public guardian. The guardian requested the elderly woman be moved to another facility. The move was approved and is planned to take place in January.

The investigation resulted in the firing of three employees and the suspension without pay of two others. Four of the five employees also have been placed on the state’s Adult Abuse Registry, a list of caregivers who have been accused of abuse. Three of those employees are appealing to be removed from that list. There are 246 people on that list and 25 are pending appeal.

The Delaware Attorney General’s Office did not say why it will not prosecute the caregivers in this case.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › No charges filed against caregivers who abused ailing aunt

Brianna Marie Broitzman, 19, and Ashton Michelle Larson, 18, are charged with assault, abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, disorderly conduct, and failure to report suspected maltreatment. Broitzman and Larson are face up to a year in jail and $3,000 fine if convicted.

Prosecutors say that the women held down residents, put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries for help, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” some residents. The aides called the humiliating abuse, “work fun to get a good laugh,” according to reports.

Four other teenaged employees have been charged in juvenile court for failing to report the abuse.

State health department investigators reviewed the medical files of all patients who were suspected of being abused, and made personal visits to the 12 survivors. All 15 patients had some form of cognitive disorder, including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Many were physically disabled and almost all required assistance with activities of daily living.

Minnesota health officials told the Associated Press this week that abuse in nursing homes is rare. However, this week the department reported another case of alleged sexual, emotional and physical abuse of six resident by a nurse’s aide at a nursing home in Montevideo, Minn. The employee, who was fired, denies the allegations. Authorities say that it is unlikely the nurse’s aide will be charged as the patients suffer from cognitive disorders that limit their ability to testify.

Albert Lea has a population of 20,000. With 240 employees, Good Samaritan Society is one of the town’s largest employers.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Three victims deceased in Albert Lea ‘abuse-for-thrills’ case