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

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“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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Medicaid, which is the state-federal body that provides health coverage and nursing home care to the poor, pays nursing homes millions each year for treating patients who qualify for Medicaid. Advocates for the elderly contend that nursing homes have successfully lobbied politicians to make qualifying for community care more difficult, thus forcing these older or disabled individuals to move into nursing homes when they are independent enough to live at home, with relatives or in assisted living.

Individuals who qualify for Medicare and who become sick or disabled have no trouble qualifying for nursing homes, but are finding it far more difficult to receive Medicaid-supported services, the report states.

Advocates cite a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court case known as the Olmstead decision, in which the court ruled that the unjustified placement of individuals in institutions such as nursing homes amounted to discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The decision stated that states must provide community care if it can be accommodated and would be appropriate.

“There’s a lot of concern that the nursing home industry is very powerful in many states and has made sure that a lot of Medicaid dollars go to institutional care as opposed to home and community-based care,” says an attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Florida Medicaid recipients want to choose where to live

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Joanne now doubts that decision.

Last month, Luveda fell from her bed in the night and pressed her personal emergency call button. The fall caused a two-inch gash on her leg, which bled out on to the floor of her room at Villa Valencia. Nearly fifteen minutes later, a staffer called 911. When paramedics arrived, Luveda was unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported today that the family of Luveda has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court against Villa Valencai and its owner, Sunrise Senior Living Inc. Joanne contends her mother’s death could have been prevented.

According to the story, a spokesman for the California Department of Social Services said Villa Valencia would be cited for not filing a report about Luveda’s death within seven days of the incident. The citation will require the facility to submit a report on how it would correct similar problems in the future.

While assisted living patients have similar needs to those in nursing homes, they are governed by less stringent regulations.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family files wrongful death lawsuit against California facility

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Jennifer Hopley, Mr. Hopley’s daughter and administrator of her father’s estate, filed an 18-count wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home, two doctors, a nurse, and other facility staff. According to the story, the suit claims negligence in Mr. Hopley’s death for not properly monitoring his blood sugar levels and subjecting the patient to “great mental and physical pain prior to his death.”

The lawsuit also alleges that the nursing home created dangerous conditions for residents by employing staff at levels below the national average for similar long-term facilities. The lawsuit contends that Golden Moments also was under capitalized and that there are state and federal tax liens are against the facility exceeding $250,000, according to the report.

According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC), an information dissemination service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in 2006. Overall, the risk for death among people with diabetes is about twice that of people without diabetes of similar age.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family sues Illinois nursing home for wrongful death

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Nursing home residents and their families who sign mandatory arbitration clauses when being admitted into long-term care facilities, are one step closer to regaining their rights to hold those facilities accountable in court for abuse and neglect, according to the Senior Journal. The Journal reported that the Senate Judiciary Committee this week approved the bi-partisan bill - the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2008. The bill moves to the Senate for approval.

According to the Senior Journal the bill would invalidate mandatory arbitration clauses in nursing home, assisted living, and other long-term care facility contracts. Under the bill, residents and families could voluntarily choose to arbitrate an issue after a problem occurred, but they would no longer have to agree to give up their right to sue the facility if it severely abused, neglected, or financially exploited the resident.

The Journal noted that nursing homes often are a last resort for families, and many times decisions made during admission are done under desperate or emergency situations. “Individuals and families have little or no opportunity to fully consider and understand the consequences of an arbitration provision buried within and 40- or 50-page admissions document that they are asked to sign during the admissions process.  In many cases, individuals are unaware that they had signed an arbitration agreement,” according to the Journal report.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home residents closer to regaining right to sue

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The Times quoted the attorney in the case as saying, “These facilities are giving out brochures about this wonderful, superlative care — one need only look at their regulatory history . . . and see that it’s just not true.” Approximately 4,000 people joined the suit. Contrary to the company’s promotional materials, state regulators found Sun-Mar homes were sorely understaffed and that employees were insufficiently trained.

The attorney laid part of the blame on the California Department of Public Health for not carefully overseeing the facilities, according to the newspaper report. State governments oversee the licensing of nursing homes in each state.

According to the California Public Health Department (CDPH), the department’s responsibility includes overseeing the certification of nursing assistants and licensing of nursing home administrators.

The lawsuit mentioned other facilities across the region where state regulators noted deficiencies. “If everyone had known the regulatory history of these facilities they would not have put their mother or father in them,” the attorney is quoted as saying.

As part of the settlement, a monitor chosen by the plaintiffs’ attorney will inspect five Sun-Mar facilities at random each quarter.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › California nursing home settles lawsuit

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The Register reports that records with names of caregivers fired for abuse were sealed beginning last August based on a new interpretation of a state law that has been on the books for 17 years, which specifies that judges are obligated to keep “unspecified types of abuse information” confidential. Prior to the new practice of sealing records, the names of Iowa caregivers fired for abuse were provided to Iowa Workforce Development, which could disclose them publicly.

Sealing the records eliminated public access to information such as names of workers fired for abuse, their employers, and cities where abuse occurred, making it difficult for families considering nursing home facilities to examine a facility’s history of safety. The Register reports that recently sealed cases included incidents involving a patient death, and the financial exploitation of a patient by a caregiver who took about $1,000 in cash and gift cards from a nursing home resident.

The new ruling allows public disclosure of the names of workers fired for abuse, their employers, and related agency records, but maintains the confidentiality of state investigators’ abuse reports, to protect the identity of nursing home residents involved in abuse situations. The decision also gives the public the right to review documents such as care facility inspection reports. The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals keeps a database of more than 18,000 nursing home inspection reports, which is accessible to the public online.

Read the full article at The Des Moines Register online.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Abuse Records Reopened

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