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

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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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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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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

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Chmura had scooped the ice from the ice bin at By the Lake senior assisted living facility she owns in Hayden, Idaho. She immediately had a suspect in mind – a disgruntled employee who had just joined two other employees in a walkout to protest of a firing of two employees three days prior, according to The Seattle Times.

“I won’t put up with this crap,” Chmura told the newspaper. Chmura opened the facility two years ago.

Chmura contacted Kootenai County officials and informed them of the urine-in-the-bin incident as well as suspected theft and fraud by the former employees. The facility owner accused the former employees of stealing money and prescription drugs from the assisted living center, including OxyContin and hydrocodone. She claims the three made more than $10,000 in credit card purchases for personal items such as groceries and gift cards, restaurant dinners and theater tickets.

She told police that before the walkout, the employees woke up residents and told them the assisted living center was closing and that all employees had been fired.

Chmura is part of an advocacy group that fights for stronger laws against those who abuse and neglect vulnerable adults. The group is credited with triggering the 2005 state legislation that made abusing the elderly a felony instead of a misdemeanor.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Disgruntled employee accused of putting urine in ice bin

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State investigators cited 16 infractions in a 370-page report released earlier this month.

One abuse claim stems from a patient, Carol Crow, who was found by family members covered in bruises on her face, around her neck and completely down her chest. Crow’s family is convinced that Crow was attacked, but the nursing home disputes that claim, insisting that she simply fell.

Another allegation of abuse, detailed in five pages of the report, is of patient who claimed he was hit by another resident day after day. His femur and hip were broken in the attacks, and he died a month later.

“In my opinion, we need a new owner of this facility who’s going to take action for the residents in their care,” says Wes Bledsoe of the Oklahoma Health Department that investigated the claims and filed the report.

The Health Department is recommending Whispering Pines not be allowed to accept any new Medicare and Medicaid patients until the deficiencies are corrected. If the center isn’t in compliance within six months its Medicare and Medicaid payments for existing patients could be cut off.

Whispering Pines has presented a plan to the Department of Health stating that it will correct all violations by Nov. 28.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Oklahoma nursing home faces fines for endangering patients

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Many nursing homes who care for patients with Alzheimer’s have practices in place to ensure patients who wander stay within the nursing home wing where they live. But few practices are foolproof.

Late last month, King wandered from his nursing home. That evening around 8 p.m., staff noticed he was missing and notified police. After hours of searching for the 73-year-old man, police got a report of a pedestrian hit and killed by a CSX train. It was King.

“This happens daily,” said Jane Marks with the West Virginia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. “Unfortunately this situation was more dramatic and had a sad ending, but it does happen constantly.” Marks was quoted last month in The Charleston Gazette.

This morning, the newspaper reported that King’s children have now filed suit against Heartland of Charleston nursing home for wrongful death.

“George King Sr. could not care for himself or be allowed to walk outside the facility and the staff of the facility at Heartland of Charleston was aware of this fact,” the paper quotes the lawsuit.

The lawsuit contends that the staff of Heartland of Charleston failed to keep King secure and failed to utilize available resources to locate him. It also claims that staff did not immediately discover that King was missing nor did they properly use outdoor surveillance cameras to determine which direction he went when he left the nursing home. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Man wanders from nursing home, killed by passing train

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For one resident and her family, it was downright stressful.

Last June, a resident in the facility to receive physical therapy after having surgery on both knees, needed to get to her regular orthopedic doctor appointment. She was not ambulatory, needing a mechanical lift to be moved from the bed to the bathroom, and wheelchair to get around. She had to get to her doctor’s appointment in her hometown 32 miles away. The nursing home said its van was unavailable to transport her, leaving the resident and her family in a bind.

When administrator Pamm Dickey got word of the situation, she demanded the family pick up the resident by 5 p.m. that Thursday. The family scrambled, calling around and finally locating another nursing home. But that facility couldn’t accept her until Friday. Dickey was unwilling to budge. Using lewd language, Dickey demanded the family remove the resident from Pleasant Manor by the 5 p.m. Thursday deadline. Never mind that the other nursing home wasn’t ready for the resident. The woman’s family could just move her into their home in the interim, she was reported as saying.

However, moving the resident to the family’s home simply wasn’t an option. They were not equipped to lift and move her when she needed to use the bathroom, much less provide the skilled nursing care she needed. Even if it were for one night, the family just wasn’t able to do it.

Still, Dickey wouldn’t bend, becoming combative with the other nursing facility’s administrator over the phone. That administrator, who said she was “shocked” by Dickey’s unethical conduct, told Dickey she had no choice but to call Adult Protective Services. Dickey’s response, according to the administrator who reported her: “She proceeded to tell me to tell APS to bring a car to pick [the resident] up then because I will set her a– on the g—— curb!”

A 151-page report on the investigation into Pleasant Manor cited several incidents of emotional and verbal abuse by Dickey, including the incident mentioned above as well as berating residents for pushing their call buttons too often at night and arguing with one resident over a remote control. Dickey resigned Aug. 13, but dismissed the claims, saying “What is written (in the report) is not the truth by any means.”

Meanwhile, Pleasant Manor was found by surveyors as subjecting residents to immediate jeopardy and was fined, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has denied payment for all new residents admitted there who require coverage by Medicare or Medicaid effective Oct. 14 until the home achieves compliance with federal and state regulators.

Dickey’s case will be heard before the Oklahoma State Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators, who will then determine the status of her license.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home administrator cited for verbal, emotional abuse

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Disability Rights Washington (DRW), a nonprofit organization that protects the rights of people with disabilities, reported numerous examples where the three state agencies charged with investigating reports of abuse and neglect failed to protect frail adults. For example, clearing a nursing home of abuse allegations against a 93-year-old resident with suspicious injuries without reviewing photographs or talking to witnesses.

The three agencies cited in the report include Adult Protective Services, Residential Care Services and Health Professions Quality Assurance. The Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) oversees both Adult Protective Services and Residential Care Services. The state Health Department oversees Health Professions Quality Assurance.

The Seattle P-I report cites 2006 data that claims only 10 percent of the more than 13,000 complaints made to Adult Protective Services were substantiated; less than 6 percent of the nearly 23,000 complaints made to Residential Care Services were substantiated; and Health Professions Quality Assurance took disciplinary action in less than 10 percent of the more than 6,500 complaints it received and pursued no criminal charges against a single facility.

All three agencies claim they have insufficient staff with inadequate training to meet the demands of their offices. A spokesperson with Residential Care Services, which investigates allegations against nursing homes and other residential services, says it has begun investigating specific reports of abuse in all facilities. And while the agency recently hired seven additional staff members, they are still too understaffed to oversee the state’s 3,000-plus licensed facilities.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Washington agencies accused of not investigating abuse claims

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It appears the impact of this case is being felt in the McHenry County coroner’s race, according to the Daily Herald.

Democratic challenger David Bachmann claims his five-term Republican opponent Marlene Lantz should have done more to ensure the safety of the victims at Woodstock Residence. Bachmann says the home reported a total of 36 deaths in the years 2004 and 2005 combined. There were the same number of deaths during the first nine months of 2006, he said.

Bachmann, a former funeral home director, contends, “Had Miss Lantz gone out to the nursing home in April or early May, she would have caught this.”

Lantz argued that there was no reason for her office to have been suspicious, as the patients who died were in hospice care or had a terminal illness.

The McHenry County Coroner’s Office exists to provide people of McHenry County with a thorough investigation in the event of a death. The election will be held November 4, 2008.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home investigation impacts coroner race

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Today, the Miami Herald reported that three state agencies and Miami-Dade police were investigating how second-degree burns were found on a 12-year-old girl living in the Florida Club Care Center. The girl, who is a foster child, suffers from severe cerebral palsy, is unable to communicate and is completely dependent on others for activities of daily living. The burns were found on her hand and thigh, according to the Child Protection Team, a group of University of Miami doctors and nurses.

The case also is being investigated by the Department of Children & Families (DCF) and the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). AHCA, a nursing home regulator, claims there was no evidence of mistreatment toward the girl.

In a letter to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Child Protection Team representative and pediatrician Michael D. Strong wrote “We fear that the potential risk for further harm of the other residents in the nursing home facility is high and that little to nothing is being done in response.”

However, a recent AHCA inspection of the facility showed high marks for quality of care and quality of life as well as nutrition and hydration, patient dignity, the prevention of pressure sores, and limiting the use of physical restraints.

For now, the DCF investigation into the girl’s injuries remains open.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home investigated for harming 12-year-old foster child

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According to The Daily Herald, a 15-month investigation into the deaths at the Woodstock Residence in Woodstock, Ill., led to the indictment in April of two nurses – Marty Himebaugh of Lake in the Hills, Ill., and her supervisor, Penny Whitlock of Woodstock, Ill. Himebaugh faces charges of criminal neglect, obtaining morphine by fraud and unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. Whitlock was charged with criminal neglect and obstructing justice. Woodstock Residence has since changed management and is now called Crossroads Care Center of Woodstock, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune also states that the health department report does not specifically name Himebaugh or Whitlock, however the criminal indictment suggests that the two nurses are the ones involved in the investigation. An Illinois Department of Public Health report claims Himebaugh administered drugs such as morphine to restless patients to calm them and gave overdoses to others she deemed had lived long enough. The report is based on interviews with coworkers, some of whom voiced concerns as much as six months before Himebaugh was let go in the wake of police investigations.

Whitlock, a former director of nursing at Woodstock Residence, reportedly told Himebaugh, “I don’t care if you’re the angel of death, just don’t let me know about it,” according to The Daily Herald.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home deaths were not merciful

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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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