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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“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

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

Wes Bledsoe, president and founder of A Perfect Cause, arrives Thursday and will host a town hall meeting addressing the abuse at Good Samaritan Society. 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.”

According to prosecutors, the nursing aides held down residents, put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” some residents. The aides allegedly called the abuse “work fun or to get a good laugh.”

But it was no laughing matter. The adults in the case, 19-year-old Brianna Broitzman and 18-year-old Ashton Larson, 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. All are gross misdemeanors. The Freeborn County Attorney says they will likely face suspended jail sentences and probation.

The abuse reportedly began early this year and lasted for several months. Three of the 15 residents have died and the others cannot be interviewed by investigators because they suffer from diseases that affect memory and cognition.

Bledsoe said the reports of recreational abuse at the nursing home disturbed him, but did not surprise him. “Where is the moral compass of these employees?” He posed in the newspaper story.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Watchdog group holds town hall meetings in Albert Lea

The violent acts are hard to fathom. Corey Austin, a certified nursing aide (CNA), was convicted of using racial epithets and attacking a patient by assisting another staff member in taking the patient back to his room and then repeatedly pushing the patient onto the floor. Austin then allegedly pinned the patient to the bed with his knee. Austin, who will be sentenced in January, faces a two-year sentence.

Those charged with crimes against the elderly include CNA Patricia Penman, who is accused of slapping a 100-year-old patient in the face. The patient has dementia and physical disabilities that left her unable to defend herself. Penman is charged with endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and willful violations of health laws, according to the news report.

CNA Jeffrey Perry was charged with the same offense stemming from a late August incident in which he tied a patient with dementia to a chair for two consecutive nights. Licensed practical nurse Jeanette Sovereign found the patient alone in his room and is accused of knowing about the abusive act but not reporting it to proper authorities.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Cuomo continues to investigate nursing home abuse, neglect

When Whalen learned that his friend’s death was being investigated, he assumed it was protocol for all nursing home deaths to be investigated by coroners. However, nursing homes in Illinois are not required to report deaths of patients in their care to the coroner’s office. Doing so would enable the coroner to investigate the deaths for possible abuse or neglect.

Morgan County coroner Jeff Lair has made investigating all deaths that occur in nursing homes in his county a policy, and believes a law should be passed so that all nursing homes in his state must report patient deaths to their local coroners.

Only the states of Arkansas and Missouri require nursing homes to report patient deaths for potential investigation. This law spurred the Illinois Department of Public Health to enact a year-long pilot project in 10 Illinois counties – including Lair’s – where all nursing home deaths were reported to coroners. The pilot project was completed last summer. During that time, 3, 669 nursing home deaths were investigated and in eight of those, coroners reported suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths.

Despite the results, it is unlikely a law will be passed in Illinois requiring nursing homes in the state to report patient deaths. The public health department said legislation would have to be spearheaded by the Illinois Coroners and Medical Examiners Association. And that association said the results just simply were not sizeable enough and likely the law would not come with much-needed funding to carry out the practice statewide.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Pilot project has coroners investigate all nursing home deaths

The employee is accused of calling residents names such as “crack head,” cursing at them, borrowing money from then and even selling food to them from her nearby apartment. She berated residents for sitting down for meals at the wrong time and was described by residents as “rude and loud.”

An investigation by state inspectors led to the firing of the allegedly abusive employee.

Unlike most assisted living residents, many of the residents of Caring and Sharing Home for Adults require state grants to cover living costs above and beyond what their social security covers. Not only are several residents considered poor, many suffer from mental disabilities, making them easy targets for abuse.

The state would not give an overall assessment on the status of the home and a representative from the facility refused to comment.

Steve Lambert with the social services division of licensing programs said the downsizing of the state’s mental health facilities has left more mentally ill people with fewer choices in treatment homes. “These residents are finding themselves in these facilities,” Lambert was quoted in the story, “and unfortunately they (the facilities) are probably less equipped to handle the range of disabilities, and they don’t have sufficient financial resources to meet these needs.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Assisted living employee fired for verbal abuse

The falling closet incident in which Sister Mary Murray was killed occurred in August. At the time of the accident, family members accepted the nursing home’s explanation – that Sister Murray’s death was just a freak accident. However, an ABC 7 Eyewitness News investigation revealed that two other residents in the home were injured by falling closets. Summit Park Nursing Care was found by the state Department of Health to be an “immediate jeopardy to resident health and safety,” but no disciplinary action had taken place at that time.

According to Lo Hud, after the two falling closet incidents and before the incident that resulted in Sister Murray’s death, the county had ordered maintenance workers to bolt the two closets that had tipped but did not request the same be done with the rest of the nearly 300 closets in the nursing home.

The family of Sister Murray has filed a lawsuit against the county claiming her death was caused by the “gross recklessness and gross negligence of Summit Park and the county of Rockland and its employees,” according to the newspaper story.

The home was fined $17,300 for negligence in the nun’s death and is still under investigation by the Attorney General and the New York Department of Health.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family sues county, administrator resigns over nun’s death

The doctor said he routinely sees patients from Grand Park Care Center on the verge of death with serious conditions ranging from acute kidney problems, severe pneumonia and malnutrition. He said the conditions indicate neglect by caregivers.

Inspection reports obtained by the television station from the D.C. Department of Health from February and May 2008, reveal numerous deficiencies including failure of nursing staff to notify a physician of a resident’s dehydration, and weight changes and anemia of a resident. According to Jerry Kasunic, D.C. long-term care ombudsman, his staff has filed more than 100 complaints with the Department of Health.

“The neglect and abuse we have seen there is unattended wound care (and) dehydration that has led to malnutrition,” Kasunic said in the report. He specifically reference a recent care where one man from the home entered the hospital critically malnourished. It was obvious to Kasunic that the patient, who was unable to communicate, had received no fluids of any kind.

The nursing home issued a statement saying it is committed to quality improvement and has since hired a new director of nursing and a compliance officer.

Both Kasunic and an inspector with the Department of Health say that the city’s health department needs to be more aggressive in ensuring patients in area nursing homes receive proper care.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Doctor warns of inadequate care at D.C. nursing home

One such contributor is Tim Boyle, owner of Friendship Manor in Grinnell, Iowa, and president of the board of the Iowa Health Care Association, a lobby group that represents nursing homes.

Friendship Manor made news recently after it was fined $112,650 – one of the largest fines ever imposed against an Iowa nursing home. The home was charged with neglecting an 89-year-old woman who died while in residence at Friendship Manor. The victim, Ruth Louden, lived independently and was in good health until she broke her leg and moved into the home for recovery. She complained of excruciating pain but it was only after a physical-therapy aide noticed Louden’s leg smelled like “rotting meat” and that blood was seeping through her medical stocking, that Louden was rushed to the emergency room and treated. Doctors noticed the dressing on her wound had not been touched since it was applied four weeks earlier. Louden’s leg had to be amputated, but she never recovered. She died just a few months later.

The Tribune quotes the Des Moines Sunday Register, which reported that 11 fundraisers were held at Iowa nursing homes. Some of the biggest recipients of contributions from the Iowa Health Care Association Political Action Committee in 2008 included Iowa Democratic Party and Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, the Republican party of Iowa, Senate Minority Leader Ron Wieck, and Iowa Gov. Chet Culver.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Iowa lawmakers receive money from nursing home lobby group

Lemire was transported to Central Vermont Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead, according to the Times Argus (Vermont).

Lemire lived at the home of Julie A. Davis, who was assigned to be her caregiver beginning last spring. Davis had had other disabled individuals living with her in the past but there were never any complaints from neighbors to police, according to the report. No previous abuse complaints had been filed and Davis’ home appeared tidy and well kept.

Davis worked for Lincoln Street, a specialized service agency. She, like other caregivers, received a monthly, tax-free stipend for having someone in her care.

Last summer was one of the rainiest on record for Vermont, which may have contributed to Lemire’s hypothermia and subsequent death, police said. Hypothermia is condition that results when the body loses too much heat and can hinder metabolism and bodily functions and can lead to death.

Davis was charged with abuse and neglect of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, which carries a $10,000 fine and/or up to 15 years in prison. Davis is due in Washington County District Court on Dec. 4th.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Caregiver charged in hypothermia death of disabled woman

But when Fitzgerald returned 2 ½ hours later, the facility was overrun with firefighters and deputies, according to the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times.

While Fitzgerald was out of the building to handle what she later told police was a home health crisis, an 88-year-old woman fell on the bathroom floor. Unable to get up, she asked a fellow resident to call 911. When medical personnel from Pinellas Suncoast Fire Rescue arrived, they discovered there were no staff members on site and called the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office to investigate.

When Fitzgerald returned, she willingly told police she had left a resident in charge. Police then found Vicodin, a controlled substance, in her pocket. Fitzgerald, 60, was booked on one count of abuse and neglect of the elderly, a second-degree felony and one count of possession of a controlled substance, also a felony. Police say other charges may follow. Fitzgerald was jailed with a $12,000 bail.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nurse arrested for leaving 21 assisted living residents alone

Early last month we reported that four employees of Medford Multicare Center for Living in Medford, NY were charged with criminal neglect after investigators reviewed tapes from video cameras hidden in some residents’ rooms.

The videos showed that one patient wasn’t turned and positioned to prevent painful pressure sores or given range-of-motion exercises to keep his muscles from contracting. One patient also didn’t receive water through his feeding tube – his only means of hydration. The staff charged with the neglect also administered heart medication without first checking his pulse rate, which could have resulted in an adverse response in his medication. And rather than changing his briefs every two hours as per doctors’ orders, the patient was left to sit in his waste for hours. The video also showed that the resident had not been bathed in a week.

Hidden video surveillance is not an uncommon practice in New York and has lead to numerous convictions of nursing home employees. Last week, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that more hidden cameras will be installed in the rooms of nursing home patients in western New York in an effort to curtail abuse and neglect against the elderly.

The most recent arrests include two licensed practical nurses (LPN) and two certified nurse’s aides (CNA) at the same Medford facility. The charges include endangering the welfare of a physically disabled person by failing to provide basic standard care and falsifying business records.

One of the LPNs, Kim Purdum, was charged with falsifying business records based on evidence unrelated to the video surveillance. Purdum is accused of changing a resident’s chart to conceal that she had not done the necessary blood tests to monitor her blood thinning medication. This caused the resident to suffer internal bleeding and extensive external bruising. The patient required immediate emergency medical attention.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Video surveillance leads to more arrests at NY nursing home

Timothy Allen Brown was arrested Tuesday evening in St. Louis on charges of abuse or neglect of an adult and interstate flight to avoid prosecution. Police say Timothy will likely face more charges.

As we reported Oct. 29, Timothy checked his sister Penny Brown out of Georgetown Healthcare Center in 2006 and moved her into his home with his 8-year-old son. Penny suffered from Cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair for mobility, and had a room to herself in her brother’s home.

In mid September, police visited Timothy’s home as part of a child welfare case. The boy was later removed from the home after social service workers discovered deplorable living conditions, such as human feces on the floor. The boy told police he was not allowed to go into his aunt Penny’s room, which then led police back to Timothy’s home to search for her. Neither Timothy nor his sister were there. Police later found Timothy’s car abandoned and found Penny’s body “wrapped in quilts and then the quilts were wrapped in construction-grade plastic to make it more of an air-tight package, and then placed in the back of his car, in the trunk,” said county coroner John Goble.

Police believe that Penny could have been dead since she was released from the nursing home in her brother’s care. Once released, Penny stopped using her food stamps and her medical card. But her $600-$700 per month social security disability checks continued to be cashed, police say.

Penny’s father, Terry Gray of Georgetown, told police he spoke with his daughter by phone in December 2007. Otherwise he was not involved with either Timothy or Penny.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Police arrest brother of disabled woman found dead in car trunk

I-1029 requires all new caregivers beginning in 2010 to be certified by the state, undergo an FBI background check and get at least 75 hours of training. The initiative is sponsored by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

PAS-Port for Change, an eight-member statewide steering committee, argues that the initiative fails to address the core issues of abuse and neglect against the elderly and disabled. While it supports the training of caregivers, the organization believes the type of training and the method of delivering that training should be in the hands of the clients.

Debb Snyder, a member of the PAS-Port for Change steering committee who also is disabled, has tried but failed to get SEIU to circulate a questionnaire to those who use caregivers on the quality of care they receive. The questionnaire asks whether the recipient has been verbally or physically abused by a caregiver, whether a caregiver has failed to show up for work or arrived under the influence of drugs or alcohol, whether a caregiver has asked them for food or money or threatened them with abandonment, according to the story.

Snyder says she would like to use those questionnaires during interviews with the accused caregivers as a means of training.

The Washington Attorney General’s office forwards complaints of abuse and neglect to Adult Protective Services, which in turn investigates each case to determine if criminal charges are warranted. The state receives about 13,000 complaints of abuse and neglect each year from adults living in their own homes.

“We’re not against the workers,” Snyder says, “but they need to be trained by us.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Advocacy group wants more control over caregiver training

Earlier this month we told you how hidden surveillance cameras installed at Medford Multicare Center for Living in Suffolk, New York gave the attorney general’s office evidence enough to charge at least four nursing home employees with criminal neglect.

New York leads the nation in using hidden video surveillance to investigate whether there is abuse in its nursing homes. At least 26 of the nursing home employees in New York have been convicted based on hidden video recordings.

The hidden cameras are installed in residents’ rooms with prior permission of family or legal representatives and without the knowledge of the nursing home. Gov. Cuomo hopes the cameras serve as more of a deterrent than means for evidence.

“We’ve had reports [of abuse] for many years, but they are hard cases to make,” Cuomo said in the story. “This allows us to make cases we couldn’t make before.”

While the practice has been lauded by the president of New York AARP, some individuals in the nursing home industry argue that the cameras bring up concerns of a patient’s privacy violation.

According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), statistics on abuse, neglect or exploitation among the elderly is hard to track. However, according to the best available estimates, as many as 1 to 2 million Americans age 65 years and older have been injured, exploited or otherwise mistreated by a caregiver.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › New York puts more hidden cameras in nursing homes

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

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

Five years ago my sister and I found ourselves in a similar situation. Our mother, who was an only child, had passed away years earlier. Her parents – our grandparents – lived more than 2,000 miles away. Their health was rapidly declining. My grandmother had been diagnosed with breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease just six months apart. My grandfather was battling diabetes and was simply unable to care for my grandmother. (We suspect it was because my grandmother had spoiled him for so many years!)

Our visits to their house became more and more worrisome. Food was left rotting in the refrigerator, medications were left sitting out, and my grandmother had taken to wandering outside in the middle of the night. (One night she was spotted walking along their neighborhood lake in her nightgown.)

When my grandfather was diagnosed with terminal cancer, we had to act quickly to get them both in facilities that could provide the medical and custodial care they needed. Unfortunately, we had to separate them.

Their health had declined to the point that neither could be moved closer to my sister and me. Working long-distance arrangements was daunting, especially since states differ in how they structure levels of care. Hospital social workers were a tremendous help, as were online resources.

For those who are finding themselves in similar situations with family members, the online magazine CityView offers a detailed listing of care options. It has a 10-point check list for choosing a facility, explains who pays for long-term care, and gives an overview of Alzheimer’s disease and options for those suffering from memory loss disorders.

Statistics of neglect and abuse in long-term care facilities can make the decision to place a family member in one even more stressful. Good facilities do exist but you must know how to identify them. Research several facilities and take time to visit each. Be aware of the environment: Are calls from residents being answered quickly? Does the home look and smell clean? Does staff appear friendly and know the residents by name? Do residents look comfortable?

I also encourage you to question staff and talk with other family members about their experience with the facility. And once your family member is placed in long term care, remain in contact with staff, visit your family member as much as possible, and continue to be aware of the surroundings. Know the signs of abuse and neglect, and report any suspicious behavior.

For more tips on what to look for in a long-term care facility, click here.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Do your research when considering options in long term care

Jack Crow believes the first call should be to the police.

Crow believes his wife was abused in an Oklahoma nursing home; an investigation determined that her injuries were due to a fall. Regardless, Crow is joining forces with the nonprofit organization A Perfect Cause to make crimes against nursing home patients immediately reportable to police, according to Oklahoma City’s KOCO 5.

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

Crow argues that standards for crimes against nursing home patients shouldn’t be different from the rest of the public. “If she (Crow’s wife) had been assaulted at a KMart, we wouldn’t talk about the proper response. We would have called the police,” he told KOCO 5.

The state’s district attorney and attorney general’s office agree. “When you have a crime scene, there is evidence,” said Scott Rowland, of the Oklahoma County district attorney’s office. “There is witness testimony in these crime scenes.”

A committee was formed to look into the proposal.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home advocates fight to change crime-reporting statutes

But John fought back. He saw a poster in his California nursing home about the Ombudsman program, and he made a call. Ombudsmanship Program Director Kathi Toepel paid John a personal visit and, after insisting they talk privately in his room, he asked her to save his toes.

“I’m 92 years old and want to leave this world with the 10 toes the good Lord gave me,” he said.

Toepel discussed John’s case with his doctor and expressed that John was, in fact, able to make his own healthcare decisions. He wanted to save his toes, and Toepel made sure that his will was done.

John lived another 14 months, but he died the way he wanted, with his body intact. “While I understand these are very difficult decisions for family, friends and caretakers to accept, I know that John died with the dignity and respect he deserved,” Toepel said.

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. But this valuable program is in jeopardy in California.

According to the Union Democrat, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used a line item veto to cut the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program out of the budget. The program receives about half its budget from the state. The rest is made up through federal funds and other sources.

While program officials hope the missing state funds will be raised by the community, they are meeting to find ways to through the situation.

This is a tragedy for all nursing home residents, especially the estimated 40 percent who have no family or friends to visit or advocate for them.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › California budget cuts jeopardize nursing home resident advocates

But hidden surveillance cameras set up over a six-week period in some patient’s rooms by the Attorney General’s office told a different story, according to the North County Gazette.

The videos showed that one patient wasn’t turned and positioned to prevent painful pressure sores or given range-of-motion exercises to keep his muscles from contracting. And that one patient didn’t receive water through his feeding tube – his only means of hydration. The staff charged with the neglect also administered heart medication without first checking his pulse rate, which could have resulted in an adverse response in his medication. And rather than changing his briefs every two hours as per doctors’ orders, the patient was left to sit in his waste for hours. The video also showed that the resident had not been bathed in a week.

The four nursing home employees were charged with criminal neglect and charges against more employees are expected.

Hidden video surveillance is not an uncommon practice in New York. The state leads the nation in using such forms of surveillance to investigate the abuse of nursing home patients. To date, 26 New York nursing home employees have been convicted based on hidden video recordings.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Hidden cameras reveal neglect at NY nursing home

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

It seemed as if there was no one else to care for them.

A recent investigation has revealed that the residents there were subjected to deplorable living conditions, resulting in the nursing home closing and the Cincinnati Health Department being stripped of its ability to license and inspect skilled nursing homes and residential-care facilities, according to the Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer.

It all began last February when Cincinnati police officer Aaron Layton dropped by the facility in search of a suspect. He didn’t find the person he was looking for, but what he did find stopped him in his tracks. The condition of the home was sickening.

Officer Layton got a search warrant and returned 16 days later with other investigators and officers in tow. They were shocked at what they found: exposed wires, leaking sewage, soiled and torn mattresses, vomit on the floor, broken toilets, unqualified employees, improperly stored drugs and people languishing in their own waste.

“There was no compassion, no sympathy for people who were living in these conditions,” says Councilwoman Laketa Cole. “The very people you’d expect to be a proponent for them, failed them.”
The Ohio Department of Health reportedly inspected the facility in January and found 10 deficiencies. Just eight days before the raid in March, the state had cleared the facility of seven of the 10 problems cited, the Enquirer stated.

After months of debate, the City Council concluded city health inspectors had failed to protect the residents and ordered the city’s health department’s licensure and inspection responsibilities be handed over to the state.

Facilities administrator Abe Fischer could serve jail time because of 27 alleged building and fire code violations. He could learn as early as next week if the residential-care facility will lose its city license. The state began fining Fischer this spring – a bill that has reached more than $100,000 – and mandated that he no longer take on new Medicaid cases, according to the story.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Health department stripped of nursing home responsibilities

However, of the 37,150 complaints inspectors received in 2007 about the condition of nursing homes, only 39 percent were substantiated and about 20 percent of those verified complaints involved patient neglect.

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. Unfortunately, while the standards are the same from state to state, deficiency rates vary.

“Inspectors are subjective and inconsistent. They interpret federal standards in different ways,” the Times quotes Bruce A. Yarwood, president of trade group American Health Care Association. Thus, some states show much higher percentages of deficient nursing homes than others, in what may not necessarily indicate a vast difference in quality of service.

In December, the Bush administration will institute a five-star system to rate overall quality of care in nursing facilities. The rankings will be published on a federal Web site, according to the New York Times report.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Gauging nursing home care quality can be tricky

Then her health began to spiral downward, confining her to bed and leaving her helpless. Neighbors no longer saw her and trusted Clifford was handling her needs.

When Ruth died, medics came to their house and were horrified. The deceased woman had wasted away to a mere 79 pounds. Her frail body lay atop a soiled mattress. Excrement was smeared on the carpet below. A medical examiner called it the worst case of neglect she had ever seen, according to the Fort Myers, Fla., News-Press.

The sad truth, the paper later reported, is that abuse and neglect of the elderly is often hard to detect – whether it is in someone’s home or at a nursing facility. Elderly often refuse help or are too incapacitated to seek help outside the abusive environment.

Thus, it is difficult to know how many of the elderly population are abused, neglected or exploited, according to National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), an organization directed by the U.S. Administration on Aging that helps national, state and local partners in the field be fully prepared to ensure that older Americans will live with dignity, integrity, independence and without abuse.

Citing the National Elder Abuse Incidence Study, NCEA reports that only 16 percent of abusive situations are referred for help, leaving 84 percent hidden. While some studies estimate that between 3 percent and 5 percent of the elderly population have been abused, the Senate Special Committee on Aging estimates that there may be as many as 5 million victims every year.

Clifford now sits in prison. He wrote a letter to his neighbors arguing that what happened to him – how he lost control of the care of his mother – could happen to anyone, according to the News-Press story. Neighbors still wonder why he didn’t get help.

Don’t be blind to elder abuse and neglect. Know the signs of elder abuse.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Elder abuse, neglect often goes unnoticed

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

The Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act is sponsored by New Mexico’s senior senator, Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis.

This process could greatly reduce the number of nursing home abuse and neglect cases that plague the long-term care industry. These are tragedies we hear about daily in the news, like the report two days ago of the Jacksonville, Ill., woman suing her father’s nursing home for his wrongful death just 19 days after he was admitted; or the painfully sad story last month of the four nursing home aides in Minnesota who taunted and molested 15 residents suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia simply to “get a good laugh.”

“This bill is an important step in providing the safeguards needed to prevent abuse and mistreatment by those who care for our elderly and disabled,” Sen. Domenici was quoted as saying in The Daily Times. “I hope the Senate will pass it during this legislative session.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Senate to consider Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention bill

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

Perhaps the most useful tool on the site is the National Watch List, which provides a listing of nursing homes cited for violations or that have received substantiated complaints. This list is broken down state by state and then alphabetically by the facility name, with color-coded warning labels and scope/severity codes.

MemberoftheFamily.net also provides an honor roll of facilities found to be deficiency-free.

The organization was founded in the mid-1990s by Dr. Edward C. “Terry” Watters, a Maryland physician fed up with the low standards and lack of sufficient care some of his patients were receiving in nursing homes. Watters and partner Dennis Steele petitioned for government reports about nursing homes and learned how to translate the federal Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR).

According to the site, “As they assembled the facts and ran statistical analyses, a bleak picture emerged of understaffing, physical abuse, untreated bedsores, and coldhearted decision-making by home operators and state officials charged with monitoring facilities.”

Since 1999, information on MemberoftheFamily.net has been available to the public at no cost. The organization is affiliated with no other group and all efforts have been self-funded.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › web site gives free nursing home info

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

The four aides from Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Albert Lea, Minn., were fired after a coworker revealed that she was aware of the four women abusing residents, the Star Tribune reported. The aides allegedly held residents down whey they resisted, put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” some residents, according to the Star Tribune. Three additional aides who knew about the abuse but did not tell authorities also were fired.

The story quoted one aide as telling investigators that the four women did the reprehensible acts to make “work fun or to get a good laugh.” Another aide was quoted in the story as saying the women accused were confident that the residents wouldn’t complain because they “don’t have their minds.”

The abuse apparently began early this year and lasted for several months. Family members were told in May that something had occurred but did not get details until this week. The story reported that three of the 15 residents have died and the others cannot be interviewed by investigators because they suffer from diseases that affect memory and cognition.

Good Samaritan Society is based in Sioux Falls, S.D., which operates 40 nursing homes in Minnesota. The Freeborn County Attorney is considering criminal charges.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Minnesota nursing home aides abuse patients for thrills

There is truly a special place … well you know where … for people who would do something like this. According to the report, which was carried by local CBS affiliate WCCO, the nursing assistants allegedly spit in residents’ mouths, poked their breasts and touched their genitals, and teased them.

Nursing home abuse has to be one of the most incomprehensible acts I encounter in my work with personal injury cases. I just don’t understand how people who are supposed to offer care and comfort, security and peace, could be so cruel. Particularly in the case of Alzheimer’s or dementia patients, who so often are bewildered and afraid, adrift in unclear memories and unsure of what is happening around them to begin with. To abuse these defenseless people – it’s just inexcusable.

Unfortunately, there is still no system for compiling official national statistics about nursing home abuse and neglect. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, as a result no one knows precisely how many older Americans are being abused, neglected or exploited.

The major types of elder abuse are physical abuse, which includes inappropriate use of drugs and physical restraints; sexual abuse; emotional or psychological abuse, which, in addition to verbal attacks or intimidation includes enforced social isolation and treating an older person like an infant; neglect; abandonment; and financial or material exploitation.

It is most often left up to the individual – family members of loved ones – to monitor the care provided by their chosen nursing home facility. Too often, distance prevents regular visits, and families are left to worry, and hope for the best.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › a special place …

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

According to the news story, the abuse occurred at the Oak Hills Living Center from August 2007 through February 2008.

In addition to the abuse, family members say Curnutt was neglected, left in soiled bedding and clothing.

KOTV quotes Curnutt’s father, Richard Curnutt, as saying, “He’s incontinent. Been left wet. Been left dirty. I’ve had to go down and say, ‘please change James.’”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Oklahoma man abused, neglected

Home caregivers fall into two basic categories – those who provide basic health services, and those who provide non-medical services like housekeeping, cooking and nonmedical help. The WSJ reports these are the second- and third-fastest growing occupations in America.

The report finds that the majority of abuse cases are linked to nonmedical care providers, because this type of personnel is not required to have any specialized training, and very often not regulated. In fact, nonmedical caregivers do not have to be licensed or even pass a criminal background check in order to be employed in at least 22 states, the Journal reports.

People often choose in-home care as a less stressful alternative to displacing an elderly person from his or her home. In home care also is a cost-saving option. According to figures supplied by the WSJ, it costs Medicaid about $6,000 per person for home care, as opposed to around $20,000 for care in a nursing home facility.

People considering at-home care for an elderly loved one are encouraged to contact the U.S. Administration on Aging by calling toll-free 1-800-677-1116 or visiting www.eldercare.gov. They can provide assitance about locating licensed, safe caregivers.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Rising abuse in at-home care

“We believe the vast majority of nursing homes are doing a very good job and working hard to deliver quality care,” Sen. Kohl told the committee. “But we must protect the rights of those who receive inadequate care to hold the facilities accountable.” He said the bill would “send a strong message to underperforming facilities that harmful care is not acceptable.”

Sen. Martinez said the practice of nursing homes requiring residents to sign mandatory arbitration agreements is an overreach of the original purpose of the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act, which he says provides for voluntary arbitration agreements. Requiring a mandatory arbitration agreement as a condition of admittance to a facility is taking advantage of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens, he said.

“I was a practicing attorney for many years, and I believe alternative dispute resolution is a legitimate way to resolve disputes,” Sen. Martinez said, “but it should apply to … people in similar positions when entering an agreement to arbitrate. Prospective nursing home residents – our nation’s most vulnerable population – should not be forced to sign an arbitration agreement as a condition of being admitted to a nursing home.”

Senators Martinez and Kohl pointed out that when patients and their families are at the point of entering a nursing home facility, the patient often is in need of immediate care. Sometimes there are no alternative facilities in close proximity to the patient’s home. Families feel they must sign the agreement in order to ensure their loved one gets needed care right away. Most, they say, do not realize they are relinquishing their rights to go to court.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, spoke in opposition of the bill. He expressed concern that removing arbitration arrangements from nursing homes will cause a rise in long term liability costs and ultimately result in a worse quality of care for the nation’s elderly. He said he believes the proposed Senate bill will result in small business owners going out of business and less well-off seniors unable to afford resulting higher prices.

“I am deeply concerned about nursing home abuse,” Sen. Hatch said. “The abuse of a patient’s trust cannot be tolerated.” However, he said, he feels the problems are being addressed by the nursing home industry.

Sen. Martinez disagrees. Arbitration, he says, “remov[es] the one incentive the industry has to self-regulate and police itself and provide a level of care that I believe is what all of us would like to see for our most vulnerable residents.”

A webcast of the meeting is available at the web site for the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › U.S. Senate debates arbitration

The man recounted deficiencies including a room with no telephone or oxygen supply hook-up (requiring portable tanks to be wheeled in when needed), an ill-fitting oxygen mask, and problems with medications, among other things.

Worried about “retaliation,” as he put it, he didn’t even keep records and didn’t lodge any formal complaints with the nursing home facility or the Illinois Department of Aging, relying instead on simply hoping things would improve. And now he lives with regret, feeling responsible for his wife’s death.

Coincidentally, the same day as the elderly man’s visit, Kadner says he received notice that the Illinois legislature just passed a nursing home residents “Right to Know Bill,” which he says is “intended to provide consumers with useful information when choosing a nursing home.” If signed by the governor, the bill will become law Jan. 1, 2009.

The bill will provide for a questionnaire to be completed regarding nursing home facilities, answering questions about facility amenities and services, nursing staffing, pharmacy issues and more. The results would be available on a state government web site so those considering a nursing home facility can have access to more information.

Read the full article at SouthtownStar.com.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Fear of Retaliation

According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), no one knows precisely how many older Americans are being abused, neglected, or exploited. This is because there are no official national statistics.

Adding to the problem, there are no federal standards that govern residential care facilities, which are known by more than 30 different names across the country, perhaps most commonly as assisted living facilities.

In her testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance in June 2002, Catherine Hawes, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management School or Rural Public Health at Texas A&M University system Health Science Center, pointed out that there has never been a systematic study of the prevalence of abuse in nursing homes. She said much of what we know is based on individual stories or focus group interviews with residents and families.

But what we do know is frightening.

• According to the best available estimates, between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection.
  Only 1 in 14 incidents of elder abuse in domestic settings come to the attention of authorities.
  For every one case of elder abuse, neglect, exploitation, or self-neglect reported to authorities, about five more go unreported.

The major types of elder abuse are physical abuse, which includes inappropriate use of drugs and physical restraints; sexual abuse; emotional or psychological abuse, which, in addition to verbal attacks or intimidation includes enforced social isolation and treating an older person like an infant; neglect; abandonment; and financial or material exploitation.

In 2003, state Long Term Care Ombudsman programs nationally investigated 20,673 complaints of abuse, gross neglect, and exploitation on behalf of nursing home and board and care residents. Physical abuse was the most common type reported.

Another study released in 2001 reported that based on information collected between January 1999 and January 2000 by a nursing home complaint database, 10 percent of nursing homes in the U.S. were cited for abuse violations that caused actual harm to residents or placed them in immediate jeopardy of death or serious injury.

If you or a loved one suffered a serious injury due to nursing home abuse or neglect, you have specific legal rights. For a free legal consultation, please contact us today

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › 2 million elderly victims

Of those 23 homes, 16 stand to collect bonus Medicaid payments this year from state and federal taxpayers, according to the Register. The bonuses are tied to a state program that rewards nursing homes for providing quality, cost-effective care.

Elderly abuse is a crime. If you or a loved one have suffered nursing home abuse and neglect, please contact us today or call your local law enforcement agency.

Here’s how much each home was fined in 2007 and how much it stands to collect this year in performance-based bonuses. The homes are ranked based on the amount of their 2007 fines.

Meadow Lawn Health Care, Davenport
2007 fines: $33,350
2008 bonus: $0
Goldenrod Manor Care Center, Clarinda
2007 fines: $20,000
2008 bonus: $9,680
ManorCare, West Des Moines
2007 fines: $19,500
2008 bonus: $0
Risen Son Christian Village, Council Bluffs
2007 fines: $18,500
2008 bonus: $0
The Abbey, Le Mars
2007 fines: $17,300
2008 bonus: $11,339
Cedar Falls Health Care Center
2007 fines: $16,500
2008 bonus: $0
Iowa Masonic Home, Bettendorf
2007 fines: $15,000
2008 bonus: $44,502
USA Healthcare, Urbandale
2007 fines: $13,400
2008 bonus: $76,859
Ramsey Village, Des Moines
2007 fines: $13,000

2008 bonus: $8,133

Glen Haven Home, Glenwood
2007 fines: $13,000
2008 bonus: $12,028
Park View Care Center, Burlington
2007 fines: $12,250
2008 bonus: $22,418
Woodlands Rehabilitation Center, Council Bluffs
2007 fines: $12,000
2008 bonus: $33,801
Lantern Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Coralville
2007 fines: $12,000
2008 bonus: $0
Good Samaritan Home, Villisca
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $25,198
Wesley Acres, Des Moines
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $8,894
Nelson Nursing Home, Fairfield
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $17,972
Oakwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Albia
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $0
Red Oak Rehabilitation and Care Center
2007 fines: $11,000
2008 bonus: $9,225

Riverside Manor, Ames
2007 fines: $10,500
2008 bonus: $0
Windmill Manor, Coralville
2007 fines: $10,500
2008 bonus: $24,811
The Manor, Malvern
2007 fines: $10,350
2008 bonus: $18,555
Clearview Home, Mount Ayr
2007 fines: $10,000
2008 bonus: $57,552
Elm Crest Retirement Community, Harlan
2007 fines: $10,000
2008 bonus: $24,142

Source: Iowa Department of Human Services, Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. (Specialized facilities, hospital affiliates and state-run homes do not participate in the bonus program.)

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home fines, bonuses

Sadlier transferred her mother, Rita, from a hospital to a nursing home, thinking she would get rehabilitation. Instead, her mother received poor care and even an injury. Although Rita was there for just a week, Sadlier says she saw so much nursing home neglect that she had to take her mother out of the home.

Rita was initially taken to the hospital around April 4th of this year. She went in for congestive heart failure, thin blood and liver problems. On April 18th, after the hospital determined Rita was doing better, she was transferred to a nursing home. “My impression was that she would be rehabilitated to get back to where she before she went to hospital,” Sadlier says. “She wasn’t in the best of health, but she was getting by. I didn’t expect her to start doing cartwheels or anything. It was supposed to be for rehab.”

On her first visit to the nursing home, Sadlier was shocked by what she saw. “I went into her room and my mother was lying naked in bed,” Sadlier says. “No gown or anything. I’ve never, ever seen my mother like that-she was modest. So I had to go and find someone to get me a gown and help me put it on her.”

Next, Sadlier says that Rita was being given medication and had to go to the bathroom. “My mother was heavy, so I know they might have had trouble helping her to the bathroom,” Sadlier says. “But the nurse said ‘just go’ even though there was no catheter or bedpan nearby. All I could think was, ‘Don’t we use bedpans anymore?’ She went to the home so she could learn to do things herself again, and she was being told to ‘just go’ where she was.”

The problems did not stop there. Sadlier says that her mother, who had congestive heart failure, had fluid restrictions. However, on Rita’s meal tray someone had written a note to staff: “Force fluids.” Another time when Sadlier was visiting her mother, no one even brought in a food tray. She says she had to go ask for one and is certain that if she had not been there, her mother would have missed that meal.

Sadlier says her mother was also supposed to have a special mattress, but one was never put on the bed. After visiting her mother and finding her naked in bed yet again, Sadlier had enough. “She was supposed to be there for rehab, but she was always just laying there. The hospice said that she wasn’t good enough for rehab, but that’s what she was admitted for. The physical therapist said that she was in the wrong section; that she had been put in the Alzheimer’s section instead of rehab and the home said that there were no beds available in rehab to move her to. But I found out later, there were. My daughter’s friend works at the home and told us that someone else had been transferred from the hospital directly to the rehab section. They lied to me.”

After an enormous struggle to have her mother removed from the nursing home, Sadlier was finally allowed to take her mother home. However, even that was complicated. “The ambulance didn’t bring her to my home,” Sadlier says. “They took her to the hospital because the nursing home sent the wrong paperwork–it didn’t have my signature on it. And she was on the gurney, upside down, with her hands tied to the side of the bed. It broke my heart. She had ulcers all over her butt, back, arms and legs. The ambulance attendant took pictures of it because he remembered her from earlier when she went into the hospital.”

Just over a day later, at age 79, Rita died at her daughter’s home. “She was home for a day before she died,” Sadlier says. “I’m just so thankful that I got her out of there. I would never have been able to live with myself if she died in that nursing home. There was so much going on there and I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want them to treat her worse.”

Since helping to care for her grandmother, Sadlier’s daughter has decided to become a nurse. “She told us we have to turn people who are in bed (like my mother was) every two hours,” Sadlier says. “They never did that for my mother at the home. I was there quite a bit. So were my aunt and my sister. None of us saw them turn her or care for her properly.”

Source: http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/01651/nursing-home-negligence.html

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Speak out!

Anthony Vincent Digiannurio was eventually taken to the Florida Hospital DeLand by ambulance, where he was initially admitted for respiratory problems. However, after examining him, hospital staff were shocked to find he had an infected breathing tube, a partially inserted catheter, bed sores, and maggots in one of his eyes.

His daughter, Laura, expressed distress and disgust at her father’s treatment, saying she had placed all her faith in the University Center West nursing facility to provide care and comfort for her dad. She planned to move him to a veteran’s nursing home upon his recovery.

Source: elder-abuse-cyberray.blogspot.com/2007/11/purple-heart-veteran-nursing-home-with.html

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › decorated veteran abuse victim

Shortly after entering Olive Branch Senior Care, Nelms had to be taken to a hospital because of infected pressure sores, weight loss, malnutrition and dehydration, the lawsuit alleged.

He died six days later from the infected pressure sores, one of which was so advanced it went to the bone and was infected with his own feces, according to the lawsuit.

The nursing facility is owned by Brown Development Inc. and D. Brown Enterprises Inc.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › $1 million neglect verdict

According to a report by local television station WAVE3 in November 2007, family members say Rev. Graham, who had required full-time nursing care since 1999 after a fall left him a quadriplegic with a serious brain injury, began a quick decline in health after entering the Harborside facility in January 2007. Prior to that time, he was cared for at a different facility, where he experienced no problems during his six-year stay, according to his sister, Sherry Cooke.

According to the WAVE3 report, incidents of neglect included severe bed sores, a feeding tube being turned or left off repeatedly resulting in dramatic weight loss, and medications missed or administered incorrectly.

The family says Adult Protective Services investigated and substantiated their claim of caretaker neglect. However, the nursing home released a statement to the TV station saying they had complied with the state department of health and the office of Inspector General in their investigations in the family’s concerns, and that the agencies found the care center acted appropriately in the care of the individual.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › A family’s worst fear