Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Wandering is a common symptom of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or other cognitive disorders. According to the Alzheimer’s Association more than 60 percent of those with the condition wander at some point and up to 70 percent of those who wander will do so again. More than 127,000 critical wandering incidents are reported each year. If not found within the first 24 hours, up to half of all persons with dementia who wander will become seriously injured or die, according to research obtained by the Alzheimer’s Association.

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Iowa state lawmakers put officials from the Iowa Veterans Home on the hot seat last week about a decision made by the home to switch doctors to an on-call system for nights, weekends and holidays, resulting in a generous boost for the center’s four doctors, according to the Des Moines Register.

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California nursing homes are taking advantage of last year’s cuts to the state’s ombudsman program and slacking off on responsibilities to their patients, according to Ombudsman Services of Northern California. The organization lost two-thirds of its staff when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed $3.8 million in funding for long-term care ombudsman programs last year, according to News 10.

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Thousands of young and middle-aged adults with serious mental illnesses live in U.S. nursing homes, putting frail nursing home residents at risk for serious injury or death, according to a report gathered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services prepared exclusively for the Associated Press.

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Two senators have reintroduced legislation aimed at improving the quality of care in nursing homes.  The Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act,  reintroduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Herb Kohl (D-WI), would give consumers more information about the quality of care at nursing homes, provide the government with better tools to enforce high quality standards, and encourage nursing homes to improve on the care they provide, according to Trading Markets.

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Lawmakers are considering a bill that would protect nursing home residents and their families from losing their right to hold long-term care facilities accountable for negligent and abusive care.

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State Sen. Dan Kotowski said he had good intentions when he sponsored a bill in the Illinois General Assembly that would refund fines paid by nursing homes that promised to use the money to improve care at their facilities. But opponents of the bill say it is faulty and would only “eliminate the financial disincentive for bad behavior,” according to the State Journal-Register.

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DuPage County, Illinois officials are stepping up their investigations into allegations of physical abuse of elderly in nursing homes and in-home health care settings, spurred in part by the horrifying story of a nursing home resident who froze to death last month after wandering outside her nursing home, according to the Chicago Tribune.

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A new bill introduced in the California legislature by lawmaker and longtime nursing home rights advocate Mike Feuer aims to reverse Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto of $3.8 million in funding for local the Long Term Care Ombudsman programs late last year, according to the California Chronicle. 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.

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A new rule issued in September by the Bush Administration has made a once routine process of obtaining information from nursing homes to back up claims of abuse and neglect almost impossible. That juggernaut has people who are suing nursing homes wrangling between state and federal officials, according to the Washington Post.

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