California Elder Law Attorney Blog

During Cindy Cool's almost daily visits to the nursing home, she would routinely find her father, who had Alzheimer's disease, wearing urine-soaked clothes.

The Blue Lake, Calif., resident said it would take nearly 20 minutes for the apparently short-handed staff of Eureka Healthcare and Rehabilitation to respond and help clean her father. Other patients fared worse, she said.

"A lot of times I walked out of there crying because of the things I saw," Cool said.

She provided key testimony before a Humboldt County jury last month that slammed the owners of her father's nursing home with a $677 million verdict, rattling the industry and rekindling calls for tort reform.

The verdict is already thought to be the largest in the country this year and its ramifications are being sorted out weeks after the jury surprised even the plaintiffs' lawyers with the size of the verdict. Tort reformers have seized on the verdict as the latest example of litigation abuse.

The company's stock price plunged on fears it will have to file bankruptcy. Cool, 58, was part of a class-action lawsuit representing 32,000 patients that blamed the nursing-home staff shortage for the misery she encountered, echoing a common complaint across the country that for-profit nursing homes are too concerned with the bottom line.

After Wall Street investment firms went on a nursing-home buying spree during the early years of the new century, critics charge that many companies drastically cut payroll expenses to prop up stock prices.

"The major problem for most nursing homes in California and in the nation is staffing," said Pat McGinnis, executive director and founder of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.

Many of the 16,100 homes nationwide are owned by public companies. The home where Cool father's lived and died in 2006 is owned by Skilled Healthcare Group, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

On July 6, the Humboldt County jury found that Skilled Healthcare on numerous occasions violated state regulations requiring it to keep a minimum number of nurses on duty at its 22 homes in the state.

James Gomez, president and chief executive of the California Association of Health Facilities, called the verdict "outlandish, excessive and extreme" and said a "good provider of skilled-nursing care" is likely bound for bankruptcy if the verdict holds up, threatening the livelihoods of 14,000 California workers.

The lawsuit accused Orange County-based Skilled Healthcare of failing to maintain 3.2 nursing hours per patient per day at its 22 nursing homes in California. The company is the 10th-largest, based on beds, in an industry that struggles to keep workers.

"The verdict is a statement that facilities must follow the law and meet minimum standards," McGinnis said.

McGinnis said the 3.2 nursing hours required by California should be an easy standard to meet because it's nearly a full hour less than the federal recommendation of 4.1 nursing hours per patient.

"The fact that this company couldn't maintain these minimum standards makes you wonder why it was in the nursing-home business to begin with," McGinnis said.

Skilled Healthcare Chairman and Chief Executive Boyd Hendrickson said the company is "deeply disappointed" in the verdict and believes its nursing homes are appropriately staffed. "We strongly disagree with the outcome of this legal matter, and we intend to vigorously challenge it," he said.

The company's options, however, appear to be shrinking.

Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Bruce Watson denied the company's demand for a mistrial based on juror misconduct.

Meanwhile, the company's ability to appeal is in question. Typically, parties challenging a trial-court decision are required to post 150 percent of the verdict as a bond. The company doesn't have the cash or credit to post the $1 billion-plus bond. It also likely faces bankruptcy if the jury's verdict stands up.

Both sides are in settlement negotiations, and legal analysts said there's good chance that the sizable verdict will be reduced.

Continue reading "Will the $677 Million Dollar Verdict Finally Wake Up The Nursing Home Industry?" »

Signs or symptoms of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect can include pressure ulcers, pressure ulcers, infections, dehydration, malnutrition, unexplained illnesses, undetected or misdiagnosed disease, slide and covered accidents, medical errors, inadequate physical limitation, uncontrolled pain and injury related data and / or death of residents.

Nursing home abuse can occur because of inadequate staffing, inexperienced staff, less training, negligent supervision and patient isolation. When the industry minimum standards for care are not met, interested parties can be held liable for damage caused by nursing home abuse and neglect says California Elder Abuse Attorney Steven C. Peck.

In early 2008, a resident was admitted to the Los Angeles nursing home in order to rehabilitate a fractured hip. The 84 year old resident died following the misplacement of a feeding tube. At the time the resident was admitted to the nursing home, he was noted as having no swallowing or chewing problems. After some weight loss, his doctor ordered feedings via nasogastric tube.

In what turned out to be a fatal mistake, staff inserted the tube through the residents nose, and it placed in the residents lung instead of stomach. Once feedings began, the lungs filled with the feeding materials that were meant to go to the stomach, making him sick at once. He succumbed to aspiration pneumonia three days later.

Hancock Park Rehabilitation, the facility where the incident took place, did not follow established protocols for inserting the tube, and did not check to make certain it was properly placed in the stomach, according to the report from the Department of Public Health. When the 84 year old patient was rushed to a hospital emergency room, it was revealed by a chest x-ray that the tube extended in to the lungs instead of the abdomen.

This isn't the first time Hancock Park Rehabilitation Center has received violations. The facility has a history of prior incidents, and in 2006 and 2008 received multiple violations related to improper care of patients.

Continue reading "California Nursing Home Fined $ 100,0000.00 Penalty for Resident's Death" »

The longest Humboldt County, California trial in recent memory continues with attorneys delivering closing arguments in the civil suit against Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. -- one of the largest nursing home chains in the country.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs detailed for the jury stories of a handful of patients being represented in the suit. Patients who they contend did not receive showers on a regular basis, walked around with catheters leaking and dragging on the ground, had wounds left untreated and were forced to sit in soiled bed sheets for hours or, in some cases, even days.

Attorney Michael Thamer specializes in fighting corporate abuse, and represented the plaintiffs in the closing arguments.

He made it clear to the court that the suit does not take any issue with how hard the staff members at various Skilled Healthcare facilities are working -- but that the number of them is simply not enough to provide the necessary care for patients.

"In my opinion, they (staff members) are set up to fail before they even start," said Thamer.

Once the closing arguments are complete, the jury will deliberate and decide if Skilled Healthcare is guilty of intentional misconduct. The suit, which spans from 2003 to 2009, represents some 32,000 patients who lived at various Skilled Healthcare facilities statewide.

The issue at the heart of the case is whether or not the nursing homes maintained the staffing levels required by the state.

California law mandates that nursing homes provide a minimum of 3.2 hours of care per resident, per day. This is only the services defined as direct patient care, and includes work by registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses and certified nursing assistants.

Michael Crowley, a Eureka attorney who has worked on the case with Thamer since last November, said that Skilled Healthcare routinely failed to meet these levels.

"Each person represented in the case did not get what they paid for," said Crowley, who added that this includes taxpayers who pay into the Medicare and medical system. "They (Skilled Healthcare) are taking money for something they did not provide."

Crowley said up to 80 percent of funding for patients living in the facilities comes from Medicare. He said that in investigating the daily work logs at various facilities, the attorneys for the plaintiffs found a pattern of understaffing.

Along with subsidiary Skilled Healthcare LLC, Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. is being named as the defendant in the case, with 22 of its nursing homes currently under close scrutiny.

This includes Eureka facilities Granada, Seaview, Pacific and Eureka Healthcare and Rehabilitation, as well as St. Luke Healthcare Rehabilitation Center in Fortuna. In the first quarter of 2010 alone, Skilled Healthcare reported over $188 million in revenue.

"We are trying to send this corporation a message," said Crowley. "They need to care more about their patients and less about their bottom profit line."

More than 32,000 people are represented in the case, including two locally who were named on the case and have since passed away. Vinnie Lavender was 102 when she died at the Grenada facility in Eureka; and Robert Vilchinsky was a patient at St. Luke Healthcare and Rehabilitation before he died from complications associated with multiple sclerosis. Both were represented in court by family members.

The Humboldt County District Attorney's Office intervened in the lawsuit, and has been largely a bystander in the case from the start. District Attorney Paul Gallegos said that his office is planning to file an injunction against the defendant later this week that would order Skilled Healthcare to be in compliance with the law in the future.

Gallegos said the penalties, depending on how the court interprets them, could amount to up to $2,500 for each infraction. If you multiply this by the number of patients represented in the case, Skilled Healthcare is looking at a possible 1.4 million violations.

"It's been a long-term problem," said Gallegos. "There is overwhelming evidence that the law has been broken."

Skilled Healthcare officials say the allegations that their facilities are understaffed are false, and that staffing levels should be set by each individual facility.

Kippy Wroten, an attorney with Wroten and Associates based out of Irvine in Southern California, is representing Skilled Healthcare in the case. Wroten said that she can't comment on specifics of the case because it is still ongoing.

"Our client strives to meet the individual needs of their patients," said Wroten. "They do a wonderful job under extremely difficult circumstances."

Wroten will have a chance to make her closing arguments today, which marks the 106th day in court for the trial.

(Reported by Matt Drange/The Times-Standard can be reached at 441-0514 or mdrange@times-standard.com.)

Under current Medicare guidelines, hospitals are no longer reimbursed for additional care resulting from pressure ulcers (also known as bed sores or decubitus ulcers) as the government has determined that development of bed sores at a hospital is a so-called "never event." Additionally, hospitals cannot bill patients directly for such care. The denial of reimbursement for such reasonably preventable treatment errors should provide hospitals with financial incentive to institute and implement appropriate patient safety measures geared toward preventing the development of bedsores.

While there has been discussion about extending this policy to include long term care facilities including nursing homes and assisted living centers, nursing homes are not presently subject to these guidelines. Nursing homes are therefore presently permitted to receive payment for care and treatment related to bedsores that develop in their facilities, while hospitals cannot. This writer firmly believes that these Medicare "never events" guidelines should be extended to include nursing homes and other long term care facilities so that these facilities will have the same financial incentive as hospitals do to improve patient safety measures relating to preventing the development of bedsores.

Like hospital patients, nursing home residents are often at risk for developing bedsores as a result of their underlying medical problems and/or mobility issues.

A pressure sore/decubitus ulcer is a bedsore caused by unrelieved pressure on the skin that comes from lying in the same position too long and is associated with pain. Patients experience pressure from their bed and/or chair to certain points on their skin preventing the blood from flowing into those points. Because the blood is not allowed to flow into those points, the skin, deprived of nutrients and oxygen, can become injured and susceptible to infection.

A stage 1 ulcer presents as redness of the skin without a break in the skin and represents tissue injury that does not disappear when pressure is relieved. A stage 1 ulcer is classified as nonblanchable erythema with intact skin. Erythema is redness of the skin produced by congestion of the capillaries. Erythema is the initial reactive hyperemia caused by pressure, and nonblanchable erythemia represents stage 1 pressure ulcer.

A stage 2 ulcer is characterized by partial-thickness skin loss, that is, the epidermis is interrupted as an abrasion, blister or shallow crater.

A stage 3 ulcer features full-thickness skin loss involving damage or necrosis of subcutaneous tissue that may extend to, but not through, the underlying fascia. The ulcer appears as a deep crater, with or without undermining of adjacent tissue.

A stage 4 ulcer involves full-thickness skin loss (exposing bone or muscle) with extensive destruction, tissue necrosis, or damage to muscle, bone, or supporting structures (e.g., a tendon or a joint capsule).

Once a bed sore has progressed to stage 3 and stage 4, it is difficult to achieve healing and avoid painful and potentially fatal complications. With stage 3 or stage 4 pressure sores, the extent of the disease may not be evident because of covering necrotic material or eschar. To establish the extent of the disease and promote healing, the necrotic material needs to be removed and surgical consultation may be required. When ulcers develop over bony prominences, osteomyelitis is a potential complication. Pressure ulcers are chronically contaminated wounds and the combination of bacteremia and pressure sores can be painful and life threatening.

Fortunately, as reflected by Medicare's "never event" guidelines, pressure ulcers may be entirely avoidable so long as proper care and preventative measures are instituted and implemented by the health care provider. The time is right to extend these "never event" guidelines to include nursing homes and other long term care facilities.

Nursing homes can be a sad state of affairs, and walking through one can be simultaneously depressing and frightening. Nobody ever wishes to place a loved one in a nursing home and nobody ever wants to end up in one as well.

It can be an equally frightening proposition to confront neglect. Neglect is a silent form of abuse and it qualifies as malpractice. It's not always easy to discern neglect from an elderly individual's typical withdrawal or lack of enthusiasm. While it is necessary to line patients along the corridor in order to efficiently wheel them to the dining room, leaving dependent patients in the hallways for hours on end quantifies neglect.

Nursing home abuse and neglect can come in many silent but devastating forms. Bed sores aka Decubitus Ulcers and Pressure Sores are a natural occurrence for bedridden patients, but they should be minimized by constantly being moved around in the bed as a preventative method of keeping bed sores under control. Bed sores, Decubitus Ulcers and Pressure Sores can be a glaring red flag that your loved one is a victim of nursing home abuse and neglect.

Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect can be masked too easily by staff members who fear the consequences, which places the burden of understanding abuse on the families and friends of those who are residing in nursing homes.

Toileting and bathing issues top the list for neglectand abuse issues. Many nurses and aids do not feel their paycheck reflects the humiliation that can accompany toileting issues. If you are trying to determine whether abuse is a possibility, ask your loved one if they are taken to the bathroom, how often, and how many accidents they are having, and how long they are required to sit in their soiled clothing. These answers can help determine the level of elder abuse and neglect that a facility may be liable for.

They can walk you through the filing process as well as the steps to reporting these issues. Nursing home abuse lawyers have ample experience in dealing with the tragedies associated with nursing home abuse and can be of invaluable assistance even if you are fortunate enough to discover that there is no abuse or medical malpractice at the suspected facility.

Continue reading "Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Can Come In Many Silent But Devastating Forms" »

A decubitus ulcer also known as a Bed Sore or Pressure Sore is essentially a hole caused by tissue death. Generally, we move when an area on our body in uncomfortable. In a person that cannot move or has decreased sensation, then they are not relieving pressure on the skin. When you press down on your skin, you see a lightening of the skin. This is caused by less oxygen enriched blood in that area, the blood was displaced by pressure. This will cause cell and tissue death. This is very very painful for the person says California Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer Steven C. Peck who may be reached toll free at 1.866.999.9085.

When the tissue dies, it leaves behind a hole. The size depends on the pressure point involved. The depth (through different layers of skin) is classified as stages... dermis, epidermis, etc. This mostly depends on time. The longer the pressure was left unreleased, the deeper. However, there are cases that I have seen that within just a couple hours the sore was all the way to the bone indicates Los Angeles Elder Abuse Attorney Steven C. Peck.

Decubitus ulcer formation is even quicker when the body is running at a high speed. Times like fever cause an increase in heat production- which then is an increase in energy production- which then leads to a greater demand for oxygen (just like when you are running) Here, each cell is almost "running" and they wear out quickly. Add to that the inability for new blood to reach it... and you know the rest.

Treatment varies GREATLY. Some wounds are packed with saline soaked gauze and then sealed with a clear bandage. These wet dressings tend to do great for larger and deeper areas. This is one of hundreds of treatments. Treatments are based on past evidence, and each individual detail about each wound, as well as the patients history.

Prevention is the single most effective treatment.

Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced on March 22, 2010, that California Department of Justice agents arrested a former nursing home administrator, Concepcion "Connie" Pinco Giron, 51, of San Pablo, who "callously stole" more than $50,000 from six of her elderly patients, one of whom she kidnapped and held for nearly a year in order to take her pension and social security checks.

Giron faces one count each of kidnapping to commit another crime, false imprisonment and elder abuse, and six counts of theft from elder or dependent adults by a caretaker. If convicted, Giron faces up to 12 years in prison. Giron is being held at Alameda County Jail, and bail has been set at $365,000.

"Giron callously stole thousands of dollars from elderly and sick people, even going so far as to kidnap an elderly woman with Alzheimer's and steal the woman's social security checks," Brown said. "This is a shocking case of nursing home abuse and a gross violation of trust."

In August 2009, agents from Brown's Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse (BMFEA) received a complaint against Giron, who at the time was the assistant administrator of Elmwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Berkeley.

Brown's office began an investigation and discovered that Giron had kidnapped an 85 year-old woman with Alzheimer's and moved her from the nursing home to Giron's own home. To kidnap the woman, Giron falsified the discharge paperwork and told her employer that the patient was transferring to a licensed facility. Giron held the victim in her home for almost a year and cashed her monthly pension and social security checks to pay Giron's own bills and rent. The victim, who was not harmed, was later taken to a licensed facility.

As the investigation continued, agents from Brown's office also found that Giron had opened bank accounts for several of her patients and had transferred funds from those accounts into her own bank account. Giron wrote checks to herself from the patients' accounts, used their ATM cards and stole cash from patients' trust accounts that were maintained by the nursing home.

In addition, Giron convinced the son of a full-time patient that he needed to pay an extra $600 a month in cash to keep his mother in the facility. Giron pocketed these payments, which the son made for 18 months.

In total, Giron stole more than $50,000 from six of her elderly patients and their families.

Brown's Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse protects patients in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities from abuse and neglect. The Bureau also investigates and prosecutes those who cheat taxpayers out of millions of dollars each year and divert scarce healthcare resources from the needy.

Last year, Brown's Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse returned more than $12 million to victims of elder abuse and secured 47 criminal convictions in elder abuse cases. Although elder abuse can take many forms, the majority of cases involve abuses at California's skilled nursing facilities. Brown's office uses its civil, administrative and criminal enforcement powers to bring poorly performing care facilities into compliance with federal and state laws.

Continue reading "California Attorney General Arrested Nursing Home Administrator for Kidnapping and Theft" »

Requiring more nurses to be on duty in nursing homes is key to improving care, according to a labor union and a watchdog group. Now, nursing homes are required to provide at least 3.2 hours of nurse staffing per patient per day. Some want the minimum raised to 3.5 hours.

Legislation that became law in 2008 mandated that an 18-member "workgroup" be formed to recommend how to improve care in nursing homes indicates California Elder Law Attorney Steven C. Peck.

The workgroup included members representing nursing home owners, the SEIU, the watchdog group California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), senior citizens groups and others.

The group was concerned with Assembly Bill 1629, which changed how nursing homes are paid and provided them with higher payments. The workgroup held a number of meetings. Its efforts were overseen by the state Department of Health Care Services, which was supposed to issue a report to the Legislature last March.

The report is still being finalized, said Lisa Gray, a spokeswoman for the department. She said she couldn't give a date when it's expected to be released.

Each member of the workgroup produced a list of recommendations for improving care at nursing homes. SEIU and CANHR both recommended raising the minimum nurse staffing level from 3.2 to 3.5 hours.

The union wrote that plans should be made, also, for how to reach the staffing level of 4.1 hours that some experts have recommended.

CANHR recommended that nursing home rate increases should depend on homes' meeting the 3.2-hour minimum. "We don't think they should be granting any rate increases to homes that don't meet 3.2," said Mike Connors, a CANHR advocate who served on the workgroup.

Last year, a bill was introduced in the Legislature that would have required nurse staffing levels to be at least 3.5 hours per day per patient, in place of the current 3.2 hours requirement.

Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, introduced the legislation, but he later withdrew it at the request of its sponsor, the SEIU, said Leilani Yee, Furutani's legislative director. Mary Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for the union, said the SEIU felt it couldn't do a good job of promoting the bill when it was so focused on the state budget. The measure might be introduced again next year, she said.

On another matter, both CANHR and the SEIU objected to nursing homes' being able to use money it received through Medi-Cal to buy liability insurance.

CANHR said the practice should be stopped altogether, while the SEIU called for controlling how much could be spent for that purpose. Owners of nursing homes who participated in the workgroup also made recommendations.

They called for making AB1629 a permanent law.

They also recommended measuring how satisfied residents, families and staff are and including that information in nursing-home ratings.

Continue reading "California Wants to Increase Nursing Home Staffing Ratio Per Patient Per Day" »

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich is hailing the signing of Assembly Bill 215, which will require that state nursing homes post assigned grades reflecting their quality ratings. The nursing home grading system was kicked off by Antonovich at the LA County level, and recent legislation by Santa Clarita's Assemblyman Cameron Smyth and Assemblyman Mike Feuer has made it law, beginning January 1, 2011.

"In reflecting on this past year, one bright light that shines across our County and State and will enhance the quality of care for our senior citizens was the state law I initiated requiring nursing homes to publicly display their five-star rating issued by the Federal Government's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service," said Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who also led the charge in establishing the County's successful restaurant grading system in 1997. "This posting system provides vital information for families to make informed decisions about the care for their loved ones and provides incentives for nursing homes operators to establish and maintain high-quality standards of care and compliance."

The rating system covers quality of medical care, staffing levels, food services, sanitation, bedsore mitigation and the results of licensing inspections. The system designates five stars for the highest rated facilities, down to one star for the poorest.

The ratings have already been designated, however until this law goes into effect, nursing homes will not be required to post them says California Elder Abuse and Neglect Attorney Steven C. Peck who can be contacted toll free at 1.866.999.9085 or on-line at www.premierlegal.org.

While the nursing home grade posting system program does not go into effect until 2011, Antonovich has made the Nursing Home Compare Tool accessible now at www.antonovich.com.

Reported cases of financial elder abuse, physical abuse and nursing home abuse and neglect inflicted upon elderly people are rising in California.

"Elderly people were beginning to speak up when they never used to, california elder law attorney Steven C. Peck says.

Figures for 2009 were not yet available but in 2008, in California, there were thousands of confirmed cases of elder abuse, which refers to abuse of people over 65. Most seem to concern abuse perpetrated by family members.

The most common form of elder abuse was financial.

Frequent cases included when families "helped themselves to their parents' money", demanded money for drugs and alcohol or moved in and lived off them Peck states.

Physical abuse also occurred and that sometimes was a result of unresolved family issues or alcohol and drugs.

Seeing an 80-year-old with bruises all over their face broke is terrible. However, the issue is not a new one. "It has always been there, it's just been hidden, says Peck.

"It's behind closed doors,"

Continue reading " Financial Elder Abuse, Physical Abuse, and Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect are Rising In California" »

A Ventura nursing home called Fillmore Convalescent Center, its owner, and one of its employees were hit with a $7.75 million verdict yesterday after a jury found them liable for elder abuse. It has to be one of the largest verdicts in California in a case involving nursing home abuse or neglect.

The facts are egregious. In 2006, the family of 71-year-old Maria Arellano, a stroke victim who was also non-verbal, began to notice suspicious bruising. They complained to the nursing home administration, but it failed to look into it. The family then placed a hidden camera in Ms. Arellano's room, which caught caregiver Monica Garcia slapping Arellano, pulling her hair, bending her fingers, and treating her violently. When the tape was revealed, Garcia was charged with criminal acts, and the family brought an elder abuse lawsuit against the nursing home.

The lawyer for Arellano, must have done an excellent job. He told the Ventura County Star that he offered to settle the case for $500,000, but was rebuffed. The nursing home, through its attorney Tom Beach, never offered a dime to resolve the case.

Ironically, Fillmore Convalescent received a five-star rating, the highest, from the Nursing Home Compare system, operated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Continue reading "Ventura Nursing Home Found Liable for Elder Abuse in the Amount of $7.75 Million" »

Police are currently looking into a possible case of nursing home abuse that took place at Golden Moments Senior Care Center . The allegations include a nurse's aide threat to cut the throat of a 68-year-old man, slapping a woman, insulting other disabled and sick adults and taking the food away from starving residents of the said senior care center. In addition, there are also allegations that these horrible incidents took place for several months before these were reported to the administrator.

Meanwhile in California, Villa Valencia confronted another nursing home abuse lawsuit when Theresa Sperry, a 91-year old woman died due to Alzheimer's and painful pressure ulcers on her feet. The family of Sperry cited negligence and excessive profit-orientation of the said nursing home as main reasons why Theresa Sperry died.

These two cases are two examples of nursing home abuse which is becoming prevalent in many nursing homes across the United States. Nursing home abuse has become a pressing issue nationwide as reports show that thirty percent of the facilities in the United States are cited for cases of abuse. What is more alarming is that nursing home abuse statistics shows that these instances of nursing home abuses are never reported to the authorities.

If your loved one is elderly and is currently confined to a nursing home, it is imperative that you should look into his or her welfare. One way of ensuring the welfare of elders is knowing some of the caveats of nursing home abuse. Here are some of the most commonly observed signs of physical abuse.

Assault
Battery
Rape
Sexual Assault
Unreasonable physical restraint
Elder reports incidences of being slapped, ridiculed or mistreated
Deprivation of food or water
Giving improper medication
Unexplained injuries
Caretaker cannot sufficiently explain condition of the elder
Open wounds, cuts, bruises or welts
Slapping, pushing, shaking, beating

Other indication of nursing home abuse is negligence of caretakers or nursing home personnel. In addition, some signs of neglect on the part of caretakers include disregarding the needs of elders, neglecting medical problems, failing to help in personal hygiene, failing to maintain clean and safe conditions and failing to protect from health and safety hazards.

Sometimes, physical abuse and negligence are not the only abusive things that take place in our nursing homes. Verbal and emotional abuse is also common. Let us take a look at some signs that might tell you that your loved one in nursing home is experiencing verbal and emotional abuse.

Agitated or upset elder
Strange behavior like non-communicative or withdrawn
Frightened
Wanting isolation from the people

Continue reading "Nursing Home Abuse Still Very Very Prevalent" »

Nursing home abuse has been a topic of much discussion throughout the United States for several decades, but California is by far home to some of the most serious cases. The cities of San Diego and Los Angeles are particularly prone to nursing home abuse, although the problem is becoming more serious throughout the state every single year. If you suspect or are sure that your loved one has been abused or neglected in a nursing home in Los Angeles or San Diego, you should contact a personal injury lawyer immediately. Both neglect and abuse can result in the lasting physical and emotional wounds of your loved one, potentially requiring months or even years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to completely recover, if recovery is even possible.

There are different types of abuse one may be subject to endure while living in an ethically questionable nursing home. The first, and perhaps most common type of abuse evident in these types of environments, is neglect. Neglect is an indirect form of abuse in that a resident of a nursing home is perhaps being ignored or not receiving the care he or she wants and needs to be happy and comfortable. Neglect can cause both physical and emotional problems. There have been cases in which residents of nursing homes have been denied any reasonable amount of human contact for days and even weeks on end. Other forms of neglect could include not cleaning a resident properly when that resident is unable to adequately clean him or herself.

Direct abuse is also evident in nursing homes. Many nursing home employees have been convicted of hitting, kicking, punching, and attacking the residents for which they are hired to care and protect. Many residents are physically unable to inform their loved ones of this abuse. Others are threatened by the abusive staff, will result in more injuries, abuse and more pain. If you suspect at all that your loved one is the victim of nursing home abuse, do not hesitate to contact a personal injury lawyer right away.

Unfortunately, every year there is a substantial number of nursing home abuse victims who are unable to recover from the wounds they've received from either the direct abuse or intentional neglect of the staff supposedly dedicated to helping them. Many nursing home employees are taken to court and criminally convicted of these crimes each year. Although criminal charges may provide relief and justification to family members of the lost victim, criminal claims do not typically provide any sort of financial compensation to a victim's loved one. Financial compensation is often necessary to cover medical fees incurred while the victim remained alive or the costly funeral arrangements to lay your loved one to rest. In order to receive financial compensation to help cover these costs and others, personal injury lawyers help thousands of people each year in filing civil charges in addition to criminal charges. The civil charges for a personal injury claim will likely offer you and your relatives the financial support you'll require to carry on through the difficult mourning process.

Continue reading "Los Angeles County Facilities Seriously Prone to Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect" »

Currently pending in the U.S. House and Senate is the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2009, which would amend the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). This proposed law, if passed, will nullify mandatory arbitration clauses in admissions contracts for long-term care facilities. Supporters of the law are striving to protect this vulnerable population from exploitation by large corporations that want to keep elders out of court, where they can fight for their full legal and civil rights, and where damage awards might be much higher. Reasonable arbitration agreements could still be entered into later, but not as mandated parts of admission contracts.

Continue reading "Long Term Care Facilities Arbitration Clauses Will Be Nullified Should Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2009 Become Law" »