nursing home abuse lawsuit

Published on: March 14, 2016

Nursing Home Abuse Captured on Camera

A 55-year-old woman has been arrested for abuse of an 89-year-old dementia patient at a nursing home in Minnesota, after the alleged victim’s daughter installed a hidden camera in patient’s room.

Investigators say snippets of video from last month showed the staffer hitting the victim in the head and on her back with her hands and a brush and also pulled her hair. Bruises were reported on the victim’s hands from trying to defend herself.

The accused has denied she struck the patient or pulled her hair, but it may be difficult to deny accusations that are clearly shown on film.

The facility has released a statement calling the incident, “detestable,” adding it was contrary to the facility’s values and “deeply offensive to us as people.” Continue reading →

Published on: March 5, 2016

Pivotal to Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit: Who Signed?

By Dean Freeman

An increasing number of nursing home abuse lawsuits boil down to this single question: Who signed the admissions contract?

Specifically at issue is who signed the provision compelling arbitration or agreeing to release the center from liability. The reason this question is central is because if the person who signed was not authorized to do so on behalf of the patient, the contract is invalid,. That means plaintiff has the right to sue.

In some cases, if the patient personally signed the contract, was he or she legally fit to do so? Many times, the answer is no, and that too can work in a plaintiff’s favor.

This issue was recently underscored by The New York Times, which highlighted a 2009 case in which a nursing home resident was murdered by her roommate. Her son sought to hold the nursing home accountable for this violent act. Continue reading →

Published on: March 11, 2015

Federal Jury Awards $1.2M in Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit

By Dean Freeman

For the abuse and wrongful death of a 96-year-old woman in a nursing home facility three years ago, a facility will have to pay $1.2 million to her surviving daughters.

The abuse came to light after the victim’s family installed a hidden camera to catch an apparent thief who was stealing their mother’s belongings. What they discovered instead was far more horrifying.

Footage revealed on one occasion, a nurse aide stuffed a rubber glove into the elderly woman’s mouth. She was also slapped in the head and face as another aide looked on, without voicing concern or complaint. Other images showed the woman being thrown onto the bed, poked in the chest and yelled at.

Continue reading →