nursing home neglect lawyer

Published on: December 20, 2017

Nursing Home Workers Convicted of Neglect After Resident Suffered Hundreds of Insect Bites

Infestations of insects can cause mild discomfort at best and life-threatening illness at worst. Insects are a part of daily life in Florida, but they can pose a health hazard when they make their way into one’s private quarters, particularly in food or in residents’ beds or clothing. These can include cockroaches, ants (including fire ants), spiders, bed bugs, flies and more. Insects can cause injury and spread disease. Failure to address these incidents or to promptly identify and treat patients who have suffered insect bites or insect-related illnesses is a form of neglect, and it can be actionable in civil court, as well as criminal.

Recently in Alabama, three former employees at a nursing home were convicted of a attempted elder abuse, a felony in that state, after an elderly resident in their care was found to have suffered hundreds of ant bites that went untreated. AL.com reports the three workers (one licensed practical nurse and two certified nursing assistants) were responsible for the care of the resident in question, who was confined to her bed. The three both indicated in medical charts that they checked on her numerous times over the course of the night. However, when authorities later viewed surveillance footage of the hallway, they learned no one went into the woman’s room for a full 11 hours.

The woman was later found to have suffered more than 100 ant bites all over her body, mostly on her thighs, knees and ankles. Continue reading →

Published on: December 8, 2017

State Shutters Florida Assisted Living Facility Amid Filthy Conditions

By Dean Freeman

The state of Florida, following a final order issued on the recommendation of an administrative law judge, is closing a South Florida assisted living home after inspectors uncovered abysmal conditions unfit for habitation.

The News-Press in Fort Myers reports there were dirty diapers flung over the bushes in the gardens. There were pipes that were leaking and ceiling tiles were crumbling. Feces was found on the walls, on the floors and even in residents’ shoes. Those were only some of the allegations cited in state inspectors’ reports of the 110-bed assisted living facility on the Gulf Coast.

Investigators with the Agency for Health Care Administration went to the facility approximately 17 times over the course of little more than a year to follow up on these conditions, starting in October 2015. Inspections and surveys revealed residents were not safe, their conditions unsanitary. The facility administrators had been advised of the findings and instructed to immediately clean the facility and start taking better care of residents. However, these conditions persisted with each follow up visit. Continue reading →

Published on: November 22, 2017

AARP Foundation Sues Nursing Home To Halt Unlawful Evictions

By Dean Freeman

The AARP Foundation has filed a lawsuit on behalf of an elderly couple married 30 years after the wife, 83, was evicted and separated from her husband, 93. The foundation reports the wife, who has Alzheimer’s disease, was evicted without warning in March.

Although the nursing home has declined to comment on the pending case, court documents indicate the nursing home’s defense is likely to include allegations of aggression by the elderly woman toward staff. She reportedly threw some plastic tableware. The nursing home called for an ambulance, underwent a psychological evaluation – and the hospital found nothing wrong with her. However, the nursing home would not allow her to return, saying they are not able to care for her needs. Her son requested a hearing with the California Department of Health – a hearing that he won. But then the nursing home responded that the health department has no authority to enforce the ruling. That prompted the AARP Foundation’s legal arm to get involved. The foundation is now suing the nursing home on her behalf.

Although it’s reportedly the first time the foundation has taken up a case regarding nursing home eviction, it’s certainly not an isolated incident. In fact, NPR reports these “involuntary discharges” result in 9,000 complaints annually across the country. It’s the No. 1 complaint made about nursing homes, and several states’ attorneys general have gotten involved. For instance, Maryland’s attorney general is suing one chain nursing home for Medicaid fraud, alleging the firm charged for state services it never delivered – specifically, discharge planning. Continue reading →

Published on: April 3, 2017

New Sepsis Treatment Promising for Nursing Home Neglect Victims

By Dean Freeman

Nursing home residents disproportionately suffer from sepsis, a condition that results in multiple organ failure and death. It caused by the body’s overreaction to bacterial infection.

Now, a doctor reports he has identified a possible treatment for the deadly condition, which kills 300,000 people in the U.S. annually – a significant number of those nursing home residents who received poor care.

According to NPR, it started early last year in Virginia. An emergency room doctor treated a woman in her late 40s who was suffering from sepsis. It was a severe case. Her kidneys weren’t functioning, and neither were lungs. The doctor honestly did not expect her to survive the night. It was one of those cases where any last ditch effort was welcome. He had heard of an obscure studies in which doctors at a local university had treated patients with some success by giving Vitamin C intravenously. Continue reading →

Published on: February 2, 2016

Nursing Home Lawsuit After Elderly Man Wanders, Dies in Dumpster

By Dean Freeman

The 73-year-old man from Detroit was mentally impaired, struggling with dementia. He was also physically impaired, and needed a wheelchair to move around. These were the reasons why he was living in a Michigan nursing home in the first place.

Then, last month, the man reportedly wheeled himself out of the facility. No one stopped him. No one caught him. The following day, construction workers found him dead inside a Dumpster.

Now, just a few weeks have passed and his family has filed a lawsuit against the facility, alleging negligence proximately resulting in the man’s death. They probably have a strong case. Continue reading →

Published on: February 7, 2015

Nursing Home Staff Overtime Has Potential for Neglect

By Dean Freeman

A number of recent reports indicate a growing number of nursing home staffers are working excessive amounts of overtime, leading to a greater potential for reduced care quality and possibly neglect and abuse.

In one case, a long-time nursing assistance in Pennsylvania clocked an average of 80 hours each week for a full year. Her routine jobs included feeding, dressing and bathing nursing home residents. One registered nurse in the same area worked the equivalent of 90 eight-hour overtime shifts over the course of two years. In a single nursing home, staffers clocked 125,000 hours of overtime over the course of two years.

Another report out of New York detailed how a single, county-run nursing home ran up a $745,300 bill for overtime in 2014, which represented a nearly 22 percent increase from just one year earlier.

Continue reading →