Nursing Home Abuse

Sexual Abuse in Kentucky Nursing Homes

July 31, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In recent news, that our Hartford, Maryland Nursing Home Injury Attorneys have been following, a nursing home abuse lawsuit has brought to light the problem of unreported sexual abuse incidents in Kentucky nursing homes.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Mae Campbell, an 88-year old, was sexually abused two times while being a resident at Hazard Nursing Home. Campbell suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, and was reportedly sitting in a hallway last year, in view of other staff members and a nursing supervisor, when a male nursing home resident sexually assaulted her by ejaculating onto her face. She was reportedly sexually abused three months later by another male resident of the home who had allegedly entered her room to perform a similar sexual act. The nurse on duty was told by her supervisor not to discuss the incident with anyone because Campbell had not been harmed.

Under Kentucky law, staff members and officials of nursing homes are legally mandated to report nursing home neglect or abuse. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services issued the home a Type A citation, claiming that Hazard Nursing Home did not follow state regulations and failed to protect Campbell from sexual contact that was unwanted, failed to protect her health and safety as a resident, failed to report the sexual abuse allegations to the necessary state agencies, and failed to investigate the sexual abuse allegations thoroughly.

The Herald-Leader reported that Campbell’s sexual abuse was only discovered after depositions in a wrongful death case led to a former nurse’s aide’s description of Campbell’s sexual assault, where the former employee claimed that she stopped working at Hazard Nursing Home after the incident, as she thought the home should have protected Campbell better. Another former nurse also admitted to witnessing Campbell’s other assault. She was told not to discuss it with anybody—because Campbell had not been harmed.

Resident Assault Leads to Wrongful Death Lawsuit

July 27, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In recent news that our Maryland Nursing Home Injury Attorneys have been following, an assisted-living facility in Rochester, Minnesota is being sued for negligence, wrongful death and medical malpractice, after a resident with dementia was allegedly assaulted and died.

According to the civil lawsuit, Donald R. Salli, 78, was assaulted by another resident in September of last year. The complaint claims that Salli was found by the staff at Sunrise Cottages on the floor on September 19th, with a resident assaulting him. Salli allegedly had a large hematoma on his head, as well as a red area from where he had been kicked in the back. He was reportedly not evaluated by a licensed nurse until seven hours after the attack.

The lawsuit also claims that the next day, Salli was found on the floor of his cottage apartment by three staff members, crying and in a great amount of pain, and was unable to walk on his own. He was documented as being unresponsive, sleeping through the day, was unable to stand or communicate, and yelled in pain when his back was touched.

After Salli’s daughter, Elizabeth Pulsifer, asked that Salli be sent to the emergency room, they discovered that he had suffered a fractured skull with internal bleeding and three ribs were fractured. He reportedly remained in the intensive care unit until he was transferred to hospice care, where he died on October 7, from a brain injury. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, neglect was the direct cause of his demise and they cited the facility for negligence.

Maryland OHCQ Issues Code Red Heat Alert for Nursing Homes

July 14, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a recent blog, our Baltimore, Maryland Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorneys discussed the recent relocation of 220 nursing home residents, after an unprecedented heat wave in Baltimore lead to air conditioning malfunctions that closed two nursing homes—in an effort to protect the health and safety of the residents until the center’s heating and cooling systems are repaired.

The Maryland Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) issued a “Code Red – Heat Alert” last week, along with the Baltimore City Health Department, cautioning all Maryland licensed health care and residential facilities to implement appropriate plans to ensure the health and safety of residents while the outside temperatures are near or above 100°F.

The health department made recommendations for nursing homes to:

• Relocate resident activities to cooler areas, and caution nursing home residents to cut back on outdoor activities during the extremely hot days to prevent nursing home injury or illness.
• Monitor and address the behavior of dementia patients, or confused patients who may want to be wrapped in blankets, or wear too many clothes.
• Make sure the cold water is constantly available for residents, and offer it frequently.
• To keep residents cool, offer ice packs, or washcloths that are cool and wet, to help them endure the heat. Also give residents baths or shower that are cool, or lukewarm in temperature.
• As nursing home A/C systems will be operating at their maximum potential during the heat wave, contact maintenance staff to check the A/C systems, and perform required maintenance measures in advance, to prevent system failures.
• Rearrange any nursing home equipment or furniture that may be blocking any vents on the walls or floor to improve air circulation and make sure that the movement of air is not obstructed.
• Check the operation of all refrigerators and ice makers in facilities that do not have A/C or where kitchens are not cooled with A/C, to make sure that the refrigeration units are maintaining the correct temperatures.
• Make sure all medications for residents are stored at the temperatures listen on the packaging or prescription labels. Relocate the drugs to secure storage if necessary, to prevent any nursing home negligence or injury.
• Turn off any unnecessary lights that do not impact any activity for residents or staff, and close the curtains to keep out the hot sun. Also avoid the use of heat producing equipment like vacuums, stoves, or ovens.

Maryland Residents Moved Out of Nursing Home After A/C Malfunctions

July 12, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In recent Baltimore, Maryland nursing home news, the Ravenwood Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in downtown Baltimore closed its doors last week, moving 150 residents out of the center due to safety concerns—after the building’s air conditioning system malfunctioned, failing to keep residents cool in the city’s scorching heat.

Although many residents claimed that the malfunction occurred on Friday, July 2, it was determined by authorities to occur on Sunday. Many residents claimed that their complaints were not heard, until a Ravenwood resident called 911 on Monday for help. The temperature inside the building was reportedly 92 degrees at the time.

The center could reportedly face new environmental deficiencies, as it did not report the issues until a few days after the nursing home had been without air conditioning. Ravenwood is currently under investigation by the state Office of Health Care and Quality to make sure that the home followed proper procedure, to ensure the health and safety of the residents.

The Ravenwood staff claimed to do everything that they could to make sure that the residents were not in medical danger during the period of time without air conditioning. Many of the residents are vulnerable adults who need special medical attention, some of whom are under 65 and suffer from a variety of medical conditions, including amputation, HIV/AIDS, and paralysis.

Resident Death and Antipsychotic Drug Violations in Nursing Homes

June 30, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Our Washington D.C. Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys recently discussed the topic of chemical restraints in a blog, and the unnecessary use of antipsychotics in nursing homes. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that around 15,000 nursing home deaths occur every year from the off-label use of antipsychotic medications that are unapproved by the FDA.

Center for Medicare Advocacy Senior Policy Attorney Toby Edelman, recently released a statement in reaction to a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, claiming that nursing home residents die every day from the inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications given to residents who have no diagnosis of psychosis. Edelman claims that nursing home facilities are violating the Controlled Substances Act and the 1987 Nursing Home Reform Law, by failing to provide the residents with proper medical attention, and physicians who are available to treat them 24 hrs a day.

According to the statement, under the 1987 Nursing Home Reform Law, every resident must be under the care of a physician, and each nursing home must provide a physician for medical care in case of an emergency, with another physician on-call. Edelman claims that nursing homes and long-term care pharmacies have long been relying on the practice of “chart orders,” for medications, where nurses assess the nursing home resident’s changed condition, and contact the physician—who then prescribes pain medication recommendations.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has reportedly begun to enforce the rules and policy of the Controlled Substances Act, requiring physicians to write and sign prescriptions, sending nursing home and nursing home pharmacy industries into a frenzy, claiming that without these practices, residents will not receive the pain medication they need.

Jury Awards $4.85 Million to Family in Nursing Home Wrongful Death Lawsuit

June 29, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In recent news that our Baltimore, Maryland Nursing Home Neglect Attorneys have been following, the family of a patient who died from an overdose of morphine while receiving physical therapy at a nursing home, has been awarded $4.85 million—after accusing the home of nursing home negligence and wrongful death in a lawsuit.

According to the civil lawsuit filed by the family in 2005, Burr Needham, arrived in the center on April 26, 2002, to receive physical therapy for a hip fracture, and was administered a lethal overdose of morphine. The suit accused Dr. Arun Gupta and a staff of five nurses at the home of nursing home negligence, causing the 76-year-old’s wrongful death on May 2nd.

According to the medical examiner, the death was a homicide, caused by severe morphine intoxication. The documentation in the suit showed that the staff at the nursing home was unable to account for the dosage of morphine administered to Needham.

The jury ruled that the staff was professionally negligent, and awarded Mrs. Needham, who died of cancer in 2007, $3 million for the loss of companionship she experienced after her husband died. The jury also awarded $1.5 million for Needham’s suffering and pain, and $350,000 in damages.

Nurse Indicted for Chemical Restraint Leading to Nursing Home Resident’s Death

June 28, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In recent blog, our Baltimore, Maryland Nursing Home Attorneys discussed the topic of chemical restraints, in regard to a February case, where Britthaven of Chapel Hill Nursing Home was investigated by local and state authorities after Alzheimer’s patients tested positive for opiates that had not been prescribed to them.

This month, Angela Almore, a 44-year old registered nurse, was indicted in the case, on one count of second-degree murder in relation to the death of Rachel Holliday, a resident of the nursing home who died after being given a heavy dose of morphine. Almore was also charged with six counts of felony resident abuse, related to administering morphine to several patients of the nursing home, causing hospitalization.

The investigation reportedly began after a few patients from the Alzheimer’s wing of the nursing home were hospitalized for odd behavior, which led to the discovery of opiates in their blood. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Attorney General’s Medicaid Investigations Unit, with the Orange County District Attorney, launched a criminal investigation of the nursing home in February to determine if the patients were being over-medicated, abused or neglected, or being subjected to chemical restraint.

The North Carolina Attorney General’s Office claims that after testing, nine out of over twenty-five Alzheimer’s patients at the nursing home tested positive for opiates in February. Holliday, one of the hospitalized patients with high levels of morphine in her system, died on February 16, 2010.

Another Nursing Home Abuse and Negligence Lawsuit Against Good Samaritan and Former Aides

June 25, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a recent nursing home abuse case that our attorneys at Lebowitz and Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers discussed in a blog, the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society in Albert Lea, Minnesota, was sued, after nursing home residents were reportedly subjected to a pattern of nursing home abuse over a period of around five months by nursing assistants in 2008.

Another lawsuit was filed last week in the same elder abuse incident, seeking damages from Good Samaritan, and accusing the supervisors of nursing home negligence for failing to screen employees to prevent abuse. The lawsuit claims that the nursing home failed to properly supervise the four nursing assistants, who are accused of abusing patients in a sexual, physical and emotional way.

In the original case filed earlier this year, the four former nursing assistants were accused of physically and emotionally abusing fifteen Alzheimer’s and dementia patients while videotaping the abuse. The nurses were accused of civil assault, battery and causing emotional distress, and the nursing home was accused of failing to protect the elderly residents from abuse and neglect, and neglecting to properly supervise the nursing aides.

This is the fourth civil lawsuit filed in South Dakota connected with the case, filed on behalf of Beverly Butts. It is similar to the Freeborn County case from January, but the reported victims named in the case have since died, and according to the Globe Gazette, when Minnesota victims die, liability goes away. But family members of the victim can pursue claims in South Dakota, as Sioux Falls is the headquarters for the nursing home chain.

White House Honors Elder Abuse Awareness Day

June 17, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In Washington D.C. this Tuesday, the White House honored the 5th annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, that was launched in 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) and global organizations as a direct response to the growing problem of elder abuse and neglect around the country and world.

According to a White House press release, every year approximately 700,000 to 3.5 million elderly Americans are abused, neglected or exploited. Seniors who experience abuse and neglect reportedly face a higher risk of premature death—300% more than elderly residents who have not experienced abuse.

Although all Americans have the legal right to live out their senior years with integrity and respect, many of our elderly residents experience abuse and neglect, often times by the very people giving them care, with a reportedly large percentage of female victims. In 2006, funds were added to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to help elderly abuse victims, and victims of late life domestic violence—however only 1% of the funds are allotted to older women.

To honor World Elder Abuse Awareness, organizations and agencies around the country are encouraging individuals to raise public awareness of elder abuse and neglect, and to recognize this devastating problem that afflicts senior citizens and often goes unreported. According to research, as few as 1 in 6 reports of elder abuse are brought to the attention of the authorities.

Family of 100-year old Nursing Home Resident files Wrongful Death Suit Against Home

June 10, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A wrongful death lawsuit has recently been brought against Brandon Woods of Dartmouth nursing home, by the family of Elizabeth W. Barrow, a 100-year old resident of the facility who was allegedly strangled to death last year by her roommate, who was 98-years old.

Barrow reportedly shared a room with Laura Lundquist, a 98-year old who has been diagnosed with having dementia and paranoia. According to Barrow’s son Scott, Lundquist allegedly harassed his mother for weeks, making her life miserable because she was jealous of all the attention that Barrow received, as well as the window view. Scott Barrow reportedly asked for the women to be separated, but according to the director of the home, Scott Picone, Barrow declined the option of moving rooms. Picone said the two roommates acted like “sisters” and took walks together.

On September 24th of last year, Elizabeth Barrow was reportedly strangled to death in her bed with a plastic bad. The autopsy revealed that she died by means of asphyxiation, but also received blunt force trauma to her arms, leg, skull and chest. Lundquist has been charged with the murder.

The lawsuit claims that the nursing home staff and executive director were negligent, as they were responsible for providing his mother with a safe environment, and they failed. He claims that as a result of the nursing home’s carelessness and negligence, Barrow was forced to suffer consciously until the time of her death.