Nursing Home News

A Follow-Up on the 12 Post-Irma Nursing Home Deaths

January 19, 2018 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

While Maryland nursing homes all have a duty to provide a safe place for residents, nursing home management routinely makes decisions that put residents at risk. Last year, in the wake of Hurricane Irma, 12 people died in a nursing home in Hollywood, Florida. According to reports at the time, the nursing home’s management had failed to secure a back-up power source in the days leading up to Hurricane Irma’s arrival. When Hurricane Irma came in as strong as expected and knocked out power in the area, the nursing home residents were left in 90-degree heat with no air conditioning.

In all, 12 nursing home residents died, most from dehydration or heat exhaustion. A subsequent investigation revealed that the temperature in the nursing home exceeded 99 degrees in some areas.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the State of Florida moved to revoke the nursing home’s license. Of course, the nursing home is contesting the revocation of its license. As a part of the process, an attorney for the nursing home recently deposed a lieutenant with the Hollywood Fire Department. According to a recent article, the lieutenant’s answers to many of the questions – including whether she saw other nursing home residents who seemed to be suffering from the heat – were “I don’t recall.”

Nursing Home Settles Federal Lawsuit Stemming from the Inadequate Care Provided to Residents

December 7, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When a Maryland nursing home accepts a resident into its care, the home takes on a responsibility to provide a certain level of care to the resident. Of course, this includes ensuring that the resident’s most basic physical and health-care needs are met, but it also requires that the home maintain the facility in a safe and clean manner. When nursing home management fails to live up to this standard, the home may be held liable through a Maryland nursing home negligence lawsuit.

Many nursing homes accept financial assistance from the federal government, through programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. By doing so, the nursing home also takes on an obligation to provide the type of care to residents that the government expects. A recent news article discusses a federal lawsuit that was recently settled after disturbing discoveries were made regarding the condition of the facilities.

The allegations arose from inspections that occurred back in 2008 and 2009. Inspectors noted that the home was infested with rats, mice, and cockroaches. One resident’s account was truly shocking. Evidently, the bedridden resident was complaining of leg pain to nursing home staff. When the staff member pulled back the blankets covering the resident’s lower body, a snake jumped out at her.

Maryland Is One of the Few States that Allow Video Cameras in Nursing Homes

November 28, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Given the rash of Maryland nursing home abuse and neglect allegations that have been made over the past decade, it is no surprise that families of nursing home residents are concerned about their loved ones’ safety. In fact, the growing concern has led a number of states – including Maryland – to allow for the families of residents to place hidden video cameras in their loved ones’ rooms. Of course, in order to do so, the family member must obtain their loved one’s permission.

The use of video recording in nursing homes has greatly increased transparency in an industry that is known for denying liability in the face of all kinds of allegations. In fact, there have been substantiated cases of nursing home abuse in which the employee initially denies the abuse occurred, only to be confronted with a video that shows otherwise.

A recent news article discusses the video evidence captured by the family of one man who died from complications related to stage three pressure ulcers that he developed while in a nursing home. According to the article, a concerned daughter placed a hidden camera in her father’s room. The video showed a nursing attendant forcefully trying to get the elderly man off the bed and pushing him into a wheelchair. Later, the video shows her dousing the man in mouthwash, which contains alcohol and may contribute to pressure ulcers.

A Maryland Nursing Home’s Duty to Its Residents

September 28, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When a Maryland nursing home accepts a resident into its care, the nursing home takes on a responsibility to provide a certain level of care for the resident. In most cases, this duty requires that nursing home staff provide the resident with any care, including medical care, needed by the resident. However, in certain situations, a nursing home’s duty expands, depending on the circumstances.

A good example of when a nursing home’s duty can expand is detailed in a recent article discussing a tragic situation in which eight nursing home residents died in the wake of Hurricane Irma, due to a power failure in a nursing home. According to the recent report, despite ample notice of the storm’s severity and the potential for upcoming disaster, the nursing home did not secure any back-up power source.

Thus, when the nursing home lost power a day into the storm, residents were left without the electricity necessary to power medical devices as well as the home’s air conditioning system. By some accounts, temperatures reached up to 106 degrees. Several residents were able to be moved to a hospital that was across the street that had secured back-up generators in anticipation of power loss. However, eight residents died as a result of the power outage in the nursing home.

Nursing Home Abuse Frequently Goes Unreported, According to Recent Government Report

September 21, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The residents of Maryland nursing homes are a vulnerable population. While most nursing home residents have family somewhere in the state, the reality is that family cannot always be present to witness how staff is treating their loved one. On top of that, many residents suffer from some kind of mental illness or incapacitation that can affect their ability to accurately and credibly relay information about the way they are being treated. Given this landscape, it does not require much of an imagination to see why nursing home abuse is underreported.

Under the law, any instances of abuse or neglect of a Medicare beneficiary must be reported to the authorities. However, according to a recent report, a newly released government study issued by the Department of Health and Human Services found approximately 130 instances of unreported abuse of Medicare beneficiaries, dating back to 2015.

The abuse discussed in the report is extremely serious, including rape, seduction, sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, abandonment, maltreatment, and sadism. The article details the abuse sustained by an elderly woman that was documented not in nursing home records but in the woman’s medical records after she was admitted into the emergency room. Evidently, a nursing aide entered the woman’s room to find a male nurse on top of the elderly woman, grabbing her breasts and ejaculating on her.

It May Soon Be More Difficult to File Claims of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

August 14, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Placing a loved one in the care of a Maryland nursing home is never an easy choice. While nursing homes are not known for providing residents with a stellar level of care, in some cases they are necessary when families are unable to care for their loved ones on their own.

Unfortunately, the instances of Maryland nursing home abuse and neglect have recently been on the rise over the past several years. While the law allows for families of abused or neglected nursing home residents to seek compensation for their loved one’s injuries in some cases, the ability of family members to pursue these cases may be limited if the current administration reverses a rule implemented last year.

Arbitration Clauses and Nursing Home Litigation

Before a resident is admitted into a nursing home, a family member must sign a pre-admission form. Hidden among other clauses in these forms is often an arbitration clause, which prevents the family of the resident from filing any case against the nursing home in a court of law. Instead, the clause requires the family to pursue any claim through binding arbitration.

Social Media’s Role in Perpetuating Nursing Home Abuse

August 7, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Maryland nursing home abuse and neglect have been serious issues confronting families and residents for decades. However, with the increasing popularity of social media outlets over the past decades, incidents of nursing home abuse seem to have skyrocketed. Not only has the number of claims increased, but also they have become more and more disturbing.

A recent trend in nursing homes across the country is the posting of nude, partially nude, or otherwise humiliating photographs of nursing home residents by those who are supposed to be caring for them. Nursing home employees may be motivated by frustration or a twisted idea of humor, but those who engage in this type of abuse are violating the duty of care they owe to the resident, and they are also likely violating criminal laws.

When this type of abuse occurs, it is important for family members to act quikcly. Social media posts can often be removed, leaving little or no evidence of abuse. An experienced nursing home abuse attorney can assist the family members of an abused or neglected nursing home resident in holding the responsible parties accountable through a Maryland nursing home abuse lawsuit. In many cases, the nursing home facility itself will be liable for the conduct of its employees.

Filing Requirements in Maryland Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Cases

July 7, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Tens of thousands of cases are filed in Maryland courts each year. To help the court system handle the large number of cases, procedural rules have been implemented to streamline the process and to ensure that only diligent plaintiffs with legally sound cases are permitted to have their cases heard by a judge or jury.

One of the major procedural rules that courts require plaintiffs to follow is that a case must be filed within a certain amount of time, as outlined in the jurisdiction’s statute of limitations. If a plaintiff fails to file a case before the applicable statute of limitations expires, the court will be left with little choice but to dismiss the case, leaving the plaintiff with no avenue of recovery.

Over the past decade, states have begun to enact stricter requirements for many personal injury cases, especially medical malpractice cases and nursing home abuse and neglect cases. Indeed, according to a recent news article, West Virginia lawmakers have recently drafted and passed a bill that makes filing lawsuits against nursing homes much more difficult. Under the new law, the state’s statute of limitations was reduced from two years to one year. In addition, cases against nursing home facilities can only be filed in the county in which the nursing home is physically located.

U.S. Supreme Court Weighs in on Nursing Home Arbitration Clause Issue

May 26, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court issued a written opinion in a case brought by the surviving family members of two nursing home residents who died while in the care of the defendant nursing home. The case required the court to determine whether a state law was valid if it permitted a loved one of a nursing home resident to enter into binding arbitration only when they possess a power of attorney document that specifically mentions “access to the courts” as a conferred right. Ultimately, the court determined that the state law violated the Federal Arbitration Act.

The Facts of the Case

The plaintiffs were the surviving family members of two loved ones who lived in the defendant nursing home prior to their deaths. Prior to the residents’ admission to the facility, the plaintiffs completed the necessary pre-admission paperwork for each of the residents. One clause in the document stated that “[a]ny and all claims or controversies arising out of or in any way relating to . . . the Resident’s stay at the Facility” would be resolved through binding arbitration. At the time the paperwork was completed, the plaintiffs had valid documents indicating that they possessed powers of attorney for their loved ones that permitted they “dispose of all matters” related to their loved ones.

In the next year, both residents died while in the care of the nursing home. The nursing home asked the court to dismiss the case and require the plaintiffs to submit their cases through the arbitration process, as indicated in the pre-admission contracts. The state court rejected the nursing home’s argument, finding that a person’s access to the court system is a “sacred” right, and it can only be waived by an explicit statement in the power of attorney document.

Negligent Hiring Claims Against Nursing Homes in Maryland

May 19, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A claim of negligent hiring is based on the idea that an employer has a duty to protect others from a risk of harm posed by employees of which the employer knows or should know. If an employer fails to exercise reasonable care to ensure that other employees and customers are not at risk of harm from its employees, the employer may be liable for negligent hiring. For example, an employer might be liable for hiring an employee with a violent criminal record and providing the employee with a firearm. Liability may also be appropriate when an employer fails to check an employee’s past employer references, which would have revealed that an employee was unfit for the position.

In Maryland, a negligent hiring claim requires the plaintiff to show:

The employer owed a duty to the injured person to use reasonable care in selecting its employees;
The employer’s conduct in hiring or retaining the employee was not reasonably prudent under the circumstances;
The employer’s failure to exercise reasonable care caused injuries to the plaintiff; and
The plaintiff suffered damages.