Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog

$90.5 Million Verdict Upheld in West Virginia Nursing Home Lawsuit

July 1, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Proponents of reform in nursing home lawsuits are upset with a recent decision by a West Virginia County Circuit judge who decided to uphold a $90.5 million verdict in a nursing home negligence lawsuit as appropriate, thus denying a request for a new trial. The nursing home’s corporate owner claims the state’s medical malpractice cap on awards, which sits at $500,000, should have been applied, thus limiting the verdict.

According to reports, the plaintiff in the case was the son of an 87 year old woman who suffered from various conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and other health concerns. He had decided to place his mother at defendant’s nursing home temporarily, while the family waited for a space to open in another facility.

While the woman stayed at the defendant’s nursing home for only a short while, according to the lawsuit, by the time she was transferred to a hospice just a few weeks later she was unresponsive, 15 pounds lighter, and suffered quite substantially from dehydration. After only a handful of weeks at the new location, she passed away.

The lawsuit claimed that the nursing home provided unacceptable care for the plaintiff’s mother, and stated that she had suffered severe mouth sores, head trauma sustained from several falls, and that she was confined exclusively to a wheelchair throughout her stay. At trial, experts testified that the employees at the nursing home had not provided the woman with basic necessities such as basic nutritional needs, presumably as evidenced by her severe weight loss and dehydration.

The nursing home had claimed that the woman’s death was a result of her dementia, and not their neglect. However, the defendants had a history of citations and violations by state inspectors, and had lost Medicare and Medicaid funding for a temporary time period following dozens of such violations in 2011. The judge also noted that profit margins may have been kept high as a result of keeping the number of nurses and other aides as low as possible.

The original verdict was for $91.5 million, which included $80 million in punitive damages, and another $11.5 million in compensatory damages. The judge later reduced the overall amount, ruling that a small portion of the damage award fell within the $500,000 cap. The judge ruled that the $500,000 cap for malpractice damages were not applicable to the case overall because the home did not qualify as a health care provider under relevant state law.

In affirming the denial of a new trial, the judge wrote that a punitive damage award must be high in order to deter such a wealthy company from perpetuating a similar act in the future, and that, further, “This verdict sends a clear ‘deterrence’ message to a multi-billion dollar nursing home corporation that its misconduct will not be tolerated in West Virginia.”

Nursing Home Fined for Failing to Protect Residents from Sexual Predator

June 28, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

An Iowa nursing home is now facing licensing and other sanctions arising out of an incident of sexual abuse of a resident.

Additionally, the Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators is alleging that the former administrator is guilty of professional incompetence.

The various allegations stem from the Board finding that the home and its administrator should have known that one of the residents posed a threat to the other residents, and that it further failed to take necessary precautions in order to prevent anything from occurring. A hearing is scheduled to take place in October.

According to reports, the case is unusual in that the Board rarely takes action against individual administrators for abuse or neglect in the homes that they manage.

According to state inspection reports, several employees of the home were warned not to tell anyone that sex offenders were living within the home, or they would be fired.

One individual in particular had been living in the Iowa Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders just prior to his stay in the Iowa nursing home. He was reportedly there due to convictions in four separate cases, being accused of lascivious acts with a child, indecent contact with a child, and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.

Potentially Egregious Case of Nursing Home Abuse under Investigation

June 21, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A man was shocked to recently discover that his grandmother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, received extensive facial injuries, including a gruesome looking gash on her head, while living in a residential care facility. The victim is 88 years old, and wheelchair bound.

It remains unclear when or how the woman suffered the injuries. Her family members are hoping that it was some sort of terrible accident, rather than blatantly violent abuse. Police and other governmental officials are continuing an investigation into the matter. The investigation is said to be focusing on who was present around the time the injury occurred, and will consult those individuals who might have more information.

Additionally, news sources revealed that the nursing home where the woman was living has been cited several times in the past by Texas State officials responsible for regulating the home.

Among prior offenses, the home was previously cited for the following:

April 2011: the facility was cited for providing sub-standard care, and was forced to pay a $2,405 penalty

February 2012: the facility was again cited for providing sub-standard care, and was forced to pay a $6,500 penalty. Additionally, the state agency refused to pay the facility for admissions for almost an entire month last year.

March 2012: the department verified a complaint of mental and verbal abuse against a patient, but did not require the home to pay any fines. In that case, the agency found that the employee was solely at fault, as the proper protocols and procedures were in place.

Connecticut Supreme Court Decision Severely Limits Nursing Home Lawsuit Damages

June 14, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A recent Connecticut Supreme Court decision could have a major impact on nursing home litigation.

The case arose out of a 2003 fire in a Hartford nursing home, which killed 16 elderly and disabled individuals. Following the catastrophic event, 13 separate individuals filed suit. However, none of the plaintiffs in the case have received any redress, due to a dispute over the limitations of the nursing home’s professional liability policy.

The fire broke out when a psychiatric patient set her bed on fire with a cigarette lighter. Relatives of 13 of the 16 victims sued the nursing home’s operator for damages, saying it failed to adequately supervise the woman. The lawsuit also made negligence claims for insufficient response and a lack of safety training by the nursing home staff.

The policy limit dispute centered on the meaning of the $1 million coverage versus the total coverage for the company who owned the home (and several others) of $10 million. Specifically contested were the terms “aggregate policy limit.” The Connecticut Supreme Court’s majority opinion held that the policy, when read in whole, meant that the plaintiffs had access to only $1 million for this particular home, and that the $10 million was the limit for all of the company’s homes combined.

Nursing Home Abuse More Widespread Than You Might Think

June 7, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Although we would like to think it’s not the case, reports and lawsuits indicate that abuse within nursing homes and assisted care facilities are not isolated incidents.

Following the recent U.S. trend regarding hidden cameras documenting nursing home abuse, an 85 year old resident in an Ontario long term care facility placed a camera in order to investigate his suspicions of abuse. The shocking results depicted an elderly woman with dementia being subjected to abuse and humiliation, and have since led to the suspension of at least four employees in that facility.

According to various media reports, the video footage shows one worker repeatedly wrestling and hitting the woman, another wiping his nose onto her clean sheets, and yet another taunting her with rags smeared with her excrement. This is truly deplorable, and even more so considering the poor woman is 85 years old and suffers from dementia.

The nursing home and government are conducting investigations, and police are looking into potentially filing criminal charges.

Apparently, the particular facility involved in this case was actually subject to a class action lawsuit in 1999, detailing hundreds of individual cases of abuse. Then, in 2003, tape recorders set up by families captured staff psychologically and verbally abusing residents, and led to governmental intervention, including an investigation. The initial lawsuit settled just last month, resulting in a reported $7 million pay-out, to be divided among hundreds of abused residents and the families of those who had died during the 13 year long legal ordeal. The settlement also reportedly set aside funds for foundations that are dedicated to educating seniors and patients about their rights.

It is uncommon for a single abusive act to be an isolated incident. Abuse often starts with small impositions upon patients’ rights, and then escalates. It is believed that the stem of these sorts of problems lies in the fact that homes are typically understaffed due to the low wages paid to employees there, as well as the small supply of workers willing to take these demanding jobs.

South Carolina Considers Nursing Home Hidden Camera Bill

May 28, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

South Carolina is joining a group of states in a recent trend regarding legislation addressing hidden cameras. Sometimes referred to as “granny cams,” devices are placed inside nursing homes, and are designed to capture potential abuse of residents.

The legislation, such as in other states, was inspired by at least one reported instance of nursing home abuse being captured on hidden camera. A woman contacted a private investigator about placing a video camera in a nursing home, due to her suspicions that her 101-year-old grandfather was being abused, but because he was so frail, the man couldn’t talk about it. After consulting with attorneys regarding potential privacy concerns, the private investigator placed the small camera next to the resident’s bed, at such an angle so as to limit the capturing of his roommate. There was also no sound recording, so as to limit the potential recording of private conversations.

The footage allegedly depicted a nursing home worker hitting and taunting the elderly man as he lay in bed. The employee was later arrested.

The case inspired a South Carolina state senator to introduce a bill addressing families’ rights to use electronic surveillance to monitor the care of their loved ones.

Florida Senate Committee Passes Bill Affecting Nursing Home Lawsuits

May 20, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee recently voted to approve a bill that would have a major impact on the ability of plaintiffs in nursing home lawsuits to recover punitive damages.

SB 1384, which passed by a 7-2 vote, would require that at an evidentiary hearing the individuals establish that the nursing home breached its legal duty, which resulted in the actual injury, loss, or damage to the victim.

Sources believe that rather than achieving reform, the law would preclude valid nursing home lawsuits. Current law already requires that 50% of punitive damage awards against nursing homes go to a state “quality trust fund.”

Under current law, plaintiffs must present evidence at a pre-trial hearing, but do not need to prove that it is admissible. This presentation of evidence is called a “proffer.” The bill, as written, would require a stricter hearing in order to allegedly filter the plaintiff’s evidence, and would further require the presiding judge to grant permission to seek punitive damages. The alleged aim is to prevent cases which seek to use inadmissible evidence, such as hearsay, in establishing a claim for punitive damages.

The original proposal also contained provisions making it more difficult to sue the nursing home’s parent company, but those sections have since been removed.

The bill must be approved by two additional committees before it would proceed to a full Senate vote.

Fire Drill in Nursing Home Leads to Wrongful Death Suit

May 10, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

An Alabama nursing home is facing a wrongful death lawsuit following a fire drill gone tragically wrong.

While the circumstances surrounding the accident remain unclear, the victim in this case, a 93 year old woman, was confined to a wheelchair. During what seems to have been a routine fire drill, an employee of the nursing home rolled the woman outside, and apparently left her unattended, or otherwise unsecured. The woman’s wheelchair then rolled down the hill, and threw her into a ditch, the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the woman’s estate, alleges that the woman was found lying facedown in water, and was then taken to a hospital where she died three days later. The cause of death was aspiration pneumonia.

The lawsuit claims that the nursing home employees acted negligently in placing the woman in a hazardous area and failing to protect her from harm. It seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

Department of Health Substantiates Claims of Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect

May 6, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The Minnesota Department of Health recently published a report on its website, stating that it had substantiated claims of neglect and abuse in at least two different nursing homes.

In the first case, a disabled resident was allegedly neglected when an employee left her inside of her room with the lights off, the call light out of reach, and the door closed.

The report stated that another employee later found the resident on the floor with a broken leg and wrist. The employee responsible for the incident was subsequently disciplined, and later fired. The resident has since recovered, but her primary caregiver stated that, “the accident took a lot out of her.” The administrator of the nursing home acknowledged that mistakes sometimes happen, but that they will never compromise their residents’ safety, accounting for the decision to fire the employee responsible.

No sanctions were issued against the facility. The report stated that the center had taken corrective action, which included the retraining of its employees regarding call light accessibility. It also conducted an audit of its call lights to ensure functionality.

In a more shocking example of nursing home abuse, an accusation was substantiated regarding a resident allegedly being slapped, spit upon, and held agressively. Apparently, the staff members had been attempting to give the woman a shower, but she was kicking, hitting, and spitting at the three employees. According to reports, when the resident spit in a nursing assistant’s face, the woman responded by spitting back, slapping the resident on the mouth, and telling her to “stop acting like a 2 year old!” The nursing assistant denied the account, stating that she only put a washcloth in the resident’s mouth in order to keep her from spitting, but the third employee present at the time of the incident verified the exchange. The nursing assistant was suspended, and subsequently fired.

In that case, the health department ordered the facility to take corrective action, which included updating the woman’s care plan to include her right to refuse a shower.

Oklahoma Considers Hidden Camera Law to Protect Nursing Home Residents

April 26, 2013 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The Oklahoma Legislature is in the midst of deciding whether to approve a measure that would allow loved ones to place hidden cameras in resident rooms in order to document potential abuse. The issue of hidden camera placement is currently up to each individual facility to decide.

As proposed, Senate Bill 587 would allow nursing home residents to put cameras inside their rooms. However, there is an amendment to the bill that would potentially penalize anyone who sets up a camera without first obtaining permission.

The bill is being advocated for by three sisters who caught workers on camera mistreating their mother while she was a resident of the Quail Creek Nursing Home. According to one of the sisters, who placed the camera in her mother’s room,”One of them had put rubber gloves in her hand and she was stuffing them in mother’s throat.” Although their mother died last year, the sisters remain strong advocates for the bill.

While we always hope that our loved ones won’t be the victims of nursing home abuse or neglect, the sad truth is that many are. With many elderly individuals suffering from dementia or other ailments which impede their ability to communicate, absent objective markers, we may continue to remain unaware that they are being mistreated. Bills like this one would provide a potential way for family members to ensure that their loved ones are receiving the quality of care that they need and deserve.