It is a well-established fact that understaffing is a problem that is at the root nursing home neglect and abuse. We constantly see examples of cases where a catastrophic injury or fatality could have been prevented if only the nursing home had adequate qualified personnel to take care of its patients. An Orange County jury has ordered St. Edna skilled nursing home in Santa Ana to pay $3.1 million to a woman who became brain-injured because she was given a morphine overdose at the facility. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, 57-year-old Barbara Lefforge was only at the nursing facility for less than six hours when the overdose occurred.
Prescription Error Leads to Overdose
Lefforge went to St. Edna in September 2007 to recover from tendon repair surgery. Her podiatrist mistakenly recommended 50 mg of morphine instead of Demerol. Lefforge's lawsuit alleged that the nursing home failed to catch the prescription error. Lefforge suffered an overdose, but the nursing home staff failed to monitor her reaction to the drug or take her to the hospital. This caused Lefforge's brain injury.
Jurors found that St. Edna was 90 percent responsible for the damages and that her podiatrist was 10 percent responsible. Lefforge was awarded $2 million for pain and suffering and $1.1 million in medical costs. The jury is also expected to award punitive damages in this case.
The Problem of Understaffing
The Register reports that St. Edna in Santa Ana is one of 25 nursing homes in California owned by the company Covenant Care, which is among hundreds of California nursing homes that serve Medi-Cal patients, which got $880 million in additional funding from the state since 2004 to increase staffing and salaries. However, non-profit news organization, California Watch, investigated and found that 232 of such skilled nursing facilities actually cut staffing and even let their patient to nurse ratio fall below the state minimum.
Nursing Homes Must Be Held Accountable
A study in 2003 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) states that at least one in five of all nursing homes in the United States are plagued by serious deficiencies that place residents in immediate jeopardy or cause them actual harm. That number has very likely risen now.
The report also points out that the quality of care in these nursing homes drops significantly when residents receive less than three hours of the nurse’s and nurse’s aide’s time per day. That unfortunately happens in about 54 percent of nursing homes. Nursing aides in several facilities are paid $7 to $8 an hour for work that is strenuous and stressful. In most nursing home neglect cases that our Orange County personal injury law firm has seen, injuries and deaths at these facilities are directly related to the problem of understaffing and failing to train staff properly.
I'm glad that this Orange County nursing home was held accountable for their wrongdoing. They should also face punitive damages, which will hopefully act as a deterrent for other nursing homes from putting profits over the well-being of the customers they serve.
Do you have a loved one in a nursing home? What are some of the tips you would offer for those who are looking for the right nursing home?
The BISNAR|CHASE personal injury law firm is not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call us or another reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free consultation. We provide a free, confidential consultation to not at fault persons named in this article. The free consultation offer extends to family members as well.
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