abuse

The California Department of Public Health has slapped a $100,000 fine on a care facility in Daly City for nursing home neglect. According to a news report in The Associated Press, Seton Medical Center is facing the most severe penalty allowed under state law in connection with the death of an 81-year-old woman. Officials say, a nurse at the facility left the cap on a breathing tube that was inserted into the woman’s trachea. The woman suffocated and died. State officials said the nursing home received the maximum penalty because it did not have a policy in place for properly inserting the device, which is known as a “T-piece.”

I offer my deepest sympathies to the family members of this elderly patient who died as a result of negligence. They will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Serious Deficiencies in Nursing Homes

More than 1.5 million people live in nursing homes nationwide. That number has only been increasing and is expected to go up in the coming years. According to the Government Accountability Office, about one-fifth of nursing homes in the nation were cited for serious deficiencies – those that jeopardized the life of the patient – in 2008. The GAO report cited poor quality of care such as worsening pressure sores or untreated weight loss in a high number of nursing homes. These deficiencies, the report stated, puts nursing home residents in “immediate jeopardy,” which means that they are at risk of death or serious injury.

Failure to Meet Standards

Nursing homes are required to meet federal standards as a condition of participating in Medicare and Medicaid, which cover more than two-thirds of their residents at a cost of more than $75 billion a year. In this particular case, the nursing home in Daly City seems to have committed a fatal error because they did not have a policy in place when it came to inserting a T-piece.

A number of incidents involving nursing home neglect or nursing home abuse occur due to understaffing in nursing homes. When care facilities hire fewer staff and keep untrained or unqualified personnel on staff, because they are cheaper, and overwork them, it creates an environment that is ripe for abuse and neglect. Such situations stem from nursing homes putting profits ahead of the people they are supposed to serve.

Compensation for Victims’ Families

A family that has lost a loved one as a result of nursing home neglect can file a wrongful death claim against the at-fault facility. Victims’ families in such cases would be well advised to contact an experienced California personal injury lawyer, who has experience successfully handling similar cases and holding nursing homes accountable for their wrongdoing. The best nursing home abuse law firms always offer a free consultation and comprehensive case evaluation to victims or their families.

Two Orange County nursing homes are facing fines over allegations of nursing home neglect in connection with the deaths of two patients. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, Newport Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Newport Beach was fined $100,000 after a patient fell while left unattended to use the bathroom. Emeritus Nursing Home in Yorba Linda was fined $90,000 after an unsupervised patient choked on a piece of meat. In both cases, the California Department of Public Health officials said, the patients received "inadequate care." Both facilities received the most serious citations allowed under state law.

Read the rest »

As our elderly population continues to grow we continue to see more and more cases of elder abuse and neglect. This alarming trend is frightening to imagine. Placing your loved one in the care of a nursing home should not cause them pain or discomfort. When placing your elderly parent in the care of a nursing home you want it to be a place where they can comfortable spend their last days. When elder abuse or neglect happens the results can be devastating. Read the rest »

An Orange County nursing home operator has been handed a $671-million fine by a jury in Humboldt County for understaffing several of its facilities, which resulted in substandard care. The Daily Breeze reports that a class action lawsuit against Skilled Healthcare Group Inc. alleged that the company violated California laws that make it mandatory for nursing homes to provide 3.2 nursing hours per patient per day. Lack of adequate skilled nursing staff in such facilities is said to be one of the main causes of nursing home negligence and abuse in the United States. Read the rest »

A recent article in the California Watch blog raises a very important issue. Why is nursing home abuse treated as a "personnel issue" instead of a crime? This is a valid question. If someone on the street punched an elderly, disabled person on the mouth -- or any person for that matter -- wouldn't we call the cops on the person? That individual will very likely face assault and battery charges. However, when the same thing happens behind the closed doors of the nursing home, no one seems to be in a rush to call 911.

Laws Require Prompt Reporting of Abuse

The blog states that nursing home employees are required by state laws to report abuse to authorities. But that does not always happen. A recent report on this important issue was released by Disability Rights California, a nonprofit advocacy group, titled "Victimized Twice: Abuse of nursing home residents, No criminal accountability for perpetrators." The title says it all. Nursing home employees could punch or verbally abuse their residents with seeming impunity. In most cases, they just get away with a slap on the wrist or in worst cases, they could lose their jobs.

The problem, the study says, is with the process that is used to report these abuse incidents. Although state officials provide mandatory training to employees educating them about their duty to report abuse to authorities, the facility's administrators give their employees a contradictory instruction. They tell their employees to come to them first. So, in the end, it is the administrator who makes the decision whether the incident merits reporting to authorities. Abuse is treated as an "administrative matter" rather than as a criminal matter.

Lack of Accountability

When a nursing facility waits to conduct an internal investigation before reporting to authorities, the case suffers because a lot of physical evidence is lost by then. It becomes too late to get evidence or build a strong case that can be proven in court. Here, the laws are in place and they are strong. However, there is "insufficient statewide leadership" to make sure that the laws that are in place are strictly followed.

It is heartbreaking to see examples of the multiple physical abuse cases in nursing homes where employees even drew blood with the blows they dealt to their patients. But even that did not merit a police report! Punching, kicking, hitting or slapping any human being are unlawful acts in a civilized society. This is an issue of human dignity and personal safety, both of which are under attack in our nursing homes today.

Victims and their families have civil remedies for any abuse or personal injuries suffered in nursing homes. However, these violators should be held criminally responsible as well. They are certainly not above the law.

Do you personally know of incidents of physical abuse in nursing homes? Please share your experiences with us.

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.

Appalling details of severe nursing home abuse surfaced during testimony in a criminal case involving nursing home worker Cesar Ulloa, who is accused of punching, striking and body-slamming frail, elderly residents. According to a news report in the Los Angeles Times, 21-year-old Ulloa faces seven counts of elder abuse and one count of torture and if convicted in the case, faces a possible life sentence. Prosecutors say Ulloa jumped on a 78-year-old woman's chest and body slammed her into bed as she struggled. The woman was apparently mute because of a brain condition and couldn't say anything. Read the rest »

Seven siblings in Texas have filed a lawsuit accusing a Houston funeral home of funeral home negligence for cremating their father's body instead of preparing it for a funeral as they had requested. According to a news report in the Houston Chronicle, the lawsuit seeks $2.7 million in damages from Carnes Funeral Home alleging negligence which caused the family physical and mental problems including post-traumatic stress disorder, anguish and humiliation.

How did this horrible mix-up occur? The funeral home apparently mistook the body of Fred Woods, a 91-year-old black man for a white woman, whose family had requested that she be cremated. Both bodies were being handled through the county's indigent burial program. A funeral home spokesman told the newspaper that employees apologized to the family and offered them a free urn, burial plot, head stone and funeral service to make up for their act of negligence. Not surprisingly, the victimized family has stopped communicating with the funeral home since the offer was made.

This is probably one of the worst cases of funeral home abuse that has been reported in recent times. It is unimaginable that a professionally run mortuary or funeral home could mistake a 91-year-old African American man for a Caucasian woman. How could this happen? And to make matters worse, the funeral home offers a complimentary urn to the hurt and grieving children for the wrongfully cremated remains of their father. It's the height of insensitivity!

At Bisnar | Chase, we have been receiving an increasing number of complaints about local, California funeral homes and mortuaries, which have displayed carelessness, negligence and utter disregard for the dignity of the deceased. Will we fight these unethical companies until we get justice for our clients? You bet! We see such cases as an opportunity to righting a wrong. It is wrong to neglect the final wishes of any individual. It is wrong to violate the dignity of a deceased individual. And it is just wrong to put a grieving family through any more than what they've already gone through.

If you are a victim of funeral home negligence or abuse, please contact an experienced California funeral home negligence attorney to find out how you can pursue your legal rights.