personal injuries

A widower is alleging that nursing home neglect led to the death of his wife of 61 years, Johnnie Esco. Don Esco sued El Dorado Care Center and its parent company Horizon West for elder abuse and wrongful death in connection with his wife's death. KCRA.com reports that 77-year-old Johnnie Esco was treated for pneumonia at Marshall Hospital and then went to El Dorado Care Center in Placerville. Her stay at the nursing home was supposed to be temporary while she recuperated. After two weeks at the center, her health deteriorated and she had to be sent back to the hospital, where she passed away. Don Esco claimed that the substandard care she received at El Dorado lead to her death. 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 4-year-old boy sustained major injuries in a dog bite incident in San Bernardino as he was spending time in a relative's house. According to a news report in The Press Enterprise, the boy and his mother were from Michigan visiting family members in San Bernardino. Police say the child was playing in the backyard of a home in the 1500 block of West Windsor Street and had just picked up a toy. That was when the pit bull attacked, unprovoked and without warning. The boy sustained severe bites to the back of his head, buttocks, arms and hands. However, he is expected to survive. The boy's mother and grandmother were also injured as they tried to get the dog off the child. No one has been arrested or charged. Read the rest »

Hao Yun "Eddie" Lin, a 33-year-old letter carrier, suffered fatal personal injuries the afternoon of May 25, 2010 after he was attacked by a Rottweiler on his Oceanside route, which caused him to fall and hit his head. According to a news report in the North County Times, Lin was found lying on the street with a major head injury that day and taken to a local medical center. He had severe brain swelling from the fall and died from those injuries on June 3. The Rottweiler that attacked Lin was put down at the owner's request, officials said. An investigation is ongoing. Read the rest »

A 6-year-old girl suffered injuries in a dog bite incident in Lake Forest after a loose dog attacked her in the driveway of her own home. According to a Los Angeles Times news report, the girl's mother shot the dog, believed to be a pit bull mix or boxer, which attacked her daughter the morning of May 19, 2010. Two of her daughters, ages 3 and 6, were walking to a neighbor's house when the dog attack occurred. The dog quickly got on top of the 6-year-old and repeatedly bit her. 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.

Two loose pit bulls attacked and caused personal injuries to animal control officials who were responding to frightened neighbors being chased by the dogs. The Lake County News reports that the dog attack occurred in Mendocino County the morning of April 9, 2010. Police received calls from people who said they were being chased by pit bulls in the area of Laughlin Way and North State Street. Read the rest »

A patient at a Newport Beach hospital sustained personal injuries after she was placed on a metal gurney that was pulled into an MRI machine. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach has been fined $50,000 by the California Department of Public Health for this incident, which according to records, occurred in January 2009. The powerful magnet in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine pulled the gurney into the machine and her leg was trapped for about three minutes. She suffered fractures in her lower leg and foot. Read the rest »

The California car accident lawyers at BISNAR | CHASE have represented numerous victims who have been seriously injured because of negligent drivers. It is a fact that a number of these negligent drivers were distracted at the time of the collision. If we look at our own driving habits, I'm sure we can come up with at least a few times a day when we were distracted. It could have been something as minor as changing a CD, reaching for something your child wanted or fumbling with the temperature controls or GPS. All these are distractions and when you take your attention off the road even for a few seconds, you are exposing yourself, your passengers and others on the roadway to risk of injury or death. Read the rest »

Alberto Herrera-Garcia, 54, sustained fatal personal injuries in a San Diego on-the-job accident, the morning of December 24, 2009, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Herrera-Garcia was apparently unloading 20-foot long wooden beams from a forklift, when the load shifted off the forklift and fell on him, at the industrial site on Marconi Drive, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's report states. The blow knocked Herrera-Garcia backward and he hit his head and suffered serious head trauma. He died shortly after the accident. Herrera-Garcia was also the driver of the truck, which was carrying the lumber. Investigators are looking into what caused the load to shift and fall on the victim. Read the rest »