An elderly resident at a Florida nursing home received double his daily medication for a full year before anyone discovered the mistake. This error is egregious in itself, but the greater problem is it’s not an isolated incident throughout the state – and it puts vulnerable patients at grave risk…
Nursing homes across the country are watching closely the recent lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Gary King, who alleges inadequate staffing levels made it mathematically impossible to provide an appropriate level of care to elderly patients. It’s an interesting strategy in that while there are some specific allegations…
Far too frequently, nursing home health care providers intentionally force elderly residents with dementia to consume hefty amounts of powerful antipsychotic drugs – most of which contain a black box warning indicating a heightened risk of infection and death. According to a recent report by NPR, it’s estimated some 300,000…
A number of publications – USA Today, the News-Leader in Virginia and others – have lately been giving great attention to a serious but often hidden problem in many health care settings: Drug addiction. A USA Today review indicated on a national scale, more than 100,000 doctors, nurses, medical technicians…
Abuse and neglect of elderly nursing home patients is always reprehensible. But there is something even more gravely distressing about a victim who dedicated a good portion of her career to protecting seniors in nursing facilities. As a mother of six and the first administrator on the Area Agency on…
Low-rated nursing homes are being rewarded with billions in federal funding to secure better interest rates on mortgages, despite having been cited for egregious instances of abuse and neglect of patients. An investigation, launched by the Center for Public Integrity, indicated that since 2009, hundreds of nursing homes across the…
There has been increased media coverage and attention given to the rise in nursing home abuse and neglect, and for good reason. According to a recent report, one in five nursing home patients suffers abuse by another resident. The study found that 19.8 percent of residents at 10 nursing home…
Making the decision to put your elderly loved one in 24-hour-care can be emotional and difficult. In Florida, families should be concerned with the quality of care being provided, as well as the potential for negligence and abuse. In a recent case, a nursing home resident who suffered from Alzheimer’s…
Additional confirmed cases of Hepatitis C have been linked to a nursing home in North Dakota that is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit alleging negligent care that led to exposure. The new cases bring the total associated with this single nursing home to 47. This means the possible…
A recent article in The Wall Street Journal decried the increase of nursing home abuse lawsuits resulting in six-figure settlements or verdicts, prompting some in the industry to pack up and close shop. The Journal is a decidedly pro-business publication, and took the tack that this series of events was…