Articles Posted in nursing home abuse

In cases of Fellsmere nursing home abuse, administrators are often just as culpable as those who actually harmed the victim.

Our Fellsmere elder abuse lawyers know that those in charge of operations in nursing homes have a duty to protect their charges. Nursing home residents are vulnerable and often can’t speak for themselves. So when even suspicion of neglect or abuse arises, those in charge must act.

When they don’t, they can face both criminal and civil sanctions.

That’s what happened recently in Iowa, where the top administrator of the Tabor Manor Care Center has been charged with negligence and professional incompetence for his response to a series of sexual assaults at the facility. He may lose his professional license.

The administrator hasn’t yet responded to the charges, filed by the state’s Board of Nursing Home Administrators, and a hearing is scheduled for later this year.

The case was forwarded to the board back in December, shortly after the state’s Department of Inspections and Appeals fined the facility $3,000.

The allegations are that the administrator did nothing to protect residents who complained that they were sexually assaulted by a fellow resident. The alleged attacker, who had a known history of abusing alcohol, was reportedly involved in five separate sexual assaults over the course of four months.

Now first of all, it’s rare for such incidents to even be reported. Victims are often either frightened or unable to come forward about such abuse. This case illustrates why victims continue to be hesitant – because here, they did, and nothing happened.

According to news reports, a resident complained to staffers back in the early summer of 2008 that the male resident had groped her. The staff did report that case to inspectors with the state, who said they couldn’t find enough cause to launch a full-fledged investigation.

The following month, one of the staffers reported seeing that same male inside the room of a female resident, touching her inappropriately.

Two months after that, a worker witnessed the man running from the room of another female, wearing only his under garments.

At this point, staff at the home put a laser alarm on the man’s door.

Then a few days after that, another female resident filed a complaint alleging that the same man had groped her.

Then in October of that year, another staffer said she a female resident leaving the man’s room with her pants pulled down. The resident told the worker that the man had hurt her. The resident reportedly had blood around her lap area, but the nursing director declined to have the woman examined or to let the facility’s doctor know what had happened.

What’s more, the administrator didn’t document most of the attacks and never reported them to either state inspectors or the families or doctors of the victims.

The administrator is reportedly the son of the facility’s owner. He said he didn’t know how to prevent such problems from occurring. He was quoted as saying that, “down through the years, these things have happened.” He said in the past, the facility wasn’t required to report such incidents, and now it is. However, he wasn’t sure it was possible to prevent it.

Clearly, someone with that kind of outlook should not be in charge of the safety of our most vulnerable residents.
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Coconut Creek nursing home abuse attorneys have been watching closely the first year of the tenure Florida’s long-term care ombudsman Jim Crochet, who was appointed to the post following the ouster of the previous ombudsman by Gov. Rick Scott.

Nursing home abuse in Coconut Creek and elsehwere can be stopped or prevented by an active ombudsman’s office. Crochet took over, and in fact, it has been a tumultuous year not only for nursing home residents, but also for Crochet and the Department of Elder Affairs.

First, there was the whole issue of Crochet’s predecessor, Brian Lee, who was removed by the governor. Lee had long been considered a thorn in the side of health care providers because he was dogged in his efforts to expose nursing home abuse and neglect. Several of his volunteers held the same reputation.

Since he was fired, Lee has filed a lawsuit, alleging that the agency does not have the ability or the will to regulate the long-term care industry.

One of Lee’s volunteers had been named in 2010 as the Ombudsman of the Year for Broward County. However, he was dismissed following Lee’s firing, when he partnered with the Miami Herald and a local radio station, which were working to expose a serious of deaths from nursing home neglect and abuse at a number of the state-funded nursing facilities.

Now, the ombudsman program is staffed by a number of volunteers. Crochet reportedly favors advocacy over regulation. In theory, that may not be a terrible idea, but it doesn’t account for the fact that often times residents may be afraid to report abuse or neglect. They may have been threatened if they speak to the ombudsman, and when the program has no teeth, residents don’t feel compelled to share their stories or concerns.

Volunteers have an assessment form they must fill out, though it doesn’t include any sort of checklist (i.e., guidance). That means, for example, that whereas before, volunteers would check the temperature of a refrigerator at a nursing home to make sure that the food stored inside wasn’t going to make people sick. Now, volunteers will only check it if the residents complain. This seems particularly backward in a place where a number of the residents may suffer from dementia. Or they may fall ill, but have no idea why or connect it to the issue of food storage.

Crochet has been quoted as saying that he wants to try to work with these agencies, instead of against them, and that it’s cheaper to deal with his agency than the Agency for Health Care Administration, which has the power to fine these facilities. Again, in theory, cooperation may seem like a good idea. However, with facilities in which there is a culture of cover-up, this is not the best solution.

Some politicians, however, do seem to recognize that there is a problem with this whole approach. State Sen. Eleanor Sobel, a Democrat from Hollywood, was quoted as saying that nursing home residents are frequently too frail or mentally incapacitated to open up to an advocate. She further indicated that the changes to the program were done to appease the industry – not to further protect the rights of patients.

Clearly, these changes were made with political motivations in mind. The main point, however, is that in the last few years, there has been a clear downslide in the number of checks and balances there are for those housed in long-term care facilities. That means loved ones need to be vigilant in looking out for Coconut Creek nursing home abuse – and immediately contacting a personal injury lawyer when they spot it.
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Sebastian nursing home abuse lawyers are encouraged by the steps being taken in Canada to protect the elderly.

Canada’s creation of the Long-Term Care Task force on Resident Care and Safety could be adopted in South Florida to help prevent nursing home neglect and elderly abuse cases.

Of course, it’s important to note that the task force wasn’t formed until after a Toronto Star investigation uncovered a litany of violations – from sexual assault to neglect and physical abuse – in Ontario nursing homes.

Some background on the investigation:

Toronto Star reporters first started digging into this issue way back in 2003.

Reforms were promised, but nothing much seemed to come of it due to a lack of funding. Then last year, reporters were alerted to a story about a 71-year-old nursing home patient with dementia who was reportedly raped in her bed by a male nurse. That nurse had been identified several months earlier by other staffers as disappearing at regular intervals without any valid explanation. The patient had complained of abuse, but due to her dementia, was not believed. However, it wasn’t until a staffer actually caught the nurse in the act of sexual assault that it was reported.

The newspaper also uncovered incidents of patients being physically struck by staffers, chained to beds, punched, pushed and verbally abused. These are the same type of incidents that can happen in Sebastian nursing homes, and just like here, the incidents were rarely reported to police, even when staffers knew about them. Or, if they were reported to police, it was often much-delayed, which often resulted in a lack of any strong physical evidence that could be used in a criminal case.

In reviewing some 1,500 inspection reports, they still found page after page of nursing home abuse.

Following that in-depth investigation, the government founded the task force. In its first report, the agency has indicated 18 points of action that need to be taken in order to improve the living conditions and reduce the likelihood of abuse for the approximately 77,000 seniors.

Some of what that report calls for includes the following:

A committee for each nursing home that would consist of families, staff and residents who would advise on how to address problems specific to that facility;

A greater amount of flexibility in the ability to fire employees who are abusive;

Separate facilities for residents who suffer from dementia and have been identified as abusive;

A higher level of training for staff to learn to handle older residents who suffer from complex behavior issues.

The report also indicated there were approximately 3,200 incidents of neglect and abuse reported to the ministry of health just in 2011. That amounts to more than three cases per 100 beds.

While we don’t have comparative figures for nursing home abuse in Broward, we do know that Florida overall has a higher rate of seniors than other areas, so we can assume that the statistics here are much higher, even if they aren’t actually reported.

While Florida does have an ombudsman for long-term care that operates within the Department of Elder Affairs, it is high time some of the standard practices be re-evaluated, in order to reduce the instances of abuse in our nursing homes.
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Nursing home abuse in Hallandale Beach, like the abuse that happens throughout Florida, can be difficult to spot.

Our nursing home abuse attorneys know that relatives often later berate themselves for missing the signs.

The truth of the matter is, though, that nursing home abuse and neglect is often not easy to see because these organizations are careful to try to cover their tracks. The elderly are especially easy targets because many are unable to tell their loved ones what is going on. Those who can and do are often dismissed as senile.

And then, even when the relatives are clued in to what’s going on, there may be hesitation to report it or reach out to a Hallandale Beach nursing home abuse attorney. First, we don’t want to believe that people we’ve entrusted with the care of our relatives could act so cruelly or with such blatant disregard for his or her well-being. And secondly, we worry that maybe we’re overreacting. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as what it seems. Thirdly, we worry if we’ll be believed.

Our nursing home abuse attorneys have seen far too many instances of abuse not to believe it. By the time the truth comes out, the abuse and neglect is often deeply embedded into the culture of an organization.

Recently on the state’s west coast, in Fort Myers, the Lee Elder Abuse Prevention Partnership has been working to educate the public about what elder abuse is, how to spot it and how to prevent it.

One aspect of elder abuse that is often neglected is that perpetuated by home health care aides. In Florida, home health care givers don’t have to be licensed. Some companies require background checks and some want their employees to be certified nursing assistants. But the state doesn’t require it.

A lot of times, if these individuals don’t pass the background check, they’ll post an ad on a site like Craigslist. This means you have to be especially careful when hiring a person who has self-advertised on a site like this.

In these situations, even if there is some level of exploitation, the state doesn’t get involved unless the actions arise to the level of criminal. And by then, you know it’s gotten bad.

It’s important to note too that elder abuse isn’t only physical. It can be financial as well. Sometimes, it can be relatives perpetuating these scams for prescriptions or money. But nursing home staffers have been busted for this as well. If money or personal items begin to go missing without explanation, you may want to delve deeper into the cause.

One telltale sign of neglect is the smell of the facility. It’s the responsibility of staffers to change bedpans and soiled patients in a timely manner. If the nursing home smells like waste, that’s a key sign that either the patients are neglected or the center is understaffed.

You may also want to note the behavior of the staff. Are they standing around, talking on cell phones, to each other or taking frequent smoke breaks? This isn’t a smoking gun in and of itself, but it can be indicators of greater problems with lack of professionalism.

And finally, take your cues from your loved one, and note whether he or she is hungry, frightened, humiliated or dirty.

If you have questions about whether the treatment your loved one is receiving is in fact nursing home abuse, contact our Hallandale Beach nursing home abuse attorneys to discuss it.
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Our Weston nursing home abuse attorneys have seen numerous cases in which elderly loved ones were harmed or neglected by staff that had been well paid by taxpayers to care for them.

So why does Weston nursing home abuse continue to happen?

A recent look at this issue by Carole Herman, founder and president of The Foundation Aiding the Elderly, in The Huffington Post, allows some insight.

First, it’s important to note some of the history, and to take into account that things used to be much worse.

Back in the late 1980s, then-President Ronald Regan signed what later became known as OBRA, or the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. It was essentially the first version of the federal standards for nursing home care since the creation of Medicaid and Medicare in 1965.

The idea was that health care facilities (namely, nursing homes) wanted to be able to provide a certain standard of care to each patient, regardless of how much money that person had.

But a quarter century later, and we’re still seeing numerous occurrences of nursing home abuse in Weston and in the estimated 16,000 nursing homes that checker the country.

Herman contends that one of the main reason for this continued deficiency in care is that state agencies that are charged with serving as a watchdog and overseeing that care don’t do enough to make sure that problems at these facilities are corrected. A big problem at a number of these centers is not having enough staffing.

If a center doesn’t have enough staff, more often than not, the quality of care is going to suffer. For example, if you have a Certified Nursing Assistance who has more than 15 patients to care for in any given 8-hour shift, there’s no way his or her patients are going to get the hands-on care they need. It’s just not possible.

But when state agencies find this kind of a violation, they may note it an annual report, but they do nothing to compel the nursing home to hire more staff. And nursing home administrators are not jumping at the chance to correct this because doing so would dip into their bottom-line profits.

This theory was backed by a 2006 study conducted by Consumer Reports. That report said that while nursing homes overall are better than they were 20 years ago, it also said that state agencies didn’t do enough to correct identified problems. So while the number of deficiencies reported had gone up, that partially had to do with an increased number of inspectors. But at the same time, no one appears to be doing much to correct those deficiencies.

And what’s more, the taxpayer money that the industry gets has continued to rise, as do the paychecks of operators, administrators and politicians (who receive money from political action committees, subsidized by nursing homes). Medicare and Medicaid fraud, however, has never been higher at these facilities.

And the instances of nursing home abuse and neglect, as well, continue to spike.

As Herman so deftly put it: “(The industry) has put profits ahead of care for years, and continues to get away with it unless civil action is taken to hold them accountable.”

This is where our Weston nursing home abuse lawyers come in. If you think your loved one may be a victim of nursing home neglect or abuse in Florida, pay attention to the signs: look for bedsores, visit often, ask questions, make sure they’re getting enough to eat and drink, listen to what your loved one is saying and don’t allow your concerns to be dismissed by staff.
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Our Cooper City nursing home abuse attorneys know that for the vast majority of our clients, these cases aren’t about the money.

Victims ofnursing home abuse – and their families – want justice. They want to make sure those who perpetuated the abuse are punished. They want to make sure other families and elderly relatives don’t endure what they have.

And even when nursing home abuse litigation nets high penalties and damages against the offending company, that victory is often bittersweet. It often comes at the high price of someone you love having suffered.

However, those kinds of victories also mean that the nursing home, if it stays in business, will be more closely watched and will have those penalties hanging over their heads if at any point they decide again to slip on standards of care.

A recent case out of Colorado was one such victory. It happened in La Junta, where the family of a man who died from complications from infected bedsores was awarded $3.2 million.

One bedsore, in particular, was the size of a baseball.

If you are not familiar with bedsores, you should be if you have a relative in a nursing home. They are also sometimes called pressure ulcers or pressure sores. They are basically injuries to the skin and the tissue underneath that are caused by extended pressure on the skin. A lot of times, they develop on ankles, heels, hips and buttocks.

Usually in a nursing home setting, bedsores are caused because people lack the ability to change positions. They may have a condition that has rendered them bedridden or bound to a wheelchair.

It’s often worse for patients who can’t verbalize when they are in pain. Bedsores, in addition to being incredibly painful, can be deadly. They can cause joint and bone infections, muscle deterioration, gangrene, sepsis, cancer and yes, death. In some cases, limbs must be amputated in order to prevent the spread of infection.

This is not a minor problem, and it also, sadly, is not an uncommon one either.

In this case, the male patient was admitted to the nursing home back in the spring of 2009. Prior to that, he had worked as a janitor there.

At first, he was able to walk himself to and from the cafeteria, as long as he had some assistance. But then Parkinson’s kept him bed-bound. He also stopped drinking and eating and became largely unresponsive.

Then in the fall of 2010, an employee confided in the patient’s son about awful bedsores that had developed on the patient’s buttocks and scrotum. She said there were infected and smelled. She was worried that she might be fired for the disclosure, but also worried that her patient would die if she didn’t say something.

The son then insisted that his father be transferred to a hospital. Nursing home staff protested, but the son eventually won out. Doctors there determined he was badly malnourished and dehydrated. He soon died of complications from the bedsores.

When inspectors with the state’s health department later came to inspect the nursing home, they found nearly 30 deficiencies there, including a large number of patients suffering from untreated infections.
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Lake Worth nursing home abuse instances could have been greatly exacerbated by the passage of House Bill 621.

Our Lake Worth nursing home abuse attorneys were closely watching the political debate as it unfolded. As you may have read, HB621, which was sponsored by Republican lawmakers, would have left it up to the discretion of the Agency for Health Care Administration whether to revisit a nursing home that was found to be in violation of certain standards – even those that put patients rights and care at risk.

Simply put: this legislation was bad for patients.

As a way to save money, the state would allow the agency some discretion in deciding to revisit a troubled agency (defined as one that had been found responsible for a Class III or Class IV violation) – rather than make such a follow-up visit mandatory. That discretion would factor in reports completed by the nursing home’s own staff and administration.

A Class III violation would be things like residents who are dehydrated, whose diapers aren’t regularly changed or staff that is insufficient or commits medication errors.

Rather alarming is that an annual survey conducted by the AHCA last year found that a large number of nursing homes were found to have these deficiencies. Allowing these agencies to self-report – when it’s already been found year after year that these problems persist – would be irresponsible and lead to a greater number of Lake Worth nursing home abuse claims.

It would have gone into effect July 1.

Thankfully, after passing through several committees, the bill died in the Health Regulation committee in mid-March. But it illustrates an issue that Lake Worth nursing home abuse attorneys often run up against. The fact of the matter is, nursing home residents can’t or don’t vote. Some of them simply aren’t mobile, while others have dementia and other problems that would inhibit them from casting a ballot. With relatively few advocates on their side, politicians find their safety an easy place to cut corners.

But consider the scope of this issue: there are nearly 700 nursing homes in the state and nearly 2,700 assisted living facilities. On average, each of those has more than 100 residents – with 80 percent of those in nursing homes relying primarily on Medicaid or Medicare as payment.

What’s more, while a large number f these facilities complain to lawmakers that their profits are so marginal that they are struggling to stay afloat (causing states to funnel more dollars to the nursing homes themselves, rather than the increasing the Medicare needed to boost the quality of patient care), it’s now been determined those complaints are greatly exaggerated. In fact, a report by Senior Care Investor indicates that most facilities cost about $95,000 per bed.

These facilities don’t appear to be hurting for money, and yet, they continue to provide sub-par quality care for our parents and grandparents.
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West Palm Beach nursing home abuse was the prime target for Brian Lee, who served as the ombudsman for the state’s Department of Elder Affairs.

Our West Palm Beach nursing home abuse attorneys have known about Lee and his advocacy for some time.

Now, he has been granted permission to move forward with a whistleblower lawsuit alleging he was fired from his post for researching who owned some of the state’s worst nursing homes.

According to reports from the Orlando Sentinel and WJHG7 News, Lee contends he was forced out for his outspoken advocacy for senior nursing home residents and demands for reform within the nursing home industry.

The Department of Elder Affairs reportedly gave Lee the option to resign or be fired, after Gov. Rick Scott took office and personally sent a letter to top officials at the agency, saying it was time for Lee “to go.”

This letter came soon after Lee had requested all nursing homes and long-term care providers submit forms showing management information and ownership. This is authorized under Obama’s new health care law – which Scott and other Republicans are vehemently against.

When Lee was replaced, that person rescinded the request for information.

Lee subsequently filed his whistleblower lawsuit. The state tried to argue that a judge should throw it out. The judge refused. So the case will proceed.

In addition to the whistleblower claim, Lee is also alleging that his agency, as well as the Florida Health Care Association and the Florida Assisted Living Association interfered illegally in his business relationships and official duties. He also contends that the Florida Assisted Living Association – which advocates on behalf of nursing homes – committed defamation by spreading information about him that was false.

The former ombudsman is seeking a sum of more than $15,000 in damages, although he is not looking for reinstatement.

Lee hopes that with his suit, there will be exposure of the greed of nursing home owners, as well as the abuse and negligence that he says has become rampant in these facilities across the state.

He is now continuing his advocacy work with a non-profit called Families for Better Care, of which he is the executive director. It’s a nationwide group, but Lee’s primary focus remains Florida.

Our West Palm Beach nursing home abuse lawyers have no doubt that someone who held the position Lee did has a unique perspective and inside knowledge as to the workings of long-term care facilities and nursing homes. The fact that he believes these type of negligence and abuse are rampant – from the top down – is certainly revealing – and should tell you that you and your loved one aren’t alone in what you’re going through.

What is unfortunate, however, is that the issue of elder care and abuse in long-term care facilities has become a political match of wills – and it shouldn’t be. This is an issue upon which we should all be able to come to a reasonable consensus: abuse in West Palm Beach nursing homes is unacceptable in any form, and our vulnerable seniors deserve our protection.
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Our Port St. Lucie nursing home abuse attorneys were appalled to learn about an attack on an 81-year-old female nursing home patient by a staff worker in North Florida.

While we’ve had numerous instances of nursing home abuse in Port St. Lucie and throughout southern Florida, an incident like this anywhere in the state is cause for alarm because it indicates a breakdown of the overall system.

We know from experience that nursing home abuse is severely under-reported. This is do to a myriad of reasons that include the fact that the patient may not have the capability of telling someone when something awful has happened.

In this case, the octogenarian victim was a dementia patient at a St. Johns County nursing home. We don’t have all the details at this point, but here’s what we know so far, according to local news reports:

A 53-year-old staff member has been charged with abusing the woman after he was allegedly caught holding a pillow over the woman’s face.

The victim reportedly screamed for help and a co-worker who was near the victim’s room heard her yelling, “Stop, don’t do that.” It was about 2:30 a.m. The co-worker peered in and saw the male nurse’s assistant holding a pillow tight over the victim’s face.

Upon seeing his co-worker, the man reportedly threw the pillow by the headboard of the bed and yelled, “Don’t hit me.” He then threatened that if she continued with her alleged hitting, he would take her to the shower room.

The co-worker rightfully reported the incident immediately to a supervisor, who called police.

The police report indicates that the woman, who suffers from dementia, has a history of yelling out, “Stop, don’t do that,” while she is in the shower or being changed. This raises a huge red flag for our Port St. Lucie nursing home abuse lawyers. In so many of these cases where physical or sexual abuse is occurring, the patient may not be able to clearly vocalize what’s happening to them, but there are often indicators – and this is a huge one.

The suspect in this case is charged with abuse of an elderly person, which is defined in FL Statute 825.102. This is considered a third-degree felony, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.

Perhaps even more disturbing is that this is the not incident of outright abuse of patients at this particular facility.

Last fall, a 25-year-old female staff member reportedly became angry when the victim asked for help reaching the toilet paper. She allegedly grabbed her arm and pulled it hard. One of the reported witnesses in that case? The man who was just arrested for the pillow-over-the-face incident.

News reports indicate that there had been a previous complaint against the male staffer for sexual abuse of a patient, though that was never definitively proven and he continued his employment there.

One bright spot in all of this is that the man’s co-worker’s did act quickly in reporting the alleged abuse to authorities. So often, that is not the case, and we never learn the truth.
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Instances of Jupiter nursing home neglect could soon be on the rise with cuts to the state budget used primarily for treating disabled and elderly patients.

Our Jupiter nursing home neglect attorneys understand that the state’s $70 billion budget is granting about $300 million less next year to reimburse hospitals that care for these vulnerable patients, who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it.

These cuts are especially devastating, considering there were already $500 million in cuts made for this fiscal year.

Hospitals and nursing homes are scrambling to determine which services they will need to pare down or get rid of altogether. Hospitals say they are looking at all possibilities: not filing open positions, fewer community-oriented services and programs and even layoffs. In fact, it’s estimated that the cuts could mean the loss of some 46,000 health care jobs across the state.

Regardless of what they decide, it’s ultimately going to boil down to a reduction in services for patients.

In some cases, individual hospitals are looking at reductions that top more than $7 million each. In some cases, hospitals are considering reducing the number of times an adult patient can visit the emergency room to six.

That would have huge implications for nursing homes, which often rely on hospitals to care for patients who become more critically ill. But if someone has a condition that regularly requires a more intensive level of care, nursing homes could be forced to handle those issues on their own if the patient’s emergency room visits are capped out.

Additionally, another estimated $440 million has been cut from the Medicaid reimbursement for physicians.

Let’s face it: While many doctors and health care workers got into their field with great idealism and hopes of healing, those who are paid less are going to offer a decreased level of care. That, or they will be struggling to make up for the voids left when other skilled health care professionals leave Florida to work in states that offer better pay.

Already, roughly three-fourths of hospitals responded in a survey that they had a tough time finding qualified health care workers to fill positions in a wide range of technical support and therapy roles – those that are often required in the nursing home fields.

What’s more, the number of people who need Medicaid is increasing. And while not all these patients are elderly or in nursing homes, it has an effect on the state’s entire health system.

The cost of treating a patient is already more than what Medicaid reimburses to Jupiter nursing homes, hospitals and doctors. Officials at some hospitals called the cuts “devastating.’ And we don’t think they’re being dramatic.

Some doctors likened the cuts to being asked to donate their services to the state. With that kind of outlook, what kind of care can patients expect?
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