Articles Posted in nursing home negligence

A heartbreaking tragedy is unfolding in Canada, where 32 nursing home residents are presumed dead and another eight are confirmed, following a massive fire that broke out in the three-story structure in Quebec.

Although the cause of the blaze remains under investigation as officials continue the painstaking search for remains, there are reports that the fire began in a room where one of the residents was smoking a cigarette.

Our Martin County nursing home negligence lawyers note many of the dead residents at the facility were over the age of 85 and used walkers or wheelchairs. A good number also suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
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The idea of sovereign immunity is one that dates back many centuries to an old English principle that the monarchy is immune from criminal or civil prosecution.

In America, government is the “king,” and most government agencies are immune from liability except under certain circumstances. In Florida, in instances where the state waives sovereign immunity, individuals may recover up to $100,000 for themselves and another $100,000 for dependents. Anything above this amount must be pursued through a Claims Bill, on which the legislature must vote. (All of this is pursuant to Florida Statute 768.28.)

So why does all of this matter for someone interested in filing a nursing home negligence lawsuit? Because when it comes to sovereign immunity, many medical facilities – including nursing homes – are getting creative about their funding in order to claim it, and therefore limit their liability.
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Nursing home patients are entitled to a number of considerations ethical, moral and legal considerations with regard to the standards of their care.

Our nursing home abuse lawyers know that one of these primary rights is the right to privacy. This includes the right to keep and use personal belongings (so long as it doesn’t interfere with the rights, health or safety of others), and it also includes the right to ensure the details of your medical care is kept private and confidential.

A breach is not only a violation of one of your other primary rights – respect and dignity – it might also represent grounds on which to sue the nursing home and/or the staffer.
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Any time you have individuals who are dependent on a corporation for their care, there is the potential for negligence.

This is true even when there are ample laws and regulations governing how such facilities should operate and what kinds of contingencies should be in place to prevent serious lapses.

However, it raises alarm bells when we find that there are few if any laws and regulations, that they vary in consistency from state-to-state, and that those that do exist are spottily enforced. Such is the case with assisted living facilities, which are marketed as a more independent alternative to nursing homes.
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State and federal agencies are charged with ensuring safety and patient health in the medical industry. The FDA regulates drug prescriptions, state agencies are responsible for licensing doctors and nurses, and public health agencies are responsible for ensuring the safe operation of medical facilities. In what has become a growing epidemic, more and more injuries, accidents, and deaths are being associated with nursing home abuse and neglect. Additional investigations and reports have suggested that the lack of oversight in this industry has failed to keep patients safe.

The assisted living industry exploded decades ago, when families were more mobile, many women joined the workforce, and families turned to professionals to help care for their loved ones. Nursing home facilities also realized that it was a profitable business and throughout the nation, nursing homes became a common solution for families. Unfortunately, it seems that federal and state regulatory agencies have failed to keep up with this trend.

Many state agencies are having an overflow of complaints and are unable to keep up with investigations related to abuse, neglect, accidents, and wrongful death. If you feel that a suspected abuse case went unnoticed or that local authorities failed to take action in your case, we can help. Our Fort Lauderdale nursing home abuse attorneys are experienced with helping victims and their families bring negligent caretakers and their affiliated medical centers to justice.
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We put our elderly loved ones into nursing homes and into long-term care facilities expecting them to be safe and protected throughout their stay. According to US News, a third of the elderly residents in these homes who suffer from a fall hit their heads, leading to the potential for life-threatening medical complications.

Researchers looked into footage of close to 250 falls suffered by nearly 150 seniors in these homes and found that residents hit their head in more than 35 percent of the accidents. They hit their head on the floor more than 60 percent of the time, on the furniture close to 20 percent of the time and on a wall about 15 percent of the time.

Our Fort Lauderdale nursing home abuse attorneys understand that the impact that occurs during these kinds of falls can be devastating. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant problem in older adults. On the other hand, young people hardly ever hit their head when they fall. In persons aged 65 and older, TBI is responsible for more than 80,000 emergency department visits each year; three-quarters of these visits result in hospitalization as a result of the injury, according to the US National Library of Medicine.
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Little less than two months ago, a nursing home fire broke out in a patient’s room at a facility in Greenacres, prompting staffers to rush 50 residents out of the facility as the sprinklers kicked on. Thankfully, there were no injuries, though questions linger about what started the blaze.

Our Greenacres nursing home negligence attorneys know that it could have been far worse.

A recent report by The New York Times revealed that until this past August, federal regulators did not mandate that all nursing homes have automatic sprinkler systems.
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At one of the largest elder care chains in the country, workers were routinely underpaid for their work at dozens of facilities in California, according to a lawsuit that was recently settled for $2.2 million.

Our Wilton Manors nursing home neglect attorneys know that the chain involved, Emeritus, has dozens of branches in Florida, including in:
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A tragic story out of Missouri is an example of why it is so important that nursing home staffers be appropriately trained in how to diffuse escalating tensions among patients that may be suffering from dementia and aggression.

Our Weston nursing home abuse lawyers understand that a 76-year-old nursing home patient died after he suffered complications from injuries he sustained while being subdued with a police Taser.

According to news reports, the man was behaving erratically all morning. Tt one point, he reportedly grabbed a knife and a pair of scissors and began threatening staffers, who called police to help regain control of the situation.
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The State of Florida, displaying a deliberate indifference to suffering, gave parents of disabled children no choice but to warehouse these youths in nursing homes designed for care of elderly residents.

Some have spent their entire childhoods locked away, deprived of meaningful interactions with family and friends, non-disabled acquaintances and social and recreational activities that might of otherwise allowed them to thrive.

Our Fort Lauderdale nursing home neglect attorneys understand these are the allegations made recently in a lawsuit filed against the State of Florida by the U.S. Department of Justice, which also accuses state agencies of making perfunctory attempts to fix the problem. In the end, federal authorities say, state officials have failed some of the most vulnerable citizens and their heartbroken families.

At the heart of the matter is the fact that families that want to care for their medically-frail children in their homes – which research has proven is not only less expensive but more beneficial to the child – are not given the resources to do so. Instead, the state of Florida has slashed available services for these families, while boosting the payments made to nursing homes to provide pediatric care. This has meant that families are often forced by the state to surrender their children to the system — leaving children to live in geriatric institutions.

These are facilities that were not designed for children. They are designed for elderly adults.

According to the DOJ, the state’s actions, specifically those of the Department of Health, Department of Children & Families and the Agency for Health Care Administration, have violated the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. In part, this legislation prohibits discrimination against any individual with special needs. The federal government alleges the state has done so by failing to properly fund and manage programs intended to keep these children at home with their families.

Last fall, federal authorities warned the state that the current system was discriminatory. The federal government now says that despite this warning, the state has persisted in carrying out actions that are discriminatory. Of the hundreds of children housed in nursing homes across the state, only about 30 have been moved back home following the initial federal inquiry, which was originally spawned by a Miami Herald investigation. That was prompted by the deaths of two children at a Miami Gardens facility.

The justice department says in its lawsuit that the state’s lack of initiative shows that state compliance with ADA isn’t going to be reached by “voluntary means.” In other words, the DOJ was forced to take this action in order to force the state to comply.

The state’s AHCA has called the actions of federal authorities, up to and including this lawsuit, a form of “meddling.” It’s tough to argue, however, that the federal government wouldn’t have an interest in ensuring the well-being of disabled children. The feds are not asking for rainbows and unicorns here. They are demanding that these childrens’ basic human rights be honored.

A few years ago, state lawmakers agreed to cut some $6 million from a program that funds private nursing care for disabled Floridians who wish to reside outside of institutions. Another program that is designed to allow parents to care for their disabled children in their homes or in similar community settings has a wait list of 22,000. More than half of those have been waiting five years or longer. Legislators did set aside some money earlier this year that would help to expand the program, but it was paltry. It will provide relief to less than 5 percent of those on the wait list.
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