Florida Nursing Home Lawyer Blog

The country’s largest assisted living home chain with ties to Florida recently lost a $23 million lawsuit in which the California plaintiff was found responsible for neglect and abuse of an elderly person.

Our Fort Lauderdale nursing home abuse lawyers understand that at the heart of this case was the fact that the facility had accepted responsibility for the care of this elderly female dementia patient, despite the fact that her physical condition was far too deteriorated for staff at the facility to handle from the onset.

In Boice v. Emeritus Corp., filed in October of 2012, the family alleges that the woman’s life was left in the care of a small group of workers who were overburdened and not properly qualified or trained. It was inevitable under these circumstances that the end result would be tragic.

The case resulted in the second-largest punitive damage award in the state of California last year – $22,963,943.81. Those last two numbers – 81 cents – was the victim’s age, in pennies. Jurors said they did not want the facility to ever forget the victim, or what had happened.

As we have written about before in our Florida Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog, for-profit facilities like this one are far more prone to reports of abuse and neglect. While every facility has to keep the bottom line in mind in order to continue functioning, for-profit facilities exist solely for that bottom line.

Emeritus is a national chain, with 483 facilities in 45 states, including Florida. In total, there are 30,200 employees, with 20,500 of those full-time. Total resident capacity is approximately 51,000, with about 30,000 of those in assisted living, 7,000 in memory care and 4,600 in independent living.

The average monthly payment at one of these facilities is about $4,100 – per resident – and those revenues have increased 6.5 percent in 2012. While a $23 million verdict against a nursing home might sound sizable, consider that revenues last year for this firm were $1.57 billion.

This case does not mark the first time this facility has been in trouble.

In Florida, a case out of Orlando in 2010 involved three residents who were found to have severe, painful late-stage pressure wounds. Under state law, their advanced physical disabilities should have warranted a move to a skilled nursing facility much sooner. Had this happened, these wounds might not have progressed to the point they did.

In Texas, an appellate court in 2011 upheld a case where $135,000 was awarded to the executive director of the facility who was forced to resign after filing a complaint regarding personnel cuts that left her with an inadequate number of staffers necessary to provide proper care for patients.

The case out of California involves a lot of the same kind of complaints. For example, several years before this incident occurred, a nurse for the facility penned a five-page letter to top executives for the company, stating that the shortage of staff was a huge problem, and nowhere near enough to cover the quality of care that the company advertises. Namely, the shortage of medical techs, resident assistants and housekeepers was of major concern.

Executives never responded to that letter. The nurse resigned several days before the woman who was the subject of this case moved in.
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A nursing home in Ormond Beach was fined $36,000 for the reportedly poor way it handled allegations of sexual abuse involving an employee against a patient.

Our Coral Springs nursing home abuse lawyers know this is a fairly substantial fine, considering that the most serious offenses will typically involve state fines of approximately $40,000. Initially, the facility was given a $45,000 fine, but that was later settled for the lower amount.

According to media reports, a resident of the home reported to administrators back in January 2012 that an employee of the facility had climbed into bed with her roommate. She couldn’t indicate whether anything beyond that had happened, but suffice it to say, such action is egregiously inappropriate, a violation of patient rights and likely a red flag sign of serious misconduct, if not criminal sexual assault or battery.

It does appear the nursing home conducted a cursory investigation by subsequently interviewing the alleged victim. However, that individual denied that anything had happened.

In a typical investigation, we might understand why this would lead to a dead end. However, in a nursing home setting, we don’t know whether the patient is fully cognizant and aware of surroundings and what may have occurred. It could very well be that the roommate is more aware of the truth than the actual victim – which would make sense from the standpoint of a sexual predator searching for a vulnerable target.

But the nursing home did not press on with its investigation. The bigger issue is that it did not properly report the incident to criminal investigators or social services, as required by law.

Regulators only found out about the allegation following a regular inspection. Failure to correct this type of issue, the state reported, was likely to cause serious impairment, harm, injury or death to residents.

The facility, which has 133 beds, was subsequently placed on both state and federal watch lists for a series of violations.

Most recently, inspectors conducted an investigation of the home’s practices back in February. They found a whole host of deficiencies, which included:
–Deficient infection control practices;
–Inadequate food;
–Excessive medication errors.

Despite this, the nursing home is rated by the federal Nursing Home Compare site as “above average” in terms of both quality and staffing.

However, the health inspection rating is marked as “much below average,” which resulted in the facility having an overall score of 2 out of 5 stars.

Sexual abuse in nursing homes is one of the most under-reported crimes. You can’t always count on an alert roommate or staffer to alert you to when something is amiss. Even if your loved one is mentally sharp, he or she may be afraid to reveal the truth.

Uncomfortable as it is, it’s important for all relatives and loved ones to recognize the potential signs of elder sexual abuse.

Those might include:
–An unexplained venereal disease or genital infection;
–Torn, bloody or stained underclothing;
–Bruises around genitals or breasts;
–Unexplained anal or vaginal bleeding;
–Withdrawal from normal activities, a sudden change in alertness and a sudden depression or loss of interest in things once enjoyed.
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A 68-year-old registered sex offender was arrested recently after reportedly sexually assaulting a quadriplegic man at a Florida nursing home.

He is facing a single count of lewd and lascivious battery of an elderly or disabled person, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, per Florida Statute 825.1025.

Our Deerfield Beach nursing home abuse lawyers know that the presence of registered sexual offenders in Florida nursing homes – and therefore the instances of sexual assault or abuse – has increased markedly in recent years. Nursing home facilities have a responsibility to take adequate precautions with regard to these residents, to ensure that others are kept safe from their advances.

Such action is critical, considering that many nursing home residents lack cognitive or physical abilities, which makes them particularly vulnerable to both neglect and abuse.

Sexual abuse in nursing homes is perhaps the least detected, reported or acknowledged type of abuse that occurs in nursing homes, and yet, thousands of cases are estimated to occur each year.

In this case, which took place in a suburb of Tampa, it was an employee of the center that witnessed the abuse and reported it to authorities. It’s possible similar incidents occurred in the past with this individual, but probably went undetected.

Affidavit reports indicate that the abuse involved the perpetrator coming to the victim’s bedside and fondling him against his will. As a quadriplegic, he had no means to retreat. The suspect reportedly admitted his actions to investigators.

The suspect had been on probation through last spring, and there had been no reports of him violating that while he was being supervised.

Nursing homes that fail to take action to protect residents against one another – especially when one is a known sex offender – could face hefty fines and penalties. Case in point is a facility in Oklahoma, which was recently fined $1.3 million by the state’s health department. Inspectors noted repeated and unaddressed issues with regard to protection of patients from sex offender residents.

In particular, one patient had been diagnosed with intellectual disability and was a registered sex offender with a prior felony conviction. Despite awareness of this fact, the facility chose to admit him and then took no actions to monitor his interactions with other patients. There were multiple reports of “increasing sexual inappropriateness” in touching both male and female patients. In particular, this individual was targeting other residents who were either blind or paraplegic, with investigators noting that the problems had progressively been getting worse.

Yet the nursing home had done nothing.

In situations such as this, it is often recommended that the offender have one-on-one supervision. As you can imagine, this kind of staffing could get quite expensive, and therefore, many facilities may choose to simply overlook it. However, this means that other residents are put in danger.

In addition to the fine, the state health department ordered a denial of payment for new Medicaid and Medicare admissions, as well as a $900-a-day fine until other deficiencies were corrected.

This is a rare situation in that state investigators have clearly identified the issue and are taking a hard line to address it. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

If you suspect your loved one has been a victim of sexual abuse in a nursing home, contact us today.
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Florida lawmakers are seeking to significantly curb plaintiffs’ rights to sue negligent nursing homes, recently advancing the SB 1384, despite the testimony of a woman whose elderly mother was brutally sexually assaulted in 2002.

Our North Lauderdale nursing home abuse lawyers recall this decade-old case, as it revealed significant flaws in the protections that many nursing homes had in place to halt patient-on-patient violence.

The woman’s mother was helpless in her room as an 83-year-old male patient wheeled himself into her room, blocked the door and proceeded to brutally sexually assault her. At no time did a staffer intervene.

As it turned out, that same man had multiple prior convictions for sexual assaults, including molestation of a child and sexual assault. That was back in the 1960s, and he spent less than four months in jail total for both offenses.

Still, the nursing home would have found those prior offenses had they screened for them. Families who trust the care of their loved ones to this facility should know whether convicted sex offenders are residing there.

Prior to his placement at the nursing home, a judge in Gainesville had determined he was a potential danger to himself and others – which is why he had been ordered to stay at the nursing home in the first place.

Police later arrested him for the assault, but a judge found him incompetent to stand trial and he was instead sent to a state hospital.

The victim died a short time later, though of unrelated causes. A jury later awarded her family $750,000 from the nursing home for its negligence, but her daughter says that amount was never paid.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Tom Lee, a supporter of SB 1384, said that while he sympathized with the situation, he doubted this measure would have done anything to have changed it.

He’s wrong, of course. Although the punitive damages were never paid, they would have been a lot harder to get in the first place had this bill been around at the time when this woman’s family took the nursing home to court.

Originally, the bill would have made it nearly impossible to sue the corporate parent of a nursing home for damages. Amid fierce opposition, that portion of the bill was eventually struck, a move the sponsor says was a begrudging compromise.

Now, SB 1384 deals almost exclusively with the issue of punitive damages, requiring that plaintiffs would have to undergo a pre-trial hearing before a judge to prove the validity of certain pieces of evidence before the claim could go forward.

As the bill’s supporters put it, it would require clear documentation of intentional wrong-doing or gross negligence, as opposed to merely he-said-she-said. Of course, this overlooks the fact that oftentimes, some of the most compelling testimony in nursing home abuse or negligence cases comes from witnesses – people who lived, worked and visited there.

As it already stands, a 2001 change in the the law requires that half of all nursing home-related punitive damages have to go into a state trust fund. Why are we depriving those who have been wronged of a chance to see justice served?

In effect, this measure creates a disincentive for plaintiffs to make a claim for punitive damages in the first place, and that of course appears to be the primary goal.

One has to wonder for whom these lawmakers are working in the first place?
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A pair of bills – one in the Florida House and one in the Florida Senate – would make it more difficult for you to sue a nursing home that abuse or neglected your loved one, even in cases when that abuse led to serious injury or death.

Our Indian River County nursing home abuse lawyers are appalled that lawmakers would push to further strip the rights of those who have suffered so much already.

It’s not enough that not less than two years ago, our state leaders reduced nursing home staffing hour mandates, with direct nursing care requirements dipping from 3.9 hours weekly to 3.6 hours weekly (nursing assistant care hours dropped from 2.7 to 2.5 hours). At the time, nursing home unions warned that the erosion of this measure had the potential not only to result in higher turnover rates, but to endanger lives as well.

Of course, those original staffing mandates were the whole reason that the state agreed to cap liability damages for nursing homes back in 2001. Those mandates have been eroded, but the cap has remained in place. In other words, the nursing home got its cake, and ate it too.

Now, we have SB 1384 and HB 869.

SB 1384, introduced by Sen. Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton), states that a claim for punitive damages in a nursing home litigation case could not be brought unless there was a showing of admissible evidence, proffered by the parties. It would require that a special hearing be held before trial during which time the judge would have to find “clear and convincing evidence” that a specific person or corporate defendant actively and knowingly participated in either intentional misconduct or engaged in conduct that constituted gross negligence, which in turn contributed to the loss, injury or damages suffered by the claimant.

Punitive damages, as you may know, are those damages that exceed simple compensation and are instead awarded to punish the defendant for its conduct.

The way the law is right now, plaintiffs need to produce the evidence before trial in a simple pre-trial hearing. However, plaintiffs aren’t required at that time to prove prior to trial that the evidence is admissible. Essentially, it creates a whole other barrier to compensation

The other measure, HB 869, is along those same lines. It specifies the conditions under which the nursing home resident (or relative) has cause of action against either the management company or licensee. It requires a basis for punitive damages be determined by a judge prior to trial.

Galvano was recently quoted as saying that the goal is to test the veracity of the claims before these claims go forward. He stressed the ability to seek punitive damages wouldn’t be taken away, though he fails to note it would be a lot more difficult to obtain. The fact that our Bradenton State Senator is unabashedly more concerned about the welfare of large nursing home corporations that he is about the care of the elderly residents of his district, should tell you all you need to know about his priorities.

It’s worth noting that these measures are staunchly opposed by the AARP and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, a spokeswoman for the latter saying, “Never in my life have I ever seen anything more offensive to old people than this.”

Essentially, these measures serve as a means to shield big corporations and abusive individuals from accountability when they have harmed an innocent and vulnerable patient. Both measures are alive and well, with the HB 869 now in the Health Innovation Subcommittee and SB 1384 now in the Health Policy Committee.

Our Indian River nursing home abuse attorneys urge everyone reading this to contact your senator or representative or those in the committee and subcommittees, and voice your clear opposition to these measures.
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A jury in California recently awarded the family of an 83-year-old Alzheimer’s patient a sum of $23 million in punitive damages for elder abuse and wrongful death.

Our Palm Beach Gardens nursing home abuse lawyers applaud the victory. Amid a heart-wrenching tragedy, we hope that her loved ones will find some peace in knowing that her story has helped to shed light on a pervasive and too-often silent issue that affects elderly patients across the country.

According to local news reports, the trial lasted several weeks, but jury deliberations lasted less than a day. Ultimately, the jury found that the nursing home facility, a corporation based out of Washington State, acted not only with malice, but also with oppression and fraud in the way that staffers treated this woman.

The retired schoolteacher had been transferred to the facility just three months before she died. By the time she passed away, her body was covered with at least four pressure sores that had become badly infected. She had also lost a substantial amount of weight.

Attorneys hired by the woman’s three children said there were some nights at the facility that staffers weren’t present in her ward at all, despite assurances that she would be receiving around-the-clock care. A resident nurse at the facility was reportedly aware of the sores the woman had incurred shortly after her arrival, but that nurse allegedly instructed aides not to let anyone know about them.

When the woman entered the facility, she was able to move around with the aid of a walker. Less than two weeks into her stay, she fell and was never able to get up again. Her most serious pressure sore developed on her backside from so much sitting in a wheelchair.

As you probably know, bed sores, also known as pressure ulcers or pressure sores, are injuries to the skin and the tissue underlying that are the direct result of prolonged pressure on the skin. They can develop anywhere, but they’re most commonly seen on bony areas of the body, such as the buttocks, hops, ankles or heels.

Nursing home residents – especially those with forms of dementia – are at high risk because they tend to be less mobile, unable to change positions on their own and not necessarily able to inform caregivers when sores have become especially large or painful.

But it falls on the caregiver to know. It falls on the caregiver to make sure each patient is moved frequently to prevent these sores from developing in the first place. And if the sores do develop, it falls on the caregivers to recognize and swiftly treat them.

Although pressure sores can manifest rather quickly, they can be very tough to treat – which is why early detection is so important. A pressure sore will not get better on its own. A registered nurse advising staffers to ignore it would have known that she was condemning this woman to unbearable pain and a rapidly deteriorating quality of health.
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