nursing home abuse

Published on: May 18, 2015

Nursing Home Chain With Ties to Florida Sued for Neglect by New Mexico AG

The attorney general’s office in New Mexico has sued one of the country’s largest nursing home chains over allegations of inadequate resident care. The lawsuit asserts ultra-thin staffing levels made it a numeric impossibility for staffers to provide appropriate care to elderly and disabled patients.

Preferred Care Partners Management Group L.P., which operates in 10 states, including Florida, has staunchly denied the allegations made in the lawsuit.

Other states are carefully monitoring the developments of this case because it’s a novel approach to a pervasive and serious problem nationwide. Many nursing homes – primarily for-profit centers – give patient care a back seat to profit margins. They skimp on supplies, security tools and, most importantly, qualified staff.

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Published on: May 1, 2015

Consent and Dementia Patients: A Complex Legal, Moral Quandary

By Dean Freeman

A 78-year-old former lawmaker in Iowa has been acquitted of criminal charges after it was alleged he had sexual contact with his wife, an Alzheimer’s patient residing at a nursing home. At issue was the prosecution’s contention that the woman lacked the capacity to consent to sexual contact.

Defendant had reportedly been informed by staffers to “limit sexual contact” with his wife of seven years, but it was a minute-long instruction that was part of an hour-long discussion, and he would later say he believed that to mean he was advised against having sexual intercourse with his wife for medical reasons. It was his contention that his wife initiated the sexual contact after that, and he assumed that this meant she was consenting. However, no one actually witnessed the act or could verify the exact nature of it.

These kinds of discussions are uncomfortable for family members and loved ones whose elder relatives and spouses remain in the care of a nursing home facility. The fact is, people don’t lose their desire for love and human affection when they are diagnosed with dementia. They shouldn’t be denied those things if it involves consenting adults. But the degree to which people with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease or other conditions can consent is a major question that many families and even nursing homes are grappling with.

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Published on: April 26, 2015

Study: Nursing Home Fall Injuries Reduced With Special Flooring

By Dean Freeman

A special kind of impact-absorbing floor material was found to slash fall-related injuries by approximately 60 percent in Swedish nursing homes, according to a new study published in the journal Injury Prevention.

The lead author of the study noted the seriousness of falls for elderly in nursing homes, asserting they comprise nearly 70 percent of all falls among older people, who on average suffer three to four falls annually. Consequences can range from minor bruising and pain to hip fractures and head injuries.

Meanwhile in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports one of every three adults over the age of 65 will suffer a fall. Of those, about 25 percent will suffer a moderate-to-severe injury that will not only impair their mobility, but possibly put them at risk of serious infection or even death. The direct medical costs for these incidents pushes $35 billion a year.

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Published on: March 11, 2015

Federal Jury Awards $1.2M in Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit

By Dean Freeman

For the abuse and wrongful death of a 96-year-old woman in a nursing home facility three years ago, a facility will have to pay $1.2 million to her surviving daughters.

The abuse came to light after the victim’s family installed a hidden camera to catch an apparent thief who was stealing their mother’s belongings. What they discovered instead was far more horrifying.

Footage revealed on one occasion, a nurse aide stuffed a rubber glove into the elderly woman’s mouth. She was also slapped in the head and face as another aide looked on, without voicing concern or complaint. Other images showed the woman being thrown onto the bed, poked in the chest and yelled at.

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