Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog

A class action lawsuit has been filed this week against four New York State nursing homes and the company that operates them, Legacy Health Care, for depriving patients of their legal nursing home rights.

As our Baltimore-based attorneys reported in a blog, in March of this year, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) engaged in an investigation into nursing home neglect and abuse using surveillance cameras in nursing homes in the state of New York, to ensure that residents were receiving proper nursing home care that was free from abuse and neglect.

After the Attorney General’s seven-week investigation, eight workers who were employed by Williamsville Suburban Nursing Home were arrested for charges regarding the quality of patient care. The investigation revealed that the nursing home staff neglected to properly transfer residents to and from the bed with a mechanical lift, increasing the chances for nursing home injury and falls. The footage also showed that the staff neglected to treat patients for wounds, check for vital signs, or administer insulin. The resident’s medical records were also reportedly falsified to cover up the home’s consistent neglect.

According to the class action lawsuit, filed on behalf of all residents who have lived at Legacy Health Care from the year 2007 until now, Legacy is being accused of endangering the welfare of nursing home residents through failure to provide residents with their legally entitled nursing home right to quality healthcare, proper staffing, and an existence that is dignified.

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In recent news that our Washington D.C. nursing home injury attorneys have been following, a lawsuit has been filed against health care workers at a Northern Virginia nursing home, accusing the workers and home of wrongful death.

According to the lawsuit, Mary Ellen Hillyard became a resident of Evergreen Health and Rehabilitation in June of 2008. In September of 2008, Hillyard reportedly suffered a massive hemorrhage and died, due to blood-thinning drugs that health care workers allegedly administered.

Evergreen is operated and managed by Pinnacle Services Winchester Inc, and the facility is owned by Long Term Care Properties (LTC) Inc. The complaint states that while Hillyard was a resident of the home, the employees of the nursing facility were negligent in their duty to administer standard nursing home care, by giving Hillyard duplicate and contraindicated blood thinning medications, including Coumadin, Plavix and aspirin, that together caused her to suffer the massive hemorrhage which reportedly causing her death.

Charles L. McDaniel, the executor of Hillyard’s estate is suing Pinnacle and LTC, as well as doctors David Epstein and Lewis A. Rogatnick for wrongful death. McDaniel claims in the suit that the firms and doctors had a duty to comply with Hillyard’s minimum standard of care, as they claimed they could provide a qualified physician with properly supervised nursing home staff that was adequately trained to meet her healthcare needs.

Continue reading " Nursing Home Sued for $2 Million in Wrongful Death Lawsuit " »

As Maryland nursing home abuse attorneys, we recently read about the developments in a nearly decade-old case involving the abuse and rape of a 94-year-old female resident at a Palo Alto, California nursing home in 2002.

According to the Mercury News, 43-year-old Roberto Recendes recently pleaded guilty to one count of elder abuse, one count of sexual penetration by force, and also pleased guilty to an enhancement of inflicting bodily injury. Recendes is expected to be sentenced to 17 years in prison in December.

This 2002 California nursing home abuse case reportedly received national attention, when high school student Jorge Hernandez was arrested by the police in Palo Alto, and made to confess to the crimes. Hernandez was later cleared, due to DNA evidence.

In 2004, when Recendes was convicted of domestic violence charges, his DNA sample was taken. It was then later matched to the DNA found at the nursing home rape crime scene.

At the preliminary hearing for Recendes, an old girlfriend identified jewelry belonging to Recendes that was discovered at the crime scene of the rape, and a crime laboratory expert stated that two hairs found on the nursing home abuse victim’s blankets matched with Recendes’ DNA.

Continue reading " Man Pleads Guilty to Nursing Home Rape of Elderly California Resident " »

As our Baltimore nursing home attorneys reported in a recent blog, fighting forced arbitration in nursing homes has long been a problem, as many residents and families unknowingly sign away their right to seek justice when filling out complicated contracts for long-term resident care.

According to a recent report by the American Association for Justice (AAJ), systemic nursing home abuse and neglect is not revealed in many homes due to nursing home arbitration clauses found in the fine print of admission contracts—that residents and their families rarely see, not realizing that they are signing away their rights to access court.

The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2009 was introduced last year by Representative Linda Sanchez of California, and would eliminate forced arbitration clauses in nursing home and long-term care contracts. The act would reportedly provide that a pre-dispute arbitration agreement between a long-term care facility or nursing home and a resident or family member acting on the resident’s behalf, would not be valid or specifically enforceable.

Our Maryland nursing home neglect and abuse law firm is committed to ensuring that nursing home abuse and neglect victims and their loved ones receive the personal injury compensation they are owed. Contact Lebowitz & Mzhen today.

Civil Justice System Uncovers Abuse and Neglect of Elderly Americans, Kansas City.com/American Association for Justice, October 7, 2010

H.R. 1237 – Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2009, Open Congress.org, February 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:

National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA)

Maryland Department of Aging

In a new study released recently by the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the civil justice system was found to be the most effective method for revealing nursing home abuse by corporate-run homes, as well as uncovering insurance companies who take advantage and even target elderly residents.

Our Baltimore, Maryland nursing home abuse attorneys have been following the report, entitled, "Standing up For Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans." The study claims that there are 1.5 million seniors living in nursing facilities, many of which are run by large corporation chains as investments, focusing on profit and not care. The AAJ report also reveals that many nursing home residents have experienced severe nursing home abuse and neglect, leading to wrongful death from infections or dehydration, caused by improper resident care. The report on seniors reportedly reveals how litigation has helped residents and families ensure that corporations are held accountable for this neglect and abuse, and reveal the systemic problem in homes today.

The AAJ's report also finds insurance companies accountable for taking advantage of elderly residents and senior citizens. In one case, a former farmer from South Dakota, reportedly enlisted long-term health care insurance in the 1990’s. After moving into a nursing facility, his benefits were reportedly severely reduced, even thought he paid his premium every month. The insurance company reportedly declared that his healthcare was no longer medically necessary.

Thousands of elderly individuals have reportedly experienced similar treatment as insurance companies have wrongly estimated rates of mortality, and found ways to deny seniors’ claims and terminate benefits.

According to the report, while litigation has helped to stop these corporate practices, and systemic nursing home abuse and neglect, many offenses are still not reportedly revealed due to the nursing home arbitration clauses embedded in contracts, that residents and families of the residents rarely see, not realizing that their rights to access court are being taken away from them. Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) introduced legislation last year aiming to eliminate forced arbitration in nursing home contracts.

Continue reading " Abuse of Elders in Nursing Homes Revealed by Civil Justice System " »

As nursing home abuse attorneys in Baltimore, Maryland, we recently reported in a blog on a series of lawsuits against Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society in Albert Lea, Minnesota, by families of a nursing home abuse victims—after an investigation revealed nearly half a year of alleged nursing home abuse in 2008.

A recent article from the Argus Leader reports that yet another lawsuit has been filed against the nursing home in the U.S. District Court of South Dakota, as the Evangelical Good Samaritan Society’s corporate offices are based in South Dakota. In Minnesota, civil suits reportedly die with the abuse victim, but the abuse and assault claims are still open for South Dakota litigation.

According to the lawsuit, Sylvia Wulff, now deceased, was one of the victims of the alleged nursing home abuse in Good Samaritan Society's facility. Wulff’s family reportedly filed the lawsuit on September 29 in Sioux Falls, claiming that the company failed to monitor the staff, and properly screen the employees. Wulff is the sixth deceased victim who has had a lawsuit filed in South Dakota.

Brianna Broitzman and Ashton Larson were charged earlier this year with civil assault, disorderly conduct by a caregiver, abuse of vulnerable elders, and failure to report abuse, among other charges. In August, Briotzman pleaded guilty to three counts of disorderly conduct by a caregiver. Four other women, who were teenagers at the time, were reportedly charged in the case as juveniles with failure to report abuse.

According to the investigation by the Minnesota Department of Health, Larson and Broitzman were found to have allegedly encouraged young staff members at the facility to routinely abuse fifteen dementia and Alzheimer’s nursing home residents in a sexual, emotional, and physical way, while videotaping the abuse.

Continue reading " Another Minnesota Family Files Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit in South Dakota " »

In a recent nursing home investigation that our Washington D.C. nursing home abuse attorneys discussed in a blog, Attorney General of the State of New York, Andrew Cuomo, and his Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) have engaged in a state-wide investigation into nursing home abuse and neglect, using hidden cameras in New York nursing homes, to ensure that residents are receiving quality nursing home care, that is free from negligence and abuse.

Earlier this year fourteen healthcare workers at Northwoods Rehabilitation and Extended Care Facility were arrested for nursing home abuse and neglect, and last week, nine of the licensed nurses and aides were charged in a 175-count indictment, alleging that the nurses neglected to provide proper care and treatment for a patient who was incapacitated.

The nurses have been reportedly charged with endangering the welfare of a person who is physically disabled or incompetent, and willful violation of health laws—both of which are misdemeanors. They have also been charged with a felony for falsifying business records to cover up their nursing home negligence. The nurses all pleaded not guilty. The five other defendants with similar charges have already settled their nursing home negligence cases with guilty pleas.

The Attorney General Cuomo’s office reported that along with falsifying records to hide negligence, the nurses and aides neglected to administer the incapacitated patient’s medications and also neglected to treat the patient’s pressure sores. They also reportedly neglected to check the patient for incontinence, and failed to change the patient’s undergarments for long time periods. As our Washington D.C. nursing home injury attorneys have reported in a previous blog, when residents have limited movement or are immobile, resting in the same position for long periods puts them at high risk for developing bedsores.

Continue reading " Hidden Camera Investigation Leads to Nursing Home Abuse Charges for Nurses, Aides " »