Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog

As our Baltimore, Maryland nursing home injury attorneys discussed in a recent blog, under the federal Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987, (NHRA), all residents living in nursing homes are entitled to receive quality care and attention in an environment that improves and maintains their highest physical, mental health and psychosocial well being.

According to AARP, in 1986, Congress ordered a nursing home study to be performed by the Institute of Medicine, IOM. The study reportedly revealed widespread nursing home negligence, abuse, and substandard care. The IOM proposed massive reforms, a large majority of which became law in the passing of the NHRA, which is part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation act of 1987, (OBRA).

The NHRA secures quality care by requiring certain nursing home services to every resident and by establishing standards for these services. Required services include, periodic assessments of each resident, pharmaceutical, rehabilitation, and social services, a care plan for each resident that is comprehensive, and the services of a full-time social worker if there are more than 120 beds in a nursing home.

A Bill of Rights was also established under the NHRA to secure quality care for each resident. Under the Resident’s Bill of Rights, a resident has the right to freedom of nursing home neglect, abuse and mistreatment, and the right to treatment that is free from physical restraints. Under the act, residents and patients also have the right to privacy, the right to be treated with dignity, the right communicate freely, the right to have medical, social, physical and psychological needs accommodated, the right to exercise self determination, and the right to participate in reviewing their own plan, with full disclosure in advance about any changes in treatment, care, or status change within the nursing home. Nursing home residents are also entitled to communicate any problems without experiencing any discrimination or retaliation.

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As Baltimore, Maryland nursing home injury attorneys, we have been following the news of a recent tragedy, where the estate of nursing home resident Mary Speigl, who was living in the Franciscan Villa nursing home, is suing the home for nursing home negligence and abuse, after Speigl was reportedly raped by a male resident last year, and died less than one month later.

According to the lawsuit, Mary Speigl, a 90-year-old nursing home resident in South Milwaukee, was sexually assaulted by a male resident who was well known for being sexually aggressive in the home, and reportedly allowed to wander the nursing home halls unsupervised. The lawsuit alleges the nursing home neglected to monitor the resident, and as a result, the resident allegedly wandered into the elderly woman’s room and sexually assaulted her. Speigl’s estate is suing the nursing home for punitive damages, among other fees.

Nursing home negligence and abuse is a serious problem in nursing homes today, often resulting in patient injury or wrongful death. Our attorneys at Lebowitz and Mzhen, LLC believe that elderly nursing home patients should be given their lawful right to special care, attention and supervision that provides a safe, secure, and protected environment, where they are kept safe from unstable or aggressive residents.

If a nursing home resident becomes injured or dies because the home failed to protect the resident’s health and safety, the nursing home could be held liable for wrongful death or Maryland nursing home negligence. In Baltimore, Maryland, contact our attorneys today.

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As nursing home attorneys in Baltimore, Maryland, we have been following a recent lawsuit filed by a former resident who accused the home of nursing home negligence after she fell and broke her leg while residing at the home.

According to the lawsuit, Margaret Mock, a 77-year-old woman from Schaumburg, Illinois, was living at ManorCare nursing home for rehabilitation after undergoing hip surgery. Mock claims that on September 26, 2009, while being transported by an employee from her bed to a wheelchair, she fell and reportedly broke her leg in two different places.

Mock claims in the lawsuit that because of her already weakened state, she was unable to undergo surgery to repair her broken leg—causing her to remain in the nursing home for another five months. Mock is also suing St. Alexius Medical Center for negligence, along with ManorCare and their parent companies, as she developed a pressure sore during her stay at the hospital.

As our Maryland nursing home injury lawyers reported in a recent blog, according to the CDC, muscle weaknesses and walking problems are among the most frequent causes of nursing home falls, leading to 24% of reported falls. Medications can also increase the risk of falls, as well as environmental hazards like wet floors, poor lighting, ill-fitting wheelchairs, or incorrect bed heights, leading to a reported 16-27% of nursing home falls.

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In a blog from earlier this year, our Baltimore nursing home injury attorneys reported on a $10 million nursing home negligence lawsuit filed by the family of a well known Brooklyn judge John Phillips, otherwise known as the “Kung Fu Judge,” for famously making martial arts moves over this 17-year career as a Civil Court Judge in Brooklyn. Prospect Park Residence was accused of treating Phillips with substandard care, neglecting to give Phillips meals that adhered to his diabetic restrictions, and often missing his necessary insulin shots, that allegedly led to his wrongful death.

The Park Slope nursing home has now reportedly been hit with new charges by the family of the Kung Fu Judge, alleging that the nursing home held the frail judge prisoner while he was in their care, by blocking his rights to visitors and receiving mail, and failing to provide proper healthcare to the judge.

According to John O’Hara, a longtime friend of Phillips, and the Phillips’ family attorney, the judge was held against his will by the home for eight months, where he was denied proper medical care and treatment for his diabetes. Judge Phillips reportedly entered the home in good physical shape in 2008, but his health quickly deteriorated, as he was unable to leave, have any guests, or receive mail or phone calls. O’Hara stated that the home originally looked like a nice place for Phillips to reside in, but turned out to be a “death house,” that allegedly led Phillips to his wrongful death at the age of 83.

At Lebowitz and Mzhen, LLC, our Maryland Nursing Home Attorneys fight for the resident's right to experience a nursing home environment that is free from negligence or abuse, and promotes the health and wellness of nursing home residents throughout the state of Maryland. Contact us today.

Nursing Home Kept Dying Judge John Phillips Hostage in ‘Death House,’ Lawsuit Claims, New York Daily News, November 12, 2010

Related Web Resources:

National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA)

In recent news that our nursing home abuse attorneys in Baltimore, Maryland have been following, a civil jury has found a nursing home in San Antonio, Texas, negligent, for the death of a resident who developed huge bedsores that became severely infected under the home’s care.

According to My San Antonio news, Mary Koenig filed the lawsuit on behalf of her father, Emilio Gonzalez, who was a resident of Retama Manor Nursing Center from 2001 until 2007, when he died at the age of 76. Gonzalez was reportedly taken to the hospital in August of 2007, after two bedsores became infected, rotting down to the bone. His stay was then extended at a hospital that specialized in wound treatment before his death.

In the trial, Koening’s attorneys alleged that the nursing home was understaffed intentionally to make profits, which would often leave nurses with over 60 nursing home residents to oversee and care for at a time.

Retama Manor Nursing Center was ordered by jurors to pay the estate of Emilio Gonzalez $250,000 for his suffering and physical pan, $150,000 for mental anguish and pain and over $190,000 in medical bills. The nursing home neglect verdict is expected to be reduced, however, due to Texas tort reform caps put into place in 2003.

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