Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog

In a related blog, our Baltimore nursing home injury attorneys discussed the use of chemical restraints in nursing homes, and the recent indictment of a registered nurse from Britthaven of Chapel Hill Nursing Home, after a nursing home resident died from a morphine overdose. The nurse, 44-year-old Angela Almore was charged last month with one count of second-degree murder, and six counts of felony resident abuse, for over-medicating residents with morphine, that allegedly caused hospitalization and wrongful death.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that they are recommending that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should fine Britthaven nursing home the maximum allowed fine by federal law, $20,000.

The nearly 100-page report based on the investigation performed by the North Carolina Nursing Home Licensure and Certificate Section reportedly revealed details of patient lethargy and altered states with the residents who tested positive for opiates.

The Herald-Sun reports that further investigation from the toxicology reports indicate that 14 residents out of 29 in the Alzheimer’s wing at Britthaven tested positive for opiates in February. Not one of these patients had prescriptions for opiate medication. Rachel Holliday, an 84-year old resident, and one of the hospitalized patients with high levels of morphine in her system, died on February 16, 2010 from pneumonia due to reported morphine toxicity.

Britthaven was reportedly investigated after patients were hospitalized from the Alzheimer’s wing of the nursing home, which lead to the discovery of opiates in their blood. A criminal investigation was launched in February by the Attorney General’s Medicaid Investigations Unit, and The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), to investigate for nursing home abuse or neglect, over-medication, or chemical restraint in an effort to make the nursing home residents more manageable.

Continue reading " Report Recommends CMS to Fine Britthaven Nursing Home for Wrongful Death" »

In yesterday’s blog, our attorneys discussed the prevalence of pressure sores in nursing homes and assisted living residences, that often result in injury or wrongful death.

In a recent wrongful death lawsuit, the family of Frances Graham, a former 81-year old resident of an assisted living home in San Leandro, California, is suing Graham’s doctor, as well as the assisted living home, after Graham suffered from nursing home violence and devastating pressure sores all over her body, some reportedly as large as a baseballs—that lead to her tragic death. Graham’s family is also suing the nonprofit responsible for her care, the Center for Elders Independence, claiming that they put profits over her nursing home health and safety.

According to the suit, Graham was kept at the Andrew Elijah residential care home even though laws require that Alzheimer’s patients are cared for by a nursing staff that is skilled for such illnesses. Graham reportedly shared a room with a 72-year old dementia patient, who in June of last year, was found attacking Graham with a plastic hair pick. Graham suffered dozens of cuts on her body, and her left eye was bleeding and also bruised. Graham was reportedly treated by a doctor, and sent back to the Andrew Elijah home and put in a room that was private.

Graham’s son claims that soon after, Graham was rushed to the hospital with pneumonia, where a doctor discovered multiple bedsores on her body, so many that the doctors wrote in the notes that they weren’t sure that they even seen them all. The worst sore was allegedly a 4-inch hole that had eaten down to the tendons and smelled horribly. The doctor also found her to be anemic and dehydrated. Graham was moved to another health care center, and died two days later.

Continue reading "The Prevalence of Pressure Sores—Family Sues Assisted Living Home for Negligence" »

In recent news that our Maryland Nursing Home Injury Attorneys have been following, an assisted-living facility in Rochester, Minnesota is being sued for negligence, wrongful death and medical malpractice, after a resident with dementia was allegedly assaulted and died.

According to the civil lawsuit, Donald R. Salli, 78, was assaulted by another resident in September of last year. The complaint claims that Salli was found by the staff at Sunrise Cottages on the floor on September 19th, with a resident assaulting him. Salli allegedly had a large hematoma on his head, as well as a red area from where he had been kicked in the back. He was reportedly not evaluated by a licensed nurse until seven hours after the attack.

The lawsuit also claims that the next day, Salli was found on the floor of his cottage apartment by three staff members, crying and in a great amount of pain, and was unable to walk on his own. He was documented as being unresponsive, sleeping through the day, was unable to stand or communicate, and yelled in pain when his back was touched.

After Salli’s daughter, Elizabeth Pulsifer, asked that Salli be sent to the emergency room, they discovered that he had suffered a fractured skull with internal bleeding and three ribs were fractured. He reportedly remained in the intensive care unit until he was transferred to hospice care, where he died on October 7, from a brain injury. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, neglect was the direct cause of his demise and they cited the facility for negligence.

Continue reading "Resident Assault Leads to Wrongful Death Lawsuit" »

In recent blog, our Baltimore, Maryland Nursing Home Attorneys discussed the topic of chemical restraints, in regard to a February case, where Britthaven of Chapel Hill Nursing Home was investigated by local and state authorities after Alzheimer’s patients tested positive for opiates that had not been prescribed to them.

This month, Angela Almore, a 44-year old registered nurse, was indicted in the case, on one count of second-degree murder in relation to the death of Rachel Holliday, a resident of the nursing home who died after being given a heavy dose of morphine. Almore was also charged with six counts of felony resident abuse, related to administering morphine to several patients of the nursing home, causing hospitalization.

The investigation reportedly began after a few patients from the Alzheimer’s wing of the nursing home were hospitalized for odd behavior, which led to the discovery of opiates in their blood. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Attorney General’s Medicaid Investigations Unit, with the Orange County District Attorney, launched a criminal investigation of the nursing home in February to determine if the patients were being over-medicated, abused or neglected, or being subjected to chemical restraint.

The North Carolina Attorney General’s Office claims that after testing, nine out of over twenty-five Alzheimer’s patients at the nursing home tested positive for opiates in February. Holliday, one of the hospitalized patients with high levels of morphine in her system, died on February 16, 2010.

Continue reading " Nurse Indicted for Chemical Restraint Leading to Nursing Home Resident’s Death" »

A wrongful death lawsuit has recently been brought against Brandon Woods of Dartmouth nursing home, by the family of Elizabeth W. Barrow, a 100-year old resident of the facility who was allegedly strangled to death last year by her roommate, who was 98-years old.

Barrow reportedly shared a room with Laura Lundquist, a 98-year old who has been diagnosed with having dementia and paranoia. According to Barrow’s son Scott, Lundquist allegedly harassed his mother for weeks, making her life miserable because she was jealous of all the attention that Barrow received, as well as the window view. Scott Barrow reportedly asked for the women to be separated, but according to the director of the home, Scott Picone, Barrow declined the option of moving rooms. Picone said the two roommates acted like “sisters” and took walks together.

On September 24th of last year, Elizabeth Barrow was reportedly strangled to death in her bed with a plastic bad. The autopsy revealed that she died by means of asphyxiation, but also received blunt force trauma to her arms, leg, skull and chest. Lundquist has been charged with the murder.

The lawsuit claims that the nursing home staff and executive director were negligent, as they were responsible for providing his mother with a safe environment, and they failed. He claims that as a result of the nursing home’s carelessness and negligence, Barrow was forced to suffer consciously until the time of her death.

Continue reading "Family of 100-year old Nursing Home Resident files Wrongful Death Suit Against Home" »

In a recent blog, our Baltimore, Maryland Nursing Home Attorneys discussed a new Maryland initiative, led by the Maryland Patient Safety Center (MPSC), to reduce the number of nursing home resident falls that can result in nursing home injury and deaths throughout the country.

According to the CDC, more than 1,800 people die in nursing home falls every year. In 2003, 1.5 million people over the age of 65 reportedly lived in nursing homes. The CDC projects that if this rate continues to rise, by 2030, there will be around 3 million nursing home residents—so understanding and evaluating nursing home falls and ways of preventing them is necessary for the health and safety of nursing home residents, to prevent nursing home injury and wrongful death.

Nursing home falls can be linked to the result of many health problems, including older residents who are weak, have difficulty caring for themselves or have difficulty walking, have chronic health conditions, or residents who have memory problems like Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Among the most common causes of nursing home falls are muscle weaknesses and walking problems, leading to 24% of falls. Environmental hazards like wet floors, poorly fitted wheelchairs, bad lighting, or improper bed heights, have also lead to a reported 16-27% of nursing home falls. Medications can also increase the risk of falls, especially if a patient is taking drugs that affect the nervous system, like sedatives or anti-anxiety drugs. Physical restraints, the controversial method used to try and keep residents from falling, can actually increase the risk of fall-related injuries and wrongful deaths.

Nursing home falls can also be caused by poorly trained staff, understaffing, or by using incorrect or outdated equipment to transfer or transport nursing home residents properly.

Continue reading "CDC Guide to Nursing Home Fall Prevention" »

As Maryland Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys, we have been following a recent story from the Dallas Morning News, covering nursing home abuse incidents and allegations surrounding seven veterans nursing homes in Texas that are state-owned.

According to the article, regulators have repeatedly found abuse and neglect problems in the Texas homes, which are open to veterans and their spouses who are Texas residents, and did not receive dishonorable discharge.

One of the homes with nursing home abuse incidents was at the Lamun-Lusk-Sanchez State Home for veterans in Big Springs, where John Harris, a 97-year old World war II veteran lived before he died in 2007. A nurse aide reported that she witnessed a colleague grab the resident from his wheelchair and shove him so aggressively into the bed that he was hospitalized that night complaining of pain in his hip. In another incident from the same year, Albert Teague, a Marine who had once served at Iwo Jima reportedly experienced nursing home violence, when an employee allegedly punched and choked at the home.

The article states the criminal investigation into these two cases was drawn out because of a bureaucratic jumble over who should perform the investigation—home administrators, local police, or state officials. Last month, felony charges were finally filed against the former employees.

Continue reading "Investigations of Elder Abuse at State Veterans Home" »

In a recent blog, our Maryland Accident Attorneys discussed the topic of whether bed rails in Maryland nursing homes are a potential health hazard, or whether they protect the health and safety of residents.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.), nearly 2.5 million nursing home and hospital beds are currently used in this country. In an F.D.A. study, from 1985 to 2008, there have reportedly been 772 incidents where hospital and nursing home patients have been trapped, stuck, or strangled in beds that had rails. Out of this number, 176 were saved by the staff before experiencing injury, 136 experienced personal injuries that were nonfatal, and 460 patients died.

Bedrails are designed to aid in helping patients pull themselves up, turn into a different positions in the bed, provide a feeling of security, and keep patients who are frail, or who have been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s safe from harm, such as falling, or rolling out of bed.

Unfortunately these very patients often get trapped or stuck in the space between the mattress and the bedrails, causing personal injury, strangulation, suffocating, and wrongful death, which can result in a Maryland personal injury lawsuit. Bedrail injuries can often result in nursing home falls, when a patient attempts to climb over the rails, bruising or scrapes to the skin, as well as a feeling of restriction, and agitated behavior from being restrained.

Continue reading "F.D.A. Bed Rail Safety Guidelines for Maryland Nursing Homes" »

As Washington D.C. area nursing home lawyers, we have been following a recent lawsuit settlement, where a 94-year resident who lived in a convalescent home in Santa Clarita, California was awarded 12.5 million by a jury in punitive and compensatory damages for enduring nursing home abuse and sexual assault.

According to the lawsuit, Sophie Schwartz, a resident at Oakdale Heights facility who has dementia, was sexually assaulted by Jose Vazquez in her room on December 16, 2007. Vazquez was a dietary aid working at the facility, and was hired by Oakdale Heights Management Corporation, although he was allegedly an illegal immigrant.

The jury ruled that the corporation falsified certain documents relating to employment when hiring Vazquez, and also violated many California state laws that govern the quality of care for dementia residents in nursing homes that can lead to resident neglect, poor supervision, negligent in hiring practices and understaffing.

Vazquez allegedly had keys that gave him access to all of the resident’s room. According to the suit, his background check was not valid before being hired, and he had no training on how to deal with residents who were elderly. Vazquez was admittedly drunk at the time, and he claimed that he and other workers often drank on the job.

Continue reading "94-Year Old Sexual Assault Victim in Nursing Home Receives $12.5 Million" »

In recent national news that our Maryland-based Nursing Home Attorneys have been following, two nursing homes have settled in a wrongful death lawsuit, after the family of a resident sued the homes for not providing adequate care, and acting with nursing home negligence.

In the lawsuit, the family members of Ralph Seewald claimed that both Riverside Health Care Center and Village Health Care Center failed to provide proper care for the late-87-year old resident during his stay at the homes before his death in November 2005.

According to the suit, Seewald entered the Riverside Health Care Center in December 2004, with slight symptoms of dementia, and the plan for his care required two nursing home attendants to use a safety gain belt to assist him with all lifting and transfers to and from the wheelchair. Seewald was reportedly often transferred from the wheelchair by only one attendant with no gain belt, which reportedly lead to numerous falls.

Seewald allegedly suffered a fall while being transferred by only one attendant without a gain belt, from his wheelchair to the toilet on May 23, 2005, and broke his neck—leaving him bound to his bed. While immobile and bedridden, he developed serious decubitus ulcers, or pressure sores, that progressed rapidly during a few months, and led to a case of gangrene in his leg that allegedly caused his wrongful death.

Continue reading "Pressure Sores Lead to Wrongful Death—Nursing Homes Settles Suit with Family" »

As nursing home attorneys in the state of Maryland and the Washington D.C. area, we have been following the recent Britthaven of Chapel Hill Nursing Home investigation where Alzheimer’s patients have tested positive for serious pain-management prescription drugs that weren’t prescribed for them, and that they weren’t supposed to be receiving.

According to a recent news article, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Attorney General’s Medicaid Investigations Unit have launched a criminal investigation of the nursing home to determine if the patients were being over-medicated, abused or neglected, or being subjected to chemical restraint.

The investigation began after three Alzheimer’s patients from the nursing home were taken to local hospitals after nursing home staff claimed the patients were acting in an unusual manner. The hospital officials contacted the police, and the state Department of Health and Human Services, and officials from Britthaven after their blood tests showed strong drugs in their system that were not prescribed to them as patients.

The nursing home officials then reportedly tested all of the nearly 25 residents in the Alzheimer’s unit for drugs. Six of these patients tested positively for opiates, the drugs often used for pain management. Three of the patients were subsequently hospitalized, one of which died two days later.

Continue reading "State Investigates Nursing Home for Possible Negligence and Chemical Restraint" »

Our Maryland Nursing Home Attorneys have been following the recent story about a New York nursing home that is hoping to use new Israeli devices that can reportedly track wandering nursing home patients to maintain resident health and safety, and prevent nursing home falls or injury.

According to the article, the Hebrew Home, a prominent nursing home in New York, has been awarded a special legislation by New York State to try a new healthcare project, as part of the Managed Long-Term Care of the state.

The goal of the Hebrew Home’s CEO, Dan Reingold is to work with cutting edge technology companies and government officials in Israel to utilize innovative technologies, to find ways to maintain the health and safety of the residents, provide quality care, reduce nursing home falls with frail patients or patients experiencing dementia, and at the same time, cut nursing home costs. Reingold claims that the medical technology in Israel is far more advanced than technologies in the United States.

Some of the new technologies that are being developed focus on monitoring patients with devices that can keep track of how much time a person spends in bed, as well as monitoring patients who have a tendency to wander, and are at risk for falls or nursing home injury.

Continue reading "NY Nursing Home Looks to Israel Technology to Stop Resident Wandering and Falls" »

In yesterday’s blog, our Maryland Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys discussed the complaint filed last week by the U.S. Justice Department against Johnson & Johnson, for allegedly paying millions of dollars in kickback payments Omnicare, the largest pharmacy in the country, to increase sales of antipsychotic prescription drugs given to nursing home patients. According to the complaint, Omnicare was allegedly persuading physicians to prescribe drugs like the antipsychotic Risperdal for patients with dementia, even though the Food and Drug Administration has not approved the drug for dementia treatment.

In 1987, Congress passed landmark laws protecting patients from unnecessary drugs, and, according to these regulations, nursing home residents have the right to be protected from chemical restraints and medication for the sake of convenience or discipline to nursing home staff or doctors. It is illegal for facilities to give strong psychotropic drugs to patients without a doctor’s orders, patient’s consent and treatment justification, as patients may experience dangerous side effects like tremors, severe lethargy, nursing home falls, and wrongful death.

The Department of Health and Human Services states that nursing homes are required to have an outside pharmacist consult and review a patient’s medication schedule at least once a month. Once the outside pharmacist checks with the patient, they are obligated to report any oddities in the prescription drug schedule with the physician, and are able to make recommendations on how they would alter the medicine plan. But according to the complaint by the government, Johnson & Johnson used the consultant pharmacists as a tool to increase market share—dissolving the trust and integrity that should be a cornerstone for the health and safety of nursing home residents.

The New York Times reported this is not the first time that a drug company has been charged for using antipsychotic prescriptions to drug elderly residents. Eli Lilly pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor last January in a nearly $1.5 billion settlement of criminal and civil charges that the pharmaceutical company had marketed Zyprexa, the antipsychotic drug for the treatment of dementia with elderly people. Omnicare and Johnson & Johnson were reportedly trying to compete against AstraZenica’s antipsychotics, by increasing market share for Risperdal.

Continue reading " Nursing Home Residents Allegedly Drugged for Pharmacy Gain" »

In a recent nursing home injury blog, our Maryland-based attorneys discussed the epidemic of unnecessary drugging and chemical restraints going on in nursing homes, that can cause nursing home injury and threaten the lives of elderly residents.

Last week, the U.S. Justice Department filed a civil False Claims Act complaint against the drug giant Johnson & Johnson, for allegedly paying millions of dollars in kickback payments to a pharmacy company, in order to boost sales of antipsychotic prescription drugs for nursing home patients—drugs that can be used as chemical restraints with residents, that patients may or may not need.

The complaint alleges that from 1999—2004, pharmacists from Omnicare, the nation’s largest pharmacy, worked intensively to persuade physicians to prescribe Johnson & Johnson drugs in nursing homes, including the antipsychotic drug Risperdal, in exchange for kickback payments. The kickbacks were reportedly delivered to Omnicare in the form of rebates, grants, or educational funding.

Johnson & Johnson reportedly turned to Omnicare to increase the building of market share, knowing that physicians accepted advice on drugs from Omnicare pharmacists more than 80% of the time, and they were seen as an extension of the Johnson & Johnson workforce. The nursing home residents allegedly included people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Continue reading "Johnson & Johnson Accused of Pharmacy Kickbacks" »

Our attorneys at Lebowitz and Mzhen, LLC, have recently read a study on nursing home residents with advanced dementia, published in the October 15, 2009, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. According to the report, dementia is not just a disease of the mind, it is a physical illness as well—a leading cause of death in this country, and should be recognized as a terminal illness that requires high quality palliative care.

The report, led by Dr. Susan L. Mitchell from the Hebrew Senior Life Institute for Aging Research in Boston, studied 323 nursing home residents with advanced dementia and their families, in 22 different homes over a period of 18 months. The goal was to better understand the clinical complications of dementia and the families’ comprehension of the dementia prognosis, in order to make the right decisions in patient placement—reducing pain, suffering and nursing home injury and neglect in the final stages of life.

Patients with advanced dementia experience severe memory loss, have difficulty speaking, are restricted to the bed, and are totally dependent on others for care. The report argues that because dementia is consistently not recognized as a terminal illness, patients with advanced dementia are not being diagnosed as high risk for death, and are receiving poor palliative or nursing home care.

Mitchell argues that families need to clearly understand the prognosis of advanced dementia as a terminal illness, and the complications to expect, so patients can receive proper advanced care—like access to a high quality hospice, or improved skilled nursing home services. The goal, states the report, is to avoid patient suffering and pain, as well as nursing home negligence, due to lack of skilled nursing home services and supervision.

Continue reading "Advanced Dementia and Nursing Home Error" »