Nursing Home Negligence

Understaffing: The Number One Cause of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

December 15, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Nursing homes are charged with caring for elderly loved ones when a family cannot take up the task. Most nursing homes, as well as the nurses and other people whom they employ, care deeply about the residents in their facility and will do whatever they can to ensure a safe and pleasant stay. However, nursing homes are businesses, and because of that there is often a tension between what is best for the resident and what is best for the bottom line. This is nowhere more evident that in the context of staffing.

Nursing homes are very labor-intensive to run. The very nature of the business is to care for people with varying needs and often substantial ones. While there are no laws governing staff-to-resident ratios, it is fair to assume that the lower the ratio, the less individual attention each resident is getting. In some cases, the ratio gets so low that there are not enough nurses to care for the patients in the home. It is under these circumstances that nursing home abuse or neglect is most likely to occur.

Nurses are human, and like all other humans they are capable of getting frustrated and upset, especially when they are overworked. Even a nurse with the best of intentions can lose her temper with a resident if she has no assistance and has been on her feet for the past 10 hours. It is for this reason that nursing home management, in addition to the individual nurses, need to be held liable when an injury does occur.

Four Nursing Homes Fined by Department of Health for Various Safety Violations

December 1, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in New Hampshire, the Department of Public Health fined four local nursing homes for failing to comply with various rules and regulations relating to patient safety. According to one local news source, the allegations ranged in seriousness from minor infractions to serious allegations of abuse.

For example, one nursing home was found to have leaking sinks, dirty lifts, pain peeling off the wall, broken bed rails, and water dripping from the ceiling. Inspectors also noted an incident in which a resident was found to have a fairly serious abrasion that inspectors believe was caused by the home’s use of a lift without the proper padding. In response to that resident’s request for help, one nursing home employee failed to respond for one hour and 15 minutes. That employee was subsequently fired for neglecting the resident.

Another example of a lapse in care occurred at another nursing home and involved a verbally abusive resident who was not properly monitored. Evidently, the resident stated that “I can hit anyone I want to” and punched another resident. The aggressive resident was taken to the emergency room for evaluation, and the doctor told the staff that they should check on the man every 15 minutes. However, citing the unavailability of staff, the nursing home failed to comply with this recommendation.

Investigative Reporting Uncovers Nursing Home Neglect

November 23, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week, a New Jersey news source published an article documenting an investigative report that looked into allegations of abuse and neglect in area nursing homes. The results were published in a recent article.

The article documents several upsetting instances of abuse and neglect, as well as a theme of frustration and lack of care and consideration on the part of management. One woman interviewed in the article, a former nurse, claimed that she was unofficially forced out after she blew the whistle on other employees who were engaging in abusive and neglectful conduct.

One example she relayed was an 85-year-old resident who had been at the nursing home for four years. The nurse reported seeing another nurse at the facility tie the elderly woman to a wheelchair to keep her from moving. She was able to capture an image and provided that to reporters, who confronted several nursing home employees, asking how often this happens. Not surprisingly, everyone denied that such conduct ever occurs and refused to speak to anyone after they were shown an image proving it happened at the facility.

Family of Deceased Nursing Home Resident Sues Home Alleging Negligence

November 6, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in California, the family of a woman who died while in the care of a skilled nursing facility filed suit against the facility, claiming that the negligent care their loved one received while at the facility led to her early death. According to one local news source, the lawsuit alleges that the nursing home did not meet the state-mandated requirement for staff member-to-patient ratio, which was a major cause of the inadequate care.

Evidently, the elderly woman had lived at the facility for the three years prior to her death. About a month before her death, the woman suffered a serious fall and broke her hip. Her family was not notified, and she was not taken to the hospital until the next day. The woman remained hospitalized afterwards and died about a month later.

The woman’s family claims that the facility failed to create a proper care plan for their loved one, whom the nursing home staff knew suffered from seizures. They also claimed that the nursing home did not properly train staff, failed to monitor high-risk patients, and failed to report any discovered violations to the state.

Nursing Home Resident Sues Caretakers After Alleged Negligence Led to Penis Amputation

September 14, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Portland, Oregon, a man filed a lawsuit against a nursing home where he had previously resided, seeking $9 million in damages. According to one local Oregon news source, the allegations are that the nursing home’s negligent care led to a situation where the man’s penis needed to be amputated, due to an advanced kidney infection that spread to the man’s penis.

Evidently, the man was initially admitted to the nursing home to recover for a kidney infection. However, while he was there, he began to suffer from what he believed was an infection in his catheter. He notified nursing home staff members, but they allegedly failed to take his complaints seriously. Over time, the infection led to gangrene and eventually life-threatening septic shock. Ultimately, the man’s penis needed to be amputated as a result of the infection.

The lawsuit, which names the nursing home facility as well as the two individual nurses who were responsible for the man’s care, seeks $9 million in damages. Included in this figure is an amount of $1 million for the man’s wife for the loss of “affection society, assistance and companionship of her husband.”

Family of Deceased Nursing Home Resident Files Suit

August 27, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, the family of a 57-year-old woman who died after lighting herself aflame filed suit against the nursing facility that was charged with her care. According to one local news article, the lawsuit is against the single largest owner of skilled nursing facilities in the State of California. The owner of the facility controls one in every 14 nursing home beds in California.

Evidently, the woman suffered from a history of schizophrenia and suicidal ideations, and she was admitted to the nursing home for constant care. The lawsuit alleges that the nursing facility accepted her into its care, knowing that it did not have the trained staff necessary to provide the high level of care that the woman needed. Specifically, the woman’s family claims that the home was “maximizing profits from the operation of the facility by underfunding, understaffing and under training the staff” with “callous indifference to the potential for injury they were inflicting upon the resident population.”

The family argues that the home provided the woman a “day pass” that allowed her to be on her own for about four hours a day without supervision of any kind. This was despite the fact that, just two weeks earlier, staff members reported the woman was suffering from hallucinations and talking to herself.

Nursing Home Cited By State After Resident’s Death

August 6, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier last month, the State of California cited and fined a nursing home facility after it was determined that lapses in care at the facility led to the death of a resident. According to one local news source, the facility was fined $100,000 and issued a Class “AA” Citation, which is the most serious in the State.

Evidently, last July one of the home’s residents choked on a piece of food while eating in the home’s dining area. The woman ultimately suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away a few days after the incident. After an official investigation, it was determined that the actions of the nursing home in failing to provide adequate supervision played a major role in the woman’s death.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) initiated an official investigation after the woman’s death, and it determined “the facility failed to provide a safe dining experience and failed to implement their care plan to consistently assist and assure that safe eating occurred.” The CDPH also told reporters that the woman had a known history of delusional thought and difficulty swallowing, and she was known to attempt to eat quickly without properly chewing her food.

Recently Filed Lawsuit Against Nursing Home Alleges Abuse and Fraud

July 20, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, the family of an elderly nursing home resident filed suit against the home in which their loved one was staying for the abuses she allegedly suffered while staying at the nursing home. According to one local news report, the lawsuit alleges that the nursing home represented to the woman’s family that they would be able to provide the 86-year-old dementia patient with adequate care, all while knowing that the budgetary constraints of the nursing home at the time made providing such care impossible.

The plaintiffs named the nursing home, its administration, and some 20 other staff members as individuals in the lawsuit. The claims range in seriousness, but they include sexual abuse, preventable infections, unnecessary hospitalization, and hiked-up medical fees. What makes this lawsuit different from the many others that are filed against nursing homes is that this suit alleges that there was fraud on the part of the nursing home. The woman’s familial representative is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and legal fees.

Punitive Damages in Maryland Nursing Home Cases

There are several different types of damages in Maryland personal injury cases. For example, compensatory damages are awarded to “compensate” the plaintiff for what they missed out on, or the expenses they had to incur, as a result of the defendant’s negligent conduct. Things such as medical expenses fit into this category.

Maryland Family Claims Nursing Home Was Negligent, Resulting in Loved One’s Early Death

July 6, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this year in a Maryland nursing home, the family of an 85-year-old woman who died in an nursing home filed suit against the facility that was supposed to be caring for their loved one. According to one local news report, the family claims that their loved one died without any staff member at her side, despite hours of complaints of pain and requests for help from family members.

Evidently, the family of the woman was at the nursing home just 30 hours before her death, and they recorded their loved one in agony, moaning and crying for help. Allegedly, despite the woman’s efforts, as well as those of her family members, no nursing home staff member came to attend to or to assist the woman. Eventually, her family left her side, and 30 hours later she died.

The woman’s family filed a case against the nursing home, alleging that the home’s negligence was the cause of the woman’s early death. The woman’s daughter-in-law told reporters that she was pleading with the nursing staff, “Why can’t you help her? Why you gotta get somebody? Why can’t you just help her?”

Nursing Home Pays $1.4 Million to Settle Lawsuit

June 16, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, a New Jersey nursing home located in Paramus settled a lawsuit that was filed by the family of a woman who allegedly choked to death while under the care of the defendant nursing home. According to one local news report, the deceased was an 85-year-old Navy veteran who was eating his breakfast when he choked to death.

Court documents filed by the man’s attorney claim that the resident was left alone during breakfast, despite the known fact that he suffered from a swallowing disorder. In fact, according to the man’s family, the nursing home was under specific instructions to have an employee watch their loved one carefully as he ate.

Two weeks after this incident, another resident choked to death. Apparently, a nursing home employee walked in the man’s room to see him choking. The employee performed the Heimlich maneuver but was too late, and the man passed away. When the state inspector arrived, nursing home management told him that they believed the man had died due to heart failure, even though the patient’s death certificate listed “acute airway obstruction” as the official cause of death.