Resident Safety

Ten Underperforming Maryland and Virginia Nursing Homes Put on the Federal Governments “Special Focus” List

July 25, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

The federal government is keenly aware of the fact that many Maryland nursing homes, as well as nursing homes across the country, routinely provide residents with an insufficient level of care. For this reason, each year, the federal government releases a report detailing the state of the country’s nursing homes. This June, Senators Casey (D-PA) and Toomey (R-PA) released a report entitled “Families’ and Residents’ Right to Know: Uncovering Poor Care in America’s Nursing Homes.”

The report begins by noting that aging citizens who live in nursing homes too often experience “outright neglect,” and that some residents are subjected to physical or sexual abuse. In an attempt to reduce the number of homes exposing residents to this neglect and abuse, the federal government implemented the Special Focus Facility (SFF) program. The SFF program seeks to identify the most problematic nursing homes across the country and increase supervision over these facilities. Once a facility is in the SFF program, it must be inspected no less than once every six months. Non-participants must be inspected once every 15 months.

The selection process for the SFF program focuses on those nursing homes that “persistently underperform in required inspections.” Under the SFF program, up to 88 nursing homes are selected, which amounts to less than .6 percent of all skilled care facilities in the United States. These facilities are referred to as “participants,” and the government releases the name of the facility to the public to assist potential residents in making important care decisions.

Residents of Washington, D.C. Veterans’ Administration Nursing Homes May Be in Jeopardy

April 5, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

One would like to think that aging service members are provided with the care and compassion they deserve as they begin to require more and more assistance with their daily routine. However, Veterans’ Administration (VA) nursing homes have been continually under scrutiny for the poor quality of care they provide residents. A recent report illustrates just a few of the horrors that VA nursing home residents across the country are experiencing.

According to a report by USA Today, in VA nursing homes across the country, veterans are suffering actual harm due to a variety of deficiencies. Evidently, private inspectors determined that residents in 52 of the 99 surveyed homes suffered some type of actual harm based on the inadequate level of care being provided by staff. A Washington, D.C. VA nursing home was among those in which residents suffered actual harm. Several other VA nursing homes were found to have put residents in “immediate jeopardy.”

One of the most common problems inspectors found was that residents in many of the VA nursing homes suffered from preventable bedsores. Bedsores develop when a person who is confined to a bed remains idle for too long. Bedsores can be prevented by frequently rotating a resident, or providing a resident with ample cushion under their body. Inspectors noted that one resident developed five bedsores in just six months. However, when inspectors went to visit this resident, they determined that no staff member had moved the man, or provided him with additional cushions to alleviate the condition.

Medical Errors in Maryland Nursing Homes

February 15, 2019 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Nursing homes take on an enormous responsibility when they accept a resident into their care. Of course, a Maryland nursing home is required to provide residents with a safe living environment, keeping residents free from the potential abuse of staff members and other residents. However, there is also an affirmative duty taken on by nursing homes to provide a certain level of care. When a nursing home fails to live up to this standard, the facility may be liable through a Maryland nursing home negligence lawsuit.

There are many different types of nursing home negligence. Nursing home residents are often unable to provide for their own basic needs, and rely on others to help them with routine daily tasks such as bathing, eating, and taking medication. In some cases, patients suffer bedsores after a neglectful nurse fails to check up on them as frequently as necessary. One area of care that is infrequently discussed is the level of medical care that a nursing home is required to provide.

Of course, nursing homes are not expected to function at the level of a hospital. However, nursing homes should employ properly credentialed staff who are educated on how to care for an at-risk population. Thus, certain failures are inexcusable. According to a local news report, a Veterans’ Administration (VA) nursing home was fined for providing the wrong medication to a resident. Evidently, the home was cited for providing the wrong medication as well as for administering medication in a manner that did not follow the physician’s instructions.

Spotting Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Before It Is Too Late

April 20, 2018 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Over the past several decades, there has been a societal shift in the United States toward a household in which both parents work out of the home. Indeed, as of 2016, roughly two-thirds of all families were composed of two income earners. Most often, this means both parents are away from the home during the day.

Unlike in years past, today’s working families do not have the ability to care for their aging loved ones. This has correspondingly led to an increase in the number of elderly people being admitted to nursing homes. Currently, it is estimated that there are over 3.5 million nursing home residents. And while Maryland nursing homes present a good solution in theory, in reality, nursing homes are rarely “as advertised.”

Too often, nursing homes are understaffed with underqualified employees. This creates a situation in which abuse and neglect are rampant. Indeed, it is estimated that over 40% of nursing home residents will experience some form of abuse during their stay, and nearly 90% of nursing home residents report being neglected. Given the limited interaction between a nursing home resident and the outside world, it is believed that these figures may be an underestimation.

Overuse of Antipsychotic Drugs in Nursing Homes Remains Problem, Putting Some Residents in Grave Danger

February 21, 2018 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When a family places a loved one in a Maryland nursing home, the family leaves their loved one in the care of the home and its medical providers. Yet the medical providers may not always be doing what is best for the resident—and could even be putting the resident in danger.

If a resident passes away at a nursing home, one question to ask is which medications the resident was being given before the resident’s death. If the resident was given improper medication, the family may be able to bring a claim against the nursing home for the wrongful death of the resident.

Wrongful Death Claims in Maryland

A wrongful death claim is meant to compensate family members for the loss of their family member’s death due to the wrongful act of another person. Maryland’s Wrongful Death Act allows a wrongful death claim to be made “against a person whose wrongful act causes the death of another.” Normally, the claim must be made within three years of the family member’s death.

The Distinction Between a Criminal Prosecution of a Nursing Home Employee and a Civil Personal Injury Lawsuit

January 26, 2018 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

When a loved one is placed in a Maryland nursing home, it is assumed that their basic physical and medical needs will be monitored and that they will be treated with dignity and respect. However, history has shown that nursing home employees, for whatever reason, too often engage in abusive or neglectful behavior. When authorities discover that nursing home abuse or neglect has occurred, those responsible can be held accountable for their actions in several ways.

Criminal Nursing Home Prosecutions

After allegations of abuse have been substantiated, criminal charges may be filed against a nursing home employee or administrator. Such cases are brought by the local prosecuting authority on behalf of the state and are designed to punish the wrongdoer for their actions. If they are found guilty of a criminal offense, the defendant can face fines, probation, and potentially incarceration.

While a criminal court may order some restitution to be paid to the victim, restitution amounts are normally limited in that they include only the amount of actual financial loss incurred by the victim. A criminal court will not award damages based on the victim’s pain and suffering.

Potential Causes of Action in Maryland Nursing Home Cases

December 28, 2017 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

There are a number of potential causes of action that plaintiffs may be able to bring in Maryland nursing home cases. Some potential causes of action include negligence, battery, wrongful death, infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and violation of consumer protection laws.

One of the most common causes of action is negligence. It can be brought against a long-term care facility if the facility is negligent in caring for the resident or if the home is negligent in training or supervising its staff. To establish a negligence cause of action, a plaintiff must show that the defendant had a duty to protect the plaintiff from injury, the defendant breached that duty, the plaintiff suffered an actual injury or loss, and the injury or loss proximately resulted from the defendant’s breach of duty.

Another potential cause of action is the infliction of emotional distress. Although it is a high bar, to prove a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, the conduct must be intentional or reckless, as well as extreme and outrageous. Additionally, the plaintiff must have suffered severe emotional distress, and there has to be a causal connection between the conduct and the emotional distress. Furthermore, in addition to these claims, facilities may be liable for failing to have adequate policies in place to prevent abuse or for failing to report allegations of abuse.

State Passes Bill Providing Cameras in Nursing Home Facilities in Hopes of Decreasing Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

December 21, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Nursing home abuse and neglect have a well-documented history throughout the United States. Sadly, many of the victims of this abuse suffer from serious physical and mental health disorders, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Since the advent and expansion of social media, this unfortunate trend has accelerated. In fact, the problem has become so common that many state legislatures are looking for ways to curb the rampant nursing home abuse and neglect epidemic.

According to one local news source servicing the Chicago area, Illinois lawmakers have recently passed a bill that will provide funding to install 100,000 cameras in nursing home facilities across the state. The bill, which would not allow for the installation of cameras without a resident’s consent, allocates a $50,000 budget annually to install and service the cameras. It is hoped that the presence of cameras will act not only to provide evidence of abuse after the fact but also to serve as a deterrent to nursing home employees.

Advocates of the bill call it a “win-win for all stakeholders,” explaining that truly innocent nursing home employees who has been wrongfully accused will be able to rely on the video footage to help prove the allegations were unfounded. However, it is expected that the policy will be met with some resistance from the nursing home industry, which is no doubt aware of the fact that the installation of cameras in facilities may result in exposure to additional liability through increased reporting of abuse and neglect.

Nursing Home’s Failure to Keep Out Drug Dealers Results in Staggering Increase in Residential Overdoses Nationwide

November 28, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Medical and social services and law enforcement authorities throughout our nation are coming to terms with a dangerous epidemic of opiate and opioid abuse that has been affecting Americans of all ages and socioeconomic groups. According to a recently published news report, nursing homes and rehab facilities are not immune from this problem, and a failure to properly monitor both residents and visitors for signs of drug abuse is causing an increase in drug-related overdoses and deaths in several states.

The fact that many nursing home residents are highly medicated and isolated from the public view keeps the number of overdoses and drug-related deaths hidden. While nursing facilities cannot and should not be held legally responsible for every instance of drug abuse or overdose that occurs on site, the management and staff of these facilities do have a responsibility to monitor their residents and act reasonably to prevent illegal and dangerous drugs from being sold or illegally consumed by their residents.

Chicago Area Nursing Facility Fined Over $100,000 after Five Residents Suffer Overdoses Within Days

The report explains the case of one nursing facility in Illinois that had five residents hospitalized for heroin overdoses within only days, with two of those patients using the drugs and overdosing again within hours of their return to the facility. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Illinois Department of Health have fined this facility over $100,000 in total for failing to properly monitor and treat their residents with drug addictions.

Nursing Home Resident Kills Fellow Resident in Shooting, Later Commits Suicide

September 23, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A 77-year-old Wyoming nursing home resident and one other person are dead, and three others injured, after a shooting occurred near the nursing home where the perpetrator lived. A local news report was recently published describing the shooting, which began at about 11:00 AM on Wednesday, September 14, outside the nursing facility. The condition and identities of the injured victims have not been released to the public, but the perpetrator, who turned the gun on himself after initially fleeing the scene of the shooting, was identified as a 77-year-old resident of an apartment complex adjacent to the nursing facility.

It Is Not Clear If Personal or Mental Health Issues Led to the Shooting

According to the news report from the scene of the fatal shooting, there may have been personal issues behind the man’s motivation to commit the shooting, although there were conflicting reports of what happened. It is possible that the perpetrator suffered from a mental health condition and should not have been in possession of a firearm in the days and hours leading up to the shooting.