Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog

Sexual Assault of Elders Occurs Most Often in Nursing Homes in Maryland, Nationwide

March 26, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A recent online article by the Huffington Post explains that elder abuse is everyone’s problem because the people who are directly affected by it don’t have the means or ability to create any meaningful reform of the system that perpetuates the abuse. Throughout the article, several interesting and startling points are made about nursing-home abuse. Perhaps most startling is that fact that, although rare elsewhere, sexual abuse of the elderly is most common at nursing home facilities.

Some one in ten elderly people are suspected to have at one time suffered some kind of abuse. The most common type of abuse is financial in nature, and it is most commonly committed by a loved one who is close to the victim. However, sexual abuse of elders is a frightening occurrence that may not be as rare as we think—or hope.

Due to several factors, those who are inclined to prey on the helpless are often drawn toward the elderly. One reason is that many elderly victims have no one they can report the abuse to, assuming they are even physically well enough to communicate with others at all. Another reason is that caring for the elderly can be an especially stressful task. Job frustration undoubtedly plays a role in many cases of elder abuse. None of these reasons, however, are a valid excuse for the kinds of abuse that occur each day in nursing homes across Maryland.

West Virginia Man Sues Nursing Home for Several Alleged Lapses in Care

March 20, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, a West Virginia resident filed a lawsuit on behalf of his female client against a nursing home at which his client had recently resided. According to one local West Virginia news source, the man is pursuing claims against the nursing home based on the home’s alleged negligence in caring for his client as well as purported physical abuse she endured while in the home’s care. Evidently, the lawsuit was filed at the end of 2014, for events that occurred earlier that year. While there are no specifics about what is alleged to have happened, the court paperwork suggests that the plaintiff’s claims are based on the nursing home’s alleged failure to live up to the duty which it assumed when it accepted the woman as a resident.

Specifically, the lawsuit claims that the home “failed to properly hire, train, retain, manage, supervise and otherwise oversee the staff to ensure compliance with applicable care and staffing standards and failed to provide [her] with a safe environment.”

Maryland Group Home Under Investigation After Death of 19-Year-Old Resident

March 13, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this year, the legal guardian for a 19-year-old boy who died while a resident at a Maryland group home for foster children in need of constant care filed suit against the group home, asserting that their negligence resulted in the boy’s premature death. According to one local Maryland news source, the patient died after spending several weeks in the group home for a bed sore that had spread to his bones.

Evidently, the lawsuit, which was filed early in February, claims that the group home was inadequately staffed when the 19-year-old patient was a resident in the home. The lawsuit notes that the group home specializes in the care of foster children who require constant or near-constant care, and that the home failed to provide an adequate number of nurses and other staff members to create a safe environment.

In addition to the lawsuit filed by the boy’s guardian, the Maryland Attorney General’s Medicaid fraud control team has also opened up an investigation into the propriety of the home as a safe and healing environment. While those participating in the investigation are not at liberty to discuss it, those familiar with the investigation have told reporters that it is centered on inadequate staff levels as well as the overall cleanliness of the facility.

New Regulations on Nursing Homes Hope to Bring Increased Quality of Care to Residents in Delmarva

March 3, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It is a well-known fact that nursing homes do not enjoy an unblemished reputation when it comes to the quality of care they provide to their residents. In fact, it seems that one can hardly go a couple days without reading about some instance of abuse, neglect, or other misconduct committed by nursing home staff or management.

Because of these concerns, lawmakers across the country have banded together to increase the regulations placed on nursing homes in the hopes that the quality of care being provided will increase. According to one DelmarvaNow report, a local online news source, the following areas will be targeted by federal regulations:

Measures of facilities’ use of anti-psychotic drugs; and
The use of more refined metrics to check for adequate staffing.

Delmarva Nursing Homes Are On Par

The article goes into a superficial, although somewhat useful, analysis of Delmarva nursing homes, noting that the peninsula’s nursing facilities fare about average as compared to the rest of the nation. One area where the local nursing homes excel is in the area of prevalence of pressure ulcers, use of restraints, and the extent of falls resulting in injury. This is an important category, but it is far from the only important metric in the study.

Family of Nursing Home Resident Sues Facility After Accusations of Rape Substantiated

February 27, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, the family of a woman who was raped while a patient at a local nursing home sued the nursing home facility under the theory that it knew of the employee’s history of sexual assault and failed to take any precautions. According to one local news report, the nursing home employee was sentenced last year in a criminal court to two to 20 years’ incarceration for rape.

Evidently, it is alleged that the 22-year-old employee of the nursing home had previous instances of alleged sexual abuse in the past, and the nursing facility failed to take any action against the employee.

The nursing home complied with the police investigation for the most part and claimed that they “administer multiple screens that all employees must pass before hire, including extensive criminal and background checks, reference checks and drug screens.” However, it seems as though this employee and his questionable past may have slipped through the cracks.

Man Acquitted for Charges of Nursing Home Abuse, Civil Case Still Possible

February 20, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Illinois, a jury heard a criminal case against a man charged with aggravated battery after his involvement in alleged nursing home abuse. According to one local Illinois news report, the man was acquitted of all charges after the jury deliberated for 90 minutes.

Evidently, the man was charged with aggravated battery after he allegedly struck a 64-year-old nursing home resident in June of last year. The prosecution put up an eyewitness to the alleged abuse that testified that she saw the defendant strike a resident with a closed fist and then heard the resident ask why he was being hit. The resident began crying after he was hit by the defendant.

However, the credibility of the eyewitness was called into question by the defense, since apparently the defendant had turned down sexual advances from the eyewitness not long before the instance of abuse was reported.

Newly Filed Lawsuit Claims Nursing Home Responsible for Amputation of Patient’s Leg

February 13, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this year, a lawsuit was filed against a Florida nursing home after a former resident had to undergo a partial leg amputation that he alleged was due to the sub-standard care he received while staying at the nursing home. According to a report by one local news source, the nursing home named in the lawsuit had been fined over $4,500 over the past several years for various violations.

Evidently, the plaintiff in the current case was suffering from an infection on his second toe. At first, doctors told the man that the toe would need to be amputated, but that the leg was fine. However, after further investigation, doctors determined that the man needed to have his leg amputated just above the knee.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit, who had only stayed at the nursing home for five months at the time of the accident, also suffered numerous falls while in their care.

Former Nursing Home Employee Faces Criminal Charges for Alleged Abuse

February 6, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, a young man faced criminal charges for the alleged abuse of a nursing home resident back in October of last year. According to one local news report, the young man was seen holding the door shut while an elderly patient was trying to get out of her room.

Evidently, the young man was also seen dragging the victim by her arms and wrists. According to court documents, the woman had the bruises to prove such abuse occurred.

The alleged abuser’s defense attorney claims that his client, who is 24 years old, was only listening to older, more experienced employees at the time and should not be held criminally responsible for the event. However, the prosecution has subpoenaed the video tape that supposedly caught the entire interaction on film. The videotape, prosecutors claim, clearly shows that he is not merely a loyal employee listening to supervisors, but was engaging in the intentional abuse of the resident.

Connecticut Nursing Home Cited for Several Failures in Care

January 30, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, a local Connecticut newspaper published a long list of local nursing homes that had been cited by the state’s department of health for failures in nursing homes. One of those failures resulted in the preventable death of a resident.

According to the report, back in November of last year, one local nursing home in Connecticut was fined $1,020 for a failure in care that led to a resident’s death. One of the residents at Bridgeport Manor died last October of a cardiac arrest after an oversight of the nursing home staff sent her to the hospital.

Apparently, the woman was admitted to the nursing home with throat cancer and had a tracheostomy tube. One night, nursing home staff found the woman on the floor with the tube dislodged. However, the nursing staff failed to call for help immediately and waited 20 minutes to do so.

Alabama Nursing Home Employee Indicted for Abusing 96-Year-Old Resident

January 23, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier last month, a former health care provider at an elderly care facility was charged for the abuse of a 96-year-old patient under her care. According to one local news report, the Alabama nursing home resident suffered injuries after the nurse was caught “grabbing or twisting her arm [and] hitting and thumping her on the head.” The 27-year-old nurse responsible was indicted for second-degree elderly abuse and neglect.

Evidently, back in August of last year, the nursing home employee got frustrated with the resident for some unknown reason and started physically abusing her. The police issued an arrest warrant for the nurse shortly after the incident was reported. However, it took them several months to locate her. Finally, in December, she was brought into custody and charged for her abusive acts.

The nursing home that employed the nurse told reporters that it has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to the abuse of residents. Its policy—which is standard in the industry—is to immediately suspend or terminate any employee who has a credible threat of abuse made against him or her.