Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog

Elder Abuse and Negligence and the Role of Court Guardianship

May 20, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Our nursing home injury attorneys in Baltimore, Maryland have been reading about a recent investigation in Arizona, where the question of guardianship is being raised after allegations of elder abuse have surfaced in a home.

According to ABC15, Gloria Horrigan’s daughter Clair was having a difficult time caring for her mother, as she had health issues that made it hard on the family. Horrigan reportedly needed help and Clair decided to appoint a court guardian, as families can’t force elderly individuals to get help, but a guardian could.

Gloria Horrigan’s case ended up in probate court, where issues on vulnerable adults are heard. The guardian that was chosen was Sun Valley Group of Tempe, allegedly offering to care for the social, emotional, physical, and mental health of residents who reside with them, as well as taking care of the residents’ personal finances.

Horrigan’s daughter, Clair, claimed that her mother was promptly taken to a nursing home against her will and not allowed any visitors, including family. Clair claims that her mother did not get the proper medical treatment that was promised, she experienced elderly abuse, and her bills were not paid. Horrigan’s house reportedly went into foreclosure as a result.

Clair claims that Sun Valley Group was supposed to be her mother’s guardian, and look our for her best interests, but the home was much more interested in her mother’s money than her health. Horrigan’s final bill was reportedly around $500,000—including charges for an employee to read her mail for $75 an hour.

Jury Demands Nursing Home Pays $28 Million in Punitive Damages for Elder Abuse Case

May 14, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a recent nursing home injury blog, our Washington D.C.-based attorneys reported on a current case in Northern California, where a nursing home is being accused of recklessly poor resident care and nursing home negligence, leading to the wrongful death of Frances Tanner, a Stockton native.

On Wednesday of this week, Colonial Healthcare was found guilty of elder abuse, and Tanner’s daughter, Elizabeth Pao was awarded $1.1 million in monetary damages for Tanner’s suffering and pain, after enduring a nursing home fall in 2005 that broke her hip and led to a bedsore that became so infected it reportedly took her life.

Colonial Healthcare, over the course of the two week trial, has been accused of poor care, chronic and extreme understaffing, nursing home corporate greed, and failing to care for Tanner in every way—by allowing her to fall and break her hip, neglecting to record her level of treatment and care, and neglecting to prevent the bed sores that after becoming so infected, lead to her death.

According to the Sacramento Bee, yesterday, in the second phase of the case, the jury panel awarded $28 million in punitive damages for Frances Tanner’s abuse and wrongful death, in an effort to send a message to Horizon West Healthcare and its company leaders to stop the chronic understaffing and substandard care that has lead to nursing home negligence and resident death. The jury reportedly decided on the punitive damages after hearing evidence in court about the finances of the corporation—the corporation is reportedly worth around $200 million. This is said to be the largest elder-abuse award in Sacramento County history.

Senate Pushes Reform After Alleged Nursing Home Abuse in Veterans Home

May 13, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Our Maryland Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys recently wrote a blog about a series of violent elder abuse incidents that occurred in Veterans nursing homes in the state of Texas, as published in the Dallas Morning News.

The Dallas newspaper has recently reported that after publishing the articles last month, legislators in the Senate have now taken notice, and raised questions about the safety and management of the state-owned veterans nursing home facilities this week, with two Senate committee hearings.

Last month, the Dallas Morning Star found that the criminal investigation of two former nursing home workers, accused of nursing home abuse, were stalled for two years because of conflicts between the state inspectors, police, and nursing home administrators.

When the police reportedly looked into the nursing home abuse allegations in 2007, police officers defaulted to the state inspectors. In March, felony charges were finally filed against the former nursing home employees, accusing them of harming two residents in the separate 2007 incidents.

Jury Delivers Elder Abuse Verdict—Nursing Home to Pay $1.1 Million for Wrongful Death

May 12, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Washington D.C. Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorneys, we have been following a recent case of elder abuse, where a Sacramento County Superior Court jury found a nursing home guilty for the 2005 wrongful death of a Northern California resident.

Frances Tanner, a former administrative worker who had been employed by various agencies including the FBI and the IRS, reportedly moved into Colonial Healthcare, a nursing home in Auburn, California, in March of 2005 at the age of 79. Although she was suffering from mild dementia, Tanner was reportedly mobile, strong, talkative and in great spirits.

In September of 2005, Tanner suffered a nursing home fall and broke her hip. According to the lawsuit testimony, Tanner was not properly diagnosed with a hip fracture for another eight days, during which time a bed sore was discovered. After the surgery, the bed sore progressed rapidly, and Tanner reportedly died a few weeks later from a massive infection of the pressure sore that caused her great pain and suffering.

During the course of past two weeks, the home has been accused of poor care, chronic and extreme understaffing, and nursing home corporation greed. Colonial was accused of recklessly failing to care for Tanner in every way—by allowing her to endure a broken hip, failing to keep accurate notes on her treatment and care, and neglecting to prevent or care for the bed sore that allegedly killed her.

Today, the jury awarded Elizabeth Pao, Tanner’s daughter, $1.1 million in monetary damages for Tanner’s suffering and pain, and for the loss of companionship. The punitive damages will be announced on Thursday.

Bed Rail Suffocation Settlement in Nursing Home Case—Family Paid $190,000

April 30, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a recent wrongful death and negligence settlement that our Baltimore Nursing Home Attorneys have been following, the family of a nursing home resident was awarded $190,000 in damages, after the resident suffocated in her bed.

According to the lawsuit, Lottie D’Aust, a resident of Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Medical Center, in New York, died from suffocation after getting trapped between a bed rail and the mattress—a common and tragic cause of personal injury and wrongful death in nursing homes, and a topic that our Maryland nursing home injury attorneys have been discussing in a recent blog.

The Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.), reports that from 1985 to 2008 nearly 772 incidents have occurred where hospital and nursing home patients have been trapped, stuck, or suffocated due to strangulation in beds that had rails. Out of this number, staff rescued 176 residents before they became injured, 136 experienced nonfatal personal injuries, and 460 residents died.

Although bed rails were designed as an aid to help patients maneuver their positions in the bed, and give security to the residents, many of these patients often experience bed rail entrapment, like Lottie D’Aust, getting caught in the space between the mattress and the bedrails, causing personal injury, strangulation, suffocation, and even wrongful death.

Another Wrongful Death Lawsuit for Nursing Home Complex

April 28, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a previous blog, our Maryland-based Nursing Home Attorneys discussed a nursing home abuse case involving employees from Madison Manor, one of the Richmond Health and Rehabilitation Complex homes in Kentucky, who pleaded guilty of resident abuse.

This week, another lawsuit was brought against one of the Richmond complex homes—Kenwood Nursing Home. Charles Brock, the son of former patient Margaret Brock, is accusing the home of wrongful death, alleging that the nursing home administrators and employees failed to provide Brock’s mother with quality care, and protect her legal right to nursing home heath and safety.

According to the lawsuit, Margaret Brock, was admitted Kenwood Nursing Home on August 27, 2008 at the age of 80. Brock’s son claims that the home violated multiple nursing home health and safety regulations during her stay at the home—that lead to her wrongful death.

Brock claims that while under the care of Kenwood nursing home, his mother suffered nursing home falls, medication errors, malnutrition, dehydration, and pneumonia. Brock also reportedly suffered infections in the home including sepsis, methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus, as well as great amounts of pain and eventually death.

Nursing Home Charged with Resident Neglect—Pressure Sores Lead to Wrongful Death

April 27, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Washington D.C.-area Nursing Home Injury Attorneys, we have been following a case that has recently gone to trial accusing an Arizona-based nursing home of neglect, failure to prevent pressure sores, and wrongful death.

Irma Smith, 98, was a resident of Devon Gables Healthcare Center, and according to the lawsuit, when Smith died on September 7, 2006, she was experiencing unnecessary pain from a pressure sore on her backside that had grown so large that it was one inch deep and as wide as a grapefruit. The sore had reportedly eaten through both her bone and muscle and became infected, which lead to sepsis and allegedly caused Smith’s death.

Kathleen Havens, Smith’s daughter, and also a resident nurse, is bringing the wrongful death lawsuit against Devon Gables, and claimed that the nursing home had been making cutbacks in staffing, which lead to the nursing home negligence. In one incident, after being left unattended, Smith reportedly fell out of her wheelchair onto her face, suffering from head, leg and arm wounds.

Smith was admitted to Devon Gables in July of 2006, because Havens was having difficulty lifting and caring for her mother. Smith was a resident of the nursing home until the wheelchair fall, in which she was transferred to Tucson Medical Center. The pressure sore was so severely infected that Smith reportedly developed sepsis and died ten days later.

Nursing Home Falls and Injury in Veterans State Homes

April 23, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a recent blog, our Washington D.C.-based Nursing Home Neglect Attorneys discussed the prevalence of violent elder abuse incidents including nursing home falls occurring in seven veterans homes in the state of Texas, as reported by the Dallas Morning News.

According to the state’s Department of Aging and Disability Services, inspections in the Amarillo veterans home uncovered a series of nursing home neglect incidents and resident falls. In one case an elderly patient with Alzheimer’s was allegedly found on the floor, after the neck of her nightgown got stuck in the bedrails, causing redness around her neck. After an investigation, it was discovered that this patient had been previously assessed and that staff members were supposed to assist the woman get in and out of bed, to prevent nursing home falls and personal injury. The assessment did not order restraints, which are controversial, but sometimes used to prevent falls, a topic that our lawyers discussed a few weeks ago in a blog.

In another nursing home fall incident at the Big Spring home, one of the seven veterans nursing homes has been cited for several violations since 2004, a man who was known to be at risk of falling out of bed was reportedly not carefully monitored and fell twice in the bathroom, experiencing personal injury both times. Another man experienced a fall after his bed rolled—as there was no system established for ensuring that the beds were locked into place. Another resident who needed supervision from nursing home falls and wandering was found on the floor at least four times in a period of less than two months.

In another wandering case in Big Spring Home, where felony charges were filed against two employees last month for nursing home abuse, a resident was found eighty feet from the nursing home building after being left unattended in his wheelchair. He was allegedly found lying on the cement with a swollen face and spent two days in the hospital.

Investigations of Elder Abuse at State Veterans Home

April 21, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

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.

Physical Restraints in Maryland Nursing Homes

April 15, 2010 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In yesterday’s blog post, our lawyers from Lebowitz and Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers, discussed the resent release of the annual state-by-state check-up of healthcare ratings, in the National Healthcare Quality Report from 2009, which includes Maryland’s ratings on nursing home care, and the use of physical restraint.

Nursing home restraint is a physical or pharmacologic restraint used to keep a resident or patient from moving freely, and is only allowed when medically necessary, as it can also cause patients to become weak or develop other health complications like pressure sores, isolation, loss of walking ability, incontinence, or injury from trying to escape the restraints, leading to possible injury or wrongful death.

Restraints have been used in nursing homes when impaired residents with mental conditions are prone to nursing home falls, wandering, or the potential for personal injury—but are controversial as they have been also been used for the purposes of discipline, or for the convenience of the nursing home—leading to nursing home abuse and neglect.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reports that the use of physical and chemical restraints has reduced substantially after the implementation the CMS restraint regulation in 1990, showing that physical restraints had serious negative effects including the risk of wrongful death, and nursing home abuse and neglect.