Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

Since the 1960s, where over half of patients who died in hospitals were autopsied, autopsies performed in hospitals have decreased to 12-15% of patient deaths in academic medical centers and to about 2% in private hospitals.

The benefits of performing an autopsy are numerous, and include improved care for the living, peace of mind for family members, preventative family medical history information, and less costly litigation of malpractice claims. Thus, private companies such as San Francisco based 1-800-Autopsy are expanding to cover the gap left by hospitals, who in an attempt to save costs avoid performing autopsies where possible.

Another reason for the decrease is that fewer patients are dying in hospitals and more in long term care facilities such as nursing homes, and under hospice care.

For the full article
http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/business/display_article.asp?Nav=ns&lvl2=buss&ArticleID=1518-1786_1939377

Colorado attorney Jay Reinan made a career out of defending nursing homes. He switched sides mid-career and now represents those patients abused and neglected by the very homes he used to defend.

For the full article:
http://www.westword.com/Issues/2006-05-25/news/feature_1.html

Metron settled a lawsuit today stemming from the death of a resident who died when her oxygen tank ran out. As a result, the Attorney Generals office found Metron in violation of accepting Medicare funds while not meeting standard care which is the basis of the state's settlement with Metron.

Metron must pay $78,000 for the cost of the AG investigation as well as hire an independent monitor to supervise Metron's nine nursing home facilities for the next 2 years.

The nursing home provider also faces fines and possible criminal charges if they fail to comply. They will also need state approval for any sale or purchase of a Metron owned facility.

For the full article:
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=54961

Two employees of a Michigan nursing home chain, Metron Integrated Health Systems filed confidential complaints in April alleging understaffing at the nursing home which lead to inadequate care. The nurses alleged that short staffing lead to patients who did not receive medications on time, nurses performing procedures for which they were unqualified, and falsified medical records.

When the employees’ supervisors failed to correct the problems, the employees filed complaints with the state Department of Community Health. The chain’s newly hired Chief of Operations said he did not know why the employees were fired, although another Metron employee said they were considered to be troublemakers for filing the complaints with the state.

For the full article:
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-17/1148484008308770.xml&coll=7

For a related article: “States given incentives to pass False Claims Acts with Whistleblower provisions”
http://blog.levinperconti.com/_nursing_home_staff/

A study presented at the 2006 National Conference on Urban Entomology (NCUE) concluded that termite and fire ant problems lead to costly lawsuits, particularly in nursing homes where the problems often impact residents most seriously. The study suggests several factors that make these pest control problems more likely and ways to cure defects in facilities plagued by these problems.

For the full article:
http://www.pctonline.com/news/news.asp?ID=4260

After a jury handed down an $11 million verdict to compensate victims and family members in the 23 deaths resulting from a bus explosion last year during hurricane seasons, officials recognize a need for a new plan.

Last year, during the evacuation process for those fleeing the wrath of Hurricane Rita, many nursing home residents without cars were stranded and left to fend for themselves. This year, emergency workers will combat this problem by implementing the state’s 2-1-1 system. Once a special-needs evacuee registers with the state's 2-1-1 hotline, a taxi or bus will be sent to their doorstep during an evacuation to take them to a shelter or staging area.

However, critics argue this plan will not be enough because many residents will not register and the plan will not reach all residents in the state.

For the full article:
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/14625606.htm

The inspector general for the Health and Human Services Department found that 55 nursing homes between 2000 and 2002 should have been penalized for jeopardizing patients' safety. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid should have ended their contracts but the agency's staff were often reluctant to displace residents if they thought a facility would improve their performance.

In addition to ending a home's Medicare contract, the government is required to deny payment for new admissions when nursing homes take more than three months to come into "substantial compliance" with federal rules.

For the full article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-nursing-homes,1,4877821.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

Abe Zelmanowicz, former owner of two Bronx nursing homes, Eastchester Health Care Center and Split Rock Multi-Care Center was charged by Attorney General Elliot Spitzer’s office with one count of grand larceny and 20 counts of offering a false instrument for filing. Over seven years, Zelmanowicz defrauded the home out of $3 million. Spitzer's office has also filed a lawsuit against Zelmanowicz seeking more than $12 million in penalties and restitution.

For the full article:
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--medicaidfraud0517may17,0,3180485.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in conjunction with the Office of Disability, Aging and Long-Term Care Policy have prepared a study to better understand the size and characteristics of the long-term care population. Some key findings are as follows:

• 6.5 % of those age 65 or older, 2.2 million people, live in a residential care facility.
• Most of these 2.2 million, 1.45 million live in nursing homes, with more than 750,000 living in alternative residential care settings.
• Relative to older persons in traditional private housing, the residential care population was far more likely to receive help with ADLs and to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.
• The prevalence of disability and dementias is dramatically higher in facility residential care than in community care settings, and higher yet in nursing homes.
• Persons living in residential care facilities are more likely to have incomes below $10,000, roughly the federal poverty level for older couples.

For the full article:

http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/reports/2006/3natlsur.pdf

Evergreene Nursing in Green County was sued last year for neglect. The attorney for the Virginia Department Office of Advocacy and Protection cited 84 cases of abuse between 2004 and 2005 including an incident involving employees sleeping on the job who failed to provide CPR to a patient who later died.

The home tried to have the case dismissed, but the judge said it will go to trial although no date has been set.

For the full article:
http://www.charlottesvillenewsplex.tv/news/headlines/2636781.html

Officials of enforcement agencies in California insist their failure to properly investigate nursing home violations in years past are a result of budget cutbacks.

In October 2005, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) and surviving relatives of deceased nursing home residents filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court to compel the Department of Health Services to investigate all nursing home safety complaints within 10 days, as required by state law.

For the full article:
http://www.examiner.com/Local-a74381~Editorial__Lax_protection_for_the_vulnerable.html

The attorney for a Plaintiff who suffered from improper care at the Lakeside Heights Nursing Home in Covington, KY is seeking class-action status for anyone who was a resident at the home since January, 2000, in a case filed last week in the U.S. District court in Covington. The complaint alleges poor lighting, overpowering odors of human waste, understaffed crews and general improper medical care.

Since the news of the suit broke, as many as 15 people have come forward to tell of their experiences. Operators of the nursing home missed a March 27 deadline to respond to an inspection that revealed life-threatening deficiencies at the home.

Officials want to preserve the license for the home in hopes of selling the home to another operator.

For the full article:
http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060410/NEWS02/604100363/1014

The widow of an Alzheimer's patient filed a lawsuit on April 4, 2006 against the owners and operators of Foundation Park Care Center, where her husband Norbert, 77, died on March 24 after having been beaten to death with a towel bar by his roommate.

The suit alleges that the home was negligent in that they had "a duty to refuse admission to any individual who has demonstrated a propensity for violence toward others," and as a result the home "exhibited a conscious disregard for the safety" of the patient.

For the full article:
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS02/604070381

A nurse’s aid was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the February 2005 rape of a woman at a nursing home. The incident occurred at Rolling Hills Nursing Home in Sparta, Wisconsin when the aid sexually assaulted a 73 year old Alzheimer’s patient. A civil suit was filed in October, 2005. The complaint alleges that the nursing home administration should have known Doeslaere was a “dangerous person” because of “prior complaints about him.”

For the full article:
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2006/04/05/news/z00assault05.txt

The trial began in the civil case against SunBridge Care and Rehabilitation-Town Manor, where 8 years ago a woman was raped and impregnated by a nurse’s aid and subsequently delivered a brain-damaged baby.

The suit alleges negligent failure to detect the pregnancy on the part of the nursing home staff. The state Department of Public Health recommended that the nursing home tighten its employment practices. The three-month review determined that the facility had provided ''appropriate care" to the woman but failed to do a background check on the nurse’s aid who was convicted of rape in 2000.

For the full article:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/04/05/doctor_on_trial_in_missed_pregnancy_of_raped_coma_patient/

In a new report, Congressional investigators find that inspectors often over look violations in nursing homes. The article suggests that data used by the Bush administration to argue its policies have improved conditions in the nation’s nursing homes may be inaccurate.

The investigators found that conditions such as weight loss, falls, and pressure sores were understated by the nursing homes.

For the full article:
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A $1.25 million settlement was also reached in a case brought by the United States Attorney and the State of Missouri against American Healthcare Management (AHM) and three nursing facilities managed by AHM. The United States contended that numerous residents in the three nursing homes suffered from dehydration and malnutrition, went for extended periods of time without being cleaned, and developed preventable pressure sores. The suit also alleged insufficient nurse staffing and that violations of the False Claims Act by billing for a level of care that was not provided. This was the first settlement of its kind in the Eastern District of Missouri.

Over half of the nation’s 16,000 nursing homes violate federal fire safety regulations, and nationwide, 2,300 nursing home fires are reported per year. In March 2003, in Nashville, 15 patients died at a nursing home with no sprinklers and no smoke alarms in patients' rooms. A table listing percentage by state of the nation’s nursing homes that are fully sprinklered can be viewed by accessing the full link below:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-10-06-nursing-homes-cover_x.htm

A seventy seven year old man died in at McAllen nursing center in Texas over the summer from brain injuries resulting from a heart attack he sustained when he choked on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich he was mistakenly given with no drink to help it digest. The negligence of the McAllen nursing center highlights and underscores the continued challenges facing nursing homes in providing adequate care to patients.

Due to 2003 legislation in Texas, damages from nursing home negligence cases are capped at $250,000, providing little incentive for corporate owned homes to prevent a vocational nurse or a poorly trained nurse’s aide from negligently killing a patient. Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C., want to apply Texas’ litigation cap to the rest of the nation.

For the full article:

http://www.mollyivin