Washington Injury Attorney Blog

A caregiver at the Cascades of Bremerton Retire Community is being investigated for elder abuse after a fellow employee reported her to police after allegedly witnessing the employee abusing elderly dementia patients and treating them "roughly."

The Central Kitsap Reporter reports that the Bremerton City Police started the investigation after a female worker reported witnessing her co-worker covering the mouths and noses of some elderly patients to prevent them from speaking. She also said she witnessed the worker stepping on patients' feet and poking them in the forehead or neck.

The worker is accused of abusing dementia patients between 91 and 94. She is now on paid leave while the allegations are investigated.

The executive director of the Willows Retirement Living Community said that so far the investigations are inconclusive.

Mandatory Reporter Law

The abuse claims have been referred to Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna's office as required by Washington State's Mandatory Reporter Law for the Elderly and Disabled. The law requires law enforcement officers; social workers; employees of social service, welfare, mental health, adult day care, home health, home care or hospice agency; county coroner or medical examiner; people working in the healthcare field including physicians, psychologists, nurses, etc. to act as Mandatory Reporters make a report to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) if they believe that abuse, abandonment, financial exploitation or neglect of a vulnerable adult has occurred. In addition, they are required to also report to local law enforcement agencies if they suspect a sexual or violent assault.

One is not required to have absolute proof to report suspected abuse and reports can be made anonymously.

Continue reading "Bremerton nursing home worker under investigation after allegations of physical abuse of dementia patients" »

A convicted sex offender who was released from a state penitentiary and moved to a nursing home has been returned to an Iowa Correctional Facility and stands trial for allegedly for sexually assaulting an elderly woman in the nursing home.

William Cubbage, a repeat sex offender with charges spanning nearly 60 years, was allowed to enter the Pomeroy Care Center, an elderly care facility, when he was released from the penitentiary after serving nine years there. A state psychologist had said that the state believed that Cubbage had molested a "large number of female children" that he had never been charged with victimizing and recommended against him being released. However, state officials deemed Cubbage as unlikely to sexually re-offend due to his age, which is 83.

Cubbage was re-arrested after an 8-year-old girl visiting someone at the nursing home reported that she had seem him molesting an elderly woman who was reportedly telling him, "no, no no!" The woman had physical injuries to substantiate the abuse charge.

This apparently was not the only incident in which he accosted other residents in the nursing home. He also reportedly chased children in the facility when they were there with a school group visiting residents.

It is very troubling that a convicted sex offender be allowed to enter a nursing home to prey on vulnerable residents and have access to children who might be visiting, especially against the advice of two state psychological examiners. It seems like many systems here have failed to both protect nursing home residents but to protect children as well.

A report in The Register says that there were 27 sex offenders living in care facilities in Iowa alone. one wonders if the State is dumping sex offenders on nursing homes who ill-equipped to monitor them.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent residents of nursing homes who have been subjected to abuse or neglect.

Source: DeMoines Register "Register exclusive: Sex offender back in locked unit" , 11/19/11

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Marie-Therese Connolly, the director of Life Long Justice,a non-profit which works to protect the elderly, describes the sometimes hidden signs of elder abuse. She says bruises in unlikely places such as the bottom of the feet, genitalia, head, neck and inner thigh can often be a sign of elder abuse.

Other signs of elder abuse can include unexplained urinary tract infections, falls and bed sores.

Life long Justice provides some chilling numbers about elder abuse. According to their web-site:

• up to 11% of people ages 60 and over are victims or elder abuse, neglect or exploitation
  
• Nearly 50% of dementia patients that live at home are abused or neglected
  
• Elder abuse is grossly under-reported, LLJ say that for every reported case, 23.5 cases are not reported.
  
• 50-90% of nursing homes do not have adequate staffing which can lead to neglect.

Connolly, who recently was named a MacArthur fellow, is working to educate the medical professionals and the public the signs of elder abuse. She advances the use of forensics and research so that abuse can be detected and responded to. She says:

 "Advancing forensic knowledge is important so social and protective services workers, physicians, emergency room personnel and prosecutors know what to look for and what kinds of questions to ask about injuries."

For more information, see the Life Long Justice web-site.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent the victims of elder abuse and their families.

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Continue reading "Hidden signs of elder abuse" »

Voters in every county in Washington state voted for Initiative 1163 which would more than double the training requirement for long-term healthcare workers from 34 to 75 hours.

The Initiative also requires criminal background checks of workers and also require that they be certified.

The Farber Law Group was in support of this initiative. It is important that people working with some of our most vulnerable citizens, the elderly and disabled, have a high degree of professionalism and training. A Department of Health and Human Services study recently sampled 260 nursing homes and found that, of the 260 nursing homes sampled, that almost all had one more criminal convictions.

Criminal background check of prospective employee will help prevent nursing homes from hiring those that have been previously found guilty of abusing, neglecting or mistreating the residents under their care.

Nursing home patients often are victims of both abuse and exploitation. Nursing home abuse is a serious problem and it can include sexual abuse, bedsores, and neglect.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been victims of nursing home abuse and their families.

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Continue reading "Voters overwhelmingly support increasing training for long-term healthcare workers" »

The Issaquah Reporter says that an Issaquah insurance agent is accused of first-degree theft in bilking elderly victims between the ages of 74 to 90 of money from their Bankers Life annuities. The insurance agent, who will not be named until she is charged, is accused of stealing more than $1 million to fund a lavish life style including clothes, jewelry, a trip and payments to online psychics.

The alleged thefts include:

• $130K taken from a Bellevue man, 80
  
• $25K from a Renton woman, 90
  
• $60K from a Seattle man
  
• $484,500K form a Renton woman, 74.

The agent's scheme included having the victims write checks that they thought were investing in Bankers Life but instead she had the victims write the initial and surnames of her two daughters, deposited the checks and then transferred the money into her own account.

The Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said:

"Vulnerable people trusted this agent with much of their life's saving. And she just pocked the money."

The Insurance Commissioner says that one tipoff that a broker or agent has deceived a consumer for personal gain is if the client does not receive an insurance ID card or a copy of the policy.

Financial abuse is one form of elder abuse. At The Farber Law Group, we represent victims of elder abuse including nursing home neglect.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent nursing home abuse victims and their families.

Source:
Police allege insurance agent stole $1 million from elderly
By CELESTE GRACEY
Issaquah Reporter Staff Writer

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Continue reading "Issaquah insurance agent accused of stealing $1M from senior citizens" »