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" »

The family of William A. Kahle, 47, a mentally impaired resident of the Hillcrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, has filed suit against the facility alleging that the home failed to protect their son and other patients from a resident who was predatory.

In their lawsuit, Kahle's family alleges that William was attacked and burnt by another resident.

When the Department of Public Health investigated the attack on Kahle, they discovered that another 23 residents had been subjected to some form of sexual, mental or physical abuse by another resident at the facility around the same time that Kahle was injured.

The investigation found that one resident, a 26-year-old man with bipolar and ADHD was responsible for the attacks on up to two dozen residents.

In their lawsuit, Kahle's family alleges that the nursing home was both negligent in allowing the abuse to happen and failing to report it.

Owners or employees of adult family homes, nursing homes or boarding homes are considered to be Mandatory Reporters and they are required by law to report to law enforcement knowledge or suspicions that a vulnerable adult is a victim of abuse, neglect, abandonment or financial exploitation. A mandatory reporter who fails to report nursing home abuse or neglect may may be liable under civil law for damages resulting from the abuse or neglect.

According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), only one in 14 actual incidents of elder abuse is reported. Every year between 1 and 2 million Americans over the age of 65 are subjected to some type of elder abuse by a person who they depend on for care.

Symptoms of elder abuse can include falls, fractures, bedsores, medication areas, bruising, and wandering off. While most nursing homes provide a good standard of care, some, due to inadequate staffing, training or background checks may not provide adequate care resulting in jury to the residents.

Continue reading "Nursing home sued after patient assaults " »

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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A West Virginia awarded the family of Dorothy Douglas, who died after serious nursing home neglect, a $91.5M wrongful death settlement.

It is likely that the ruling will be appealed to the West Virginia Supreme court who will decided whether the settlement amount is subject to medical liability caps.

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed by Tom Douglas, the son of Dorothy Day, who died in 2010 of severe dehydration and neglect in a nursing home. The lawsuit claimed that the lack of hydration led to Dorothy Day's death. The suit was filed against Manor Care, Inc. HCR Manor Care Services Inc., Healthcare and Retirement Corporation of America, LLC, and Heartland Employment Services LLC.

According to Tom Douglas, Dorothy was ambulatory and communicative when she entered the nursing home. Within 20 days, her condition had deteriorated and she was comatose, unable to communicate and was not longer able to feed herself.

According to the trial transcripts, Tom tried to transfer his mother out of the nursing facility but the facility could not get the paperwork right.

In making this large award, the jury awarded $11 million for the wrongful death of Dorothy Douglas. The remaining $80 million was a punitive award, to punish the nursing home for their intentional misconduct. The jury was clearly sending a message that the treatment of Douglas was unacceptable and they wanted to punish the nursing home to prevent future abuse and deaths.

The question that will probably be decided by the Supreme Court is whether medical liability caps should apply in this case. This is a contentions issue. In 2003, the West Virginia legislature created a statute which placed medical liability caps on awards. The attorney for Douglas' family says the punitive portion of the award is not subject to a medical malpractice cap.

Nursing home abuse and neglect can take many forms. Dehydration and malnutrition are two serious signs. Other serious signs can include bedsores or decubitus ulcers, aspiration pneumonia and contractures. Washington state has a wrongful death statute which allows the family member of a person who has died due to nursing home neglect or abuse to seek compensation in civil court on behalf of their deceased loved one.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent victims of nursing home abuse and the family of those who have died. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages.

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Every year in the U.S., hospital-acquired infections are factors in the deaths of nearly 100,000 Americans. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately 1.7 million Americans acquire an infection of some sort in the hospital. To put it in persective, 1 in 20 patients in the hospital will pick up an infection. This is a huge problem across the nation as many of the infections are antibiotic resistant.

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times reports on a California-initiative to bring down the number of hospital-acquired infections to save lives and to save money. It is estimated that hospital-acquired infections adds $600 million to California health care costs each year.

Many, if not most, hospital-acquired infections can be prevented because they are transmitted when doctors, nurses and other hospital staff do not practice correct hygiene and transmit disease from patient-to-patient. Common hospital infections include ventilator-associated pneumonia; staphylococcus aureus; tuberculosis; urinary tract infection; hospital-acquired pneumonia; Methicillin-resisten Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) are some of the most common infections.

Fighting infection can sometimes be pretty low tech such as frequent hand washing. Medical personnel should wash their hands between patient contacts and after contacts with items contaminated with blood, bodily fluids or equipment. Though hand washing may seem simple, it must be done correctly.

Requiring hospital personnel to be to be vaccinated for common diseases such as hepatitis B, influenza and chicken pox is another fairly straight-forward solution.

Another low-tech infection prevention device is the tooth brush. Making sure that ill patients get their teeth brushed can go a along way to preventing pneumonia as bacteria can build up in a patient's mouth. The Times article said that with a routine of teeth brushing and hydrogen peroxide swabbing of ventilator patient's mouths, the rate of ventilator infections went down from 18 to 0 in a one-year period in one hospital.

Sterilization also plays a key role in infection prevention. Equipment and items that patients and medical staff come into contact with can prevent transmission. Sterilization can be done with chemicals, dry heat, steam under pressure or radiation.

One preventative measure that many patients can take is check the infection rate of the hospital where an elective surgery will take place. The Washington State Department of Health provides a website with information about the state's Healthcare Associated Infections Program. This information provides patients with data to make healthcare decisions.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We are a personal injury law firm with offices in Seattle and Bellevue and we represent victims of medical malpractice and their family.

Source: Hospital-related infections drop under California initiative, Los Angeles Times, August 23, 2011

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We came across an article today from New Zealand today that had figures from their state Accident Compensation Corporation that found that 7,600 people are injured every year due to falling out of bed. While the majority of people who fall out of beds are small children and the elderly, 23% of those injured were people between the ages of 25 and 64.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that every year over 400,000 are injured so seriously that they require hospital admission. For the frail elderly, a bed fall can result in a broken hip or a head trauma which can be very a serious injury and can even result in death.

Falls are a particular problem in nursing homes where as many as 3 out of 4 residents fall every year and often residents suffer an average of a couple of falls per year.

Nursing home falls can be caused by muscle weakness and problems with gait (24%); environmental hazards including wet floors, poor lighting, incorrect bed height (16-27%),; medications that affect the nervous system, and other problems such as when moving a patient from bed to chair, poorly fitting shoes and improper use of canes and walkers.

Most nursing homes have fall prevention plans including:

• assessing patients for their fall risk
• educating staff
• implementing exercise programs which can increase a patient's strength, balance and ability to walk and function
• reviewing medications and minimizing use where appropriate
• improving the nursing home environment by making sure there is adequate lighting, raised toilet seats, handrails in hallways, etc
• installing fall alarms which can alert staff when an at-risk patient is trying to get out of bed without help

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

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Continue reading "Bed falls a serious problem for nursing home residents" »

The U.S. Government & Accountability Office just released a study that looked at differences between for-profit and non-profit nursing homes. What they found was that for-profit nursing home were more likely to have serious deficiencies which posed actual harm or immediate jeopardy to residents than non-profit nursing homes, resulting in nursing home neglect.

The GAO study examined how nursing homes that were acquired by private investment forms differed from other nursing homes in three areas:

1. deficiencies cited on state surveys
   
2. nurse staffing levels
   financial performance

The study found that nursing homes acquired by private investors effected cost-cutting measures which reflected on the quality of nursing care and the ratio of skilled nursing care to residents were cut after the nursing home acquisition. The resulting effect is that vulnerable adults received less care, often to their detriment.

One area in which PI firms seemed to spend money was on the capital expenses which increased the attractiveness of the home to attract higher paying residents. However, these types of changes did not relate to the bottom line care to the residents.

It is no surprise that for-profit nursing homes owned by PI works to maximize profit to provide a returns for investors and owners. At for-profit homes, they work hard to minimize costs which often relates to trimming staff.

At The Farber Law Group, we have found in our 30 year career of representing victims of nursing home neglect that often the for-profit nature of a nursing home often results in less care for the patient. When we see cases of severe bedsores, falls resulting in hip fractures or even physical or sexual abuse, we often find the cause is that there was not enough trained supervision of patients.

If you have a loved one who was seriously injured or died due to nursing home staff negligence or abuse, contact The Farber Law Group, a Bellevue law firm specializing in nursing home abuse and neglect cases.

Source: Nursing Homes: Private Investment Homes Sometimes Differed from Others in Deficiencies, Staffing, and Financial Performance; U.S. Government Accountability Office; July 15, 2001

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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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The Department of Health and Human Services issued the results of a study that found, in a random sampling of 260 nursing homes, almost all the nursing home had one more employees with at least one criminal conviction.

Using FBI criminal history records, the DHHS found that nearly half of the nursing facilities employed five or more people with at least one conviction.

The study found that the 44% of those with convictions had been found guilty of property crimes including burglary, shoplifting and bad check writing. Investigators also found that seven registered sex offenders were employed in five different nursing homes.

Most states require nursing home facilities to perform either an FBI or state-wide criminal background check on prospective employees even though there is no Federal requirement to do so. However, nursing homes that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding are prohibited from hiring employees found guilty of "abusing, neglecting, or mistreating residents." This policy seems like closing the barn door after the cow has already gotten out.

The DHHS recommends that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) work with the states to develop background check procedures and ensure that States conduct background checks consistently.

It is clear there needs to be a policy which disqualifies people who have been convicted of certain crimes from working with patients at nursing homes.

Nursing home residents often fall prey to all sorts of abuse and exploitation. Nursing home abuse is a serious problem across the nation and it takes many forms from financial exploitation to sexual abuse, bedsores, prescription abuse and neglect.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured due to nursing home abuse and neglect and the family of those who have died as a result of this abuse.

Source:
NURSING FACILITIES' EMPLOYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS
Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Inspector General
March 2011

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We ran across an article on NPR.org -- Autopsy Cutbacks Reveal 'Gray Homicides' -- by Sandra Bartlett that was particularly disturbing. Bartlett writes that because many medical examiner and coroner offices are not properly staffed and have suffered budget cuts they are no longer performing autopsies on people over the age of 60.

Bartlett says that health care providers and law enforcement tend to assume that people over the age of 60 die of natural causes unless there are dramatic signs of trauma or abuse. She says that investigators are concerned that there is an epidemic of "gray homicides" -- murder of our elderly that goes unreported and undetected.

Bartlett's fine article described a couple of suspicious deaths that occurred at nursing homes. When one 80-year-old patient died, he was buried without an autopsy. Later, his widow got an anonymous phone call from someone at his nursing home that informed her that her husband's death was as a result of "horrific abuse" at the hands of a nursing home employee. The patient's body was exhumed and the autopsy showed that he had multiple fractures including to the sternum, larynx, ribs and toes.

The Robin Allen of the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office said that there are many deaths of elderly people under "suspicious circumstances." Allen said that just proving murder or neglect can be more challenging in senior citizens because of underlying health problems but that doesn't mean their deaths should not be investigated.

Nursing home abuse and neglect can take many forms including physical and emotional abuse, malnutrition and chemical restraint. In Washington State, a vulnerable adult is defined as a person who is 60 years of age or older had livings in a nursing home or long-term facility or does not have the mental, physical or functional ability to care of themselves. State law designates Mandatory Reporters as professionals who are required by law to report if they believe a vulnerable adult is a victim of abuse, abandonment, neglect or financial exploitation. Failure to do so may result in criminal charges.

If one of your loved ones has been seriously injured or died as a result of nursing home staff negligence or abuse, contact The Farber Law Group, a law firm that specializes in nursing home abuse and neglect.

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Jolene Larsen, 38, a licensed practical nurse at Merry Haven Care Center in Snohomish, Washington for 14 years has pleaded guilty to a single count of product tampering in the theft of morphine medications. In her plea, Larsen admitted to acting "with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of bodily injury" and held "extreme indifference" to the pain potentially caused by her actions.

The Seattle PI.com reports that Larsen admitted to substituting tap water with morphine. The diluted medication then was administered to at least one patient in the care center.

As part of her guilty plea, Larsen admitted that she stole morphine between November 2009 through May.

Larsen is free on bond until sentencing. She faces up to 10 years in prison.

Theft of narcotics in nursing homes by employees is a common problem. Medical professional are addicted to drugs at about a 2 percent higher rate than the general population. Thefts can happen when a nursing home does not count narcotics after every shift or when nurses are negligent in dispensing medications.

Theft of medications intended for patients can endanger the patient's treatment and quality of life.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured by medical malpractice and nursing home abuse and neglect. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages.

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One of six employees who were indicted for physical and sexual abuse of nursing home residents at the Albert Lea nursing home was sentenced to 180 days in jail on Friday.

Brianna Broitzman, who was a teenager when the abuse occurred, was tried as an adult. Broitzman pleaded guilty to three gross misdemeanors and used the Alford Plea, claiming she was innocent but acknowledged that there was enough evidence to obtain a conviction.

Broitzman will also be required to stay away from vulnerable adults, serve two years of probation and perform community service as well as undergo a psychological examination and write letters of apology to the families of three victims.

The Albert Lea nursing home sexual abuse case has made national attention because of the callousness the abusers, who were all young women, showed to their victims.

The victim's family members gave victim impact statements to the court and described how their family members were tortured and tormented by their caregivers. Some of the victims suffered personality changes because of the abuse.

A civil suit has been filed by some of the victims and their families against the operator of the nursing home and four of the Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) at the residential center. The nursing home abuse lawsuit claims that some of the aides had knowledge of the abuse going on at the nursing home and failed to report it though they were Mandatory Reporters.

The civil lawsuit claims that the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society that operated Albert Lea has direct liability for negligent management, supervision and failed to provide reasonable care for the protection and well-being of the residents.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent the victims of nursing home abuse and the family of those who have died.

Source:
Albert Lea Tribune.com
Broitzman gets 180 days
Published October 22, 2010
http://www.albertleatribune.com/2010/10/22/broitzman-sentenced-to-60-days-in-jail/

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The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 1,800 people living in nursing homes die due to fall-related injuries every year. On average, a nursing home with 100 beds reports 100 to 200 falls each and every year. The CDC believes that many falls go unreported.

Falls can cause serious injuries. In fact, 2 to 6% of falls result in a fracture.

Causes of nursing home falls:

• Muscle weakness - 24%
  
• Environmental hazards such as wet floors, poor lighting, improper bed height and improperly fitted or maintained wheel chairs - 16-27%
  
• Medications - sedatives or anxiety drugs can increase fall risk
  
• Moving from bed to chair
  
• Poor foot care
  
• Improper shoe fit
  
• Incorrect use of walking aids

Nursing homes have a responsibility to care for the elderly patients under their care. Fall prevention interventions include assessing patients and their risk factors; staff education; implementing bed alarms in the rooms of at-risk patients; providing hip pads to at-risk patients; insuring a proper physical environment for patients including properly fitted grab bars, handrails, toilet height and proper lighting.

In the past, nursing home routinely restrained patients. However, studies found that restraining patients lead to reduced physical functions and muscle weakness. Since Federal Regulation prohibited the routine use of restraints, fall-related injuries actually reduced.

Some successful nursing home negligence cases have included a case where employees turned off a bed alarm, a case where a patient was dropped when being transferred from bed-to-chair and a case where there were hazards in the hallway.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney Blog a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured due to nursing home abuse and neglect. Signs of nursing home neglect can include falls, bedsores and abuse.

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Manh Van Nguyen, 94, of Laguna Woods was killed when his 81-year-old roommate, William McDougall, beat him to death in the nursing home where they both lived.

According to The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured and the families of those killed due to the negligence of another.

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Continue reading "94-year-old man killed by 81-year-old roommate in nursing home attack" »

Shawna Hardesty, 37, of Buffalo City, Wis. Is charged with felony intentional abuse of a nursing home patient. According to a report in the Winona Daily News, Hardesty punched a 93-year-old patient several times in the head leaving the patient with a large bruise.

Hardesty allegedly punched the woman numerous times . According to the woman, "Every time she comes in this room, I get a biff."

Hardesty was a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at St. Michael's Lutheran Home in Fountain City. She apparently was suspended after the elder abuse was reported and later fired.

The Lutheran Home administrator, Dean Dixon, said that the CNA job is stressful and every couple of years, there are reports of patient abuse in the home. Said Dixon:

"There will be times when things happen," Dixon said. "We all wish it wouldn't happen at all, but in the real world it does happen."

CNA's are people who are trained to assist patients with activities of daily living and providing bedside care under the supervision of a Licensed Practical Nurse or a Registered Nurse.

Nursing home abuse or neglect hurts some of the most vulnerable adults in our society. Abuse can result in serious injuries and sometimes death. Symptoms of nursing home abuse or neglect can include broken bones, unexplained bruises, dehydration, bedsores, medication errors, infections, sexual abuse and physical abuse.

Employees of nursing homes, nurses, doctors and others are considered Mandatory Reporters and they are legally obligated to report any signs of abuse or neglect.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or a loved one has died due to nursing home abuse or negligence, contact The Farber Law Group, a law firm that specializes in nursing home abuse and neglect. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages.

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In 2010 The Seattle Times won a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting with their article, The slaying of four Lakewood police officers. In another display of excellent reportage, The Times has an ongoing investigation into Adult Family Homes (AFH) which conceal the abuse and neglect of some of our most vulnerable citizens, the elderly and infirm.

The series entitled "Seniors for Sale" is in 5 parts:

1. The Owners - describes the home-care industry and how it exploits the elderly.
   
2. The Homes - describes how an AFH can stay in business even though there has been a death and evidence of a pattern of neglect of elderly residents.
   
3. The Exodus - describes how the State of Washington saves money placing the ill elderly in AFH instead of skilled nursing facilities where they can receive proper medical care.
   
4. The Deaths - details cases of suspicious deaths where the deaths were not even investigated despite signs of abuse or neglect.
   
5. The Hidden Victims - describes how AFHs hide neglect and how some health-care professionals, despite being Mandatory Reporters, fail to report the problem.

The Times has done a fantastic job in their series and they provide resources such as:

• How to report abuse
  
• Who to report abuse to
  
• How to choose an Adult Family Home
  
• How to check up on an Adult Family Home
  

If you suspect a loved one has been injured due to nursing home abuse or neglect, you should contact a personal injury attorney who specializes in these types of cases. At The Farber Law Group, we have more than 30 years experience representing nursing home abuse and neglect cases including those having to do with bedsores, broken bones and fractures among others. With our help, you may recover compensation for damages and, more importantly, can shed light on nursing homes and adult family homes that behave irresponsibly and criminally.

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Sherree Denise James, 43, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) has been arrested for investigation of abusing an elderly resident at the Grace Center Nursing Home where she worked.

The Lufkin Daily News of Lufkin, Texas, reports that James hit and pulled an 83-year-old woman's hair as she gave her a shower. Two witnesses said they heard the elderly patient crying and pleading with James to quit hitting her. When the witnesses went into the shower room, they saw James pulling the woman's hair and twisting her ear.

The administration of Grace Center did the right thing, they immediately notified the local police department and filed a report with the state. The nursing home administrator, Pam Humphrey, said:

“We followed all of our policies and procedures. (James) was let go after the incident happened, and she has not been back in this building since. It’s our duty to protect our residents.”

Often times, nursing home employees do not the right thing and alert police when there is a case of suspected abuse. Legally, however, employees or owners of nursing homes, boarding homes or adult family homes are considered Mandatory Reporters and are required by law to report any time they suspect abuse, abandonment, neglect or financial exploitation.

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seriously injured by Seattle nursing home abuse or neglect and the family of those killed. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages.

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Continue reading "CNA stands fired and accused of abusing nursing home resident" »

A Massachusetts jury awarded Marlene Owens $400K in a case of nursing home negligence. Owen's filed her negligence lawsuit after her stepfather, John J. Donahue, was seriously injured in 2005 as he was being transferred from his bed at the Embassy House nursing home. His eye was gouged by a metal safety hook on the lift that was used to transfer him from his bed and he developed sepsis and died after having his eye removed.

Owens said of the award, "I feel like I got some closure and some justice of him [her stepfather]."

The Plymouth Superior Court jury found that Embassy House nursing home was negligent in their care of Donahue which contributed to his death. The lift used to move Donahue required two personnel to operate, but in the case of Donahue's accident, only one person was operating it.

One notable aspect of this case was that Donahue had signed an arbitration agreement with Kindred which said that he or his estate would not sue if he was killed or injured at the nursing home. A judge invalidated that agreement citing the fact that Donahue was 91 and suffering from delusions when he signed the agreement.

Source:
The Boston Herald
Stepdaughter wins $400G over nursing home abuse
Posted: August 15, 2010

This information is provided by Washington Injury Attorney blog, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been the victims of nursing home abuse or negligence which resulted in serious injury and the families with their wrongful death claims when their loved has died. With our help, you may recover compensation for your damages.

Contact The Farber Law Group at 1-800-244-9087 or attorney@hgfarber.com to schedule a free and confidential case evaluation. We have offices in Seattle and Bellevue to assist you.

See our Nursing Home Resources.