Articles Posted in Elder Abuse

A nursing home patient with a history of wandering died in the cold, reports the Belleville News Democrat. Last month, the 77-year-old man walked away from the home where he was staying and later died. He had also wandered off two other times in the weeks and months prior to his final disappearance. Our San Diego nursing home abuse attorneys know that wandering can lead to serious injury or even death for people with memory impairment such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

The state health department reported that despite the man’s previous wandering behavior, the senior—who suffered from dementia, kidney failure, and heart disease—was not wearing a patient monitoring device. The care plan established by the nursing facility also failed to address the man’s prior attempts to leave the home. The man’s body was found in a creek one block south of the nursing home. The temperature dropped to below freezing on the night he disappeared. He died of hypothermia, likely several hours after he wandered off.

Approximately an hour after the man was last seen, the police were contacted, and an extensive search was undertaken. The police immediately searched around the facility, conducted a second search at midnight, and then conducted a third search by helicopter in the early morning hours. Despite these efforts, the man’s body was not found until two days later.

Our San Diego nursing home abuse attorneys know that for every senior death in California, a number of them are suspicious deaths which should be investigated, but rarely are. Since these deaths typically are not analyzed appropriately, the death certificates in such cases frequently contain incorrect information. Theses mistakes can act to cover up instances of serious California elder abuse or mistreatment.

For more than a year, reports ProPublica, an investigation has been ongoing into senior deaths across the nation. The results of the investigation are appalling. ProPublica reveals that when it comes to senior deaths, “the system errs by omission.”

For example, Joseph Shepter, a retired U.S. government scientist, resided in a nursing home in Mountain Mesa, California, for the final years of his life. Nothing about Mr. Shepter’s death seemed unusual. A stroke and dementia had left him significantly impaired. When he passed away in 2007 at age 76, the nursing home’s chief medical officer listed his death as natural, which meant there would be no further investigation.

Last summer, our San Diego elder abuse attorney explained that state budget cuts threatened to do away with California’s Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) system. The system was established in the 1970s, partially as a response to stories of nursing home abuse or neglect. According to a report in the San Jose Mercury News, the cuts that many seniors, their caretakers, and elder advocates have feared for months will take effect on December 1, 2011.

The cuts will eliminate funding for day programs for thousands of seniors and the disabled. Some relatives fear that they now will have to institutionalize their loved ones. Others worry that they will have to quit their jobs or reduce their workload in a job market that is not tolerant of the need for flexibility. At the same time, an increase in San Diego elder abuse or neglect could occur as many seniors are institutionalized or transitioned into programs where initially caretakers will not be familiar with individual residents’ needs.

California’s ADHC system was initially designed to be a cost effective way to keep elders healthy while still enabling them to remain in the community. Seniors involved in the program typically attend adult day care centers a few days per week, which allow them to participate in group activities and exercise. Qualified personnel such as nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and social workers are generally present to help address any medical needs.

The threat of budget cuts has already caused 23 adult day care centers to close this year. Three others plan to close by the end of November. At the end of the year, according to the San Jose Mercury News, the state will end $169 million in annual Medi-Cal funding for 35,000 people in 287 adult day health care programs throughout California, that is, unless a pending lawsuit blocks the state’s plan.

Despite the concerns of staff currently working at adult day care programs, state leaders say there are alternatives to institutionalization or to family members bearing the entire burden of caring for their loved ones. State leaders are transitioning elders and disabled individuals into Medi-Cal managed care plans. They also hope to expand programs that help coordinate care and provide in-home services and other support. Norman Williams, spokesman for the California Department of Health Care Services, stated that the department’s “top goal is to make sure recipients are transferred into services that meet their needs and allow them to remain in the community.”

However, Disability Rights California and other groups have sued the state, seeking a preliminary injunction to block the budget cuts. The lawsuit alleges that the plan will deprive people of their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because it fails to do enough to enable them to remain in the community and to avoid institutionalization. The ADA prohibits discrimination based on disability and provides protections for Americans who suffer from a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity.” As seniors are shuffled around in order to accommodate state budget cuts, North County elder abuse lawsuits also may be filed if elders are harmed during the transition.

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A California nursing home in Los Angeles County was fined $75,000 after state investigators concluded that a patient’s feeding tube had been inserted incorrectly. The 78-year-old patient, who suffered from Alzheimer’s and was also recovering from a stroke, died six days later.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the patient, who was admitted into the Whittier facility in 2008, complained of abdominal pain and of having trouble breathing after the tube was inserted. Shortly after the man arrived at the emergency room, doctors discovered that the man’s stomach was inflamed. The man underwent an operation and was put on a ventilator, but could not be saved.

Feeding tubes are usually categorized by their intended use and the site of insertion. One of the most common types is the gastric feeding tube (also know as a gastrostomy tube or g-tube), which delivers food and medication into a patient’s stomach. Feeding tubes are frequently used when a patient cannot eat or drink because he or she cannot swallow. Though usually rare, a variety of complications can occur, including a loosening of the tube, leaking at the insertion site, which can lead to infection, and irritation at the insertion site. Improper insertion of a feeding tube can lead to serious complications, however, and even death.

At a time when reports of elder abuse are on the rise across the nation, our San Diego elder abuse attorney knows it is important to be aware of the various types of abuse and the associated signs and symptoms.

Typically, elder abuse or neglect is often thought to be physical or sexual. For example, at negligent nursing homes some indicators of physical abuse may include unexplained bruises or signs of use of restraints such as rope burns or other suspicious marks. Neglect can include untreated infections, serious bed sores, or a lack of proper supervision.

Elder financial exploitation is also common. According to the San Jose Mercury News, 563 reports of financial abuse of people over 65 were filed in one central California county in 2010 alone.

For nearly half a century California has been a pioneer in the field of adult day health care, creating a system designed to provide health and social services to the elderly and disabled. The Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) system was established in the 1970s, in part as a response to stories of nursing home abuse or neglect like bed sores, infections, falls, inadequate supervision, misuse of medication, malnutrition, and dehydration.

The California ADHC benefit provided a system of community services to medically needy elderly and disabled individuals by qualified health care providers, including nurses, social workers, and physical therapists. According to an article in the Times-Standard, which called the California legislature’s recent elimination of the ADHC model the “unkindest cut,” the California ADHC benefit served approximately 55,000 seniors and people with disabilities annually. The ADHC benefit aimed to keep elderly loved ones out of institutions while also easing the caretaking duties of family members. Thus, for the past forty years, the California ADHC benefit has protected some of our most vulnerable citizens and has helped to prevent California elder abuse.

Our San Diego elder abuse attorney knows that the recent budget cuts may soon render elderly and disabled citizens more vulnerable. In March of this year, California legislators voted to eliminate the ADHC’s network of support. California is now grappling with its difficult decision and its subsequent, and somewhat hastily assembled, plan to transition elderly and disabled patients who are currently receiving care under the ADHC benefit to alternative facilities and placements. What was once the nation’s “gold standard” for elder care is now placing elders and their families at risk. Seniors who were receiving community care may have to be placed in nursing homes, increasing their risk for abuse and straining the finances of their families.

Most instances of California nursing home neglect are indirectly harmful situations –such as when a resident develops problems like pressure sores or experience a deadly fall because staff members failed to provide close care and observation. However, some instances of outright abuse are also reported. These are situations where nursing home employees engage in knowing or intentional actions that harm these vulnerable residents. Our San Diego nursing home abuse attorney knows that these are often the most stomach-turning cases where justice demands both civil and criminal accountability.

One of the more shocking nursing home abuse cases to be brought to light recently involved an apparent “prank” between employees at a long-term care facility with unsuspecting residents used as the props. According to reports, two nursing home workers at the Valley View Skilled Nursing Facility orchestrated a prank where they apparently rubbed down the bodies of several residents with an ointment. The elderly dementia patients were covered from head to foot with the gel so that they would be slippery when handled. The employees wanted to have a laugh with the evening shift of staff members that were arriving. The workers bizarrely assumed that it would be considered funny for the next crew to have difficulty working with the slippery residents.

Fortunately, some of those who learned about the situation did not find it funny and reported the situation to authorities. The full extent of the situation came out during the investigation. The two leaders of the prank were charged with elder abuse while three other employees were cited for failing to report elder abuse after learning about the situation but staying silent. All five employees had their nursing assistant licenses revoked. The Huffington Post reports that last week two of those employees were also sentenced after being found guilty of California elder abuse. They will each spend 20 days in county jail, will be placed on two year probation, and must perform community service.

A California nursing home neglect case can come in many forms. The most common situation involves a senior resident who begins living in a facility and develops health problems caused by substandard care. In many of these cases it is the family members of the victim who notice the problem, have suspicions about negligent care, and then contact a California nursing home abuse attorney to initiate the legal action. However, with a growing array of at-home care arrangements, many lawsuits now stem from poor care provided in different assisted-living contexts.

For example, Outpatient Surgery News reported this weekend on the latest actions in a Southern California negligence case against a nursing home chain that provided at-home assistance to a disabled resident. The victim in the case was only 24 years old when she underwent surgery to implant a spinal cord stimulator to reduce pain cause by a previous ankle injury. Several months later she underwent a second surgery to reposition the device.

Following these procedures she required at-home nursing care to aid in her recovery. As is common in these cases, the young woman hired a nurse employed by a nursing home firm to provide that necessary assistance. The worker was supposed to visit the woman twice a day for the first week after her surgery. Specifically, the nurse was needed to hook up a morphine pump at the designated intervals. Unfortunately, the care worker was unfamiliar with the processes of using the pumping mechanism. She mistakenly activated the device six times within the first four hours of use, causing it to lock out.

A few hours later the victim’s mother called 911 after being unable to rouse her sleeping daughter. Emergency responders arrived and administered a morphine reversal agent after finding her unconscious. The young woman was eventually diagnosed with hypoxic encephalopathy caused by the morphine drip error. She suffered a permanent brain injury likely necessitating around the clock care for the rest of her life.

Following the tragedy the family of the young woman initiated a California nursing home lawsuit on her behalf. They sought to hold the company which employed the nurse liable for the debilitating injuries caused by her negligence. Upon hearing the evidence in the case the jury eventually awarded the victim $9.9 million to cover the necessary medical care for the rest of her life. A California appeals court recently upheld the decision last week.

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