DO YOU SUSPECT ABUSE OR NEGLECT? Contact Us for a Free Consultation

by

In an ongoing investigation, journalists Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein of ProPublica have a startling article out that says that more than 3,500 registered nurses with “clean” nursing licenses from the State of California have been punished for misconduct in other states. According to the article, approximately 2,000 of these nurses will now face discipline in California.

The article states that California officials won’t disclose the names of nurses who were discovered to have disciplinary records until charges are filed, but will be filing emergency petitions with the board for nurses who are viewed as a threat to public safety.

Weber and Ornstein easily uncovered cases involving current California nurses. Here’s a sampling:

Continue reading

by

822347_wheelchair.jpg

Disability Rights California, a non-profit that advocates for the rights of the disabled, recently released a report finding that the physical abuse of disabled adults in nursing homes are frequently not treated as crimes. The study analyzed 12 cases, including the following

• For months, a middle aged nursing home resident suffering from cerebral palsy with cognitive impairment was paraded naked and soaking wet in front of others after being forced by staff to take cold showers. Despite many witnesses, nothing was done.

• A disabled resident in his 40s was punched in the mouth by a staff member and then slapped, drawing blood. When he complained, it took days for the facility to report it to authorities. No charges were brought.

Continue reading

by

Closing arguments began in what is now one of the longest trials in Humboldt County history involving allegations of neglect at 21 nursing homes owned by Skilled Healthcare. Michael Thamer, a lawyer dedicated to defending the rights of nursing home residents, will argue that Skilled Healthcare, because of deliberate decisions to keep nursing home staff at the lowest possible numbers, repeatedly exposed its residents to substandard care, including the failure to regularly bathe its patients, allowing residents to lie in soiled bed sheets for hours, and failing to treat bed sores.

”In my opinion, they (staff members) are set up to fail before they even start,” Thamer told the court.

Under California law, nursing must provide at least 3.2 hours of nursing care per resident, per day. These hourly requirements apply to direct patient care, and must be performed by registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses and certified nursing assistants. According to the plaintiff, Skilled Healthcare totally failed in this regard, and regularly understaffed its facilities for financial gain.

Continue reading

by

A nursing home caregiver is being charged with second degree murder after the death of an Alzheimer’s patient in a North Carolina nursing home. Authorities believe that caregiver Angela Almore deliberately administered large quantities of morphine to 84-year-old patient Rachel Holliday in order to make her “more manageable.” It is believed that other residents were also given the drug for this purpose, and cite six other Alzheimer’s patients who required hospitalization while under the care of Almore.

The arrest and indictment of Almore stems from an investigation by Medicaid Investigations, who launched an investigation after nine of 25 patients in the nursing home’s Alzheimer’s wing at the nursing home tested positive for opiates. Sadly the use of opiates and other psychotropic drugs to control patient behavior is an ongoing problem at nursing homes across the country. Here at Walton Law Firm we have had several cases involving the improper use of medications, which exposes nursing home residents to untold number of dangers, including overdose, falls, or simply a loss of dignity.

Almore’s next court date is set for July 13.

Continue reading

by

This is an amazing story. A nursing home video camera catches a nursing caregiver deliberately dump an 85-year-old resident out of her wheelchair and onto the floor, and then simply walk away. In the horrific video, Nurse Jesse Joiner walks over the wheelchair, and abruptly jerks it to the left, causing the frail woman to fall hard on the floor. Incredibly, Joiner simply walks away as the woman is writhing on the floor. As if that weren’t stunning enough, minutes later another caregiver notices the woman on the floor, and does nothing for more than a minute. According to the new story, the victim fractured her hip in the fall. Her current condition is unknown.

As a firm that has handled numerous fall-fracture cases in the nursing home, including several that were supposedly “accidental falls” from a wheelchair, it is stunning to see this. You can bet that the nursing notes say that the resident fell on her own, and that she had some propensity to try to get out of her wheelchair. What’s also interesting is that the nursing home looks like a pretty nice place in the video, and according to the story has a clean record with state authorities.

As we always say, any unexpected injury, illness, or death should be examined. Also, you can never the judge the quality of a home by how it looks on the outside or inside. How many times have other residents at this home been injured or killed by incidents that were noted to be simple accidents.

Continue reading

by

A beleaguered nursing home operated by the Motion Picture and Television Fund was fined by the California Department of Public Health for failing to prevent a serious injury to an 87-year-old resident. The resident was injured in May of last year when, while transferring the resident with a mechanized lift, the resident slid out of the lift and fell to the floor, causing a wound so large that it revealed her cranium.

After its investigation, the DPH concluded that the nursing home failed to follow a plan of care that was designed to prevent the resident, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, from falling. The home was issued an “A” citation and a fine of $7,500.

The citation comes at a time when the nursing home operators, a charity, have decided to close down the home. Currently the home has only 54 remaining long term care residents, which remains open only after protests from current residents and their families.

Continue reading

by

A Los Angeles area nursing home received the state’s most severe penalty (short of losing its license) yesterday when it received a $100,000 fine for neglectful care that resulted in the death of a resident. The nursing facility also received an AA citation.

The case involved the misplacement of a feeding tube, which is a type of case the Walton Law Firm has handled on several prior occasions. According to reports, the 84-year-old resident was admitted to the nursing home in early 2008 to rehabilitate a hip fracture. He was noted as having no problems chewing or swallowing. Because of a weight loss, his physician ordered nasogastric tube feedings.

When staff at the nursing home inserted the tube through the man’s nose, it placed it in the man’s lung, not his stomach. When feedings began, the lungs filled with feeding material, and the man became sickened immediately. Three days later he was dead from aspiration pneumonia.

Continue reading

by

A Sacramento jury slammed an area nursing home with a $28 million verdict last week after it found the home liable for elder abuse and neglect. Before deliberations, attorney Ed Dudensing told the jury to, “make them feel it.” It did. The nursing home, as expected, will appeal.

What is believed to be the largest verdict of its kind, the jury hoped to send a message that if you’re going to run a nursing home, you better do it in a way that doesn’t jeopardize the health and welfare of its residents.

The jury came back with the huge punitive damages award the day after it found that the corporation Horizon West Healthcare and its nursing homes Colonial Healthcare committed elder abuse upon 79-year-old Frances Tanner. Tanner, a government worker who at one time worked for the FBI and Internal Revenue Service, was admitted into Colonial in March of 2005. After suffering a fall that went undiagnosed for days, she died seven months later for an infected bed sore.

Continue reading

by

An elderly man with Alzheimer’s disease died as a result of a nursing home’s negligent care according to a report released by the California Department of Public Health. According to the investigation findings, the nursing home resident also was noted to have dysphasia, or difficulty swallowing. While being fed by a certified nursing assistant, the man began to cough and gasp for air. Though in obvious distress, no telephone call to emergency response was made for 20 minutes (something caregivers lied about to DPH). When paramedics arrived approximately 10 minutes later, the man was already dead.

The DPH issued a AA citation and an $80,000 fine for its failures.

The nursing home, Homewood Care Center in San Jose, was owned by Jack Easterday. Mr. Easterday was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in 2007 for his willful failure to pay employment taxes. He was the owner of a company called Westline Medical Management, which owned Homewood Care Center and several other nursing homes in California.

Continue reading

by

SmartMoney.com has an article out entitled 10 Things Nursing Homes Won’t Tell You. Which has been adapted from the book “1,001 Things They Won’t Tell You: An Insider’s Guide to Spending, Saving, and Living Wisely,” by Jonathan Dahl.

Walton Law Firm thought you might like to see the list:

1. “We’re careless about the drugs we give out.”

Continue reading
Justia Lawyer Rating
Super Lawyers
BBB Rating A+
Avvo Rating 10.0
Elder Justice Advocates
Consumer Attorneys California
AV Preeminent badge
Contact Information
North County Office
950 Boardwalk
#304
San Marcos, CA 92078
Toll Free: 866.607.1325 Local: 760.571.5500 Fax: 760.571.5501
San Diego Office
2169 1st Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
Toll Free: 866.607.1325

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2025, Walton Law Firm
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design