Florida: proposed nursing home bill bad for Seniors

The  nursing home proposal now before the Florida Legislature 'may soon become the state's most epic failure for elderly nursing home residents."

"Here are five facts about the sweetheart deal that's designed to rob residents of their rights" according to an article today by Brian Lee. Guest column: 5 reasons to defeat nursing home bill

nursing home death highlights bigger issues

 "When the heart and lungs of Resident 11 stopped working, no one at the nursing home Dexter Health Care attempted revival with CPR."

State and federal regulations, however, say CPR should have been attempted. The death led to the largest state fine against a nursing home in Maine in 2013.Across the nation, there have been dozens of cases recently documented in which nursing home staff failed to give CPR to those who needed and wanted it.This time it happened in Maine, even though the state statistically performs better than most others.“Its a serious problem,” said Toby Edelman, senior policy attorney with the Center for Medicare Advocacy, a national organization based in Willimantic, Conn.Dexter nursing home death highlights bigger issues | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME:

Nursing Home workers charged with Neglect of Amputee

The New York state attorney general has filed criminal charges against 10 nursing home employees of Blossom North Nursing and Rehabilitation Center after an investigation which relied on a hidden camera in a patient’s room. The victim was a paralyzed double amputee.

The victim’s son brought the matter to the Attorney General.
The charges claim a pattern of "pervasive neglect”, including failing to dispense required medications.

10 charged at nursing home - 13WHAM 13WHAM-TV - Top Stories

Elderly woman found with pillows across the face in nursing home

 "A WOMAN was discovered dead with pillows covering her head and face in a Sidcup nursing home, an inquest heard today. Irene Schoepff, 82, was found on the morning of of March 5, 2012, with one pillow on her face and another on top of her head.
Staff at Sidcup Nursing Home in Hatherley Road told South London Coroners' Court they do not know how the pillows ended up in that position.
PC Arif Cuneyt attended the scene shortly after she was discovered.
He said: "I was suspicious when I saw the position of the pillows."Elderly woman found with pillows across the face in Sidcup nursing home (From News Shopper):

Endangering Maine’s elderly

 "Over the past three years, Maine inspectors have gone to Maine’s 107 nursing homes a total of 380 times, during which they documented 1,462 violations, according to data from ProPublica, a watchdog journalism group that provides a searchable database of nursing home deficiencies."

But most of those problems, recorded in a document called a statement of deficiencies, are minor.Inspectors categorize the deficiencies to give the public some idea of their severity level. The vast majority of violations are not considered to be serious — that is, they don’t show an isolated incidence or a pattern that jeopardizes the immediate health or well-being of residents.There are 12 categories of severity.Just a handful of nursing homes — six in Maine — have been guilty of the three most serious categories, according to the inspectors, a team of state-employed nurses, licensed social workers and health facility specialists trained to inspect long term care homes on behalf of both the state and federal governments.But, in each of those serious cases, the implications have been frightening.

'Endangering Maine’s elderly | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME:

Massachusetts nursing home aide accused of raping elder woman

A nursing home assistant has been accused of raping an elderly patient in a Brockton Nursing Home.

The alleged incident happened at the Champion Rehabilitation and Health Center on Beaumont Avenue.

Family members of the victim reported the incident, which led to the arrest of 50-year-old Jean Belimarie Saturday.

Police say Belimarie was working as a certified nursing assistant at the center at the time. He is facing one count of rape and will be in court at a later date.

On 7-1-11 There was a state inspection noting a possible "deficiency" in "Health" related inspection: "1) Hire only people with no legal history of abusing, neglecting or mistreating residents; or 2) report and investigate any acts or reports of abuse, neglect or mistreatment of residents."

I just obtained a jury Verdict for 2.5 Million Dollars for an 85 year old woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted in a Kindred Nursing Home.

Brockton nursing home assistant accused of raping patient - Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

News On Preventable Deaths In Hospitals

In 1999, Americans learned that 98,000 people were dying every year from preventable medical errors in hospitals. That came from a widely touted analysis by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) called To Err Is Human. This was the “Silent Spring” of the health care world, grabbing headlines for revealing a serious and deadly problem that required policy and action.
According to a new study just out from the prestigious Journal of Patient Safety, four times as many people die from preventable medical errors than we thought, as many as 440,000 a year.
Back in the old days, the IOM experts had very little concrete information to use in estimating the extent of killer errors in hospitals. But with innovations in research techniques led by Dr. David Classe, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and others, we now have more tools to tell us where the bodies are buried.Stunning News On Preventable Deaths In Hospitals - Forbes:

Minnesota nursing home issued citation in death of resident

A St. Cloud nursing home has been cited by state regulators in the case of a resident who became ill, then unresponsive, and died minutes later while staff made no effort at resuscitation.St. Cloud nursing home cited in death of sick resident | Star Tribune

Los Angeles Said to Battle Backlog of Nursing Home Complaints

Los Angeles County health officials, responding Tuesday to allegations that complaints about conditions at area nursing homes were not fully investigated, said thousands of reports were backlogged, but investigations were thorough and up-to-dateCounty Battles Backlog of Nursing Home Complaints - Government - Monrovia, CA Patch

Murder-suicide suspected in Bloomington deaths

The bodies of two people were found Friday morning in a suspected murder-suicide at a Bloomington retirement home.
Police were called to Meadowood Retirement Community at about 11:40 a.m., Bloomington police Sgt. Joe Crider said.
Officers found the bodies of 76-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man in a room, Crider said. Both had been shot to death.
Crider said investigators think the woman was shot and killed by the man, who then took his own life. It was unclear what kind of gun was used in the shootings.
There were no other reported injuries, Crider said.Murder-suicide suspected in Bloomington deaths | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com

Kindred nursing home not inspected by city of Quincy since 2007

The city of Quincy building department "hasn’t inspected the Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation nursing home on McGrath Highway in more than six years. Quincy’s three other nursing homes were all inspected last summer" according to the Patriot Ledger. These inspections relate to the building plant not the Dept. of Public Health annual on site inspections for patient quality of care. Quincy nursing home last inspected by city in 2007 - News - The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA - Quincy, MA

Court affirms judgment in Presque Isle nursing home case

In a 3-2 decision on Thursday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the vote of an Aroostook County jury in a case brought by representatives of the estate of a Fort Fairfield woman against a nursing home that they believe was negligent in caring for the woman prior to her death.

The jury found in favor of the Presque Isle Nursing Home in September 2012, determining that the death of 85-year-old Vera Boulier was not the result of negligence on the part of the health care facility. Superior Court Justice E. Allen Hunter was the presiding judge.

The appeal of the civil case was heard in June 2013 when the Law Court was sitting at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor. The Boulier estate was represented by Portland-based attorney Ken Hovermale. The nursing home was represented by Christopher C. Taintor of Portland.

According to Hovermale, Boulier, 85, was a resident at the facility and had a document charting her medical needs and requirements, called a “care plan.” While in the bathroom at the nursing home, Boulier fell and suffered injuries that eventually led to her death at a Bangor health care facility in January 2009.Supreme Judicial Court affirms judgment in Presque Isle nursing home case — Aroostook — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine

Labor unrest at Genesis nursing home chain in MA

From today's Boston Globe:

"The nation’s largest nursing home chain is drawing fire from Massachusetts caregivers over poverty wages and other issues as labor tensions mount at long term care facilities across the Bay State operated by private equity-owned Genesis HealthCare."

Labor unrest grows at largest nursing home chain in Massachusetts - North Reading - Your Town - Boston.com:

Brian Lee: Nursing Home Advocate

Some "anonymous" critic would apparently attack Nursing Home ombudsman Brian Lee. My question is do they have any proof whatsoever and why do they remain anonymous? It looks to me this was an article attacking him more because he opposes the atrocious nursing home industry backed bill that would insulate nursing home shell corporations from liability when residents are mistreated or abused.

From the article:

"Now his critics insist he's whipping up business for one of the state's busiest nursing home litigators.
They say Brian Lee finds disgruntled patients, then Tampa personal injury attorney Jim Wilkes sues the living bedsheets out of their nursing homes."




My question: Who are "They"?

Disgruntled patients? or abused patients?
Lee call the accusation "ridiculous". He described the source of donations as coming from "unions, families and the Wilkes law firm."

Brian Lee: Good-Guy Nursing Home Watchdog or Shill for a Trial Lawyer? | Sunshine State News

Kindred faces $2 million verdict in nursing home assault case

The Headline Reads: "Kindred faces $2 million verdict in nursing home assault case with no eyewitnesses" -from today's (2-24-14) McKnight's Long Term Care News




According to the Article: "A jury recently slapped Kindred Healthcare with a $2 million verdict in a resident abuse case that turned on testimony from medical experts, attorneys announced Thursday.

The plaintiff, 87-year-old Jeanne Stanford, was residing at a Kindred facility in Massachusetts when she was found with genital bruising and bleeding, according to court documents. Kindred argued she sustained the injuries in a fall, while her lawyers argued that she had been assaulted. ........

There were no eyewitnesses to an assault, so Stanford's legal team relied on hospital records and testimony from medical experts to make its case during the trial in December.

“At the time we learned of the allegations we conducted a thorough investigation and do not believe the assault occurred,” Kindred Vice-President of Communications Susan Moss told McKnight's. “In addition, the incident was investigated by the Department of Public Health and the Police and they did not substantiate that an assault occurred.”




Actually, As lead Trial counsel I can state that the primary testimony regarding the sexual assault came from 2 TREATING DOCTORS, first and foremost. Also the victim (who was NOT Jeanne Stanford as described above) had dementia and had very pronounced short term memory loss. One assessment in the Defendant's own records indicated a memory as short as 5 minutes. The 85 year old victim wasn't interviewed by ANY Doctors, nurses or Police until the NEXT day - a period well beyond her memory capacity. One can assume that one possible reason Police didn't press charges was because the victim was incompetent to testify because of her memory deficits. Two male aides in charge of her care were relieved and never brought back to work there.




Kindred faces $2 million verdict in nursing home assault case with no eyewitnesses - Print Article - McKnight's Long Term Care News