Calif. woman gets prison for nursing home death

A former California nursing home director was sentenced Wednesday to three years in state prison for inappropriately medicating elderly patients at a Kern County nursing home, including one who died, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said.

Gwen D. Hughes, who worked at Kern Valley Healthcare District's facility in Lake Isabella, was originally charged in the deaths of three patients. But she pleaded no contest in October in Kern County Superior Court to one felony count of elder abuse with a special allegation that the abuse contributed to the victim's death.

California Department of Justice officials allege that Hughes, 59, ordered the hospital's director of pharmacy to write doctor's orders for psychotropic medication for 23 patients — not for therapeutic reasons, but to keep them quiet.  Calif. woman gets prison for nursing home death - SFGate

Feds Release Nursing Home Inspections, Free of Censor’s Marks - ProPublica

Feds Release Nursing Home Inspections, Free of Censor’s Marks - ProPublica: In response to a Freedom of Information Act request byProPublica, the government has released unredacted write-upsof problems found during nursing home inspections around the country. ProPublico is making them available for download.

For several months now, ProPublica has made redacted versionsof this same information available in an easily searchable format in our Nursing Home Inspecttool. These versions, which reside on the U.S. Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services website, NursingHome Compare, sometimes blank out nursing home patients’ ages, medical conditions, datesand prescribed medications.

Iowa Nursing Home Accused of Neglect Three Times in Four Months

After a third questionable death, one of Iowa’s most troubled nursing homes faces $15,000 in new state fines.
State inspectors say the Golden Age Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Centerville has repeatedly failed to provide the minimum level of nursing care for its residents.
It’s the third time in seven months that the home has been accused of that violation.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130123/NEWS/301220060/1056/NEWS09/State-fines-nursing-home-after-3rd-resident-s-questionable-death

by Bernard Hamill

See more articles:
Nursing Home Abuse
Rape in Nursing Homes