The nursing home worker didn’t know the camera was rolling as she jerked the wheelchair out from under her elderly patient, causing the woman to break her hip in the fall.

According to a special report by CBS 2HD, the incident happened at the William Benenson Rehabilitation Pavilion in Queens, New York. The accused nurse, Jessie Joiner, appeared in court this week to defend herself against what appear to be black-and-white allegations–not only does the video evidence clearly show the patient being dumped on the ground, nurse Joiner ignores the woman, who was writhing in pain, for three minutes until another employee arrives on the scene.

To learn more about this frightening story of alleged abuse, check out the WCBStv site: NYC Nursing Home Horror story. You can even watch the video there (top right part of the screen, to the right of the story column).

This story and video makes us feel a bit sick. HensonFuerst nursing home abuse lawyers take pride in helping to protect vulnerable elderly people. We have fought to make nursing home facilities take responsibility for abuses by their staff, and we take every report of abuse or neglect seriously. We hope that justice prevails in this NYC case, and that other workers realize that bad deeds will eventually get brought to court… and that they never know when a camera is watching!

From the Raleigh News & Observer:

Florence Soltys, a pioneer of the aging movement in North Carolina and the nation, will be remembered Thursday by the renaming of an Orange County adult day health center in her honor.

Soltys died in September 2007 after many years of a multitiered career that included social work, nursing, hospice care and occupational and physical therapy. From 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, the Orange County Department on Aging will hold a reception to mark the name change at the day health center, at 515 Meadowland Drive.

In addition, a scholarship fund is being set up that will meet Soltys’ wish “that everyone, regardless of ability to pay, will be able to attend our program if they need adult day health to stay at home,” said Jack Chestnut, president of SeniorCare of Orange County, operator of the center.

Every now and then, a story comes our way that makes us wish we could give out awards. Today, in the category of “It’s a Step in the Right Direction,” the winner is: Milwaukee, Minnesota for giving jail time to Karen Mason. This criminal was CEO, administrator, and part owner of Havenwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Milwaukee, which closed in 2005 after a raid by state and federal regulators. According to Milwaukee Magazine’s NewsBuzz, the regulators discovered that nursing home residents were denied baths and clean sheets, and one resident jumped to his death after staff failed to report his threats of suicide.

Mason pleaded guilty to felony charges of abuse and theft (she was accused of taking more than $1 million that was supposed to be used for patient care), and was sentenced to 15 months in jail. This week, she was sentenced to two years in federal prison for tax evasion.

As a firm that fights daily to see that nursing home residents are treated with care and respect, HensonFuerst is relieved to see justice served. We are certain that this former CEO is not the only nursing home owner to take these types of harmful liberties, and we look forward to the day when the elderly are no longer seen as easy targets for abuse. To read more about nursing home abuse, visit our Nursing Home Abuse web page.

In 2004, 74-year-old nursing home resident Julia McCauley, who had dementia, was left unattended and without an alert device on her wrist. According to an article in the Boston Globe, Ms. McCauley “apparently wheeled herself through the double doors and fell down eight steps.” Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley attempted to prosecute the nursing home–Life Care Centers of America–as criminally liable for the actions of all the employees who allegedly failed to properly care for the resident.

The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled that the corporation couldn’t be held criminally liable because “A corporation may be criminally liable for the crimes alleged here only where at least one of its employees could be found individually liable for the crime,’’ Justice Judith Cowin wrote for the court.

As a company that stands firmly on the side of nursing home residents, HensonFuerst is saddened to hear this decision. On the surface, at least, it sounds as if corporations can ignore safety and get away with it. On the other hand, we are heartened to know that Attorney General Coakley isn’t giving up:

“…we respect but are disappointed by this decision. In this case, we allege the nursing home failed to live up to its obligations to properly care for its residents which resulted in the tragic death of the 74-year-old victim. We are continuing to review this decision to determine its impact and will evaluate our next steps in prosecuting this case.’’

Godspeed!

A nursing home in Williamstown, Massachusetts has set up a notebook computer with a Web camera and set up a Skype account to allow its residents to see and talk with family members and friends around the world. The free Internet video program is being tested with a few residents now, but managers are hoping to set up a schedule so that all residents can use it to feel closer to family… even if they live halfway around the world. The computer will also be connected to a large-screen TV so that visually impaired residents will be able to see their loved ones more clearly.

As activity director Janice Paquette told the reporter for the Bennington Banner, “It’s exciting but a little mind boggling.”

In addition to regular Internet video family visits, Skype could also make it easier for nursing home staff to communicate with family members about health updates or treatment plans.

What a fantastic idea! There is no reason that more nursing homes can’t make this technology available to their residents. It is a bold and wonderful move, and we commend the Williamstown Commons nursing home for taking this step. Skype is not just for teenagers anymore.

To read the full article, click here: Bennington Banner.

At HensonFuerst, we fight for the rights of nursing home residents and their families everyday. We applaud this step in helping these residents feel like part of the world again.

Dr. Kathryn L. Locatell is a geriatrician who has extensive experience with nursing homes, personally and professionally.  Her first job as a teenager was in the kitchen of a nursing home, and her father died as the result of neglect in a nursing home.

Dr. Locatell was asked to testify before Congress about the state of nursing home care today. Although her experience is in California, her observations are equally true in North Carolina. If anything, the problems in North Carolina may be worse because our state has lower minimum staffing requirements.

Some excerpts:

“Last fall I visited a terminally ill patient who had been placed in a nursing facility when her family could no longer provide the care she needed at home. She was a Vietnamese immigrant who spoke no English,who was dying, and who had no way to communicate her needs to the staff. At 10:30 in the morning I was astounded to find her in bed, tightly restrained with a Posey vest on and wrist restraints in place. The smell of urine in the room was overpowering…. There was no order for such restraints on her chart.”

“One gentleman who was discharged to a skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation following knee replacement surgery spent 100 days receiving care for Stage IV decubitus ulcers he developed while a patient at the facility.”

“…I would like to touch on the issue of falsification of records in the nursing home. This problem is so serious that an entire hearing should be devoted to it alone. False charting occurs on a daily basis in every nursing home I have visited. It is particularly common in nurse’s aide charting. Because so much of the nursing home’s reimbursement and permit to operate depend on charting, no spot can be left blank. It is preferable to fill in anything, rather than imply the care was not provided or the condition not observed. There are a number of indications that the charting is false.”

You can read the full transcript of her testimony here:  hr22kl[1].

None of this information is new to the attorneys of HensonFuerst. We’ve heard similar stories and we’ve seen, first-hand, many of the same things in local nursing homes. We work daily to improve the quality of care for nursing home residents.

There are so many reforms needed–financial transparency of operating companies; greater consequences for noncompliance with health and safety requirements, and compassion. How would nursing home owners and workers react if they were forced to spend a week in their own facilities? Or if their parents or grandparents needed nursing home care? How would it feel to walk a mile in those shoes?

The Health Care Reform Act provides some much needed relief for victims of nursing home neglect and abuse.

In recent years, many nursing home chain operators have avoided responsibility for injuries and death caused by their neglect. They have done so by setting up multiple dummy corporations and other legal entities to  siphon cash away from the holder of the nursing home license and make sure it has no assets a judgment creditor could collect. The licensee is typically an assetless entity, with  no employees and no liability insurance… and the real estate and earnings are owned by other entities controlled by the same folks who control the licensed home.

After Congress got wind of this practice, the Nursing Home Transparency Act was passed as part of the Health Care Reform Act.   Once the act’s provisions take effect, nursing homes will have to disclose everyone who has their hands in the till or owns or controls  the home or related entities.

To read the bill click here:  Nursing Home Transparency Act

The lawyers of HensonFuerst are dedicated to fighting nursing home abuse and neglect. We are happy that nursing home residents and their families may soon be assured that they will have access to all financial information of the facility… not just the “poor us, we’re broke” information that disreputable facilities have been able to get away with.

If you suspect that someone you love has been the victim of nursing home abuse and want to learn about your legal options, please call the compassionate lawyers of HensonFuerst. We’re here to help.

Infusion pumps are used in hospitals and nursing homes to deliver nutrients or medications to people in hospitals or nursing homes. One brand, the Colleague infusion pumps made by Baxter International, has been recalled after the company failed to fix problems with battery failures and software errors.

According to an article in the New York Times, the defective pumps have been linked to more than 56,000 complaints of injuries, deaths, and malfunctions.

Although the Colleague pumps haven’t been sold since 2005, the FDA reports that there may be as many as 200,000 pumps still in use. Now, Baxter is ordered to recall and destroy all remaining Colleague Volumetric infusion pumps.

This is a positive step for patients, but we can’t help but wonder how many additional people have been harmed while Baxter delayed taking appropriate action. The FDA has also begun an initiative to improve the safety and effectiveness of all infusion pumps. To read more about these developments, see the Q&A guide written by the FDA: Infusion Pump Recall Q&A.

If you know someone who has been injured by an infusion pump and want to discuss your legal options, feel free to call the lawyers of HensonFuerst at 1-800-4-LAW-MED. If you have questions, HensonFuerst has answers.

An article on the WRAL webite today reports that an excessive amount of morphine contributed to the death of a patient in the Alzheimer’s unit of Britthaven of Chapel Hill nursing home.

In February, patients were drug tested when managers expressed concern about the way the patients were acting. Of 25 Alzheimer’s patients, nine tested positive for opiates. (Morphine is a type of opiate.)  Three of the patients were removed from the nursing home and hospitalized, and one of those patients–Rachel Holliday–died on February 16, 2010. On autopsy, the medical examiner found extremely high doses of morphine in Ms. Holliday’s system, even though she was not scheduled to receive that medication at all.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) is still analyzing evidence in the case; the medical examiner did not rule out homicide.

Everyone at HensonFuerst is outraged and heartsick at these findings, and our prayers go out to the family members affected. Britthaven of Chapel Hill has been providing substandard care for a long while, as evidenced by its Medicare rating: an overall 1 out of 5 stars. It is also a “Special Focus Facility,” which means that they have a history of persistent poor quality of care. Every patient deserves the best possible care, and Britthaven of Chapel Hill has not been keeping up with the implicit promise made by every special care facility: That they will take care of your loved one.

Obviously, there has been a serious disconnect somewhere along the way. Is the staff undertrained or incompetent?  Do the corporate heads not care enough improve the facility?

HensonFuerst is also investigating cases involving Britthaven of Chapel Hill nursing home patients receiving opiates. If you are concerned about a loved one who resides in this or any other facility, please give us a call. We want to help.

You can reach our nursing home abuse team by calling 1-800-4-LAW-MED.

New Haven, Connecticut–home to Ivy League Yale University–is also the location of the latest example of how disgusting and neglectful a nursing home can get. According to a story by a Connecticut NBC affiliate, the Department of Public Health held a surprise inspection of The West Rock Health Care Center. Everyone was surprised when inspectors found:

“Linens that were worn thin and brown; boxes of medical records soaked in pooling water; and a nurse who cleaned an open ulcer with the same ‘fecal smeared washcloth’ used to clean the patient.”

In addition, residents were not given medications on time, and slept on beds that were “unmade and with an accumulation of soiled sheets.”  In all, there were 37 pages worth of violations.

The nursing home was shut down.

Reaction of the owner, Anthony Pinto? “This is a travesty,” he said, referring to the closing. He believed everything “was correctable.”

Except you can never correct for the pain and indignity already suffered by the residents, or the extra infections that might have already occurred due to such unclean conditions. HensonFuerst believes that our senior citizens deserve the highest of care, not the lowest. We fight everyday to keep nursing home residents from becoming victims of this type of abuse and neglect.

If you have a loved one in a nursing home, visit often… talk with staff about concerns you might have… and make facilities take responsibility for proper treatment of your relative. If you believe abuse has already taken place and have questions about what additional action you can take, call us. At HensonFuerst, if you have questions, we have answers. (HensonFuerst: www.lawmed.com; 1-800-4-LAW-MED)