Earlier this year, California Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard introduced legislation known as H.R. 2552: “Nursing Home Patient Protection & Standards Act.”  (The “H.R.” stands for House of Representatives, signifying that the bill started in that body of Congress.)

H.R. 2522 was introduced to ensure consistent standards in nursing homes across the nation. It provides training and whistleblower protections for the surveyors who oversee the quality of care provided by nursing home facilities.

Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, who has served in Congress since 1992, is one of the most powerful members of the House of Representatives. She is a member of the distinguished House Appropriations Committee, which controls the purse strings of the federal government. She also serves on two influential subcommittees — the Subcommittee on Homeland Security and the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.According to the Congresswoman:

“According to a November 2009 GAO Report, nursing home inspectors known as surveyors are being improperly pressured to ‘under-report’ the problems with care of nursing home residents. These problems persist and my bill would prevent these surveyors from facing inappropriate pressure that can compromise the entire nursing home inspection process,” said Rep. Roybal-Allard. “Congress must act.”

“My bill targets inspection tampering by extending federal whistleblower protections to surveyors of nursing home facilities. It is critically important to have real accountability in the nursing home industry. This legislation doesn’t add one penny to federal spending while providing important protections to seniors.”  [Emphasis added by blogger]

In the United States there are more than 15,000 skilled nursing facilities that treat nearly 1.5 million people who are dealing with and recovering from serious health issues.  H.R. 2522 will improve training for surveyors, improve staffing for survey teams, and establish an advisory committee comprised of nursing home stakeholders to work together to ensure that the quality of care improves.

This bill is in the early stages of the process. Introduced bills and resolutions first go to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee, but we believe this one deserves our support. It will add nothing to federal spending, but will help to make sure that nursing homes provide the kind of care each of our senior citizens deserves. As the watchdog website ForceChange.com says:

The process of checking into a nursing care facility does not include relinquishing one’s rights to dignity and proper care. In fact, these rights are included in many existing federal and state statutes.  Some of these rights include treatment with respect, consideration and personal dignity which is adequate and appropriate, given the resident’s condition, and freedom from mental and physical abuse.  However, existing statutes do not go far enough and do not include sufficient punitive measures for caregivers, administrators, and facility owners to assure that proper conditions exist.  Sadly, the elderly and infirm in American society are viewed as a nuisance.  This lack of respect, coupled with the greed in the nursing home industry, leads to cutting corners, inappropriate staffing and resident neglect.

The Nursing Home lawyers of HensonFuerst support this bill’s efforts to strengthen accountability of nursing homes across the nation.  According to one of our experienced attorneys, Carma Henson:

In today’s economic climate of tight budgets, this is one law that won’t cost taxpayers anything, and yet will give heightened protections to state nursing home surveyors who a charged with investigating problems in facilities.  We urge supporters to contact their representatives to support this bill.

How to Contact Your Representative

To find the names and contact information for members of the House of Representatives by state, click here:  Directory of U.S. Representatives

Sample Letter to Congress

ForceChange.com is circulating an Internet petition to urge Congress to pass H.R. 2522. You can sign that petition here: Stop the Abuse and Neglect of Nursing Home Residents. You can also write your own letter, or select bits and pieces from this sample letter (from the ForceChange.com website):

Dear Members of Congress,

Elderly and ill Americans should be cared for and revered;  sadly, those that reside in U.S. nursing homes are often abused and neglected.  These forgotten members of our society deserve better and must be protected by legislative intervention.

We can not tolerate insufficient care and humiliating treatment at the expense of nursing home profits.  Cutting corners by limiting needed medical care,  reducing  staffing levels and providing insufficient nutrition is unconscionable and unacceptable.  Those that perpetrate this type of treatment, particularly for individuals who are incapable of advocating for themselves, must be held accountable and appropriate punitive measures must be taken.  With the aging of the Baby Boomer generation, our country will face increased residency in nursing care facilities and we will all be at risk for abusive, inadequate and neglectful care in our so-called Golden Years.

Please pass The Nursing Home Patient Protection and Standards Act of 2011 and assure that proper care is the standard in all U.S. nursing care facilities.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Goes Here]

We’ll keep you informed of how this bill fares as it moves through the process.

RESOURCES

To read the text of H.R. 2522, click here:  Nursing Home Patient Protection and Standards Act of 2011

Attorney Carma Henson, partner with North Carolina-based HensonFuerst law firm, told reporters today that the HensonFuerst nursing home abuse team is conducting its own investigation into the the morphine overdose of nine Alzheimer’s patients being treated at Britthaven of Chapel Hill nursing home.

In February, six patients were admitted to the hospital after they tested positive for morphine, even though the pain killer hadn’t been prescribed. One of the patients, 84-year-old Rachel Holliday, died. At the time of her death, she also had high levels of morphine in her blood. On Monday, registered nurse Angela Almore was arrested and indicted on one count of second-degree murder and six counts of felony patient abuse. In a report from WRAL, Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said that the state believes Almore acted alone, and that he doesn’t expect any more arrests or charges in the case.

In a news report on WRAL-TV today, Carma Henson said that HensonFuerst is continuing its investigation on behalf of families concerned about how this type of abuse could have happened to their loved ones. The firm is not limiting its research to Almore’s actions; there is also the question of how drugs are administered throughout the facility. According to Carma Henson, a nurse is not supposed to be able to get access to morphine and administer it to patients if it has not been prescribed for those patients.

“This can’t be just a rogue nurse gone bad,” says Ms. Henson. Her hope is that the HensonFuerst investigation gets a look at the bigger picture of how this and other nursing homes are run, so changes can be made to bring about some good. There are still a lot of people in nursing homes who need help… HensonFuerst is determined to make a difference.

(Watch the WRAL video and read their complete story here: HensonFuerst continues investigation.)

Nursing home residents suffer many different kinds of injuries due to nursing home negligence—broken bones, pressure sores, skin tears, malnutrition and dehydration.  Perhaps the worst injury they suffer is the injury to their dignity, their self-respect.  Many nursing home residents are completely helpless, and need the nursing home staff to do everything for them, including cleaning them up every two hours, so that they won’t have to lie in their own waste for hours at a time.  But all too often, the nursing home doesn’t realize how terrible it is for these residents to have to endure the discomfort, the smell, the sheer embarrassment and injury to their dignity that results from having to exist in this manner on a regular basis. 

In fact, just last week, Nursing Home Litigation team member Carmaletta Henson was arguing a motion before a judge regarding this same issue.  “I explained to the judge what a horrendous injury to a person’s dignity and sense of self-worth it is for them to have to lie in their own waste for hours at a time, because the nursing home doesn’t have enough staff to change them”. 

The responsive argument from the defense counsel for the nursing home facility was quite telling.  She argued that this resident didn’t develop pressure sores or any other physical injuries as a result of having to lie in her own waste for hours on end, so there was no “injury”,  and a jury should not be asked to value this non-injury. This is a perfect example of the cold and heartless response we oftentimes see from nursing homes and their lawyers, a response that we fight to change.  The injury to these residents is clear, and senseless.  This is an injury that should never happen. 

Nursing home owners MUST provide adequate staff to meet the needs of the residents, including their need to be changed and kept clean.  If they can’t provide that level of care for whatever reason, if they can’t meet the needs of the residents, then they should get out of the business and allow others, who are willing to spend the time and the money to meet the residents’ needs, to step in.   This is the change that we at Henson Fuerst fight for everyday.

Should you find it necessary to consult with an attorney concerning matters of nursing home care, inquiries should be made about the prospective attorney’s experience in matters of nursing home abuse and neglect, as well as lectures and seminars attended and articles written.

An article in the January 19 edition of North Carolina Lawyers Weekly detailed the efforts of HensonFuerst Complex Litigation Division attorney, Carmaletta Henson, on behalf of her severely brain injured client.  Carma’s aggressive representation resulted in a settlement by the defense on August 18, 2008, in the amount of $1.6 million.

Click to read the full North Carolina Lawyers Weekly story about HensonFuerst attorney Carmaletta Henson.