Nursing Home & Elder Abuse

• Women Awarded $7.5 Million From Norfolk for Son Who Was Hit by City Truck

  Jenny Albano | February 06, 2008 8:01 PM | 0 CommentsNorfolk, Portsmouth & Hampton, VA

  The city of Norfolk is awarding a woman $7.5 million because her son was hit by a truck which was driven by an employee of the city.The circuit judge hearing the case must approve the settlement so the case is scheduled to go to trial next week. Council approval isn't necessary but the judge sought approval anyway.Renee D. Wilson brought the lawsuit in January 2007. Wilson's attorney, Jack...

• Join a National Diaglogue on Elder Abuse

  Dan Frith | January 28, 2008 4:35 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  The Washingto Post has a disturbing (although not surprising) article in yesterday's paper. The article, entitled "A Hidden Crime," reports on how America cares for its elderly...and it is not a pretty picture! Decubitus ulcers, malnourishment, dehydration, repeated falls, medication errors causing death and disability, and more...Elder abuse typically conjures visions of nightmarish nursing...

• Hip Protectors Don't Work

  Dan Frith | January 15, 2008 6:18 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Let's face it. Many of the elderly who live in America's nursing homes are at increased risk for falls and resulting hip fractures. This fact is due to many factors including muscle weakness, coordination and flexibility problems, arthritis, medications, as well as the presence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The risk for hip fractures is higher among elderly persons who are...

• New Jersey Passes Safe Patient Handling Practices Act

  Dan Frith | January 09, 2008 6:31 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  I cannot tell you how many times we have been involved in medical malpractice cases against hospitals and nursing homes where a patient has been seriously injured as a result of being dropped. Typically, the patient is being transferred from bed to wheel chair or wheel chair to shower chair and, as a result of improper technique and training, is dropped to the floor suffering fractured hips,...

• Sunrise Nursing Home Execs step down

  Lauren Ellerman | December 31, 2007 8:49 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  I have never sued a Sunrise facility - although I have loved ones who lived in one of their assisted living facilities in Northern Virginia many years ago. As the Nation investigates for-profit health care providers, it seems like Sunrise may not be without controversy themselves.The nation's largest owner of assisted living facilities, announced the departures of Thomas Newell, president since...

• Is the Nurse Taking Care of your Mother a "Temp"?

  Dan Frith | December 27, 2007 6:04 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  We all are concerned, rightfully, over the care our family members receive in nursing homes. You would have to be blind and deaf not to read, hear, and see all of the problems the nursing home industry in America!The most critical aspect of getting good care in a nursing home is the quality and training of the nursing staff. However, the problem is that most nursing homes are under-staffed and...

• NC Nursing Home Verdict

  Lauren Ellerman | December 26, 2007 1:50 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Resident of a North Carolina Nursing Home dies of a Bowel Impaction - $5.4 Million dollar settlement.This is such an awful example of nursing home neglect - but we see it all the time. Nursing Homes are supposed to record how often residents use the bathroom, so this doesn't happen - but we see it often. How sad.Failure to manage catheter leads to $1.75 million dollar verdict in West Virginia....

• Study Reveals Illegal Provisions in Nursing Home Admission Contracts

  Dan Frith | December 22, 2007 6:11 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  The National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) this week released a report entitled, Think Twice Before Signing: Improper and Unfair Provisions in Missouri Nursing Home Admission Agreements. The report summarizes the results of a study of admission agreements from 175 Missouri nursing facilities. Although focused on nursing homes in Missouri, we have seen these very same issues in our cases...

• Man is beaten to death in assisted living facility...

  Lauren Ellerman | December 20, 2007 3:52 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  I wish this were a fictional account.Today's LA Times reports story of an elderly man who " just stopped breathing," in the assisted living facility, or so his wife of 49 years was told. "Then came the anonymous phone call the day after the funeral.A woman claiming to be an employee of the nursing home told Rita that her 80-year-old husband's death had been anything but peaceful. She said Elmore...

• Specific Allegations of Abuse

  Lauren Ellerman | December 19, 2007 2:00 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA

  Because of our duty of confidentiality, we cannot blog about many case details. We can't share statements made by nurses, unless they are public record. Well, here is a public record about nursing home abuse and neglect, that is almost too awful to believe. Faye Clark, a nurse aide at Heritage Hill in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, had her license revoked in August after the board found her guilty of...