California updates in category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse

According to Oklahoma’s Adult Protective Services, the abuse of elderly people in Oklahoma is on the rise. In fact, abuse has risen by a steady 3 % per year. A spokesperson for Oklahoma’s Adult...

Continue article

California Law provides new rights for victims of elder abuse: mandatory financial insitution reporting and a right to freeze the assets of the wrongdoer before trial.

Continue article

New research shows that preventing and treating pressure ulcers in the nursing home setting requires a team approach, involving nurses, laundry workers, cafeteria and maintenance workers, and even the cosmeticians.Large bedsores are a sight to behold. The larger ones - Stage III and IV - can result in a wound so deep that you can see the bone. Wounds like this can be very painful and can lead...

Continue article

An overhaul of Tennessee's state services to the elderly and disabled may not be in the too distant future. A long-term care study committee will be drafting recommendations to overhaul the current system. The state could pay Tennesseans to take care of relatives and friends rather than sending them to nursing homes. "Govenor Phil Bredesen said he will work with lawmakers to "fundamentally...

Continue article

Medicare and Medicaid released a report this week listing nursing homes and hospitals from around the country that have fallen below benchmarks set for patient restraints, bedsores, and surgical infections. Of the 1400 California nursing homes, 674 made the list.The purpose in releasing the specific nursing homes was to hold accountable the private contractors hired by Medicare and Medicaid to...

Continue article

Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts of the California budget may increase the risk of elder neglect and abuse to the nearly 150,000 elderly residents of nursing and residential care facilities.According to the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), the proposed cuts will reduce inspections and will further cripple an already struggling program. Moreover, a reduction in the...

Continue article

Nursing home care has long been a concern. Families leave their loved ones in the care of others and many times that care falls short of what one would expect. Recently a nursing home known as Pacific Coast Manor was issued the most severe citation under state law. In addition to the citation, they were fined $100,000 after a state investigation concluded inadequate care led to the death of a...

Continue article

Recent studies show that citations for serious violations issued against nursing homes is up 22% nationwide.A USA Today analysis, examining records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, shows that from 2000 through 2006, the number of citations for putting patients in "immediate jeopardy" had increased 22%. Those citations are considered the most serious and often follow cases in which...

Continue article

Because part of my law practice involves representing seniors in nursing homes who have been subjected to abuse or neglect, I am frequently asked for recommendations for a "good" nursing home. I respond that I don't know any. But on the other hand, I tell the person asking, I don't necessarily know the "bad" ones either. One thing I have learned, in cases against fancy chain homes or the...

Continue article

Studies show that Medicaid spends more money on antipsychotic drugs for Americans than any other prescription drug. Why? Because nursing homes across the country are giving these powerful drugs to elderly residents for the purposes of "quieting" them.The Wall Street Journal is reporting that nearly 30% of the total nursing home population is receiving antipsychotic drugs in a practice that is...

Continue article

Studies show that Medicaid spends more money on antipsychotic drugs for Americans than any other prescription drug. Why? Because nursing homes across the country are giving these powerful drugs to elderly residents for the purposes of "quieting" them.The Wall Street Journal is reporting that nearly 30% of the total nursing home population is receiving antipsychotic drugs in a practice that is...

Continue article

Our firm represents individuals and families all over Southern California in cases involving nursing home neglect and abuse, and has seen first hand just how bad care can be in certain nursing homes. But I still get shocked at some of the carelessness that occurs by those taking care of some of our most fragile citizens. Take this story elder neglect just up the freeway in Fontana.Regulators...

Continue article

Cases involving nursing home wanderers are not uncommon in the nursing home abuse and neglect arena. I have had them, and I know my colleagues have as well. When an elderly resident of a nursing home wanders away, usually because there is some memory impairment, it rarely ends well.That was the case in Escondido on Thanksgiving Day when 94-year-old Maria Cobian, a resident of Palomar Heights...

Continue article

A 94 year-old resident of Palomar Heights Care Center in Escondido died early Thanksgiving morning after wandering out of the facility and being struck by a car. To compound matters the resident, Maria Cobian, was wearing a bracelet intended to alert staff if she attempted to leave the facility. According to Escondido Police, the only door the bracelet doesn't trigger an alarm. "Either she...

Continue article

It is believed that 1 in 20 of our elderly are victims of nursing home abuse, according to the National Center for Elder Abuse. In fact as many as 57% of nursing aids have admitted witnessing abuse. Some have evan participated in the abuse. The report sites problems in the industry such as chronic understaffing and inadequate pay for workers. . Two hearings were held yesterday. Committees from...

Continue article