A few days ago, Los Angeles’ local ABC 10 News released an article about the Ensign Group’s agreement to a $48 million settlement related to claims of Medicare billing fraud at six nursing facilities in Southern California. And the Medicare fraud wasn’t the worst of it. According to the article,…
Are you worried that an elderly loved one has been a victim of financial abuse? Each day, older adults become targets for financial scammers. Commentators are concerned that privacy laws are likely to protect some of these financial scammers, preventing elderly victims from seeking justice. According to Herb Weisbaum, “The…
Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay a settlement of more than $2.2 billion connected to “accusations that it improperly promoted the antipsychotic drug Risperdal to older adults,” according to a recent article in the New York Times. This resolution actually represents the third-largest pharmaceutical settlement in our…
Have you considered elder in-home health care for one of your parents? Many families see the benefits of these in-home services, but they worry about the level of care that these agencies provide. Earlier this month, we told you about the important distinctions between in-home health care and home care—in…
Over the past few weeks, nursing home abuse and neglect in California has made local and national news. These stories beg the question: are assisted living facilities safe in California? Elder advocates might argue that reforms are in the works, but facilities across the state continue to receive fines and…
Earlier this month, UT San Diego published a news story about a report it co-authored with the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF). What was the story about? The dismal state of assisted living homes in California. This may not come as a surprise to some of us, given that California nursing…
In mid-August, Families for Better Care released its first “Nursing Home Report Card,” which is part of a “project that analyzes, compares, and ranks states’ nursing home quality.” On the California report card, our state only earned a “C” grade, coming in at 28th place in the United States. In…
It’s not an area of care that we typically associate with nursing homes, but is your loved one getting access to sufficient dental care? Dental hygiene in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities is no small matter. Indeed, poor dental care can lead to serious health problems. When nursing centers don’t…
Earlier this summer, we told you about a $23 million jury verdict in a bed sore case from northern California. The victim, Joan Boice, had been a resident at the Emeritus at Emerald Hills in Auburn, California before she suffered from painful bed sores and died as a result of…
A recent survey on health and aging reported by the Los Angeles Times suggested that nearly ninety percent of older adults in the Los Angeles area are “confident they will keep up the quality of their lives as they age.” Yet, most of these elderly persons aren’t doing what they…