Elder abuse cases are rarely reported, and even more rarely prosecuted. “Elder abuse cases, for whatever inappropriate reason, are not considered as severe,” said Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco. The reasons for the low reporting and prosecuting are varied. There is the embarrassment of being a victim, and in…
After a L.A.Times and ProPublica investigtion found that violent or negligent nurses were allowed to stay on the job for years because of slow responses from the California Board of Nursing, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fired three of the seven appointees to the board. The Governor also named six new members…
It’s been almost six months since Nursing Home Compare was launched, and all of the nations 15,600 nursing homes were listed and rated by the U.S. government. The reviews are in, and it’s no blockbuster, but it isn’t a flop. For consumers, it’s been mostly a good thing. It is…
One nurse twisted a patient’s jaw until he screamed. Another grabbed an elderly man by the shoulders and slammed him against a mattress. Our 70-year-old client was punched in the face by an angry nurse while giving our client a bath. Charles Ornstein of the LA Times is out with…
The U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit has ruled that the Federal Nursing Home Reform Amendments grants residents of county-operated nursing homes the right to bring civil rights claims for allegations of abuse, neglect, or other care-related complaints. The ruling arose in a case involving the 80-year-old Melvinteen Daniels, who…
When Doris Weaver saw her mother’s black eye at the local hospital emergency room where she had been taken from a nursing home, she was stunned. “She had a bruise from her temple all the way down to her lower earlobe,” said Weaver. “Her eye was black and was swollen.”…
There is a short but solid article in a New Jersey paper today addressing the signs of elder abuse. New Jersey attorney Victoria Dalton lays out the real world signs and symptoms of elder abuse, which she defines simply as taking advantage of the elderly. Physical Abuse Physical abuse is…
The Walton Law Firm elder abuse and neglect lawsuit filed against Vista Hospital of Riverside was the subject of a front page story in the Press Enterprise newspaper today. The lawsuit arises out of the improper care provided to 78-year-old Shirley Buffa, who died after the hospital failed to administer…
In the news today is an article from the BBC about a nursing home nurse who was found guilty of assaulting an 80-year-old patient who suffers from dementia. According to the article (found here), the perpetrator “twisted the hand” of the resident, causing the resident to scream and cry. The…
A nursing home in suburban Chicago has been sued for failing to protect a 69-year-old resident from a sexual assault by a 21-year-old mentally ill man. According to the lawsuit, which alleges nursing home negligence and elder abuse, the skilled nursing facility tried to cover up the rape by telling…