Articles Posted in Elder Abuse

by

Many of us in the San Diego area have seen commercials for liquid nutritional supplements, particularly those marketed toward older adults.  According to a story in the New York Times, these bottles have become “staples in older people’s refrigerators, in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and in hospitals.”  As such, it’s only logical to assume that these liquid supplements are healthy and can even benefit the elderly.

However, a recent set of recommendations from the American Geriatrics Society suggested that these drinks aren’t as beneficial as their manufacturers would like us to believe.  Indeed, replacing elderly adults’ meals with these liquid supplements may even rise to the level of nursing home neglect.

Ensure

Dangers of Boost, Ensure, and Other Supplement Drinks for the Elderly

Continue reading

by

We often think about staff members and other employees at nursing homes and assisted living facilities when we worry about whether our elderly loved ones are receiving proper care.  However, spouses, children, and other close relatives of older adults can commit elder abuse, too.  Indeed, anyone can commit elder abuse.  And a recent article from NBC San Diego reports that a woman from La Jolla, Victoria Turner, who has already been accused of abusing her now-estranged husband, attempted to make her way into a care facility in order to force him to sign legal documents.

Old Man

Details of the La Jolla Elder Abuse

Back in March, Robert Stella was “rescued from the garbage and filth in his own home,” where Turner was supposed to be caring for him, according to NBC San Diego.  Stella recently turned 91 years old.  In addition to allowing Stella to reside in a home that was “cluttered and filthy,” Turner has also been accused of tying him to his bed.  Turner is almost 40 years younger than Stella, and she’s currently under investigation for elder abuse, as well as animal neglect and cruelty.

Continue reading

by

Does the number of staff relate to the level of care in nursing homes and assisted living facilities?  According to a recent article in McKnight’sLong Term Care News Online, a new study suggests that staffing levels at nursing homes do in fact “correlate with better quality of care.”  But what does this mean, exactly?  Does simply hiring more staff mean that nursing home residents will be less likely to suffer from nursing home neglect, or should nursing homes invest in specific types of staff members with particular skill sets?

Old Woman
The study, which appeared late last month in Health Economics, suggests that mandatory staffing regulations often result in caregivers with less skill—in short, fewer registered nurses.  And registered nurses could be precisely what many nursing home residents need in order to obtain necessary care.  If your elderly loved one has sustained injuries as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect, you should talk with an experienced San Diego nursing home abuse lawyer as soon as possible.  A dedicated elder justice advocate at the Walton Law Firm would be happy to discuss your case with you today.

Details of the Study

Continue reading

by

California Seniors and Fraudulent Telephone Calls

Older adults are becoming especially susceptible to elder financial abuse, and a recent article in the San Mateo Daily Journal suggests that police have noticed a “rise in fraudulent telephone scams that target seniors.”  Elder abuse can take many different forms, and scammers often prey upon older adults who aren’t familiar with new financial technologies and have money saved.  And this form of abuse can occur anywhere—at the home of a caregiver or at a nursing home.  For example, we recently wrote about a financial abuse scheme at a Palo Alto care community for the elderly.

Old Lady
What have some of the recent scams looked like?  According to the San Francisco police, there’s a new telephone scam in California in which an older adult receives a phone call from a person who claims to be a paralegal who is calling from the Attorney general’s office.  The caller then tells the elderly victim that there’s “a warrant for her arrest” and that she’ll need to “pay a fee by using a Vanilla prepaid cash card, or risk being sent to jail.”  When the scam first was reported by a woman in South San Francisco, the victim described the caller as having a “Russian accident.”

Continue reading

by

Helping Caregivers to Help the Elderly through Education

Old Guy

How can caregivers best spot patterns of elder abuse after their loved ones return from medical appointments or adult daycare?  And how should caregivers handle older adults who act abusively toward medical staff or other persons involved in their care and treatment?  According to a recent news report from Aging Today, a bimonthly newspaper published by the American Society on Aging, elderly caregivers in America aren’t provided with sufficient education about elder abuse.

The news report recently made it into the hands of Californians with the help of the Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse & Neglect.  The Center, housed at the University of California, Irvine, seeks to bridge the academic side of elder neglect with important issues of medical and legal practice.  In addition to conducting research, the Center aims to provide education to California residents and other community members by hosting the Elder Abuse Training Institute, which “identifies the most pressing training needs in elder mistreatment.”  The educational programs are interdisciplinary, moving among medical, sociological, and legal issues.

Continue reading

by

With California making national news over elder abuse at nursing homes and residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs), it may not come as a surprise that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has reassigned Ernest Poolean, the “supervisor in charge of nursing home inspections,” only a few days following the “release of a highly critical audit of his division,” according to an article in Kaiser Health News.

Old Guy

Poolean’s reassignment suggests that the California Department of Public Health is beginning to look at nursing home neglect more closely and has decided to make elder abuse an important issue in Los Angeles and throughout the state.  If your elderly loved one has suffered injuries as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect, it’s very important to contact an experienced San Diego nursing home abuse lawyer. At the Walton Law Firm, we are committed to helping older adults throughout Southern California.

Chief Inspector Reassignment Details

Continue reading

by

We’ve been following the reform initiatives for residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) in California, and a story in U-T San Diego emphasizes that support for the RCFE Reform Act of 2014 has been gaining momentum.  Last Tuesday, legislation “pushed through separate committees at the state Capitol,” thus “making it more likely that rules governing senior homes will get tighter.”  Potential reform legislation now includes “nearly 20 different bills authored by lawmakers from both political parties,” reported U-T San Diego.

Old Man Currently, approximately 7,500 residential care facilities exist in California, and reform advocates are eager to support any legislation that will require greater oversight and will help to prevent instances of elder abuse.  Numerous nursing home abuse and neglect cases have made local and national news over the last year, and many of the recent reform measures have been offered in response to those reports.

However, not all Californians are in favor of the legislation.  We’ll go over the key points of the recent testimony and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the RCFE Reform Act of 2014.  In the meantime, if you suspect that your elderly parent or loved one has sustained injuries because of elder neglect at a nursing home or residential care facility, it is very important to speak to an experienced San Diego nursing home abuse lawyer.

Continue reading

by

Old Woman

As many California residents know, our state has made national news over the last year for concerns about nursing home negligence and nursing home abuse.  A recent article in the Sacramento Bee reported that Los Angeles County public health officials, “in an effort to reduce California’s backlog of health and safety complaints at nursing homes,” might have urged inspectors “to close cases without fully investigating them.”  Internal memos sent between managers, inspectors, and supervisors from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health suggest that these quick and potentially harmful case closures are part of an effort called the “Complaint Workload Clean Up Project,” and it has been in effect “since at least the summer of 2012.”

What does this mean for elderly nursing home residents?  In short, complaints at nursing homes and nursing facilities in Los Angeles County might not have been adequately investigated, and county supervisors could be held liable for injuries that occurred.  Do you have a loved one who resides at a nursing facility in Southern California?  At the Walton Law Firm, our California nursing home abuse attorneys have years of experience handling elder law claims and can speak with you today.

Nursing Home Residents at Risk of Inattention in Southern California

Continue reading

by

When we trust the care of our elderly loved ones to skilled nursing facilities, we expect that they’ll receive proper treatment and won’t suffer unnecessary harms. Nobody anticipates nursing home abuse and neglect, but a recent article in ProPublica indicates that about one-third of patients in skilled nursing facilities suffer harms during their treatments. Based on a study conducted by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “nearly 22,000 patients were injured and more than 1,500 died in a single month—a higher rate of medical errors than hospitals.”

Is your elderly loved one in safe hands at her nursing home? Nursing home neglect occurs more frequently than we’d like to think. And while California legislators are hoping to change some of the rules for residential facilities in our state, it’s important to be vigilant. If you suspect that an older adult has been mistreated in a nursing home or assisted living facility, contact the experienced San Diego nursing home abuse lawyers at the Walton Law Firm today.

What is a Skilled Nursing Facility?

Continue reading

by

As lawmakers in our state continue to think about elder abuse and the salient problems with California assisted living facilities, some of these residences are being ordered to pay damages for the harms they’ve inflicted on the elderly. According to a recent article in the Long Beach Press Telegram, a jury recently said that an assisted living facility in downtown Long Beach is liable for “hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages” connected to one resident’s spinal injury.

Has your elderly loved one suffered abuse or neglect in a California residential care facility? This is an important concern in our state, and juries take these cases very seriously. You should speak to an experienced San Diego nursing home abuse attorney about filing a claim for compensation.

Details of the Residential Care Facility

Continue reading
Justia Lawyer Rating
Super Lawyers
BBB Rating A+
Avvo Rating 10.0
Elder Justice Advocates
Consumer Attorneys California
AV Preeminent badge
Contact Information
North County Office
950 Boardwalk
#304
San Marcos, CA 92078
Toll Free: 866.607.1325 Local: 760.571.5500 Fax: 760.571.5501
San Diego Office
2169 1st Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
Toll Free: 866.607.1325

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2025, Walton Law Firm
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design