Articles Posted in Elder Abuse

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A California nursing home neglect case can come in many forms. The most common situation involves a senior resident who begins living in a facility and develops health problems caused by substandard care. In many of these cases it is the family members of the victim who notice the problem, have suspicions about negligent care, and then contact a California nursing home abuse attorney to initiate the legal action. However, with a growing array of at-home care arrangements, many lawsuits now stem from poor care provided in different assisted-living contexts.

For example, Outpatient Surgery News reported this weekend on the latest actions in a Southern California negligence case against a nursing home chain that provided at-home assistance to a disabled resident. The victim in the case was only 24 years old when she underwent surgery to implant a spinal cord stimulator to reduce pain cause by a previous ankle injury. Several months later she underwent a second surgery to reposition the device. nurse.jpg

Following these procedures she required at-home nursing care to aid in her recovery. As is common in these cases, the young woman hired a nurse employed by a nursing home firm to provide that necessary assistance. The worker was supposed to visit the woman twice a day for the first week after her surgery. Specifically, the nurse was needed to hook up a morphine pump at the designated intervals. Unfortunately, the care worker was unfamiliar with the processes of using the pumping mechanism. She mistakenly activated the device six times within the first four hours of use, causing it to lock out.

A few hours later the victim’s mother called 911 after being unable to rouse her sleeping daughter. Emergency responders arrived and administered a morphine reversal agent after finding her unconscious. The young woman was eventually diagnosed with hypoxic encephalopathy caused by the morphine drip error. She suffered a permanent brain injury likely necessitating around the clock care for the rest of her life.

Following the tragedy the family of the young woman initiated a California nursing home lawsuit on her behalf. They sought to hold the company which employed the nurse liable for the debilitating injuries caused by her negligence. Upon hearing the evidence in the case the jury eventually awarded the victim $9.9 million to cover the necessary medical care for the rest of her life. A California appeals court recently upheld the decision last week.

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Attorney Randy Walton was invited by the Intertribal Court of Southern California to speak on the issue of elder abuse and nursing home abuse and neglect. The event took place on June 15, 2011 and was hosted by the San Pasqual Band of Indians. Approximately 100 people attended.

The event was entitled Know Your Rights, Benefits & Laws, and was produced to benefit tribal elders and seniors from all the San Diego County Indian tribes. Topics included Identity Theft, Medicare, Elder Abuse, Health and Well Being, and Social Security Benefits, and included a variety of speakers.

Mr. Walton addressed the issue of abuse and neglect in the custodial care setting, including nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and advised what to do to avoid abuse and neglect, and what to do if it occurs.

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The family of an 84-year-old nursing home resident was stunned to learn the cause of their father’s death – an overdose of morphine. They were doubly stunned when then also learned that there was no order by a physician prescribing the drug.

The case is the focus of a criminal prosecution of the nursing home’s director of nursing, Penny Whitlock, who faces charges of criminal elder neglect for allowing an employee at Woodstock Residence Nursing Home to overmedicate nursing home patients with morphine. According to reports, it was common knowledge that Whitlock was administering morphine without a doctor’s consent, and was even warned by other employees about the risks, but continued the practice, which is suspected to have contributed to several other deaths.

Whitlock faces three years in prison.

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The online magazine Long-Term Living has compiled a list of persons it has determined as the “most influential” in the long-term care industry. It prefaces its list with a kind of warning that the industry has a storied history “full of ups, downs, hair-raising regulation and heartwarming innovations.” The magazine doesn’t identify the “downs” or the “hair-raising regulations,” but a clue might be a name included on short list (that also includes the late Edward Kennedy).

The magazine has listed James L. Wilkes, II of the law firm Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. to the list of most influential persons in the long-term care industry. Based in Florida, Mr. Wilkes is a nationally recognized attorney who, like the Walton Law Firm, represents individuals and families who have been impacted by nursing home neglect, a far too common occurrence in American nursing homes. Mr. Wilkes is described as a “holy terror” to nursing homes, because of the lawsuits he files against them for “negligent resident care, often manifested by life-threatening pressure ulcers, falls, fractures, and assaults due primarily to alleged understaffing by large for-profit chains.”

Congratulations to Ms. Wilkes for his inclusion on this list, and for fighting the fight on behalf of abused and neglected nursing home residents everywhere.

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An elder abuse and neglect lawsuit has been filed on behalf of an elderly Korean-American woman who died last year after what the family alleges was abusive treatment by her caregivers. Kyong-hui Duncan died last June while her family was looking for a new nursing home to take her to after it became concerned about the care she was receiving.

When the family’s concerns began, Ms. Duncan’s grandson installed a security camera in her room. The camera wasn’t hidden, and caregivers knew about its presence, but family members became suspicious when they would frequently find the camera turned off when they came for visits.

Though the family claims the camera was often shut off by care providers during routine visits, images taken by the camera during one such visit show caregivers violently shaking Duncan as they attempt to place her in a wheelchair. The family adds that she would often be seen sitting in her room for hours, crying for help, sometimes upside down in her wheelchair, without any response from the attendants at the center. Bruises were also periodically found on her body, while an autopsy revealed toxins from medicines not prescribed by her doctors.

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When Sean Suh’s grandmother was admitted to a residential care facility he wanted to make sure she was being watched at all times. To do that, he installed a camera at her bedside that recorded his grandmother 24/7. The camera wasn’t hidden, and frequently when Ms. Suh would visit his grandmother, he would find the camera unplugged. After finding his camera unplugged one too many times, he decided he needed to find his grandmother a new place to live. She died before he could move her out.

When Mr. Suh looked at some of the footage his “Grannycam” captured he was stunned. The video showed his grandmother being lifted off the floor and thrown hard into her wheelchair. Then, it appears, a caregiver tips the wheelchair all the way back and violently shakes the elderly woman.

Watch:

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This is the time of year that families crisscross the country to see each other and celebrate the holidays, but it’s also a good time to check in older relatives who might be living alone, and under the care of someone. It is estimated that up to two million American seniors have been mistreated or abused by someone they rely on to provide car. For every case of elder abuse reported to Adult Protective Services, five cases go unreported.

Experts couldn’t agree more. Holiday visits, they say, offer a perfect opportunity to assess the needs and health of elderly relatives, whether they’re living independently or in a care facility. “You should visit with a checklist in your head,” says San Francisco social worker Mary Twomey. She advises people “to look for red flags: Has your parent lost weight, are they no longer interested in things they once enjoyed, are there any signs of physical abuse?”

Read more here from the LA Times here.

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Homicide detectives in San Diego were investigating the death of an elderly woman from the Palm City area. According to reports, the woman was being cared for by a professional “caretaker.” When a relative of the 83-year-old victim called police to check on the victim, police went to the woman’s home and found her dead in the bathroom.

According to police, there were no signs of trauma but that elder abuse was suspected. Police arrested caretaker Maria Moore on suspicion of elder abuse and booked her into county jail. A cause of death has not been determined.

News accounts do not state where Moore was employed by a home health agency or whether or she was working on her own. If is determined that the victim’s death was due to neglect, Moore and the agency she works with (if there is one) may face civil liability under California’s Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act.

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Peer-on-peer abuse in the nursing home setting is a problem that gets very little attention, but occurs with more and more frequency. A horrific example of this occurred two weeks ago at Chino Valley Health Care Center in Pomona. On November 23rd, John Lazzaro, a 91-year-old resident of the rehabilitation hospital, was killed after being attacked by fellow resident Matthew Harvey, who was only 47.

The details of the attack are kind of sketchy, but according to news accounts Lazarro was found in his room with severe wounds to his arm and face. So severe were the wounds to his arm it required amputation. It is very likely that Mr. Lazzaro couldn’t survive the surgery and died shortly thereafter.

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A 72-year-old woman suffered burns on her hands and feet while under the care of an Escondido woman and her son at their home-based elder care facility. Mila Labayen, 74, and her son, Steve Perez Lopez, 50, face criminal charges for elder abuse arising from their failure to seek immediate medical attention for the injuries of the resident who suffers from dementia. In addition, Mr. Lopez is charged with draining $45,000 from the bank account of another elderly resident, who suffers from schizophrenia. Mr. Lopez allegedly took the money while out on bail for charges relating to the elder abuse claim. Alert bank employees alerted authorities to the suspicious withdrawal of money.

It is unclear what caused the 72-year-old woman’s burns, but by the time her daughter learned of her injuries and brought her to the hospital, her skin was already sloughing off, and she remained in the hospital’s burn unit for nine days.

The elder care home, Liberty Care Homes III, located on the 1100 block of Via Rancho Parkway, was owned and operated by Ms. Labayan and was licensed to provide residential care for up to six elderly people. The license was first issued in 1993. Liberty Care Homes III is now closed.

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