California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

January 15, 2015

Hospice Mistreatment and Federal Sanctions

Are our elderly loved ones receiving proper end-of-life care at California hospices? A recent article in the Huffington Post reported that, unlike other healthcare facilities that receive Medicare funding, hospices aren’t being punished sufficiently when they commit elder abuse and violate rules related to patient health and safety. To be sure, when a hospice fails to provide the promised comfort and care at the end of a person’s life, “it almost always escapes sanctions.” Why isn’t the federal government punishing these hospices for failing to do their jobs?

Inspections Don’t Yield Sanctions

One of the primary issues, the article suggests, is that federal regulators just aren’t doling out sanctions to hospices in the same way that they often do for nursing homes. The problem isn’t that the federal government isn’t investigating claims of abuse, neglect, and patient mistreatment at hospice facilities. Indeed, “inspections do occur and problems are identified,” yet inspectors often tend to accept “hospices promises that they’ll reform.”

January 6, 2015

Nursing Home Complaints and Fraud Allegations

by Walton Law Firm

Many of us know that nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) in California made national news over the last year for undesirable reasons related to elder abuse and neglect. Even more recently, an audit report exposed serious elder abuse investigation delays within the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Now, according to an article in the Pasadena Star News, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department has been accused of falsifying the dates on which it received complaints about nursing home abuse.

Why would the department do this? According to two employees, pressure had increased to “meet state deadlines for launching investigations,” and when the department couldn’t comply, it changed the dates of the complaints it had received.

Allegations of Abuse, Falls, and Pressure Sores

December 26, 2014

Preventing Falls: Structural and Design Changes to Facilities for the Elderly

by Walton Law Firm

We recently discussed the growing problem of severe and fatal injuries resulting from falls among the elderly population, as reported in an article in the New York Times. As most of us know, falls are a type of preventable injury. But what, precisely, can we do to prevent older adults from falling? And should residents in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities undergo greater education about the risks and dangers of falls?

Education About Fall-Related Accident Prevention

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released statistics showing that the number of fall-related deaths and life-threatening injuries has risen drastically over the last decade, a number of facilities for the elderly began to think about ways to prevent falls and to ensure that elderly residents aren’t being neglected.

December 19, 2014

Rising Number of Falls and Dangerous Injuries Among the Elderly

by Walton Law Firm

For elderly adults who live on their own or in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, falls can result in serious and life-threatening injuries. While falls are not the result of elder abuse, they can occur when there is a clear issue of nursing home neglect. A recent article in the New York Times emphasized that the number of reported falls among older adults—many of those accidents leading to serious and sometimes fatal injuries—is a number that is “soaring.”

Nursing Home Regulations Aimed at Preventing Falls

How can nursing homes take steps to prevent dangerous falls? The New York Times article discusses the policies put in place recently by a retirement community which require that, during mealtimes, residents who use walkers to get around must have their walkers “valet parked” after they find a seat at the table. In addition, they are not permitted to use their walkers during the meal—they must stay in their seats while staff members serve them. While many residents of the facility argued that the policy “infringed on [one’s] freedom of movement,” it prevented a number of serious falls at the buffet.

December 12, 2014

Elders Abusing Elders in Nursing Homes

by Walton Law Firm

When we think about nursing home abuse and neglect, most of us imagine a scenario in which a healthcare professional or nursing home employee mistreats an elderly resident. However, a recent study conducted by Cornell University Weill Medical College found that many facilities actually see “a high level of resident-to-resident elder mistreatment.”

Nursing home abuse can take many different forms, and it can result in serious and life-threatening injuries to your elderly loved one. If you believe that your parent has been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, do not hesitate to contact an experienced San Diego elder abuse lawyer.

Aggressive Encounters with Fellow Residents

December 3, 2014

Elder Abuse is an Underreported Crime

by Walton Law Firm

Statistics in Southern California suggest that elder abuse is an extremely underreported crime, which means that many older adults suffer injuries while their abuses go unpunished. A recent article in the Los Angeles Daily News reported that Los Angeles officials recently indicated that the city will take greater efforts to protect the elderly from nursing home abuse. How will these new measures work? In short, millions of dollars in funding are going to flow in from the Department of Justice and the Verizon Corporation.

Elder Abuse Prevention Grants to the City of Los Angeles

Will San Diego be able to get the kind of funding that Los Angeles recently received? Grants totaling $1.6 million were provided in Los Angeles primarily to train police officers to recognize signs and symptoms of elder abuse—a skill that officials hope will lead to more abuse and neglect reporting. Last year, the Los Angeles Police Department saw a shockingly low number of elder abuse reports—only 100. To place that number in perspective, the LAPD received more than 11,000 claims of domestic violence reports in 2013.

November 26, 2014

Lack of Oversight from the California Department of Public Health?

by Walton Law Firm

Earlier this month, the Sacramento Bee ran a story that exposed the lack of oversight from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) when it comes to nursing home abuse allegations. What is going on? According to the article, the CDPH is “weighed down by a backlog of more than 11,000 open complaints” with “no clear path to dig its way out.”

Evidence of this serious problem became clear after an audit report was released toward the end of October 2014. In short, the CDPH appears to have failed elderly adults in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities by failing to manage its investigations of elder abuse complaints received.

Numerous Problems “Up and Down the State”

November 21, 2014

Translation Issues in Elder Abuse Cases

by Walton Law Firm

Did you know that Southern California is home to the largest Latino and Asian populations in the country? According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, elderly persons within these populations may not be getting a fair deal in elder abuse cases. When claims go to court, it is important for a judge or a jury to understand a plaintiff’s injuries and to grasp the extent of the nursing home abuse or neglect that took place. However, when your first language is not English, it is sometimes extremely difficult to make your way through the justice system.

Language Barriers to Legal Forms, Filings, and Testimonies

In California alone, the Los Angeles Times estimates that there are about seven million “limited-English proficient speakers,” and for those people, the civil court system is “practically impenetrable.” What is the problem?

November 14, 2014

New Elder Care Protections on the Way in San Diego County

by Walton Law Firm

First Nursing Home Facility Rating System in California

As the population of California continues to age, and more baby boomers find themselves thinking about San Diego assisted-living facilities and nursing homes, it is becoming more important than ever to ensure that seniors in the San Diego area are protected from nursing home abuse and neglect. According to a recent story San Diego CBS 8, San Diego County leaders currently are in the process of developing an elder care facility rating system that is aimed at preventing elder abuse.

file0001867553256 According to the news story, the new rating system will be the first of its kind in California. The ratings will be based on several different factors, and the Board of Supervisors hopes that the system will allow families to make informed decisions about the care of their elderly loved ones. The system is still in its early stages, but the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved its creation, emphasizing the need to protect older adults from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in Southern California facilities.

November 6, 2014

California Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program

by Walton Law Firm

Who looks out for aging Californians who do not have relatives our outside caregivers to keep an eye out for the signs of elder abuse? The California State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is in place to make sure that older adults receive proper care in long-term care facilities across the state. What is a long-term care facility? Examples in California include: nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs).

San Diego residents following the latest news about RCFEs know that many of these facilities in our state have fallen under much scrutiny in recent months, along with many assisted-living facilities. The Long-Term Care (LTC) Ombudsman program specifically “investigates elder abuse complaints” at facilities such as these.

Services Offered by the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program

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