Lauren Ellerman

This is the trend: FDA approves your drug, stock sales go up and up, shareholders are happy, company is happy. Few thousand cardiologists stop prescribing your drug because a recent study shows it doesn’t help cholesterol as expected, and severe side effects exist, stock prices go down, company is not…

Ok, so the defense in nursing home cases often will say “we can’t watch your loved one every minute of every day” – “falls happen, pressure sores are unpreventable, some elderly people just refuse medicine and treatment” but how do you defend this?DEATH BY FIRE ANTS in a NURSING HOME……

In Today’s Wallstreet Journal, our local paper, and on the AP – “Late approval of Drugs linked to safety issues.”Hardly a week goes by without new research reflecting certain medications have unknown, serious side effects…At least three major drugs have been pulled from pharmacy shelves in the last four years…

Most families have to make nursing home decisions when something tragic has already occurred – a fall, a stroke, dementia diagnosis, etc.What if all the 65 years olds in Virginia (1) made a will; (2) appointed a health care power of attorney; (3) consulted with a financial planner re: how…

Article in today’s Washington PostSunrise Chief to Step Down as ChairmanSunrise Senior Living chief executive Paul J. Klaassen is stepping down as chairman, one of several governance changes announced yesterday, two years after the company disclosed accounting irregularities and came under fire for management practices.Sunrise, of McLean, also said it…

Article in Today’s Washington Post: By Rob Stein, reports on a new study published today in Annals of Internal Medicine, that “More than 5 million elderly people have a hard time remembering things, sorting through daily decisions and even sometimes knowing what day it is, according to the first national…

Our local paper, the Roanoke Times, is doing a series of articles, interviews on our local aging population – services needed, how families cope etc.One cause for concern, is that our aging population is much higher than most other Virginia Cities – equal (in percentage) to Miami or St. Pete…

I wish this were a joke…Nursing Home Operator Sun Beats ExpectationsBy Vita ReedOrange County Business Journal StaffNursing home and medical staffing company Sun Healthcare Group Inc. of Irvine California reported a fourth-quarter profit from continuing operations that beat analysts’ expectations.The Irvine-based health services company, which has nursing home, rehabilitation, hospice…

I received an email today – with the following News Alert:“Workers, residents’ family members confront Lazard execs over concerns at Atria Senior Living, protest outside investor meeting; demand better care, wagesWorkers and family members of elderly residents at Atria Senior Living centers confronted private equity owner Lazard’s executives outside their…

We frequently hear from families that believe a nursing home has failed to provide care to their loved one…. and when I ask “why is your Mother still in that nursing home if you think they do not provide the care she needs,” I am often told “it is so…