Law Firm Resources & News

The use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes is wide-spread. Antipsychotics are used to treat various psychoses and neurologic conditions including schizophrenia and delusional disorders. Other indications for long-term antipsychotic use in the elderly include dementia with associated psychotic and/or agitated features. The most common name brands include Thorazine, Mellaril, Trilafon, Prolixin, Stelazine, Navane, Haldol,…

I live in Roanoke, Virginia, a community of about 200,000 people. We have two hospitals but one, the Carilion Health System, is proverbial 800 pound gorilla. You see, Carilion is a non-profit hospital….meaning that they save about $50 million a year in tax exemptions! Originally, non-profit hospitals were set up to serve the poor and…

I watch the FDA closely, but have a vested interest in drugs approved for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. Apparently, Michelle Obama and I have something in common – a parent with MS. So I was interested in today’s Wall Street Journal which reports Biogen will be working with the FDA to change labeling for…

A federal Law suit was filed against a Virginia Nursing Home, New Market Nursing Care, alleging the nursing home was negligent in their care of Kenneth E Huffman. Plaintiff alleges that “the Defendant’s agents and employees deviated from the standard of care by failing to prevent avoidable skin breakdown, by failing to prevent the development…

This story should result in criminal charges of neglect. According to a report from CNN, a mental patient died after workers at a North Carolina hospital left him in a chair for 22 hours without feeding him or helping him use the bathroom, said federal officials who have threatened to cut off the facility’s funding.…

Sun-Mar Heath Care Inc, the operator of 18 skilled nursing homes across Southern California, will pay $2 million to former residents in a settlement stemming from a class-action lawsuit that alleged substandard care of elderly patients. About 4,000 people are part of the class, which covers people who lived in Sun-Mar facilities between January 2005…

Airborne Coughs Up Millions to Settle Suit Check out this article in the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2008081403142.html By Annys ShinWashington Post Staff Writer Friday, August 15, 2008; Page D01 Over the past decade, millions of consumers, including Oprah, have come to swear by Airborne — fizzy orange tablets containing vitamins, herbs and minerals that its makers…

I don’t think this is breaking news to most of the readers of Legal Medicine, but it does offer confirmation of what we discuss and write about every week. The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) has concluded the nursing home certification process is broken and cannot be fixed. The AAHSA…

A great new website and resource for Virginia debuted this week. VIRGINIA EASY ACCESS – a partnership between 2-1-1 Virginia (public service information source), Senior Navigator (Senior resource) and the Commonwealth. It has great information – is organized clearly and simply – and appears to be a wonderful resource. I would direct anyone to the…

By now most Americans have read that Medicare has decided it will not pay hospital bills for “Never Events,” which are defined as errors in medical care that are clearly identifiable, preventable, and serious in their consequences for patients, and indicate a real problem in the safety and credibility of a health care facility. Never…