Law Firm Resources & News

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…

I ran across an Associated Press article about nursing home owners wanting higher Medicaid reimbursement rates from the state of Texas. I have no problem with their request. However, any increase in reimbursement rates should be tied to better nursing home care….including higher salaries for nurse assistants and all staff. Increase payments should also be…

Did you know that Virginia law requires doctors to report evidence of elderly abuse? The statute (Va. Code § 63.2-1606) requires doctors to immediately report suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of adults to the local department or the adult protective services. Why? Because physicians, often emergency room physicians, are uniquely situated to observe and detect…

We frequently get calls from worried families – “Can they make my Mom leave the nursing home for not paying?” My response is always, “YES – under Virginia law, they can do that.” According to a recent article by the WallStreet Journal, nursing homes are bending the rules when evicting residents. To Be Old, Frail…

I am saddened to say it happened again. An 84 year old man was molested by a hospice care giver in March of 2007 – his wife walked in on the male hospice care giver, attempting to perform oral sex on her husband. Settlement was reached. We see these case far to often – and…