Law Firm Resources & News

This is certainly a local issue – but one worth talking about. Roanoke City Schools have had reports (since September) of strange symptoms affecting teachers and students at an area high school– William Byrd. The symptoms seem neurological – headache; dizziness; tremors – so what on earth could cause this? The local Health Department assured…

A Missouri jury has ordered the owner-operator of two nursing facilities to pay more than $3 million to the estate of a former patient who died in 2004. The verdict stems from a lawsuit alleging that the nursing staff at Barry Manor and White Oak Manor nursing homes was negligent and failed to properly care…

Nursing home costs increased 3% on average across the country in the last year, according to newly released data from the MetLife Mature Market Institute. Assisted living costs remained virtually unchanged at $2,969 per month or $35,628 yearly. The average cost of a private room in a nursing home was $213 per day or $77,745…

A nursing home abuse bill, the Elder Justice Act, has been under consideration in Congress for the past five years but has received scant attention and has yet to be passed. Although nursing home and elder abuse are serious and growing problems in this country, the nursing home abuse bill has never even been voted…

A newly released study reveals that 13% of healthy adults have abnormalities in their brains without even knowing it, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study analyzed the MRI scans of 2,000 healthy individuals with an average age of 63 with no signs of brain problems. It found that…

In my family, when you make a mistake, tell a lie, hurt someone, you apologize for it.In Massachusetts, the legislature is trying to create a law that allows doctors to do the same thing, without fear the apology will end up before a jury as an admission. We have similar legislation in Virginia – but…

In our experience almost 80% of all cases against nursing homes for inadequate and negligent care arise from the facility not having enough trained and competent staff on duty. Far too many nursing homes have one or two CNAs taking care of 20 or more residents – an impossible task! In Kentucky this problem has…

The Maryland Office of Health Care Quality has asked the U.S. government to cut off federal payments to a Bethesda nursing home, under fire for six months over deficiencies in care. The nursing home, Bethesda Health and Rehabilitation, has been faulted in several inspections. Two elderly women, one a tracheotomy patient, have died and a…

I often listen to a radio show on National Public Radio – called the people’s pharmacy. The show features many members of the medical community, discussing relevant health issues.Yesterday, the show had a feature on pharmacy errors. The hosts reported that more pharmacy errors occur in the beginning of the month because that is when…