Law Firm Resources & News

A survey taken the weekend before Hurricane Katrina struck showed that more than half of the homes questioned had decided against evacuating. But a jury hearing the case against the owners of a home where 35 patients died in Katrina’s floods may never see the document. The trial judge ruled the document could be admitted,…

Read all about it here – http://docwatch.wordpress.com/2007/08/24/roanoke-pharmacist-gives-it-up/

My local paper printed an article from the AP yesterday, Early ovarian surgery linked to dementia By MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer. Read the full article here. Mr. Ritter writes that “women who have their ovaries removed before menopause run a heightened risk of developing dementia or other mental problems later in life – unless…

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) recently published its biennial report covering the many facets of long-term care and independent living in America. Published biennially since 1992 by the AARP Public Policy Institute, the Across the States series was developed to help inform policy discussions among public and private sector leaders in long-term care…

On August 27, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued final regulations prohibiting physicians from referring Medicare patients for certain items, services and tests provided by businesses in which they or their immediate family members have a financial interest. These rules protect beneficiaries from receiving services they may not need and the Medicare…

We get a magazine called NURSING HOMES, Long Term Care Management – a periodical written for long term care administrators. This month, in their monthly section called A VIEW ON WASHINGTON, the magazine cites a 2006 sruvey done by MyInnerView, taken of current long term care employees, regarding job satisfaction etc. While 60% of employees…

A former Tulsa, Oklahoma nursing home aide has been sentenced to six years in prison for scalding two disabled residents. Paula Drew was a nurse’s aide at the Green Park Nursing and Rehab Center. She allegedly placed each resident in an overheated shower last March without checking the water temperature. Both residents suffered severe burns.…

No, I am not talking about Shakespeare… I am talking about the names of various medical diagnosis – Dementia / Alzheimer’s Disease / Depression. What to these names mean, and do we use them inappropriately? Dan and I put on a seminar this Monday with a local Geriactric physician, Dr. Gary Oberlender. Dr. Oberlender shared…

I have been trying to read a Virginia Blog every week – docwatch – today, the author reports about a south west Virginia nurse who recently lost her license (in June) when she forced liquids into a nursing home resident, while restraining the resident – the result, the resident started vomiting and had to be…

Northfield Place, a nursing home in the Whitmore Lake area, was one of four Michigan nursing homes under investigation for allegations of health care fraud and poor patient care, state and federal authorities said this week. Ciena Healthcare Management, the company that owns the four nursing homes and 26 others in Michigan, entered into a…

A former nursing home employee in Rochester, New York, became the 12th person to admit neglecting an elderly patient with dementia. Certified nurse’s assistant (CNA) Marguerite Carrington, 49, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors of second-degree falsifying business records and willful violation of health laws in connection with neglect of a patient at the former Jennifer…

It doesn’t get any more disgusting than this! A Tennessee Health Department investigation has revealed that a 91-year-old patient at Lakebridge Health Care Center in Johnson City had maggots in her ear because of a hygiene problem at the facility. Records show the unnamed woman suffered from dementia and needed assistance with dressing, eating and…