San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer articles in category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse

New research shows that preventing and treating pressure ulcers in the nursing home setting requires a team approach, involving nurses, laundry workers, cafeteria and maintenance workers, and even the cosmeticians.Large bedsores are a sight to behold. The larger ones - Stage III and IV - can result in a wound so deep that you can see the bone. Wounds like this can be very painful and can lead...

Recent studies show that citations for serious violations issued against nursing homes is up 22% nationwide.A USA Today analysis, examining records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, shows that from 2000 through 2006, the number of citations for putting patients in "immediate jeopardy" had increased 22%. Those citations are considered the most serious and often follow cases in which...

Studies show that Medicaid spends more money on antipsychotic drugs for Americans than any other prescription drug. Why? Because nursing homes across the country are giving these powerful drugs to elderly residents for the purposes of "quieting" them.The Wall Street Journal is reporting that nearly 30% of the total nursing home population is receiving antipsychotic drugs in a practice that is...

Studies show that Medicaid spends more money on antipsychotic drugs for Americans than any other prescription drug. Why? Because nursing homes across the country are giving these powerful drugs to elderly residents for the purposes of "quieting" them.The Wall Street Journal is reporting that nearly 30% of the total nursing home population is receiving antipsychotic drugs in a practice that is...

Cases involving nursing home wanderers are not uncommon in the nursing home abuse and neglect arena. I have had them, and I know my colleagues have as well. When an elderly resident of a nursing home wanders away, usually because there is some memory impairment, it rarely ends well.That was the case in Escondido on Thanksgiving Day when 94-year-old Maria Cobian, a resident of Palomar Heights...

The owner of two nursing homes was ordered by a jury to pay more than $3 million to the estate of a former resident who developed bedsores on his body while a patient at the two nursing facilities. The resident died in 2004.According to reports, the nursing home the verdict stems from a lawsuit alleging that the nursing staff at Barry Manor and White Oak Manor nursing homes were negligent, and...

According to most reports, the evacuation of area nursing home residents occurred in an orderly and safe manner, and in accordance with local disaster planning.Fourteen San Diego nursing homes were evacuated totaling approximately 1,200 patients. In addition, 85 assisted living facilities and two hospitals were also evacuated. While the early news is good, and most of the nursing residents...

A new California law took effect on July 1, 2007 requiring the Department of Public Health to determine whether nursing homes are complying with California standards that are stronger than federal law. The new law, SB 1312, was introduced after it was learned that the department was ignoring California nursing home reform laws during inspection and elder abuse complaint investigations.For more...

For years now, we have heard the story from nursing home owners that they are barely getting by, and the lawsuits against them for negligent care are going to drive them out of business, leaving no place to put seniors. We always reject this argument as a time-honored trick by tortfeasors to try to portray themselves as victims after causing harm to others. A New York Times article this weekend...

A recent New York Times article reports that elderly patients are much more vulnerable to "poisonous" drug cocktails. Elderly persons, those over the age of 65, are more likely to be taking multiple medications for multiple conditions which have been prescribed by multiple physicians. This can result in elders receiving medications which should not be prescribed together. This can even occur...

Medicare to stop paying nursing homes for treating pressure ulcers which they cause. Pressue ulcers are one of the most common bases for elder aqbuse lawsuits. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced last month that, it will no longer reimburse hospitals for treating eight "reasonably preventable" conditions as of October 2008. Pressure ulcers are among the most prevalent,...

As a lawyer who sues nursing homes and residential care facilities for the abuse or neglect of their residents, I frequently get calls from people who feel that they or their loved one have been a victim abuse or neglect. When I hear genuine stories abuse or neglect, or of highly questionable conduct on the part of nursing home staff, I always ask whether or not anyone complained about it to...

The Nursing Home Complaint Investigation Improvement Act would require the Department of Health Services (DHS) to complete investigations within 40 working days; send complainants a written summary of findings about their complaint; investigate facility-reported complaints of abuse and neglect within the same timeframes as public complaints; and extend the number of days a complainant has to...