Personal Care Home, Assisted Living Facility & Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect

Carol Rosenbloom Associates, LLC | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Personal Care Home, Assisted Living and Nursing Home Injury Attorney ● Professional Malpractice Lawyer

As one gets older and needs medical care, various options are available, such as, personal care homes, assisted living facilities and nursing homes. HealthCare needs, as well as peace of mind, convenience, and comfort are just some of the advantages of receiving care at these facilities. However, abuse and neglect, which may include pressure sores, persistent pain, restraints and death at the hands of nurses, health care providers, and other caregivers in personal care homes, assisted living facilities and nursing homes is becoming more commonplace. Such abuse and neglect deprives its victims, many of whom are already vulnerable, elderly, or disabled, of a safe and secure home.

An assisted-living home and the State of Alabama must pay $1.5 million in damages for the first and second degree burns a mentally disabled man suffered when he was placed in a tub of scalding water.

Recently, the Bush administration has finally allowed the names of 131 nursing homes with poor inspection records to be made public. You can check the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website for the list.

Concerns have also arisen over the increasingly common acquisition of nursing home chains by financial companies with more experience in profit seeking than patient care. An example is the purchase of ManorCare, Inc. by the Carlyle Group which operates 46 nursing homes in Pennsylvania. Another business oriented patient care company is the Milwaukee-based Extendicare Health Services Inc., which operates more than 20 nursing homes in the state.

The owner of a Mississippi nursing home has been ordered to pay $1 million, including punitive damages, to an elderly woman who was sexually assaulted by a fellow resident. The jury trial in Vicksburg, Miss., centered on allegations that the patient was sexually assaulted by a mentally handicapped male resident while both resided at the nursing home. During the trial, the jury heard that the assailant, who had the mental capacity of a 5-year-old, was improperly admitted to the facility as a result of a pattern of inadequate screenings, according to one of the patient's attorneys. The patient's attorney said the decision to admit the assailant was the result of the nursing home placing revenues above resident safety. He added that this appeared to be a case of "absentee ownership" because the owners reportedly are located in Japan. The patient's attorney said the incident, which occurred March 7, 2002, was witnessed by a facility employee, but it was never reported to the state, nor was the patient ever sent out for treatment. Ultimately, the state fined the nursing home $100 for the incident, Thompson said. The evidence at trial also suggested that the nursing home neglected the patient and failed to provide her with a safe environment due to chronic understaffing. In particular, the patient's attorney said the evidence showed that Allen had eloped from the facility 11 times and had suffered five falls during her stay, which lasted from July 1999 to April 2002. At the close of evidence, the trial court entered a directed verdict in Allen's favor on the issue of liability. The trial judge reportedly said he had never seen a case of such clear liability. The jury then deliberated for about four hours before agreeing on a compensatory damages award of $700,000. Thereafter, the case proceeded to the punitive damages phase, with the jury ultimately awarding Allen an additional $300,000.

While the elderly reside at a personal care home, assisted living facility or a nursing home, that person's primary care physician, family doctor or attending physician still has a duty to implement an appropriate treatment plan for the patient. When a patient is suffering from a serious problem, such as, repeated dislodgement of the trachea tube, it may not be sufficient for a physician to rely on the personal care home, assisted living facility and nursing home staff to correct the problem. The physician should come in and manage the treatment at the facility.

Another concern that a patient should be aware of is, that as of today, there is no requirement that these small personal care homes or assisted living facilities have insurance. Sometimes, after a claim is made on behalf of a seriously injured or deceased patient, the facilities simply go out of business. In that case, even if a patient's claim is successful, the patient is left pursuing collection of the judgment against an out of business defendant.

If you believe that your loved one has been mistreated, seriously injured or died as a result of conduct, such as, unanswered call lights, undiagnosed maladies or other tales of frustrating mediocrity by a personal care home, assisted living facility or nursing home, contact the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Health (1-800-254-5164) or the county Area Agencies on Aging (Allegheny, 412-350-6905; Beaver, 724-847-2262; Butler, 724-282-3008: Fayette, 724-430-4855: Greene, 877-814-0788, ext. 543; Washington, 888-301-1836; Westmoreland, 724-837-3437). You should also contact an attorney.

A study by the National Senior Citizens Law Center ( http://www.nsclc.org/) has found that some admission agreements ignore the laws in some states, as well as federal laws and mislead consumes about the care they can expect. The residents' families are induced to sign away critical consumer protections. Elderly consumers and their families should be wary signing long and often complex nursing home agreements, according to the new study.

If you or someone you know is a victim of improper personal care, neglect or abuse at a personal care home, assisted living facility or nursing home, contact a personal Care Home, Assisted Living Facility and Nursing Home Injury lawyer at Carol Rosenbloom Associates, LLC, today to schedule a free initial consultation.

At Carol Rosenbloom Associates, LLC, we respect the trust our clients place in us and work diligently to provide efficient and effective legal services to people and families in the Pittsburgh metro area and throughout west-central Pennsylvania.

Personal Care Home, Assisted Living Facility and Nursing Home neglect and abuse include:

• Inadequate nutrition

The patient suffered from dehydration and malnutrition while in residence. Because of the nursing home's neglect, the patient eventually went into kidney failure and ultimately died.

• Dehydration
• Lack of adequate care
• Lack of supervision
• Poorly trained or abusive staff
• Bed sores (decubitus ulcers)

A patient was admitted to a health care center upon suffering a fractured leg. She subsequently developed pressure ulcers and was not given adequate treatment, such as daily skin checks. The patient died as a result of the pressure ulcers. The jury returned a verdict of $1 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

• Fall-downs / broken hips / wandering injuries

A patient died just two weeks after falling out of bed and breaking her hip. Despite learning that the patient could escape from a soft-belt restraint - and considering her pattern of frequently trying to get out of bed to go to the bathroom - the nursing home continued to rely on the inadequate restraint.

• Medication errors / overmedication

A patient was admitted to a hospital for treatment of sciatica pain. Upon discharge, a nurse inappropriately tripled the patient's morphine order on the medication transfer form. When admitted to nursing home, staff provided the incorrect dose of morphine to the patient and then ignored the patient's signs and symptoms of morphine intoxication. The Pima County Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be acute morphine intoxication. The jury returned a verdict of $6 million, holding the hospital 10% responsible and the nursing home 90% responsible for the death of the patient.

• Medical malpractice

If you think that someone you love is not receiving proper care at a personal care home, assisted living facility or nursing home, it is important to hire an attorney and to start documenting facts and observations about the case as soon as possible. Our personal injury  and wrongful death attorneys have more than 40 years of combined legal experience and can start working to protect the rights of you or your loved one today.

We offer free initial consultations