California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

In 2007, Dr. David Graham, a drug safety expert with the FDA, testified before Congress and stated that approximately 15,000 people die each year in U.S. nursing homes from the off-label use of anti-psychotic drugs. Off-label use is the use of the drug for a condition it was not intended. In California, it has been estimated that up to 60% of all nursing home residents are given psychoactive drugs, which is an increase of 30% in only 10 years. It's no wonder that when we think about nursing homes, we think of isolated elderly people sitting hunched over in wheelchairs, or in bed, segregated from the world. That life is a sad realty for many.

To combat the misuse of psychoactive drugs, the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform have released a publication called Toxic Medicine - What You Should Know to Fight the Misuse of Psychoactive Drugs in California Nursing Homes. The 20-page booklet provides an overview of what psychoactive drugs are, their purposes, the risks associated with them, and an overview of the resident's rights.

Primary among those rights is the requirement of consent. Before a psychoactive drug can be used, a physician must inform the resident (or his/her decision-maker) about the drug, why it is being recommended, and the risks associated with it, and then must obtain consent before prescribing it. The guide also provides a list of questions that should be asked of a doctor who is recommending a psychoactive drug, and what to do if it is suspected that the drugs are being used without proper authority.

The California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform is a San Francisco based nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of long-term care patients since 1983.

A .pdf of the Toxic Medicine booklet can be found by clicking here.

The nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at the Walton Law Firm represent seniors and dependent adults who have been abused or neglected in the nursing home and assisted living setting. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

A few times a year we hear news stories of Alzheimer's sufferers wandering away from their homes and becoming lost. Those stories end one of two ways, and unfortunately, too often the ending is not a happy one.

These sad stories have created a cottage industry for nursing home providers. We have all now heard of nursing homes advertising themselves with "special neighborhoods for the memory impaired." Or providing "safe and secure" housing for the Alzheimer's patient. But what happens when the victim wanders away from those facilities?

A few years ago, such a thing happened in Escondido. Then a 94-year-old woman walked out of Palomar Heights Care Center in Escondido and into the path of a car, killing her instantly. Caregivers told the media that they didn't know what happened, but a subsequent lawsuit revealed some serious neglect on the part of the home.

It happened again yesterday in Castro Valley. An 89-year-old Alzheimer's sufferer was killed by a car after wandering away from an "Alzheimer's & Dementia Care Facility." It's unclear how this incident occurred, but you can bet that the primary reason the family of the victim placed him in the facility was to prevent the very thing that took his life. An investigation into the accident is ongoing.

Source: Mercury News

The nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at the Walton Law Firm represent seniors and dependent adults who have been victims of physical abuse in the nursing home, and those who have been neglected or received substandard care. Call (866) 607-1325 or complete on online for for a free and confidential consultation.

USA Today has analyzed nursing home rankings under Medicare criteria and found that lowest scoring nursing homes tend to stay that way, year after year. Sadly, many of these poor performing nursing homes are the only nursing facilities for miles.

According to this article, twenty percent of the country's 15,700 nursing homes receive consistently poor ratings for the care they provide. With over 250,000 Americans living in skilled nursing facilities, that represents a huge number of vulnerable nursing home patients who are exposed to abuse or neglect every day.

"We want to see improvements, but we don't expect a nursing home will jump to a five-star rating within a one-year time period," said Medicare's Thomas Hamilton.

The USA Today analysis found an average of 14 annual deficiencies per facility.

Source: USA Today

The nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at the Walton Law Firm represent seniors and dependent adults throughout California who have been abused or neglected in the nursing home and assisted living setting. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

Nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers in California often lament the state's weak enforcement of bad nursing homes. The California Department of Public Health, due primarily to inadequate funding, rarely provides the strong oversight of California's 1,200 or so licensed skilled nursing facilities. As a result, bad nursing homes operate with relative impunity, and those who screw up rarely suffer the consequences.

Apparently California is not alone. In Connecticut, the director of the state's Department of Public Health said his unit is dangerously understaffed. He has only four investigators to oversee the state's 231 certified nursing facilities, and told the Norwich Bulletin that if he had 10 more, he would have a lot more cases.

State Sen. Edith Prague has apparently had enough. She is set to re-introduce a bill that would make it easier to hold the owners of nursing homes criminally responsible for abuse and neglect of patients in their facilities. Under Prague’s bill, the state's DPH would be required to include a notice in nursing home applications telling owners they could be held criminally liable for patient neglect by employees, including for things such as inadequate staffing. “You can’t sue the state, but the nursing home owners who cut back on staffing I feel should be held responsible,” Prague said.

The bill was partly motivated by the story of Robert Wininger, a Connecticut man who died after developing gangrene in both legs while residing in a nursing home. The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit, and named as a defendant the state's public health commissioner.

Do we need such a bill in California? At Walton Law Firm, we have seen many deplorable acts of neglect and abuse, many of which have been investigated by the state, only to result in a small slap on the wrist. Maybe the threat of criminal prosecution would force the repeat offenders to either sell to competent owners or get out of the business.

Source: Norwich Bulletin

The nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at the Walton Law Firm represent seniors and dependent adults throughout California who have been abused or neglected in the nursing home and assisted living setting. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

If you considering using the services of a residential care facility for the elderly or an assisted living facility, you may be wondering how to select a good one. Unfortunately, there is no rating system like you might find in hospitals, and now nursing homes, but there are actions you can take that will help ensure you make the right choice.

The California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) have created a checklist to use when researching care facilities for the elderly. First and foremost, evaluate the most recent inspection report from the California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing (DSS). Your local DSS office will have a complete inspection file on every facility within its jurisdiction, and you have a right to review. Simply contact the office and make an appointment to go review the file. (Click here to find your local DSS office).

When reviewing the file, you want to make sure to examine:

● The inspection report. How did the facility do? Were there deficiencies, and, if so,did they involve resident care?
● Any complaints made against the facility in recent years, and how those complaints were addressed.
● Request to see the "Advisory Notes," form of written consultation provided by the licensing evaluator to the facility.

In addition, use the CANHR checklist to get a good idea about the day-to-day life in the facility, and to determine which home is best for you:

● Visit each facility several times.
● Pay special attention to how residents are being treated by staff and the quality and responsiveness of the services. Don't be sold only on the attractiveness of the facility.
● Narrow the options down to two or three facilities.
● In making visits, walk through the whole facility and visit at different times.
● Drop by unannounced and visit at night and/or on the weekend.
● Make sure that you visit during a mealtime.
● Obtain a copy of the admission agreement. Read it carefully. Understand the services, costs and conditions for transfer.

Click here to see the entire CANHR checklist.

Before making the decision, do your homework. You may be preventing a major headache down the road.

The nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at the Walton Law Firm represent seniors and dependent adults throughout California who have been abused or neglected in the skilled nursing facility, residential care facility for the elderly, and assisted living setting. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

U.S. News and World Report, famous for its "best" lists, is out with a ranking of the country's best nursing homes. There are approximately 16,000 individuals living in U.S. nursing homes, and approximately 3.2 million will spend time in one each year. Here at Walton Law Firm we get asked all the time to recommend nursing homes, but rarely can provide a good answer. In our experience, the best guarantor of good care is an attentive family who visits frequently.

Here is a list of the top 25 Southern California nursing homes as ranked as the U.S. News and World Report ranks as the best:

1. Rady Children's Hospital Bernardo Center, San Diego
2. Community Care Center, Duarte
3. Green Acres Lodge, Rosemead
4. Harbor View Center, Long Beach
5. Hillcrest Manor Sanitarium, National City
6. Parkside Special Care Center, El Cajon
7. Providence St. Elizabeth Care, North Hollywood
8. Whittier Hospital Medical Center, Whittier
9. Windsor Manor, Glendale
10. All Saints Healthcare Sub-acute, North Hollywood
11. Artesia Christian Home, Inc., Artesia
12. Bear Valley Community Hospital, Big Bear Lake
13. Brotman Medical Center, Culver City
14. California Convalescent Center, Los Angeles
15. Cherrylee Lodge, El Monte
16. Clear View Sanitarium, Gardena
17. Community Convalescent Center of San Bernardino, San Bernardino
18. Country Villa Broadway Healthcare Center, San Gabriel
19. Country Villa Glendale Healthcare Center, Glendale
20. Dunlap Sanitarium, Los Angeles
21. Glenbrook at La Costa Glen, Carlsbad
22. Kearny Mesa Convalescent, San Diego
23. Lanterman Developmental Center, Pomona
24. Marguerite Gardens, Alhambra
25. Monterey Care, Rosemead

To read the complete list click here.

The list was compiled by a variety of measurements, including state inspections, nursing home staffing, and other quality measures under Medicare and Medicaid guidelines. As mentioned in U.S. News, the "grade" is just that, a grade. It doesn't mean that your experience at this home will be of the quality suggested. There is no substitute for an in-depth visit to the nursing home you choose, which should include speaking with other residents and their families.

Source: U.S. News and World Report

The nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at the Walton Law Firm represent seniors and dependent adults who have been abused or neglected in the nursing home and assisted living setting. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

This story is flat-out disturbing, and started with a concern we have heard many times from the families of our nursing home abuse clients. It began with Phyllis Peters could not wake up her 97-year-old mother, who was residing in Kern Valley Nursing Home. When she complained to Gwen Hughes, the nursing home's director, Hughes would "chemically restrain" the patient by giving her powerful anti-psychotic drugs to shut her up. Hughes did this to other residents in the nursing home, and three of them died.

In a report from the California Attorney General, Hughes ordered one patient drugged because she "glared" at her. Another was given high doses of an anti-psychotic drug for throwing a carton of milk. Several residents became severely malnourished, and were left in bed drooling and emaciated.

"In a couple cases, elderly people were actually held down, restrained against their will, and given excessive amounts of medicine to keep them quiet," said AG Jerry Brown.

But here's the stunner. Hughes had been fired from a previous nursing home for over-drugging there. When the previous employer was called as a reference for the job at Kern Valley, they failed to explain why Hughes was terminated out of fear of lawsuits (ironically, since now they will become a part of a huge lawsuit). As a result of the deaths, Hughes, administrator Pamela Ott, and physician Hoshang Pormir have been charged with criminal elder abuse, all facing up to 11 years in jail. Lawsuits by the surviving family members, and probably others, are certain to follow. The FDA estimates that unnecessary anti-psychotics kill 15,000 nursing home patients each year.

Source: ABC News

The elder abuse and neglect lawyers at the Walton Law Firm represent seniors and dependent adults throughout California who have been abused or neglected in the nursing home and assisted living setting. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

According to new research from Brown University, elderly Hispanics are more likely to live in inferior nursing homes than their white counterparts.

In an article out in the January 10 edition of Health Affairs, a team of researchers takes the first comprehensive look at the types of nursing facilities Hispanic elderly live in, and how the care at those homes compares to homes that house a primarily white patient population. According to the study, the disparity is sharp.

"The most shocking finding is the pervasiveness of disparities in nursing home care that are primarily white, compared to nursing homes that are a mix of whites and Hispanic residences," said Mary Fennell, professor of sociology and community health at Brown.

According to Fennell, the study reflects a change in elder care among Hispanic families, which traditionally has used nursing homes less than white or black families. In Hispanic households, care of the elderly is usually provided by adult daughters. But the economic realities of 21st Century America are changing that. Fennell said that the loss of in-home caregivers is occurring as the growth of elderly Hispanics is rising dramatically.

The study found that nursing home residents are increasingly coming from the lower end of the socio-economic scale, and lacking resources for better quality care in assisted living facilities or elsewhere. "People with resources can get into very good places or alternatives for nursing home care," Fennell said. "Everyone else is left with not-very-good facilities that are not performing well."

Source: Brown University

The nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at the Walton Law Firm represent seniors and dependent adults who have been abused or neglected in the nursing home and assisted living setting. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

A certified nursing assistant working in a San Diego nursing home is being held on charges of rape and elder abuse after being caught having sex with a nursing home resident. According to reports, an employee of the El Dorado Care Center in El Cajon walked into the room of an elderly patient and saw Felix Panem sexually assaulting the patient. Panem is being held on $450,000 bail, and faces a possible 10 year sentence if convicted.

Sexual assault in the nursing home is not common, but it is certainly not rare. Because of age and infirmity, including memory problems such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease, nursing home residents can be fairly easy targets for the criminally inclined. The Walton Law Firm has has cases involving sexual assault, physical abuse, and burglary committed by employee caregivers. Sometimes it's just a rouge employee, but there are times when the facilities fail to perform adequate background checks that would have revealed the criminal propensity of a caregiver.

Investigators told the Union Tribune that they believe that the elderly resident is Panem's only victim, but believe that she may have been raped by him on other occasions. The El Dorado Care Center is a skilled-nursing facility on Washington Street in El Cajon, California.

Source: signonsandiego.com

The San Diego elder abuse and neglect lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals who have suffered abuse or neglect in the hospital, nursing home, or residential care setting. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free and confidential consultation, of fill out an online form.

We blogged earlier about the $7.75 million dollar verdict a 71-year-old stroke victim was awarded after she proved to a civil jury that she was abused by caregivers in her nursing home. The lady's family decided to place a hidden camera near the bed of Maria Arellano, and caught some ghastly footage of an attendant pulling the elderly woman's hair, bending her fingers and neck, and treating her violently in the shower. Now, as expected, the defendant, Fillmore Convalescent Center, plans on appealing the verdict.

It's attorney Thomas Beach told the Ventura County Star, “We strongly disagree with the decision and will be taking all appropriate legal steps to set aside the verdict.” Strongly disagree? Of course he disagrees; he told the jury to give her nothing.

What makes this case most interesting is that the plaintiff attorney Greg Johnson made a settlement demand of $500,000 long before the trial. He had compelling video, and a great story, and not only did the nursing home ignore his demand, they never offered him a penny.

If Mr. Beach's post-trial statements are any indication of how this will play out, it's not going to be pretty. He states that the family knew of the abuse a year earlier, but didn't report it. He is now "concerned" as to why it was not reported. Maybe this is a new (risky) theory - blame the family - but if he had such concerns, why didn't he raise them at trial?

The jury has spoken. The elder abuse victim should be paid.

Source: vcstar.com

The elder abuse and neglect lawyers at the Walton Law Firm represent seniors and dependent adults who have been abused or neglected in the nursing home and assisted living setting. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

When a person has very serious concerns that a nursing home resident has been subject to abuse or neglect in the home, a complaint may be filed with the state. The California Department of Public Health (DPH) licenses and certifies all nursing homes in California, and maintains a process for investigating all complaints made against nursing homes.

The process of filing a complaint with the DPH is fairly straightforward, and the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform have summarized it nicely:

1. Who Can File a Complaint? Any person, or even an organization, can file a complaint about nursing home neglect with the DPH. While it is usually a family member, it doesn't have to be.

2. When Should a Complaint be Made? Typically complaints are made after other measures to resolve the issue have failed. In cases of suspected abuse or neglect, it's best to file the complaint as soon as possible.

3. Where Do I File a Complaint? DPH complaints should be filed with the nearest DPH office, usually in your county. Click here for a list of DPH office numbers for all Southern California counties.

4. What Should I Say? Focus on the important issues. For example, if the resident has suffered numerous falls and been injured, but you also have been unhappy with room cleanliness, it's best to focus on the falls and injury. You can always discuss the room cleanliness issues later. The DPH gets many call of complaints against nursing homes, you want them to take yours seriously.

5. What Happens After I Make My Complaint? Under California Law, the DPH must commence an onsite investigation of the complaint with 10 working days from the date the complaint is made. After the visit, follow up investigation may be conducted, such as interviewing witnesses. The complaints are usually completed within 60 days, at which time you will receive written notice of the DPH findings.

6. Do I Need a Lawyer? It depends. If the complaint involves serious allegations of abuse or neglect, then contacting a nursing home abuse or neglect attorney might be a good idea. We frequently say that any unexpected injury, illness, or death could be a sign of neglect, and consulting an experienced attorney in California nursing home law might be a good idea.

Source: CANHR

The nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at the Walton Law Firm LLP represent seniors and dependent adults who have been victims of physical or sexual abuse in the nursing home, and those who have been neglected or received substandard care. Call (866) 607-1325 for a free and confidential consultation.

A Ventura nursing home called Fillmore Convalescent Center, its owner, and one of its employees were hit with a $7.75 million verdict yesterday after a jury found them liable for elder abuse. It has to be one of the largest verdicts in California in a case involving nursing home abuse or neglect.

The facts are egregious. In 2006, the family of 71-year-old Maria Arellano, a stroke victim who was also non-verbal, began to notice suspicious bruising. They complained to the nursing home administration, but it failed to look into it. The family then placed a hidden camera in Ms. Arellano's room, which caught caregiver Monica Garcia slapping Arellano, pulling her hair, bending her fingers, and treating her violently. When the tape was revealed, Garcia was charged with criminal acts, and the family brought an elder abuse lawsuit against the nursing home.

The lawyer for Arellano, Greg Johnson, must have done an excellent job. He told the Ventura County Star that he offered to settle the case for $500,000, but was rebuffed. The nursing home, through its attorney Tom Beach, never offered a dime to resolve the case. "There was a lot of arrogance," said Johnson.

Ironically, Fillmore Convalescent received a five-star rating, the highest, from the Nursing Home Compare system, operated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Source: Ventura County Star

The nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at Walton Law Firm LLP provide free consultations to individuals and families who believe a loved one has been abuse or neglected in the nursing home or assisted living setting. Cases are accepted in all Southern California counties.