To read The Wall Street Journal article on the subject click here

Walton Barber LLP has represented victims of nursing home malpractice for more than a decade, and has learned that nursing home malpractice can come in many forms. The most common being simple neglect – the failure to notice a change in the resident’s condition, whether it be the occurrence of bed sores, the development of dehydration or malnutrition, or an obvious injury that is not promptly addressed. The law defines neglect simply as the failure to provide care for a person’s physical and mental needs, and to keep them free from health and safety hazards.

More serious cases are those of intentional conduct such as physical abuse, or the intentional mistreatment of a resident, often in retaliation for some prior act. Or the failure to provide basic care because of issues related to under staffing, such as cases involving multiple falls because staff would not respond to call lights. These cases can fairly be described not as just malpractice, but a conscious decision on the part of the nursing facility to expose residents to the risk of harm.

Ultimately, any unexpected injury, illness, infection, or death should be promptly investigated to determine if the underlying causes in nursing home malpractice, neglect, or abuse.

Walton Barber LLP represents individuals and families of victims of neglect and abuse in the nursing home setting. It accepts cases in the Southern California counties of San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Imperial.

Through its Elder Justice program, the DOJ is also increasing the enforcement of civil and criminal penalties against nursing facilities and others whose mistreatment results in the serious injury or death of elderly residents. It has also created State Working Groups to improve the coordination of federal, state, and local law enforcement in cases of health care fraud.

For more information, visit the DOJ's website here.

The law firm of Walton Barber LLP represents victims of neglect, mistreatment, and malpractice in the nursing home and assisted living setting. It accepts cases in all Southern California counties, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Ventura, and Imperial.

Antipsychotic drugs are frequently used in nursing homes to address the behavioral issues caused by dementia, including aggression, agitation, and delirium. Physicians concede that alternatives to antipsychotics to address this type of behavior are limited.

Many experts feel behavioral interventions should be tried first and antipsychotics used as a last resort, "when the behavior or the psychiatric symptoms are really out of control and causing complete distress not only for the person suffering from Alzheimer's, but for caregivers all around them," said Maria Carrillo, director of medical and scientific affairs at the Alzheimer's Association in Chicago. "It's important to work these things out with the physician and, of course, do follow-up very closely together, so you can make sure these antipsychotics are having the effect you want and, if not, discontinue them immediately."

The study's findings were presented in the most recent edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Most complaints involve allegations of abuse or neglect of the nursing home resident, but any topic can be the subject of a complaint, including, but not limited to, poor staffing, unsafe conditions, mistreatment, transfer and discharge concerns, generally poor care, or a violation of patient rights. Once a complaint is made - and any person may make a complaint - the DPH will create a file and assign an investigator to the case. In most cases, the investigation is concluded within 90 days. For a list of local DPH offices click here.

If you have a complaint, it is usually a good idea to first address those concerns to the nursing facility itself, whether it is the administrator or the family council. If dissatisfied with the response, it is suggested to call the local ombudsman in your county for further advice. If a complaint involves serious allegations of abuse or neglect that has resulted in some injury, it probably a good idea to get the advice of an attorney with experience in nursing home abuse or neglect cases, such as the attorneys at Walton Barber LLP.

All complaints can be made orally or in writing.

Congressional investigators have confirmed in the report something advocates for the elderly have known for sometime. That is, nursing home inspectors routinely miss, overlook, or minimize problems in nursing facilities that can pose a serious risk to patient health.

In California, nursing homes are inspected once a year by the Department of Public Health, which sets the licensing standards. The GAO report found that state employees missed at least one serious deficiency in 15% of the inspections audited by the federal government.

“Poor quality of care — worsening pressure sores or untreated weight loss — in a small but unacceptably high number of nursing homes continues to harm residents or place them in immediate jeopardy, that is, at risk of death or serious injury,” the report said.

The federal study was done at the request of Senators Charles E. Grassley and Herb Kohl who have introduced a bill to improve nursing home care in the United States, and increase the penalties for violations of federal standards.

The New York Times article can be found here. The GAO report is here (.pdf)