California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer BlogAccording to a recent report by the International Psychogeriatrics Association, one in five older adults living in Europe with a functional impairment receives long-term care in a long-term care facility. Over 50% of these older adults suffer with dementia and often are challenged by some kind of neuropsychiatric symptoms throughout the progression of the disease. These patients commonly express challenging behaviors that include verbal and physical aggression, depression, agitation, wandering, sleep disturbances, oppositional behaviors, and psychotic symptoms. Presently, not many pharmacologic options exist for the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms. However, elderly residents with dementia are frequently prescribed psychotropic medications.
Articles Posted in Neglect
Long-Term Care Staff Must Strive to Prevent Pressure Ulcers
The prevalence of chronic wounds located in the lower extremity area is high among older adults. Not only can they be extremely deleterious and pose major health risks, they also increase socioeconomic burden because of the high expenses of wound care, long duration of healing time, increased complication rate and negative effect on patients’ and loved ones’ quality of life. Chronic wounds are related to heightened mortality and significant morbidity because of infection, loss of ability to perform daily activities, pain, and psychosocial issues. Health care clinicians must be trained to identify and diagnose wounds, as well as provide proper management of their etiology. The four most common chronic wounds are venous leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, and arterial ulcers. Although there have been recent advances in wound care, care providers are still struggling to provide the best quality of care in this area, especially for elderly people living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Nursing Homes Must Take Greater Action to Prevent Residents from Falling—Especially for Those with Dementia
Falling is a serious issue in nursing homes and leads to deleterious consequences. Every year, 4% of falls result in fractures and 11% result in soft tissue damage. Patients who fall experience functional loss, self-imposed functional limitations due to fear of falling, and restraint from activity imposed by care givers.
Vote Yes on Proposition 46
This November, there will be an important proposition on the ballot that all advocates of older adults should be aware of. The Troy and Alana Pack Patient Safety Act, also known as Proposition 46, is a ballot initiative that will protect patients from corporate greed in healthcare services. It is imperative that anyone concerned with elder abuse vote Yes on Proposition 46.
Proposition 46 will accomplish three things: 1) require health care providers to check a uniform database before prescribing medication to prevent drug abuse; 2) require doctors to take a drug and alcohol test; and 3) increase the limits on noneconomic damages for medical malpractice cases.
Older adults take many prescription medications. National Institute on Drug Abuse states that, older adults make up more than a third of all outpatient prescription medication cost even though they are a minority of the general population. California currently has a database that monitors how medication is prescribed and dispensed to prevent various types of drug abuse. This is called the CURES program, or Controlled Substance Utilization Review, and is administered by the Department of Justice. Proposition 46 mandates that physicians and pharmacists check CURES before prescribing or dispensing medication. Doctors would be advised through CURES about existing prescription, especially for strong painkillers (such as Vicodin and OxyContin) that carry a high risk of abuse.
Electronic Medical Records May be Causing more Harm than Good
Throughout the 21st century, technology has evolved and become a monumental necessity in our everyday lives. The technological advancements have unfolded exponentially throughout recent years and have modernized prominent industries, including the medical field. According to the Boston Globe, a major innovation in the medical realm is the initiation of electronic medical records. Electronic Medical Records have many potential rewards but an unlimited amount of risks associated. The Obama administration “poured $30 billion in taxpayer subsidies into the push for digital medical records beginning in 2009, with only a few strings attached and no safety oversight of the vendors who sell the systems.” Accounting for the sudden push of electronic medical records by the government, multiple healthcare facilities including hospitals have adopted the electronic medical record system. Continue Reading
Implementing Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Dementia
It is becoming increasingly evident that pharmacological interventions should be a last resort when treating patients with dementia. Due to a lack of resources and staff most skilled nursing home facilities overlook non-pharmacological options. However, studies have shown that non-pharmacological treatments are a safer alternative for patients. While pharmacological interventions are an effortless option for nursing homes and hospitals, they fail to improve the state of the resident. These medications might look like they are improving the condition of the patient however, these drugs sedate them as their condition worsens. In some cases, it could cause sufferers of cognitive disorders to deteriorate rapidly and act out.
The staff at a facility may often focus on the cognitive deterioration of the sufferers of dementia. As such, other symptoms that are linked to dementia may be overlooked. These symptoms generally manifest themselves in the forms of agitation, aggression, eating disorders, loss of appetite, and abnormal vocalization. Many of these symptoms may also grow to be the cause of death. For example, eating disorders and loss of appetite can lead to malnutrition. Furthermore, the use of medications have side-effects including sedation, psychosis, tremors, and may even lead to falls. More recent cases show that the pharmacological treatment of dementia leads to reduced resident well-being and quality of life, and may even accelerate cognitive decline.
Investigation Reveals Rampant Abuse and Neglect at Alzheimer’s Care of Commerce
One may feel that by placing their loved ones under the care of a skilled nursing facility, they would be provided with quality care. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. An investigation began on March 29, 2013 when an employee at an assisted living facility, Alzheimer’s Care of Commerce in Jacksonville County contacted authorities to report cases of abuse. The Alzheimer’s Care of Commerce focuses on elders who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
After some investigation, the facility was raided in July 2013. Authorities arrested twenty employees and the owner of the facility following claims that the staff assaulted, restrained, and over-medicated patients. The facility is currently facing a total of seventy two criminal charges. However, according to Mike Ayers, the special agent in charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Athens regional office, there could be more charges. They will not know until the district attorney looks at the files. The abuses that are being reported are cruel, inhumane; and so severe that the case may be forwarded to a grand jury this May.
Neglect Results in Death of Nursing Home Resident
More often than not we are forced to do things that we would prefer not to. One example would be placing our loved ones under the care and supervision of a skilled nursing facility. When our loved ones are in a fragile state, we would like to keep them as close to us as possible. Sadly, at times, we are not able to provide our loved ones with the attention and medical care they need. While we would like to think that they are being provided with the highest level of care at a skilled nursing facility, it is regrettably more likely that they are not. An unfortunate example of this would be a recent case at a home in Medford, New York where the neglect of a 72-year-old woman who was under the care of a skilled nursing facility lead to her untimely death.
Evidence shows that the staff ignored all alerts and pages from the patient for more than two hours. The resident stopped breathing and, according to authorities, had likely been dead for some time until a nurses aid finally went to check on her. The level of ignorance and mistreatment in this appalling case is astounding. At a certain point the elderly are unable to breathe on their own, and therefore, are hooked up to a ventilator which regulates their breathing. While it is ludicrous that this resident was ignored for over two hours the resident had orders from her doctor stating that she must be connected to a ventilator machine at night. These orders were blatantly disregarded, which led authorities to believe this was the actual cause of her death.
States Move toward Implementing Surveillance in Nursing Homes
Due to the prevalence of nursing home abuse arising across the nation, some states have begun moving towards implementing legislation to explicitly allow surveillance cameras in the rooms of patients residing in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. These surveillance cameras will be used to record evidence of instances of elder neglect and abuse. Some states have taken such steps as a response to nursing home abuse and neglect, with hopes of reducing the incidence of abuse against the elderly. There are currently three states that have passed such laws, with Oklahoma being the most recent state. This new Oklahoma law will allow residents to have cameras in their rooms as long as they sign consent forms which notify the facility. The resident will then have exclusive rights to the footage for use in court. The recorded footage was found to have an impact in Oklahoma, where an aide pleaded guilty to abuse and neglect after being caught on camera.
Both Texas and New Mexico also legalized the use of surveillance cameras in nursing homes in an attempt to catch instances of elder abuse and neglect. Oklahoma passed their surveillance law after an outcry arose over recorded evidence of nursing home aides abusing an elderly resident in the facility. Surveillance footage showed Eryetha Mayberry, a 96-year-old woman, subject to various acts of abuse. For example, the nursing home aides were recorded shoving latex gloves into the resident’s mouth. Other recordings showed nursing home staff taunting Mrs. Mayberry, tapping her head, flinging the elderly woman onto her bed from her wheelchair, and performing heavy handed chest compressions thereafter.
Home Care Agencies Now Subject to Increased Regulation in California
On October 15, 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown signed the Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act of 2013. The passage of this Act followed after the veto of a similar bill by the governor last year. It has served as a response to critics who have continually argued that the home health care industry has not been subject to enough regulation and oversight. The loose regulation of this industry has created room for caregivers to engage in acts of neglect and abuse towards their elderly clients, as was demonstrated in a study conducted by the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes.
The study was released in April 2011, and demonstrated how California failed to screen employees who cared for the elderly in their homes. Some of these caregivers had criminal records, but had not been screened prior to employment. This documentation of elder abuse and neglect resulted in an increased push for tight industry regulations in California. The Act will impact approximately 120,000 caregivers and 1,400 home care agencies, and is representative of an effort being made to protect consumers receiving services within this industry.
