Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Eighteen year old Raymond Tillman, a suspected nursing home rape suspect, turned himself in after police officials released surveillance video of the suspect leaving the facility. Reportedly, Tillman's family members saw his image and immediately worked to convince him to turn himself in.

Tillman was wanted in connection with a sexual assault that occurred on Sunday, February 14, 2010 around 5:00 p.m. at a nursing home in New Orleans, Louisiana. "According to investigators, the suspect entered the nursing home and sexually assaulted a female inside of her room and then fled on foot," said Officer Gary Flot in a news release.

Amanda Tibble, a former CNA at John M. Reed Nursing Home, a nursing home facility located in Limestone, Tennessee, was arrested on March 1, 2010 and charged with five counts of willful abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an adult. The charges were the result of a facility investigation into allegations of physical and emotional abuse of resident at the hands of a facility employee.

Reportedly, Tibble mainly directed profanity towards residents under her care, but on at least one instance, she allegedly twisted a seventy-five year old resident's arm behind his back and was using profanity towards him.

Tibble "admitted to being verbally abusing to four clients by using profanity directed to them". She is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 3, 2010.

Seventy-six year old resident Barbara Fasold allegedly fell out of bed while her sheets were being changed at Ridgecrest Nursing and Rehabilitation, a nursing home located in Deland, Florida. Reportedly, the fall occurred around 5:00 a.m. on February 19, 2010, but no emergency help was summoned until approximately 4:45 p.m. - leaving Ms. Fasold's broken legs and shoulder untreated for nearly 12 hours. Mrs. Fasold died on Thursday, February 25, 2010.

Ridgecrest Nursing and Rehabilitation is not without problems. In 2008, the facility was cited for an excessive rate of high-risk bedsores.

Lynwood C. Bauer, a former nursing assistant at Britthaven Nursing Home in Pineville, Kentucky, was charged with one count of reckless abuse of an adult after a defenseless nursing home resident was severely injured while under his care.

In September 2009, Bauer was caring for a male resident, who was paralyzed on his left side from a stroke. The resident's care plan required facility staff to move the resident using a mechanical lift assisted by two staff members. Reportedly, Bauer moved the resident from a chair to his bed without the assistance of a mechanical lift or other staff. The resident allegedly fell from the bed and Bauer, who did not check the man's treatment plan, put him back into bed without any assistance or any assessment for injuries.

Later, nursing staff discovered the resident had "raised" and "red, painful areas" on the back of his head, left shoulder, rib cage, hip, and knee. The resident was transported to a hospital, where he later died.

Bauer remains in jail on a $500,000 cash bond. He faces up to one year in jail. The facility was cited for two deficiencies: one for actual harm to a resident and one for failure to immediately report the incident.

A Minnesota nursing home faces blame in the death of a resident after a medication error. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, a resident at Fair Oaks Lodge in Wadena, Minnesota died after she received the wrong medication.

The resident, who suffered from Alzheimer's, was taken to the hospital on June 1, 2009 after being administered the incorrect medication. The medication caused her blood pressure to drop and she contracted pneumonia. She was taken off life support three days later and died shortly thereafter.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, two other residents at the facility were also administered incorrect medications. They were sent to the emergency room for treatment.

Four staff members at the facility were blamed for the errors and the ensuing investigation "indicated a systems failure on the part of the facility". The facility was found responsible for neglect.

Redeemer Health and Rehab has been blamed for recent injuries a resident suffered that resulted in his death.

The facility, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was found negligent by state investigators because the resident, who suffered from a traumatic brain injury and dementia, was known to wedge his feet between his bed and the radiator and because the radiator cover had become loose. The resident suffered second and third degree burns on his legs and feet from a radiator heater that was uncovered and located directly below his bed. In fact, one of the resident's feet "appeared to be burned down to the bone" by the heater. The resident was rushed to a hospital, where he died approximately four weeks later. Facility employees reported that the resident had placed his feet in the same location on previous occasions and that the heater cover would regularly come off and have to be repaired by maintenance staff.

An inspection of the facility two weeks after the incident found ten beds within 20 inches of the radiators. Approximately six residents in those beds were considered fall and potential burn risks. The radiator surface registered temperatures ranging between 85 and 119 degrees.

Sadly, this is the second Minnesota nursing home cited for resident neglect involving radiators. In January 2010, a Golden Living Center - Meadow Lane resident was found sprawled over a radiator next to her bed. She suffered first and second degree burns on her left arm, hand, and leg and died approximately nine days later.

Three nursing home groups in Missouri regularly make payday loans to their employees at high interest rates which are repaid through payroll deduction. Members of these groups, headquartered in Sikeston, Missouri, include the following: James and Judy Lincoln, Mathias Dasal, Gary Crane, Timothy Drake, and Don Bedell. These individuals operate a combined total of 92 nursing home facilities.

Missouri legislators have become increasingly intolerant of predatory lending in Missouri nursing homes and have introduced House Bill Number 1509 which, if passed, will make it illegal for nursing home payday lenders "to facilitate, encourage, solicit, advertise, or provide unsecured loans of $500 or less on the premises of any nursing home property or any residential care facility, assisted living facility, intermediate care facility, or skilled nursing facility.

House Bill 1509 was sponsored by Mary Still (D-Boone) and co-sponsored by John Burnett (D-Kansas City).

House Bill 1509 is not yet law and faces several hurdles before it reaches the governor's desk.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the Chapel Hill Police Department are investigating after several residents at The Britthaven of Chapel Hill tested positive for opiates.

The Britthaven of Chapel Hill, a nursing home facility located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has had problems with patient care in the past. The facility notified authorities after a resident's blood tests revealed unprescribed opiates. Other residents of the facility's 29 bed Alzheimer's unit displayed signs of lethargy and underwent testing. Opiates were found in the blood of at least two more residents, who were immediately admitted to the hospital.

No drugs were missing from the facility, but the investigation continues. The regular staff of the Alzheimer's unit has been temporarily replaced with staff from corporate offices and other facilities.

Britthaven has had problems in the past at this facility. Prior to this incident, the facility was placed on the "Special Focus Facility" list belonging to the Medicare due to persistent and uncorrected conditions involving poor care. As a result, the facility receives a bi-annual inspection, rather than an annual inspection.

According to a Minnesota State Health Department investigation, the Foley Nursing Center, a nursing home located in Foley, Minnesota, was cited recently for failing to have "an adequate system in place whereby nurses notified the physician of the resident's deteriorating health status.

On March 3, 2009, a facility resident complained to a nurse that his chest was tight and his cough had "slight crackles". The nurse noted that the resident's oxygen saturation level had dropped to approximately 80%. The resident was administered oxygen and his saturation level climbed to 92%.

The following day, the resident attended a previously scheduled physician's appointment, where the physician detected shortness of breath. The man was taken to the hospital and admitted. The man died on March 8 from pneumonia.

The hospital physician doctor told state investigators that when the man's oxygen saturation level dropped to 80%, a nurse should have called a doctor. The state report found that one nurse failed to notify a physician of the "crackles" in the resident's lungs, a second nurse failed to act on that first nurse's concerns, and yet a third nurse didn't notify a doctor about the drop in oxygen saturation.

We discussed The Britthaven nursing home, a facility where residents were reportedly found to be under the influence of drugs that they weren't supposed to be receiving, in a previous blog.

A criminal investigation has been launched by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Medicaid Investigations Unit of the Attorney General's Office to investigate the possibility of drugging at The Britthaven. Six Alzheimer's residents tested positive for strong pain relieving drugs that they were not prescribed and three residents had to be hospitalized. Sadly, one of the three residents hospitalized, eighty-four year old Rachel Holliday, died on February 16, 2010.

The nursing home facility has taken multiple steps to ensure resident safety. The facility replaced some medications and eliminated some dietary supplements. The Alzheimer's unit is now monitored 24 hours a day. The Alzheimer's unit's staff have all been drug tested and while the test results were all negative, the staff remains on paid leave.

This is one reason why we should honor members of the "Greatest Generation".

We discussed Fox River Pavilion, a nursing home facility located in Aurora, Illinois, in a previous blog. On December 17, 2009, a fight between roommates resulted in the death of Randall Moons, a fifty-seven year old resident of the facility.

According to the Health Department report, Moons' fifty-four year old roommate told investigators that he was watching television when Moons began screaming profanities, jumped on his bed, and punched him in the face. The roommate screamed for help for "over 20 minutes" before another resident got a staff member. The staff member found Moons unconscious and not breathing. Moons died from a heart problem brought on by the stress from the fight. Moons' roommate sustained a broken kneecap and was bleeding from his nose, ears, and mouth.

Moons had only been a resident of Fox River since August 2009, coming to the facility with a history of "unpredictable aggressiveness". His diagnoses were paranoid schizophrenia, alcohol abuse, past drug use, and high blood pressure. He had received psychiatric treatment from February 2005 to September 2008 after he was found not fit to stand trial for obstructing a police officer after he violated a protection order.

Reportedly, Moons had been a problem at Fox River - refusing to take medication, exposing himself to female residents, was physically aggressive, and repeatedly attempted elopement. Just two days prior to his death, staff members found Moons completely dressed and sitting in an empty bathtub. He allegedly told staff members he just wanted someone to "shoot him in the head".

The facility was cited for failing to have a plan to protect both Moons and other residents in light of his increasing behavior problems. The facility had also been cited for numerous problems in the past, which included other resident assaults.

Fox River Pavilion officials have been informed that they will lose federal funding for the facility within thirty (30) days. The facility currently has a monitor in place and that monitor will assist residents desiring to move.