Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Jason Lynn Pearl

We discussed Jason Lynn Pearl and the abuse residents endured at his hands in a previous blog. Pearl was investigated in February 2009 after allegations of abuse were leveled against him. The ensuing investigation revealed that Pearl had made video recordings on his mobile phone of him abusing three residents and showed them to others prior to deleting them. The videos showed Pearl yelling at one resident and jerking the shirt of another.

Pearl pleaded guilty to the charges and has been sentenced to two years in prison, and three years suspended sentence. He is forbidden to care for older people and children and has to pay $1,150 in fines. He also has been ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and an alcohol and drug evaluation with follow-up treatment.

Silver Lake Care Center, the facility where Pearl was employed, has since closed.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Cigi Serrevera Snell turned herself into officers at the Jackson County Jail on October 28, 2009 and was promptly charged with one count of abuse of an elderly adult, a third-degree felony.

Snell is a former employee of Signature Health Care Center of North Florida. She was terminated after an investigation by the Florida Department of Children and Families Adult Protective Services revealed that she knowingly abused a 90 year-old resident at the facility. Snell reportedly slapped the elderly woman across the face so hard that it left a red mark.

If convicted, Snell faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

We discussed Shane Spooner, a former nurse's aide at Clinton County Nursing Home in New York, in previous blogs.

For amusement, Spooner took a photograph of the genitals of a 49 year-old traumatic brain injury resident and sent it via text message to a female co-worker. The woman reported the incident to supervisors and Spooner was eventually terminated.

After a police investigation, Spooner was charged with second degree unlawful surveillance and first degree dissemination of an unlawful surveillance image. He plead guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of attempted first degree of an unlawful surveillance image. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail on October 23, 2009 for taking the photograph, placed on three years' probation, and fined $500.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

We discussed Clifford Ray Holt in a previous blog. In July 2009, Holt took a 62 year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease into a room, told her that "this is my place", and started massaging her shoulders and fondling her breast, bruising her. Although suffering from Alzheimer's disease, his victim was able to report the incident.

Holt was arrested and charged with one count of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse in connection with the assault. On October 20, 2009, he plead guilty to a reduced count of Class A misdemeanor sexual battery and was sentenced to one year in jail.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home sexual abuse. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Seventy-four year-old Lloyd Berkley moved into Pekin Living and Rehab Center in Pekin, Illinois in July 2005. Two days after his admission, he was dead.

Berkley suffered from diabetes and used an oxygen tank. While nothing in his records indicated any psychotic tendencies, Berkley was held down by three employees while a fourth injected him with a large dose of Haldol, an antipsychotic drug. He had only been at the facility for eight hours.

According to nursing notes, after his daughter left the facility, Berkley became "very angry and combative" and said he was "going to blow up the facility with his oxygen tank". A nurse's aide told state investigators that Berkley didn't want to be at the facility and tried to strike staff members.

Staff members took away Berkley's oxygen tank and an unlicensed nurse, Karissa Bent, instructed three nurse's aides to hold him down while she injected him with Haldol, for which there was no doctor's order. Berkley fell asleep and his pulse dropped to a mere 48. He woke up approximately six hours later and while unsupervised, he fell and struck his head on a fan. He died two days later of bleeding in the brain.

Berkley's death was ruled a homicide by a Tazwell County cororner's inquest and the facility was fined $55,000 by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Karissa Bent was fired.

Karissa Bent was granted her nursing license three months after the incident by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation after agreeing to a written reprimand, the lowest penalty available, and no further sanctions were sought.

Berkley's family settled a lawsuit against the nursing home prior to trial for $380,000. The facility has since been purchased by Petersen Health Care and its name changed to Timbercreek Rehab and Health Care.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Sheriff's deputies were called to the Baisch Nursing Center in DeSoto, Missouri on Saturday, October 24, 2009, after receiving a report that gunshots had been fired at the facility.

After arriving at the facility, deputies found 70 year old James Stallings screaming at his wife, 68 year old Carolyn Stallings, a dietitian at the nursing home facility. Stallings shoved his wife to the ground and, at one point, got into a vehicle while holding a gun to his wife's stomach. Carolyn Stallings managed to break free of James Stallings' hold and tried to escape, but James Stallings shot her in the back. A tactical officer at the scene shot James Stallings, killing him instantly. Carolyn Stallings was immediately flown to a hospital, where she died.

The Stallings' had separated and Carolyn Stallings had obtained a protection order against her husband. Her son, Randy Crews, told KMOV-TV that he was not surprised about the violence from his stepfather, saying, "He had told her many times that if she ever tried to leave, he would kill her and himself if he had to. I knew when I got here today he wouldn't leave alive."

The facility went into lockdown mode after a co-worker of the victim was fired upon by James Stallings and saw what was happening.

Alvin Greenberg was a fifty-eight year old disabled man suffering from dementia at the time he resided at Green Acres Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania in October 2005. During this time, Greenberg was given ten times the proper dose of Zyprexa by nursing home staff.

On October 15, 2005, Greenberg's physician spoke to a facility nurse and reportedly prescribed 2.5 mg of Zyprexa to help ease Mr. Greenberg's erratic behavior. The nursing home contends that Greenberg's physician prescribed 25 mg of Zyprexa.

On October 16, 2005, the nurse who received the medication order wrote the telephone order for 25mg of Zyprexa and Mr. Greenberg was given 25 mg of Zyprexa on October 17 and October 18, when it was determined that Mr. Greenberg had overdosed.

An attorney for the Green Acres facility defended his client saying that the nurse administered the prescription exactly as it was prescribed for their resident - 25 mg not 2.5 mg. Reportedly, the nurse maintains that the prescribing physician gave the order and she repeated it back to him verbatim so he could confirm the dosage. Importantly, the physician for the facility later signed the order without making any corrections.

The prescribing physician's attorney counters that he would never have prescribed 25 mg of Zyprexa, instead of 2.5 mg, because he knows that the recommended beginning dose of that medication is 2.5 mg for that medication. The physician's attorney went on to say that the nurse made a mistake when she failed to immediately write down the dosage amount. The physician did admit to signing the order for 25 mg of Zyprexa, but gave the excuse that he regularly receives "stacks" of orders from the Green Acres facility.

Mr. Greenberg fell unconscious and was rushed to the hospital. There, he was placed on a breathing machine to assist in his recovery. Mr. Greenberg's attorney alleges that the Zyprexa overdose caused a "domino" effect of injuries resulting in staph pneumonia which subsequently caused empyema, which is an abscess in his chest cavity near the thoracic spine. The empyema then caused an antibiotic-resistant infection, which subsequently required bones to be removed from Mr. Greenberg's mid-back. As a result, a steel rod had to be inserted into his back and caused Mr. Greenberg to become wheelchair dependent for the rest of his life.

A jury found Green Acres fully liable for Mr. Greenberg's injuries and awarded Mr. Greenberg $125,000. The prescribing physician was determined to be negligent, but reportedly the negligence did not cause Mr. Greenberg's injuries.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Malnutrition and dehydration: two completely avoidable nursing home situations that take numerous lives annually. Sadly, studies show that approximately 40% of nursing home residents are malnourished. Many of these individuals receive their nutrition via tube feeding, which is the sole responsibility of the nursing home. It is simply inexcusable for a resident who receives nutrition via tube to become malnourished.

Malnutrition and dehydration can be caused by numerous physical and psychological problems, such as:

- Chronic illness, such as congestive heart failure and chronic lung or kidney diseases
- Adverse drug effects, such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
- Food and drug interactions which decrease the body's ability to absorb vitamins and minerals;
- Depression
- Mouth problems or swallowing disorders, such as improperly fitting dentures, mouth sores and/or pain
- Tremors, dementia, or agitation, which decreases the resident's ability to feed themselves

Sometimes, malnutrition and dehydration can be caused by environmental factors, such as:

- Lack of assistance eating or drinking when needed
- Lack of individualized care, such as staff uneducated about the proper way to assist residents with eating and/or drinking
- Reliance on liquid supplements instead of ensuring residents eat and drink
- Failure to provide appropriate diet
- Unadministered tube feedings
- Chaotic dining environment
- Absence of fresh water
- Failure to open drink cartons for residents or cartons left out of reach of the residents

PINPOINTING MALNUTRITION OR DEHYDRATION

If you suspect your loved one might be malnourished or dehydrated, watch for these signs:

- Loosely fitting clothing or other obvious weight-loss signs
- Cracks around the mouth
- Pale lips and mouth
- Complaints of ill-fitting dentures
- Thinning hair
- Confusion (not in cases of Alzheimer's or dementia residents)
- Skin breakdown
- Sunken eyes
- Wounds taking long time to heal

If you find your loved one exhibiting at least two of these signs, then ask yourself the following questions:

- Can my loved one feed him/herself?
- Does it take a long time for him/her to eat?
- Does he/she feel rushed through meals or unable to finish meals?
- Does he/she eat more if someone is there at mealtime to assist?
- Is he/she uninterested in food or have no appetite?
- Is the facility food appetizing and tasty? Served at the proper temperature?
- Has he/she begun a new medication or been put on a special diet?

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

First, tell the nursing home staff what you have determined. Make sure that you mention any physical symptoms that you found, such as sunken eyes, cracked lips, or dry skin. Make sure that facility employees follow up on your observations and assess the resident. Be sure to follow up with the facility on what they did to alleviate the problem. Second, ask your loved one's physician for a blood test to check for dehydration or nutritional deficiencies.

Next, request an immediate care planning meeting with nursing home staff and the Administrator. In the meeting, tell the staff of your discoveries and ask them if facility staff determined that your loved one was suffering from dehydration or malnutrition. These problems should be noted in your loved one's chart. Ask what is on your loved one's meal plan and who assists with meals, if that is necessary. Does the resident have problems swallowing? If so, request a dental and dysphasia (difficulty or inability to swallow) exam. Find out if water is readily available and if your loved one is able to lift the glass or cup. Are straws provided? Find out if your loved one has recently been assessed for depression, as both weight loss and loss of appetite are signs of depression. Also, ask for a physician or pharmacist to review your loved one's medications for possible interactions.

After the care planning meeting, carefully watch to see if any recommendations made during that meeting are implemented. Keep monitoring your loved one for weight loss or gain.

If, after taking all these steps, your loved one continues to lose weight or is still dehydrated, contact your local ombudsman. An ombudsman is an individual who advocates for nursing home residents and their families and will know exactly how to assist you.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Wandering long-term care residents pose a danger risk to themselves through falls or other injury. There are multiple ways to ensure or enhance safety for wandering residents and prevent self-injury.

First, the long-term care facility can ensure that there is enough staff on duty to supervise residents prone to wandering. Long-term care facilities should have locks on doors and windows in areas of risk, such as exit doors, stairwells, and windows. These locks should be checked regularly to ensure that they are properly fastened and in working order.

Long-term facilities should also opt to utilize bed and/or chair alarms for active residents. These alarms will sound when the resident exits the bed or chair and is moving around. These alarms will trigger staff members to check on the resident's whereabouts. Of course, for this measure to be effective, there need to be enough properly trained staff members present to respond when an alarm sounds.

Newer technology for protection includes wireless and RFID (radio frequency identification) door security and resident tracking solutions. With a simple RFID system, residents are assigned a bracelet upon admission to a long-term care facility. Doors are equipped with wireless keypads, RFID readers, and tags. When a resident wearing a bracelet comes within range of the RFID reader at exit doors, an alarm sounds and the door automatically locks. Keypads placed at the doors allow staff members to bypass the system in the event a resident needs to leave the facility or enter another area of the facility.

There are more complicated RFID systems available, such as SafeGuard. With these systems, staff members are able to use any computer monitor in the facility to view the facility's floor plan and find the at-risk resident at any place the resident is located. These systems also have the capability of door alarms and automatic door locking mechanisms.

Surprisingly, the cost to implement these safety systems is not as exhorbitant as one might think. Reportedly, the cost for security for a basic door is approximately $1,100 per door. The cost for the SafeGuard system is more expensive and depends upon each individual facility.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Fallbrook Hospital District Skilled Nursing Facility has been cited for inadequate care that led to a resident's death.

Reportedly, The Fallbrook Center failed to care plan to help prevent a high fall risk resident from becoming injured. The male resident fell on June 8, breaking a leg, and died four days later due to complications from surgery for the injury.

The facility was assessed a "AA" citation, which is the most severe citation available under the state law governing long-term care facilities and assessed a $90,000 fine.

The Terry Law firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Placerville Pines Care Center received a AA citation, the most severe penalty available, from the California Department of Health for its role in a resident death. The facility reportedly failed to adequately assess the resident and notify his physician of changes in his condition. The California Department of Health concluded that those failures ultimately contributed to the resident's death.

The resident was admitted to Placerville Pines after a hospital admission and was fully expected to recover and return home. Sometime after he was admitted, the resident began showing symptoms of illness and his oxygen saturation and blood pressure levels were very low. The resident also experienced difficulty talking and was difficult to arouse. A family member alerted facility staff to the resident's problems and he was transported to the hospital, where he died.

Placerville Pines Care Center was fined $100,000 for their role in the resident's death.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

As people age, their bodies become more fragile and their gait or balance may be "off" - making them prone to fall. Those falls can cause injuries, including bruising. How do you determine if your loved one's bruises are the result of an accidental fall or abuse?

In a 2009 study, the National Institute of Justice looked at accidental bruising and elderly people and how to determine whether the bruising resulted from abuse.

The main focus of the study stressed that accidental bruising does not happen on the face, neck, torso, or back. Reportedly, accidental bruising is most often found on the arms and legs and usually the individual cannot recall how they got there. Accidental bruises occur in a predictable pattern. Abused older adults are more likely have bruises on the head, neck, or torso and 56% of abused elderly often have a bruise larger than 5 centimeters.

The study also found that it is no longer safe to judge a bruise by its color because the color of a bruise is not always indicative of when the injury was incurred. Recent studies have found that yellow bruising has occurred on the first day of an injury. Additionally, individuals who have compromised functional ability are more likely to have multiple bruises.

The study found that one sign of abuse is if a person has a story about how they got the bruise, it could be a lie, but someone with intentional bruising will always have a reason or excuse how the injury got there.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Michelle Connors

From November 2006 until September 2008, Michelle Connors held the Power of Attorney for Mary O'Connell. Connors had met and became friends of Ms. O'Connell, an elderly nursing home resident, while employed at the skilled nursing facility at which she resided. During that period of time, Connors managed to steal over $160,000 from Ms. O'Connell and purchased numerous items for herself using Ms. O'Connell's money, including a camera, computer, and a mobile telephone. Reportedly, Connors also made multiple withdrawals, including a $5,000 withdrawal which she used for roof repairs.

Connors also allegedly withdrew $10,000, which she stated she was using to pre-pay Ms. O'Connell's funeral. After paying for the $7,110 funeral, the excess funds were never returned.

Connors was arrested and arraigned on two felony counts of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property and currently out on bail. A preliminary hearing is set for November 18, 2009 in Schuylkill County District Court in Pennsylvania.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

The trial against Edwin and Jane Ingan, the owners of Sunrise V and physicians Robert Schingler and Grace Crittenden continues to gather headlines.

The family of Marian Eileen Kengel, 96, filed a lawsuit alleging negligence and elder abuse after the woman suffered severe life-threatening bed sores and an anti-psychotic drug was wrongfully administered to her.

Ms. Kengel reportedly suffered severe bed sores on her bottom and her feet. The sore on her bottom required surgery to repair and took 14 months to heal. Additionally, she was given Haldol, an anti-psychotic drug in late 2007. Allegedly, the doctor who prescribed the Haldol gave her a dose that was "eight times stronger than the lowest possible dose". The Ingans reportedly took Ms. Kengel to Dr. Robert Schingler, who was not her normal treating physician. Reportedly, Dr. Schingler prescribed the drug, and she has not been the same since taking the drug. Allegedly, the Ingans wanted Ms. Kengel on a medication that would stop her "uncontrollable behavior" and did not ask for her family's consent. Dr, Schingler prescribed a year's worth of medication and did not schedule a follow up visit.

Ms. Kengel's primary physician, Grace Crittenden, reduced the dosage after the woman was unable to communicate and appeared "zoned out" and also failed to schedule a follow up visit.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questinos or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Ninety-seven year old Charles Bradley had been a resident of Everett Care & Rehabilitation since 2004. He died on March 31, 2008, after contracting severe urinary tract and genital infections. According to court documents, Bradley family attorneys allege that Everett Care & Rehabilitation staff did not treat a wound caused by penile cancer for months and the wound contributed to his death.

In November 2007, a facility staff member was changing Mr. Bradley and noted that his skin was breaking down. The staff member followed procedure and notified a care manager. Communication broke down with the care manager. Reportedly, the care manager did not notify Mr. Bradley's doctor and then left on vacation.

According to the Complaint filed in this matter, Mr. Bradley's genitals broke apart slowly and he began losing weight. On March 13, 2008, he was taken to the hospital at his son's insistence and was diagnosed with urinary tract and genital infections and pneumonia in both lungs. Doctors also found that there was nearly nothing left of his penis due to penile cancer, which had gone undiagnosed and untreated.

Reportedly, two weeks prior to Mr. Bradley's pneumonia diagnosis, staff noticed his wound and reported it to senior staff at the facility and it appears that nothing was done.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us online at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

We discussed Daniel Larmore's oversight of the Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators in a previous blog.

Larmore resigned on Friday, October 9, 2009, after serving six years on the board and fifteen months as Chairman. Larmore resigned during a three minute meeting between John Frew, Governor Chet Culver's Chief of Staff, and Larmore. Reportedly, Frew was appalled at Larmore's recent acknowledgement of a sexual relationship between a nursing home resident and a caregiver, calling it a "harmless relationship", and asked for Larmore's resignation.

The Des Moines Register recently reported on the Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators and found the following:

- The Board has not disciplined any nursing home administrator in the past two years, despite findings of wrongdoing by inspectors. The Board has taken up to three years to impose sanctions when an administrator is convicted of wrongdoing. Larmore has served on the Board's disciplinary committee for the past four years.

- According to Larmore, some cases of wrongdoing are not being reviewed by the Board.

- The Board has operated for fourteen months with only one citizen representative, despite the requirement of two citizen representatives.

- Larmore held the position of a person who is "actively engaged" in the position of nursing home administration despite the fact that he recently resigned as administrator of a nursing home facility.

- Harmony House, where Larmore was Administrator, was fined $3,500 in 2004 after the facility failed to properly address allegations that a female nursing home employee was engaging in sexual relations with a brain-damaged male resident. Larmore dismissed the state's concerns by stating, "The relationship was initiated by, and was meaningful to, (the resident)...The presented situation was one of mutual interest of a (resident) and a caregiver and, although inappropriate, did not present potential or actual harm to the consumer due to the reciprocal fond relationship."

On March 21, 2008, eighty-four year old Lorina Wiggins had lived at Ruxton Health skilled nursing facility for approximately one year. That day, Ms. Wiggins was transported to Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center for treatment of infected sores on her body. She passed away on March 28, 2008.

A wrongful death lawsuit filed by her son, Bob Wiggins, alleges that an infected sore on Ms. Wiggins' left ankle that was diagnosed on December 27, 2007 led to her March 28, 2008 death. The wound was so deep that Ms. Wiggins' bone was exposed. The wound was one of seven wounds she developed between August 6, 2007 and February 25, 2008. Ms. Wiggins was a high-risk for sores and required repositioning every two hours to prevent wounds from forming.

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that Bob Wiggins was not informed about the infected wound or other wounds between January and March 2008. Reportedly, Mr. Wiggins was told by staff members that his mother was "doing fine" and had "no problems" when he called the facility for updates.

Ruxton Health has had two other lawsuits filed against them in one year, as well as twenty-eight complaints of patient neglect between January 2006 and April 2008.

A wrongful death case was filed on behalf of Lillian Funn after her 2008 death from multiple bedsores. The case settled in April 2009.

Earlier this year, in August, another wrongful death lawsuit was filed on behalf of Roper Houston, who died in 2007. Mr. Houston, who suffered from mental retardation, was taken to a hospital for assessment after blood was found in his urine. Facility staff neglected to advise the hospital that Mr. Houston fell out of bed and struck his head. That case is still pending.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect across the country. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Thirty-two year-old Maria K. Whitt appeared in Court on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 and pleaded "not guilty" to murdering ninety year-old Jesse Chain, a veterans' hospital patient. Her indictment stated that Whitt "willfully, deliberately, maliciously and with premeditation and malice aforethought" injected Chain with "lethal levels of morphine", killing him.

Jesse Chain was admitted to the VA hospital in Lexington, Kentucky on August 30, 2006 with chronic heart failure and kidney problems. When he was placed in intensive care on August 31, 2006, his family requested no resuscitation efforts be made to prolong his life. On September 3, 2006, after the medical staff had exhausted efforts to save Mr. Chain, a morphine drip was prescribed "to ease him into a comfortable passing". Nurse Maria Whitt started the morphine drip.

Chain was to receive 1 mg of morphine per hour. He received eight doses, six of which were 10 mgs each, along with a steady drip, in the 6 1/2 hours prior to his death. After Chain's death, Whitt and a co-worker cleaned the room and the co-worker noticed the bottle of morphine was empty.

In her first statement to investigators, Whitt suggested that Chain's family or another nurse may have overmedicated Chain, but his family was ruled out. Whitt admitted that she administered the doses of morphine to Chain.

If convicted of murder, Whitt could be sentenced to life in prison, could be fined $250,000, and could face five years of supervised release.

Whitt is also under suspicion for two other patient deaths, but has not been charged. One patient, an 88 year-old man with heart problems was placed on morphine for comfort measures after his breathing tube was removed. He was prescribed 1 mg morphine per hour, but 60 milliliters of morphine were unaccounted for. The other patient was a 60 year-old man who was to receive 1 mg of morphine per hour after suffering a severe heart attack. In that case, 34 milliliters of morphine were missing.

He was "mad at his life" and looking for a "a lady to choke" when he broke into Clare Ridge, a Brookdale Senior Living Facility in San Antonio, Texas.

Daniel Villarreal, 25, broke into the nursing home facility through a side door early on the morning of October 11, 2009. Randomly selecting a room, he punched and kicked 77 year-old resident Janice Maier in the face as she slept, severely injuring her. Covered in blood, he wandered out of Ms. Maier's room and was stopped by facility employee.

Ms. Maier was admitted to University Hospital with head trauma and cuts. Villarreal was charged with injury to an elderly person, a felony.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

A resident at White Community Hospital and Nursing Home in Aurora, Minnesota died in late May 2009 after being dropped approximately four feet onto the floor.

A staff member was moving the resident using a sling and had lifted her approximately four feet into the air. She turned away briefly to position the wheelchair and as she turned back to the resident, found the resident slipping from the sling. The staff member tried unsuccessfully to prevent the fall and the resident fell to the floor, breaking a leg and an arm. The patient had "multiple medication conditions" and was not able to undergo surgery. She died two days after her fall.

An investigation into the incident found that the facility employee failed to follow the resident's Care Plan, which called for a two-person transfer. Additionally, the facility was cited for failing to properly train its employee on how to safely use the lift. Employees have since been trained on proper use of the lift.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Elizabeth Barrow

Elizabeth Barrow celebrated her 100th birthday on August 21, 2009. She had lived at Brandon Woods nursing home in Boston, Massachusetts for approximately four and a half years. According to her son, Scott Barrow, "She loved the nursing home. She had a lot of friends there."

Barrow's family took her out for lunch on September 23, 2009 and went shopping for winter clothes. Reportedly, she was in good health and good spirits that day. Sadly, Barrow was found dead in her bed with a plastic bag over her head in her room that she shared with a woman in her late 90s on September 24, 2009. There was no sign of a struggle. Autopsy results found that Barrow was strangled and her death has been ruled a homicide.

Reportedly, Barrow's roommate had threatened to kill Barrow because she had "too many visitors", but that account was dismissed by Scott Picone, Chief of Operations at The Essex Group Management Corporation, who manages Brandon Woods. Picone said, "There was never any threats by the roommate. There was never any threats witnessed or reported."

According to Department of Public Health documents, in 2009, Brandon Woods has received citations in the past for:

- Failing to provide immediate treatment for a resident suffering from a seizure;
- Failing to document which residents had dangerous infections;
- Calling a resident a "pain" for requesting assistance too frequently;
- Giving a resident eight doses too many of an antibiotic.

In 2008, the facility was also cited for failing to provide a plan to assist a resident suffering from depression and mental illness deal with a roommate with whom there had been several altercations.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

A case of nursing home sexual abuse has been discovered at Texas Terrace Care Center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

The Minnesota Health Department alleges that residents at the facility reported the abuse. Reportedly, the male employee entered a female resident's room and started "kissing her several times" on the cheek and mouth. She also alleges that the man tickled her diaper, touched her sexually, and assaulted her. She stated that she was surprised and thought "this can't be happening". Despite the woman's dementia, she clearly remembered the incident.

Two more residents alleged that the same employee had kissed them.

The facility fired the employee, who denied the allegations. The police have referred the case for possible criminal sexual assault charges.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home sexual abuse. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

We discussed the poor conditions at a Pennsylvania Veterans Administration nursing home facility in a previous blog. Among the problems cited, a veteran who had to have his leg amputated after an infection went untreated so long that the leg developed maggots, blood-stained floors, fly infestation, and life-threatening treatment of veterans dependent on tube feeding.

Now, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has effectively refused to release any similar reports nationwide in an effort to avoid criticism. In a directive dated Friday, September 25, 2009, Washington, D.C. VA officials advised local agency officials that inspections reports are not to be released to the public and those reports are considered "protected" documents and are not subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act.

According to U.S. Representative Joseph Sestak (D), withholding such documentation "only adds to the perception that the VA does not take the principles of accountability seriously. If the VA is unable to provide this necessary reform at the administrative level, legislation must be introduced."

Former staff members of Fox Subacute, a nursing home specializing in ventilator patient care in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, contacted CBS 21 News voicing serious concerns about the safety and welfare of residents of the facility.

The former employees even had photographs to prove their allegations. The photographs depicted biohazard bags on the floor in a trash-packed utility room and dirty toilets and floors. The former employees also filed an OSHA complaint.

The facility has approximately 21 residents, but has capacity for 60. Back in August 2009, the Pennsylvania Health Department found the facility to be noncompliant with respect to handling of records and residents not getting snacks on time. The Health Department report also found that food was improperly stored and the medication cart was improperly stored in the hallway.

CBS 21 News talked to the facility Administrator, Joseph Murray. Murray says the allegations of the former employees are unfounded and that the employees did not "get along" with their supervisors, saying, "Everybody has disgruntled employees. I don't know exactly what the issues are with those people."

Murray says that the residents' food is brought in from Harrisburg Hospital and he is requesting permission from the Health Department to store the locked medication carts in the hallways due to limited room in the one year-old facility. Murray allowed CBS 21 News to take a limited tour of the facility, showing the reporter the hallways, kitchen area, and TV room, which appeared clean.

Heidi Leon

We discussed Sara Wentworth's tragic death in previous blogs.

On February 5, 2009, eighty-nine year-old Sarah Wentworth left the Arbor of Itasca nursing home and went outside, triggering a door alarm. Heidi Leon, a CNA on duty at the time, reportedly turned off the alarm and continued watching television, never looking to see if a resident had tried to leave the building. Hours later, Sarah Wentworth was found outside the facility and brought back inside. She passed away several hours later from extended exposure to extreme cold.

After Ms. Wentworth's death, Leon provided false information to Itasca police in an attempt to derail their investigation.

Leon, who has been in the DuPage County Jail since her arrest, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal neglect of a long-term care facility resident and one count of obstruction of justice on October 5, 2009. She was sentenced to 180 days in jail and was released Monday, having served 181 days in jail. She was also ordered to serve 30 months probation.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

At twenty-one years old, Christopher Shelton is 6'1" and weighs in at 230 pounds. He is also mentally ill and lives at Maplewood Care nursing home in Elgin, Illinois. Even at his young age, Shelton already has an extensive, violent rap sheet attesting to an explosive temper.

As a teenager, Shelton hit his teachers with a metal bar ripped from a classroom desk. He was sent to prison on an aggravated battery conviction. After his parole, he was arrested at least six more times, including a 2006 case where he reportedly threw a woman against a brick wall while kicking her in the crotch and head. Last year, Shelton was arrested three times, one of which included punching a man in the face at a nursing home facility where he was living at the time.

In November 2008, Shelton called Maplewood and asked if he could be readmitted and they accepted him. Maplewood segregates its mentally ill residents on the second floor of the facility, which is where Shelton was placed.

Unaware that Shelton had an outstanding arrest record and never asking him why he had been incarcerated, the facility attempted to run a criminal background check - but used an incorrect birth date. Maplewood officials also refused an offer from the director at Shelton's prior nursing home to discuss his conduct at that facility. Reportedly, Shelton had pulled fire alarms there so he could go outside and use drugs.

Shelton only was at Maplewood a short time when he advised staff that he felt "increased sexual urges and thoughts". Staff reportedly suggested that he masturbate using magazines or videos, according to a state report. There was no additional monitoring or action taken by facility staff.

Around 11 p.m. on January 16, 2009, a bed check revealed that Shelton was not in his room and the rounds sheet was marked "U", which means unaccounted for. The facility allegedly has no system for locating or monitoring unaccounted for residents. Later that night, facility staff found a 69 year old woman draped over the edge of her bed, crying and moaning with pain. Shelton was discovered hiding in her bathroom; he had raped her. Shelton admitted to Elgin officers that he "assaulted that lady" even though she begged him to stop.

The victim was a married mother of two who suffered from chronic depression but was of sound mind. Maplewood officials told state authorities that the sex was consensual and that the victim "never alleged abuse in her discussion with staff immediately or later when calling for the police".

Shelton has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and is waiting for his trial. The woman no longer lives at Maplewood. The facility was fined $25,000, which they are appealing.

Michael Giannini and Bryan Barrish own Maplewood Care - and thirteen other nursing home facilities in Illinois. Nine of their facilities rank below average. Maplewood Care was assessed two out of five stars in the new rating system implemented by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which indicates a "below average" facility. Giannini and Barrish's facilities house 2% of Illinois' nursing home population and nearly 10% of Illinois mentally ill nursing home residents. In late June 2009, Maplewood Care housed 15 felons out of approximately 200 residents. Approximately one-half of the residents are younger than 65 and more than 40% had a primary diagnosis of mental illness.

According to Elgin police reports since 2008, Maplewood has had multiple problems: packets of marijuana and cocaine found in common areas, a worker striking and bruising a 75 year-old resident, a 78 year-old resident reportedly punched in the face several times by his roommate.

According to Giannini, "We are being held to a perfect standard in an imperfect world."

A Growing Epidemic

According to a recent Chicago Tribune article, the State of Illinois relies on nursing homes to house their mentally ill residents more than any other state. An ensuing investigation by the Tribune found that government, law enforcement, and the nursing home industry itself have all failed to manage the ever-growing number of young, mentally ill residents coming from jails, shelters, and psychiatric wards.

Mentally ill residents comprise more than 15% of Illinois' total nursing home resident population of 92,225. The number of residents convicted of serious felonies is 3,000; this number includes 82 convicted murderers, 179 sex offenders, and 185 armed robbers. They live side-by-side daily with our most vulnerable citizens - the elderly.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home sexual abuse. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Brian Dillman

Bryan Dillman is 6'1" and weighs in at 225 pounds. He was recently arrested for felony battery on a defenseless nursing home resident after police were summoned to Good Samaritan Home and Rehabilitation Center in Oakland City, Indiana.

Reportedly, Dillman, a CNA for the facility, was found sleeping in a recliner in a resident's room by facility nurse Sharlet Sillz. Sillz allegedly told Dillman that she would not report him because "she knows that he is tired and that he has kids". The room's resident, DeeAnn Hoffman was undergoing a test and was not present when Dillman was discovered sleeping. Hoffman subsequently returned to her room and was screaming "please don't hurt me" and a smacking noise was heard coming from her room.

Dillman emerged from the room and walked quickly down the hall. Sillz entered Hoffman's room and Hoffman told Sillz that Dillman tried to choke her and hit her in the face multiple times after she told him she was ready for a shower. Hoffman alleged that Dillman jumped out of the chair, got behind her, and put both hands around her neck, choking her.

Dillman alleges that he did not touch Hoffman and that he had not been asleep, just watching television. Dillman was booked into the county jail, where he posted bond. His first court hearing was October 5, 2009.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

Karen Perry and Shelly Keene, former employees of Kane Regional Center in Glen Hazel, a Pennsylvania nursing home, pleaded guilty to reduced charges for their roles in abusing a 94 year-old Thelma Bryant, an Alzheimer's resident at the facility, who has since died. Perry pleaded to a summary charge of harassment for yelling at the resident. Reportedly, Perry harassed Ms. Bryant by telling her that she had slept with her husband. Witnesses said that she hit Ms. Bryant in the forehead and threw an orange at her. Keene pleaded to one count of simple assault. Witnesses allege that Keene hit Ms. Bryand in the forehead. Both women received probation. As a condition of the probation, neither woman can seek a job working with the elderly. All charges were dropped against Shalaya Hatten due to lack of evidence. Hatten alleges she was on vacation at the time she was accused of abusing Ms. Bryant and has sued the county over the allegations.

Beulah Addison suffered a stroke in September 2005 and had to enter Lochearn Nursing Home in Baltimore, Maryland. Addison alleges that the facility delayed in filing her Medicaid application so that it could continue to charge her a higher daily rate for several months. The delay cost Addison over $70,000. Reportedly, Addison also alleges that a nursing home employee put her in contact with individuals who tried to purchase her home at a rate far less than its worth.

A circuit court judge ruled that Addison could not be forced into arbitration, but that decision was overturned by Maryland's Court of Special Appeals. Addison has appealed to the Court of Appeals to allow her to take her fraud claims against the facility to trial rather than the arbitration that the facility perfers. The Court of Appeals has not indicated when it will rule on Addison v. Lochearn Nursing Home LLC d/b/a Future Care-Lochearn, No. 134, September Term 2008.

Violations of privacy. Failure to have infection control program in place. Failure to protect residents from resident-on-resident abuse. Failure to provide adequate supervision. Failure to label medications, failure to discard expired medications and keep medications locked up. All of these deficiencies were recently assessed to the Veterans' Home at Montrose in Montrose, New York.

In a thirty-seven page Health Department Report from August 2009, the Veterans' Home at Montrose was cited for a variety of deficiences that endangered its residents. Among the deficiencies:

- Failure to protect a resident from another resident with a documented history of aggression - A CNA wheeled the agitated resident out of a cafeteria into a common area after giving him his medication. The resident then wheeled over to another resident, grabbed his arm and pulled it back very hard, fracturing the resident's arm. A nurse interviewed about the incident said she was unable to provide one-on-one supervision because the unit was so busy.

- Seven residents were observed being treated with the door left open. Staff did not use proper hand-washing technique and did not disinfect the instruments used during the treatment for the appropriate amount of time.

- The facility failed to have a supervising physician and internal oversight.

The facility was required to pay $36,000 for its deficiencies.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

According to Clark McLaurin, the Administrator of Keller Oaks Healthcare Center, "we don't really know" why the facility was deemed a special focus facility and was put onto the federal watch list for nursing home facilities.

Among the deficiencies that Keller Oaks, a North Richland Hills, Texas nursing home facility, was cited for were deficiencies for failing to feed residents properly and failure to administer needed medications and failure to keep the nursing home free of dangers to residents.

Participation in the federal program is designed to help nursing homes showing a pattern of serious deficiencies to turn their program around. Failure to correct existing problems can result in penalties from fines to termination of participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

A former nurse at Riverside Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has been charged with abuse of a resident.

Twenty-eight year old Michelle Simmons was arraigned on September 30, 2009 on charges of abusing an eighty year-old nursing home resident suffering from dementia. Simmons allegedly kicked, punched, and pulled the hair of the resident. She was fired from her job after the incident.

Her trial is set for later this year.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at (888) 317-2525 or visit us on our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

A seventy-nine year old resident of an assisted living facility has been charged with aggravated battery in the beating of his roommate.

James Sendaldi, Jr., a resident of Hitz Memorial Assisted Living Facility in Alhambra, Illinois, was arrested and charged after he beat his roommate four times with a hammer. Sendaldi found the hammer sitting out because of construction work being done at the facility. His sixty-nine year old victim was treated at a local hospital and released. The reason for the attack is unknown.

Sendaldi's bond was originally set at $40,000, but he was released on his own recognizance and ordered to stay away from his victim.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns at www.nursinghomejustice.com.