Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

The State of Alabama revoked the nursing home license for ConsultAmerica, a nursing home facility located in Birmingham, Alabama, after a "string of really bad incidents".

Among things the facility was cited for was neglect, abuse, and unsupervised residents, including a female resident who tried to elope forty times in twelve days and succeeded twice.

Witnesses told state investigators that a CNA at the facility cursed at the residents, jerked at a resident using a walker, and pinned a female resident's arms down on a table after the resident struck her. A facility investigation into the "pinning" incident, found that the CNA was "disrespectful and discourteous to residents, not abusive" and only terminated her after the state became involved through an investigation.

Investigators also found a male resident with a sore on his wrist that exposed the bone. When it was discovered, a new sore was already developing on his other wrist.

The female elopement resident managed to successfully leave the facility twice and was found once on a parking lot near a busy alley and once several blocks away and had to be chased by facility staff members. The resident, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, apparently realized that if she ducked low enough she could exit the facility without triggering the alarms. According to a state report, after the administrator learned about the resident's second escape, she said, "Oh God, we are screwed."

We discussed an illness outbreak at The Fountains Assisted Living Center in Shiloh, Illinois in our previous blog.

Thirty-three residents were sent to the hospital and several staff members have fallen ill in what is suspected to be a potential Norovirus outbreak at the facility. This infection is often seen in "closed" or "semi-closed" communities. People infected with the virus often experience acute nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which develops approximately 24-48 hours after exposure and lasts approximately 24-60 hours. Spread by contaminated food and/or water or by person-to-person contact, the best way to rid the facility of the virus outbreak is to use chlorine-based disinfectants and hand-washing.

Visitation at the facility is restricted until further notice.

Asbury Place, a nursing home facility located in Maryville, Tennessee, is facing a lawsuit after a resident, who was a registered sex offender, allegedly abused another resident.

James Strickland moved into Asbury Place in need of care. He had been convicted of rape and incest in 1992. According to the attorney who filed the lawsuit, the facility knew that Strickland was a registered sex offender but did not notify any of the residents or their families. The facility also did not develop a policy or procedure to address the situation. He said, "Our complaint is the knowledge they had beforehand and the lack of developing any sort of plan or policy to make sure people not only knew about it but that the safety and welfare of the residents is protected."

On March 13, 2009, Strickland entered another resident's room and sexually abused her. A facility employee heard the resident screaming and found Strickland in the resident's room with his pants down.

The lawsuit is asking for $13 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Asbury Place and James Strickland, who died in July 2009. The attorney is asking the court to establish probate so that the attorney can sue the estate.

The victim's family hopes to see an award of enough money to care for the victim by an in-home nurse. According to the attorney, "It's not about money, it's about change, and the only way you're able to make a change in civil litigation is by going after someone's wallet or pocketbook. It's only as a result of these sorts of lawsuits and this sort of public attention that nursing homes will hopefully straighten up and start providing the care that the residents deserve."

Only open two months, a Covington, Kentucky nursing home has already been slapped with two "Type A" citations. "Type A" citations are the most serious citation that can be assessed by the Inspector General for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Providence Pavilion began accepting residents in early January 2010. On January 27, 2010, a resident was sent to a local hospital to treat "an open area" that would not stop bleeding. The resident returned to the facility later that day and a physician ordered that the resident should not receive a regular dose of Coumadin, a blood thinner. The physician also ordered a blood test to monitor the resident on January 28. Reportedly, facility staff failed to transcribe the doctor's orders and gave the resident the normal dose of Coumadin.

No one from the facility contacted the doctor with any blood test results on January 28 and when the physician was contacted on January 29, the resident's labs showed life-threatening bleeding levels. The resident was found dead on January 30, 2010 around 4:00 a.m.

The negligent care of a second resident led to a second citation. The resident normally had an average blood pressure of 134/70 and an average blood sugar of 255. On January 20, 2010 the blood pressure was 228/108 and the blood sugar was 522. The nursing home advised the resident's physician of the elevated blood sugar, for which he prescribed insulin. The physician advised state officials that he had never been told about the high blood pressure. If he had known, the physician said he would have ordered the resident to go to the hospital. There is no written evidence that the facility assessed the second resident nor that the resident's blood pressure was monitored for the next two hours and 25 minutes after finding the elevated blood pressure.

On January 21 at 12:45 a.m., the resident was unable to move the left hand, had difficulty moving the left leg, had a limp arm, and a weak grasp. After being examined at the hospital, the resident was diagnosed with a stroke and paralysis on the left side.

According to the citation issued in this matter, the facility had no formal orientation for competency evaluation for their nursing staff, in violation of their own policy. The facility could not provide evidence that it had developed and implemented a policy of physician notification. Additionally, nurses had not been trained on physician notification.

According to Sue Schuman, the spokesperson for Providence Pavillion, the facility is going "above and beyond" to meet state requirements and has made the appropriate changes to the policies and procedures, although they dispute some of the findings in the citations. According to Schuman, "There's a lot more to the story than what's on paper."

Approximately thirty-one of sixty residents of Fountains Three Nursing Facility in Shiloh, Illinois have been taken to area hospitals exhibiting flu-like symptoms, including nausea and vomiting.

While there are more than forty people inside the nursing home facility, the building has been placed on lock-down. According to the Director of Public Safety, residents began leaving the facility for hospitals on Thursday night, March 25, 2010, and the transfers continued into Friday morning, March 26, 2010. Seven residents went to the hospital on Thursday and 24 more on Friday.

The cause of the illness remains unknown.

According to a recently released report entitled "Dangerous Caregivers", the State of California failed to implement a 2006 law that required state regulators to establish a centralized database for background checks. Senate Bill 1759 required the Department of Social Services to set up a centralized database of negative administrative actions, such as license revocations. The database would have enabled six state entities that license and regulate caregivers to check each other's records before clearing applicants for hire. The excuse? Reportedly, the department did not seek the estimated $500,000 funding needed due to budget problems in California.

An investigation into the Office of Oversight and Outcomes exposed a minimum of twenty cases in which caregivers who were decertified due to misconduct were allowed to work in another state-licensed facility. Some of the cases discovered included:

A worker was decertified for slapping a defenseless 83 year old nursing home resident and pulling her hair because the resident struggled with her while changing her diaper. One month later, the same worker was cleared to work at another elderly residential care facility. The employee told the oversight office that no one had asked her about her previous incident.

A pharmacy tech was stripped of her registration in 2007 after she reportedly stole 11,000 tables of a prescription painkiller to give to her husband, who was disabled. The theft occurred over a period of seven years. Two years after her discipline, she was cleared to work in an assisted-living facility.

A nurse assistant was decertified after stealing a blind resident's ATM and withdrawing money. While she was fired from her position as a nurse assistant, she was later allowed to work in the same facility's kitchen. She has quit that position but remains on the clearance list for employment with the elderly.

In a rare move, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals has assessed fines against three Iowa nursing home facilities for alleged whistleblower retaliation.

Iowa has a mandatory reporter law, which specifically makes it a crime for caregivers not to report a suspected case of abuse or neglect. Unfortunately, the law is rarely enforced, making it easy for those to follow the law to be exposed to retaliation.

Within the past five weeks, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals has assessed fines against the following facilities:

Windmill Manor: Assessed Fine: $5,000. Reason: Reportedly, the Director of Nursing threatened to fire seven employees if they reported quality of care concerns to state inspectors. The threat was made during a Nurses' Appreciation Week luncheon and she told her staff that she had "a stack of applications" from prospective employees who were available to take their places. The Director of Nursing actually admitted making the threat but told the state that she would not have gone through with it. The facility is appealing the fine saying, "We are confident that when all the facts are presented that the citation will be reversed and the fine rescinded."

Granger Nursing & Rehabiltiation Center: Assessed Fine: $5,000. Reason: Reportedly, threatening, demoting or firing employees reporting resident care concerns to inspectors.

Crossbridge Homes of Marshalltown: Assessed Fine: $1,000. Reason: Reportedly threatening, demoting or firing employees reporting resident care concerns to inspectors.

A former California nursing home employee was charged Tuesday, March 23, 2010, with the murder of an eighty-seven year old female resident.

Allegedly, thirty-two year old Maximo Fajardo, Jr. smothered the resident using a pillow. He was employed at Convalescent Center Mission Street, located in San Francisco, California. March 22, 2010 was the first time he was allowed to spend time alone with residents unsupervised and reportedly, the resident's death was reported to police around 10:24 a.m. The Medical Examiner's Office is trying to locate the resident's family and has not released her name.

Fajardo was charged with murder with the special allegation of using a dangerous or deadly weapon, felony elder abuse, two counts of felony carjacking, and one count of attempted felony carjacking. He also faces three other counts: hit-and-run causing property damage, hit-and-run causing injury, and escape.

The other charges stem from Fajardo's behavior after the alleged murder and while undergoing questioning surrounding the resident's death. First, Fajardo ran from the scene before police arrived and reportedly carjacked a Toyota Camry. He crashed the automobile into a Nissan Pathfinder. He abandoned the Camry and tried to steal another SUV, but was unsuccessful and ran. Two witnesses to the crash chased Fajardo and held him until police were able to arrive.

Fajardo also attempted to run from the interrogation room after being questioned by a homicide inspector and CSI officer. He was tackled to the ground.

Admissions were suspended at the Peachtree Center Nursing and Rehabilitation, a nursing home facility located in Smyrna, Tennessee, on March 19, 2010.

According to the Tennessee Department of Health, the inspection, which was completed on March 19, found numerous violations in the areas of administration, performance improvement, and nursing services. New admissions to the facility were suspended that day and a federal daily fine of $6,150 has been recommended until the violations are completely corrected.

A former California nursing home administrator has been charged with kidnapping an 85 year-old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Reportedly, Carnell Williams was moved into the home of Concepcion "Connie" Pinco Giron in approximately August 2008. Giron began cashing the pension and social security checks of Ms. Williams. Giron told a supervisor at Elmwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where she was the assistant administrator, that Williams was being transferred to another care home. Williams was located at Giron's home in August 2009 unharmed. She had been fed and cared for.

Giron has also been accused of opening bank accounts at Citibank for five other residents in 2008. She reportedly transferred funds from those accounts into her own bank account for personal use. She wrote checks to herself and used their ATM cards. She also allegedly stole money from residents' trust accounts at the nursing home facility. She also convinced the son of one of the victims that he needed to pay an extra $600 per month in cash to keep his mother at the facility. The son made those payments for 18 months and Giron kept the money.

Giron was arrested on Monday and charged with kidnapping to commit another crime, false imprisonment, elder abuse, and six counts of theft. She is being held on $365,000 bail.

We discussed the tragic death of a resident of Hunter Acres Caring Center nursing home facility in Sikeston, Missouri in our previous blog.

The death of a seventy-one-year-old resident of the facility after being struck by a train has prompted the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) to investigate the facility and how the the female resident was able to walk away from the facility undetected - creating a situation of "imminent jeopardy", one of the most serious violations that can be assessed by the DHSS.

Due to the ongoing investigation, representatives for the DHSS cannot discuss specifics of the situation, but Kit Wagar, a spokesman for the DHSS, acknowledged that it was their understanding that the victim was able to elope during the morning shift change. He said, "One of the things we're told that is unfortunate is that the woman left the facility during a shift change. And there's always a little bit of confusion at the facility as people are coming and going from work. And this was not noticed immediately and that's one of the reasons that there should be steps in place to account for that."

According to the Vice President for Operating Services at the facility, Bill Mitchell, the facility is equipped with both door alarms and magnetic locks and is very secure.

After the investigation, the DHSS will issue a report with the findings of its investigation. The state and federal governments will then determine what fines and/or other disciplinary actions, if any, the facility will be assessed in this situation. The facility is required by state regulation to resolve any care and safety violations found by the DHSS through a Plan of Correction.

The Terry Law Firm handles cases involving nursing home abuse and neglect. If you are interested in learning more about nursing home abuse and neglect, click here to order our new FREE book "5 Things You Must Know About Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect in Missouri".

A resident of a Sikeston nursing home eloped on Thursday, March 18, 2010 from the Hunter Acres Caring Center in Sikeston, Missouri. The facility, owned by Don Bedell, is reportedly equipped with door sensors and alarms, so at this point, it is unknown how the woman managed to walk away.

This tragedy happened around 7:15 a.m. on Thursday when the 71 year-old woman left the facility and walked to the train tracks. According to the Sikeston Public Safety Chief Drew Juden, the woman was sitting by the tracks when a BNSF train came through. The engineer of the 113 car train blew the horn, slammed on the emergency brakes, and reportedly did everything to try and stop the train prior to hitting the woman. A train that length usually takes approximately 1/2 mile to stop.

After the train struck the woman, she was airlifted to St. Francis Medical Center and was later pronounced dead by the Scott County Coroner.

Having grown up in Cape Girardeau, which is just thirty miles north of Sikeston, I find this story particularly disturbing. I am familiar with most of the nursing homes in Southeast Missouri and their owners. When an event like this happens, one must wonder whether the ownership had provided enough financing for sufficient staff members. Door alarms are good, but if there are not enough staff members to hear or respond to the alarm, they really do little good.

My sincere condolences go to the family.

An Illinois nursing home faces a $35,000 state fine after a recent survey of the facility revealed deficiencies. An investigation into the care residents received at White Hall Nursing & Rehab Center came after the Illinois Department of Public Health received a complaint about the facility.

Reportedly, a male resident at the facility was suffering from a pressure sore on his leg that was left untreated until it became septic. The resident's leg wound was first identified in October 2009 but was not labeled a "pressure sore". Subsequent wound evaluations found that the wound was growing and turned dark purple. On October 28, 2009, nursing notes indicated that the wound smelled foul. At that point, nursing notes indicate that the wound treatment had begun, but, sadly, the resident died five days later.

Allegedly, another resident was suffering from a pressure sore that was improperly treated. Although, no facility records indicated any wounds on the male resident, an assessment performed in mid-December 2009 indicated that the resident had a pressure sore. Subsequent assessments found that the wound was growing. The same resident was seen at least twice without any bandages on his ear and his hair matted down into the wound. He was also seen lying in a recliner four approximately four hours with the wound pressed down on the headrest of the chair.

Gregg Baurichter faces a competency hearing after he reportedly strangled his roommate, fifty-eight year old Gary Schlueter, on December 17, 2009 at Clermont Nursing Care Center in Millford, Ohio.

Baurichter was in the behavioral rehabilitation unit of the facility and reportedly suffers from mental illness.

Baurichter enter pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity on the murder charge he faces. He faces a competency hearing on April 12, 2010 before Judge Ken Zuk of the Common Pleas Court. If he is found incompetent and cannot attain proper mental health within one year, the murder case against him cannot proceed. If he's found competent to stand trial, he could face life in prison. Under Ohio law, an insanity defense cannot be used at trial unless a psychiatrist or psychologist is willing to testify that the defendant did not understand the act was wrong due to his/her mental illness.

A cross-over accident on Interstate 270 near Glen Carbon, Illinois has left three people in critical condition.

The accident happened around 4:30 p.m. on Interstate 270 near Route 157 on Tuesday, March 16, 2010. A man driving westbound in a Chrysler Sebring tried to pass another vehicle, lost control of his car, and crashed through median cables into oncoming eastbound traffic. The Sebring hit a Chevy Camaro head-on. The Camaro then spun around, hitting a Pontiac Grand Prix.

Three passengers in the Camaro, a 24 year old woman, a 9 year old girl, and a 15 year old boy are all in critical condition. The driver of the Camaro was uninjured. The driver of the Sebring, who suffered only minor injuries, was ticketed for improper lane usage and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Two sisters are dead following an accident on Route 3 and Missouri Avenue in Granite City, Illinois on Friday, March 12, 2010.

Fifty-four year old Deneice English was pronounced dead at Gatewood Regional Medical Center on the date of the accident. Her forty-three year old sister, Verna Smallwood, died on March 13, 2010. The sisters, who are from St. Louis, Missouri were in a car that was hit broadside by an SUV around 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The driver of the SUV has not yet been identified. The case is under review by the State's Attorney's Office and criminal charges could be forthcoming.

Twenty-six year old David Null was killed on Tuesday, March 16, 2010, while riding his motorcycle to work. Reportedly, a "distracted" twenty year old female motorist is responsible for causing the accident that killed Mr. Null.

Null and the motorist were both driving east on Olive Boulevard near Craig Road when the motorist suddenly lost control of her vehicle, hit the motorcycle, and knocked Null off, killing him.

The motorist, whose name has not been released, was arrested by Creve Coeur Police and routine tests are being run to determine if she was under the influence of either drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident.

To see KMOV's coverage of the accident, click here.

A collision around 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 14, 2010 left an East St. Louis, Illinois man dead.

Eighty-nine year old Frank Anthony's car was disabled and sitting in the far right hand lane of Interstate 270 at the Chain of Rocks Bridge when a 2003 Dodge Ram slammed into it from behind. The pickup truck driver, Bryan Longworth, told police that he didn't see the Anthony's car and could not stop in time. Longworth and his children, a two year old boy and three year old girl, were uninjured in the accident.

Frank Anthony died at the scene. He had been wearing his seatbelt at the time of the collision. At this time, there is no report on why Mr. Anthony's 1991 Buick LeSabre was disabled.

A Warrenton, Missouri police officer was involved in a fatal accident around 12:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 14, 2010.

Officer Kyle Smith was responding to an emergency call with lights and sirens blaring when he collided with a car driven by Donald Wood of Warrenton, Missouri at the intersection of Highway 47 and Ash Road. Reportedly, Smith and Wood collided as Smith was passing stopped traffic in the southbound lane of Highway 47 and Wood attempted a left turn onto Ash Road from the northbound lane.

Both vehicles ran off the road. Officer Smith suffered minor injuries, but Donald Wood was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

Fifty-one year old Mary Ann Jackson suffered a stroke and was hospitalized twice. Eventually, she was admitted to Northlake Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, a nursing home in Merrillville, Indiana, in October 2008 for care. Instead of receiving quality care, reportedly Jackson suffered neglect.

When Jackson was admitted to the facility, she had one bedsore. At the end of her residency at Northlake in November 2009, that single bedsore had spread into massive sores on her buttocks and legs. According to her sister, Shelli Jackson, "If they (Northlake staff) saw us coming, they would camouflage the bedsores with bandages, so we actually thought she was getting better. But she got way worse instead. Nearly her whole behind was gone. You could see muscles and ligaments down to the bone. Her bedsores were so bad she was stuck in a fetal position with her legs glued together."

In November 2009, Jackson was transferred to The Methodist Hospitals in Merrillville, Indiana, where doctors wanted to amputate both legs. Refusing to accept this diagnosis, her family transferred her to a hospital in Indianapolis and later to another nursing home facility located in Indianapolis, where her condition is now much better. According to the Director of Social Services and Admissions in Lawrence Manor Healthcare Center, Rick Lipscomb, "She had one foot in the grave. I don't know how she didn't die. I've seen animal carcasses on the side of the road that looked better than when she arrived here from another nursing home...People should go to jail for what happened to her." Reportedly, it was estimated that Jackson would be dead within one month.

Northlake was inspected in December 2009 on Jackson's case and was found deficient when they failed to contact Jackson's physician concerning her high blood pressure, vomiting, heart failure, and significant weight loss.

James Ribovich was another Northlake victim. He died of a heart attack on June 9, 2006. According to a March 1, 2006 lawsuit filed by his daughter, someone at Northlake found an abnormality of his penis. He was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection, as well as sepsis, and was "found to have extensive gangrene of the penis and scrotum requiring a wide excision of the gangrene of those areas". According to a state investigation, Northlake failed to meet its duty to care for James Ribovich.

Lionel Malik lived at Northlake for six years before dying in August 2009 of respiratory failure. Malik had a tracheal tube that he consistently tried to bite out. Reportedly, the mouthpiece used to protect Malik disappeared after he was admitted to Northlake. His daughter, Chantel Hoskins, examined his mouth one day and found his teeth embedded in his tongue, which had to be removed from his tongue by a dentist. She alleges that when visiting on the weekends, she would find no one at the nurse's stations and no one answering call lights. "Once they'd get someone in a wheelchair, that person would sit there all day until the next shift. They'd fall asleep and slip out. His ankle was shattered and nobody could tell us why."

Northlake is set to close today, March 15, 2010 after an emergency closure order was issued on February 1, 2010. The order was the result of the facility's consistent failure to correct complaints concerning its care.

An Indiana nursing home faces closure Monday after an Administrative Law Judge confirmed the legality of the State of Indiana's decision to relocate residents and deny the facility a permanent operating license. The facility, Northlake Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Merrillville, Indiana, had been working under a probationary operating license and had been issued three probationary operating licenses - the maximum under Indiana law. The closure will affect approximately 13 residents remaining in the 150 bed facility.

Owner Eric Rothner, who owns at least 24 nursing home facilities in four states, contested the recent ruling and is currently seeking a judicial hearing in Superior Court in Indianapolis and an order halting the closure. According to Rothner, "If the state is out to get you, Jesus Christ could be your administrator and the Mother Mary your director of nursing and you're still dead."

According to the "Nursing Home Compare" section on the U.S. Department of Health and Senior Services' site and the Indiana State Department of Health's "Nursing Home Report Cards", some of Rothner's facilities are among the lowest ranking in the state after being cited for poor quality of care and patient safety violations. According to one resident at Northlake, "...I have no choice in the matter. If I did, I wouldn't be leaving. The guys that own this place didn't want to fix it up and just kept raking in the dough."

Rothner's Indiana facilities are not his only facilities currently under scrutiny. The Illinois Department of Public Health announced recently that it would remove the last residents from Rothner's Somerset Place by March 12, 2010. That facility was ordered to close on that date after the facility received repeated citations for patient abuse, violence, and poor quality of care. You can read more about that closing here.

Dawite Derjew, 21, stole a 2006 Lexus from the Dave Mungenast dealership around 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Speeding north on Lindbergh Boulevard, he lost control around Industrial Lane, crossed into oncoming traffic, and sideswiped a Ford Ranger driven by Michael Mcgaughey. He was slightly injured and was treated at DePaul Hospital.

Derjew kept going and slammed into a Ford Explorer driven by Katherine Scheiwe. Her Explorer spun out of control and hit Theodore Rogers' Chevrolet K1500. The Lexus then impacted with a Mercury Sable driven by William Wandling. Both Scheiwe and Wandling were seriously injured in the crashes and were taken to DePaul Hospital.

After the last impact, Derjew was ejected from the stolen vehicle and was found semiconscious on the pavement. He was taken to DePaul Hospital for treatment. Derjew was charged with stealing a motor vehicle, first degree property damage, and resisting arrest. His bond is currently set at $10,000.

Derjew is not new to trouble with the law. A warrant was issued for him last month for failure to appear in court on a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession in Warrensburg, Missouri.

In one of the largest jury awards ever awarded for emotional trauma without evidence of physical injury, a California jury sent a message loud and clear to nursing homes around the country: we won't tolerate it.

The jury heard evidence related to the sexual molestation of a ninety-four year old dementia resident at Oakdale Heights of Santa Clarita. Sophie Schwartz was the victim of a sexual assault in her room by an illegal immigrant hired as a dietary aide at the facility on December 16, 2007. Jose Vazquez reportedly was allowed to work at the facility without a background check and no training for dealing with elderly residents with needs. The facility provided Vazquez with a master key that allowed him the access each resident's room. Vazquez is serving an eight year sentence for the sexual assault.

A California jury awarded Ms. Schwartz $6 million in general damages and $6 million in punitive damages. According to her attorney, Gregory Owen, "This was a very emotional trial on many different levels. The jury sent a loud message to elder-care providers who choose profit over people and ignore laws designed to protect our community's most vulnerable members. This type of conduct will not be tolerated."

Gregory George

Forty-six year old Gregory George was a resident at Wesley Healthcare Center, a nursing home facility located in Auburn, Indiana, until recently. In January 2010, George alleges that caretakers at the facility "chose to drag me, drove me out of the county, dropped me off and left". George was dropped off at the Emergency Room at Cameron Memorial Community Hospita in Angola, Indiana for no reason. His condition had not changed and he was not sick. George has a permaent tracheotomy and requires oxygen 24 hours a day through a tube in his neck.

After an Indiana State Department of Health investigation, the facility was found to have dumped Gregory George after it failed to re-admit him, staff did not let the facility administrator know that they had determined a resident to be dangerous, and the facility did not have a written abuse allegation policy.

There is a happy ending to Gregory George's story, though. He has relocated to a new facility, Park Villa, and says, "It's a good facility, they're here. They meet my needs, couldn't ask for better services."

A sixteen year old Illinois teenager is dead and her best friends injured after a collision with a F-150 pickup truck on Monday, March 8, 2010.

The teenagers were driving east on New Lenox Road in Joliet, Illinois, headed for a sandwich shop to eat when, for reasons not yet known, the car the teenagers were driving either drove through or rolled through a stop sign and collided with the pickup truck. Sixteen year old Emily Dukovac, a front seat passenger, was killed in the collision. The driver, Alainna Haiman and another passenger, Chelsea Hamm, were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the pickup truck, Frederick Werner, was treated for minor injuries.

The Sheriff's office continues to investigate the crash. What is known at this time is that the speed limit for Cherry Hill Road, where the Ford truck was traveling, is 50 miles per hour while the speed limit for New Lenox Road is 30 miles per hour. No determination has yet been made as to how fast either vehicle was traveling at the time of the crash.

Haiman's father has stated that he believes the intersection is dangerous, blaming the location of speed limit signs and no red light or caution signs.

Forty-five year old Byron McRoberts was killed on Wednesday, March 10, 2010, when his 1999 Honda Shadow collided with a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado.

McRoberts was northbound on Interstate 270 when congestion near McDonnell Boulevard caused a traffic backup around 5:30 p.m. He was unable to stop in time and slammed into the back of the Silverado truck. McRoberts was taken to DePaul Health Center but was pronounced dead around 6:17 p.m.

Toyota was dealt a second blow recently when a New York Prius sped out of control and crashed while its owner helplessly sat in the driver's seat.

Reportedly, a fifty-six year old female driver lost control of her Prius when the accelerator pedal of her 2005 Prius "stuck" and her car hurtled out of her driveway in Harrison, New York. The car traveled across a busy street before violently crashing into a stone wall. The impact was so severe that "several boulders were hurled about 10 feet from the crash site". The woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash.

Reportedly, the car's floor mat was tied to the seat base using plastic ties, eliminating the floor mat problem Toyota recently announced. While the car is currently being examined at police headquarters, Toyota has not announced whether it will send a field team to New York to examine the car.

The New York Toyota incident comes on the heels of a California near-accident when a 2008 Prius accelerated beyond the driver's control while operating on a highway. The Prius, which was not subject to Toyota's recent massive recall, took nearly 23 minutes to stop and required police assistance. The driver was not injured in that incident.

It's been almost five years since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Huntington Place Senior Community through massive flooding. What remained inside was still dangerous and was only discovered through chance.

A man named Nicholas, who requested that his last name remain anonymous, had a dog that ran off. During the search for the dog, Nicholas and his friend had to enter the abandoned Huntington Place Senior Community to catch her and were quite surprised to find multiple filing cabinets filled with medical records of the facility residents. The records were completely legible and contained social security numbers, birthdates, addresses, medical information, and resident names. This was identity theft waiting to happen. But the records weren't the only find that day - Nicholas and his friend also found pills thrown all over the floor of the facility, most of them unopened and in their original packaging. One of the medications found was Zyprexa, an anti-psychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Syringes and other medical supplies were also found abandoned and unsecured.

According to St. Bernard Parish President, Craig Taffaro, the building was originally slated to be demolished in June 2009 but a property release error held up the demolition. The building will be demolished within thirty days.

Helen Van Dale

Her death certificate lists "blunt head trauma" as her cause of death and its haunts her daughter. "When I think of her falling, I can't stand that. I don't care if she's 92 or 50, the age doesn't mean a thing. It's the life that means something," says Dottie Hammond. Dottie Hammond's ninety-two year old mother, Helen Van Dale, died after falling from a wheelchair at Silver Lake Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Residence in Kingston. Helen Van Dale had entered the facility five weeks earlier and reportedly declined due to an undiagnosed urinary tract infection that left her disorientated. According to her daughter, the disorientation led to Helen Van DaIe's fall from her wheelchair.

In Massachusetts, medical malpractice lawsuits must be heard by a tribunal prior to going to trial. In July 2009, the superior court medical tribunal ruled that there was enough evidence for the case to proceed through the system.

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.

A father of ten was killed on February 26, 2010 after the pickup truck he was riding in accidentally ran a red light.

Edward Kropf was the passenger in a 2002 Dodge pickup truck driven by his twin brother, Edwin Kropf. The truck went through a red light at the intersection of Kansas Expressway/Route 13 and Division Street. A 2007 Volvo tractor trailer traveling north on Kansas Expressway/Route 13 slammed into the passenger side of the pickup truck, killing Edward Kropf instantly. The violent collision forced the pickup truck into another tractor trailer carrying a load of windows. Edwin Kropf was transported to the hospital for treatment.

Springfield emergency personnel were called to the scene and worked feverishly to remove the Kropf brothers from the crash. The driver of the Volvo tractor trailer was not injured, although there was damage to his truck.

The Kropfs are Amish Mennonite farmers who raise cattle and soybeans in the Everton area.