Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

My personal experience as a Missouri Nursing Home Lawyer is that far too many nursing home residents are overmedicated by those responsible for providing quality care. In my job I often meet with residents and their families in nursing homes. On some of those occasions, the residents simply could not wake up. Their eyes fluttered as though they were struggling to wake up and participate in the conversation happening around them. Sadly, the government has determined that my experience is not unique.

The U.S. Department of Health and Senior Services recently prepared a report entitled Medicare Atypical Antipsychotic Drug Claims For Elderly Nursing Home Residents that found that too many nursing home institutions failed to comply with regulations designed to prevent overmedication. It is well known that prescribing antipsychotic medication to elderly residents with dementia is potentially lethal, yet 88% of these individuals receive such prescriptions.

Family members must make certain that they know what medications their loved one is receiving. They must educate themselves on the medications and the proper dosages. They must regularly ask questions of the caregivers and insist upon answers. Family members must know what the possible side effects are and should closely monitor their loved one for any signs of side effects.

Why would a nursing home overmedicate a resident? First, to be fair to the nursing home industry, many times the overmedication is completely unintentional. Elderly residents are more much more susceptible to overmedication than are younger people. The second reason is an indictment of the nursing home industry. Overmedicated residents do complain and are, therefore, easier to care for with a reduced staff. Residents who ask to be taken to the restroom, or who need more water or need help walking down the hallway often require assistance from staff members. When a nursing home operates on reduced staff (as most nursing homes do) drugged residents are easier to manage than those who are alert and active.

If you are concerned about the care your loved one is receiving in a nursing home, call our St. Louis personal injury lawyer David Terry for a free consultation at 1-888-317-2525.

Residents at a Georgia nursing home facility suffered beatings, embezzlement, and medication theft at the hands of those entrusted to care for them. Over the past two months, three employees of Winterville Retirement Center have been arrested and charged with separate and unrelated crimes against the very people they were supposed to be caring for.

On February 22, 2011, Cynthia Ann Barrow, an employee of Winterville Retirement Center, reportedly punched an 82 year-old woman in the face because the resident had taken butter from a dining room food cart. The resident had a "knot the size of an egg" on the back of her head where she struck the food cart and the floor. She was treated at a local hospital and released. She died on March 19, 2011 and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether her head injuries contributed to her death. Barrow was charged with abuse of an elderly person.

Nine days after the resident's death, Shyniqua Buckles, another Winterville Retirement Center employee, allegedly stole more than 100 Xanax tablets that had been prescribed for the deceased resident. Police officers searched Buckles' home and found all but six of the stolen pills. Buckles was arrested and charged with fradulently obtaining a controlled substance.

Sherrye Huff, the facility Administrator, was recently charged with five felony charges - one count of misdemeanor theft, two counts of exploiting an elderly person, and three counts of theft - for her role in abusing the defenseless people left in her care. The investigation into Huff's activities began on April 27, 2011, after the son of an Alzheimer's resident complained that he received an arrears notice from the nursing home. The man had been making payments to Huff through social security and pension checks and was under the impression that Huff had been forwarding the payments to Assisted Living Concepts, the parent company of the facility. When confronted, Huff reportedly admitted that she cashed four of the checks for her own use and cashed a fifth check for another resident.

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A Walker County, Georgia jury's recent award spoke volumes about what they thought about the wrongful death case presented to them.

Fifty-one year old Charlotte Pauline Dean suffered from cerebral palsy. She relied upon Hutcheson Home Health Care for weekly medical treatment. Her family hired Country Crossing Assisted Living to provide Dean with around-the-clock care. Sadly, Dean died on January 19, 2006, after being transported to Hutcheson Medical Center, also known as Hutcheson Home Health. Dean had multiple infected pressure sores on various parts of her body.

Dean's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both entities and Travis Thompson, the owner of Country Crossing Assisted Living, alleging that they were only treating one pressure ulcer rather than the multiple infected sores that Dean had all over her body. After a week-long trial, the jury awarded Dean's family $4 million for pain and suffering, $5.5 million on the wrongful death claim, and $2,683 in funeral expenses.

According to Ken Bruce, one of the family's attorneys, "When you see a verdict like this, by definition it reflects a jury's belief that there was some very bad treatment and bad conduct by the defendants."

Sadly, many politicians will deny this verdict as another "runaway jury" requiring the need for more tort reform. The better way to view a verdict like this is a wake-up call for nursing home owners to either better fund and better staff their facilities so they can provide quality care or shut down.

I applaude the Georgia jury that sent the right message in this case.

Twenty year-old Christy Myranda Hardin-Simerly faces a charge of simple battery after apparently playing a prank on a nursing home resident.

Reportedly, the eighty-three year-old resident of Calhoun Health Care, a nursing home facility in Calhoun, Georgia, was in her wheelchair when Hardin-Simerly spun her around several times after she was instructed to stop. Hardin-Simerly also allegedly put ice down the resident's back.

According to Public Information Officer Lt. Tony Pyle, "After interviewing everyone involved, it appears this incident started out as a prank. However, once the victim voiced a complaint, the offender was obligated to stop her actions. She (Hardin-Simerly) continued until the physical contact became insulting and of a provoking nature to the victim."

Nursing home employees need to remember that many nursing home residents are not able to withstand jokes and pranks like their younger caregivers. "Stop" means "Stop!" and "No means No!" Keep that in mind and unfortunate instances like this will not happen.

Recently, senior citizens in Port Wentworth, Georgia were told by Senior Citizens, Inc., an organization that operates a senior citizens' center, that they could not pray at meals that were paid for with federal funding, but they could observe a moment of silence.

After questioning by Fox News and other news organizations, it seems that Senior Citizens, Inc. has had a change of heart. In a statement released by the senior center, it said, "...Over our years of service, we have been instructed, as recently as two weeks ago, by the state regulatory agency that verbal prayer was not allowed at any senior center. We are so pleased to say that we have been contacted by a few minutes ago by the new Director of Aging clarifying the regulation and reversing the position of new verbal prayer..."

Senior citizens at a Port Wentworth, Georgia senior citizen facility have been forbidden to pray. At least, they have been forbidden to pray at meals that have been provided by Senior Citizens, Inc.

Senior citizen visitors at the Ed Young Senior Citizens Center have been instructed that they cannot pray before their meals due to a federal guideline. According to the Vice President of Senior Citizens, Inc., Tim Rutherford, they are contracted by the City of Port Wentworth to provide meals to the elderly and, because those meals are paid for with mostly federal money, they cannot pray before meals. These meals, which consist of baked chicken, steak tips, rice, and salads, typically cost approximately $6 per plate. Seniors pay 55 cents per meal and federal funding absorbs the remainder of the cost.

Rutherford instituted a moment of silence before the meal rather than allow the seniors to pray aloud and offend federal authorities.

The Mayor of Port Wentworth is searching for an alternative, which may include cancelling the contract with Senior Citizens, Inc.

Tamera Smith

We discussed Tamera Smith and the crimes she committed at Tara Nursing Home in Thunderbolt, Georgia in previous blogs. Smith, along with her cousin, was accused of using personal information of residents and employees of Tara Nursing Home and using it to obtain computers, digital cameras, cell phones, and charge accounts for her personal use.

Smith pleaded guilty to over thirty counts of identity fraud, computer thefts, and elder abuse. She was sentenced to six years, five of which she will spend in prison.

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

Wayne Dawn, Jr., manager of the Pleasant Valley Assisted Living Center in Dalton, Georgia, has opted to plead guilty to drug theft. Dawn had previously plead "not guilty" to elder abuse charges and multiple counts of drug possession.

Dawn was arrested in October 2008 and charged with six felony counts of cruelty to a person 65 or older, six misdemeanor counts of theft by taking, six misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct, three counts of felony possession of hydrocodone, one felony count of possession of darvocet, and two felony counts of possession of tramodol. Allegedly, Dawn took drugs belonging to residents and replaced them with other drugs.

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.

Tamara Smith

We discussed nursing home identity thieves in our previous blog. Cousins Tamara Smith and Teresa Robbins reportedly stole the identities of 43 people, approximately half of whom were residents of Tara Nursing Home in Thunderbolt, Georgia. The cousins faced approximately 101 charges ranging from identity theft to fraud. Unfortunately, a loophole in the law will allow 26 of those charges to be dropped. Georgia law identifies an elder person as a person 65 years of age or older that is not a resident of a long term care facility. Therefore, 26 charges must be dropped. Captain James Pierce of the Thunderbolt Police Department intends to go through each date the perpetrators used someone's personal information either to order credit cards or purchase cell phones and determine whether or not that victim was a resident of a nursing home. Seventy-five charges will remain against the two for using the victim's personal information to purchase computers, cell phones, and open credit cards.

Yvonne Winslow

Yvonnne Winslow, a former nursing home worker at Savannah Specialty Care Center in Savannah, Georgia, sits in jail facing six felony charges, including elderly abuse. Winslow alleged took a debit card belonging to Ron and Charlotte Miller from their room and used it at area businesses. She has admitted her involvement to investigating authorities.

Tamara Smith

Tamara Smith sits in jail accused of stealing the identities of at least 43 nursing home residents. Smith accessed the personal information of several nursing residents through her former job of certified nursing assistant at Tara Nursing Home in Thunderbolt, Georgia. In fact, over half of her victims are current or former residents of the facility, who range in age from 60 to 100. The residents' personal information was used to buy computers, cell phones, and open credit card accounts.

A single family's complaint 15 months ago triggered the investigation. The number of victims continues to grow and more arrests are expected. It is the largest case of identity theft ever seen in Thunderbolt.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us at 1 (888) 317-2525 or visit us at www.nursinghomejustice.com.