Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

In January 2009, Irene Hendrix suffered severe injuries at Cambridge Place Nursing Home in Lexington, Kentucky. No one seems to know what happened and Ms. Hendrix, who suffers from Alzheimer's, can't tell anyone.

Ms. Hendrix was found lying in a pool of blood with broken facial bones, bleeding in her brain, a swollen eye, a cut lip, and a 4 cm laceration on her forehead. She was hospitalized for three weeks and nearly died. Pretty severe injuries for "just a fall".

The case was reportedly investigated but closed without the nursing home being cited for Type A abuse, which is when a resident is placed in imminent danger or faces substantial abuse or neglect. Hendrix's family wonders why.

While they are suing the nursing home for Hendrix's injuries, they have also asked the Kentucky Attorney General's Office to reopen the investigation into her injuries. According to Hendrix's attorney, Scott Owens, this is a case of an abuse or neglect investigation at a Kentucky nursing home that "simply didn't go deep enough. There was enough evidence to raise a flag that there was a possibility that she could have been attacked...And we know that wasn't investigated at all."

All Kentucky nursing home abuse cases are investigated by the Attorney General's Office, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of Inspector General, and the Adult Protective Services branch of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. It appears that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing in this instance.

According to the Attorney General's investigator, the cabinet's adult protection worker believed the injuries were accidental. The adult protection worker determined that Hendrix was the victim of caretaker neglect and had been exposed to an extreme safety risk.

Investigators from the state agencies were told by nursing home staff that Hendrix was missing on January 21, 2009, while in her merry walker. Unfortunately, each investigator reported varying information, including where Hendrix was found. The Attorney General's investigator called the room where Hendrix was found a "physical therapy room 'set up similar to a residential room'". The Office of the Inspector General's investigators called the room "an empty resident's room" and the adult protection worker called the room "an area with storage equipment". Information about how Hendrix fell also were conflicting: one report said she fell over a wheelchair and one stated that she was found in the merry walker with her face "to the floor". The Attorney General's investigator was told by nursing home staff members that they thought her walker had caught the door frame or raised threshold and it caused her to fall and land on her face with the merry walker on top of her.

According to Owens, his investigation has found that there have been resident-on-resident assaults at the facility and he and the family want investigators to re-examine the incident to determine if someone could have attacked Hendrix.

Harold Lee Steele, Jr., a former Administrator at Poplar Grove Rest Home, pleaded guilty to federal charges of mail and bank fraud and submitting false statements after he reportedly cashed retirement checks for a nursing home resident who died in 1998. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 7, 2010 in the U. S. District Court in Louisville, Kentucky.

As of July 22, 2010, Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation, a Lexington, Kentucky nursing home, has been placed on the federal government's Special Focus Facility list. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a Special Focus facility is a nursing home facility that has demonstrated a consistently poor quality of care based on inspection findings over the past three years. These facilities are subject to inspection twice as often as other nursing home facilities. to see the July 22, 2010 Special Focus Facility Initiative, go here.

Investigators found 22 deficiencies at the facility so far in 2010, which is more than three times the average number of deficiencies found in most Kentucky nursing home facilities. Additionally, the facility was slapped with a Type A citation, the worst citation that can be assessed, in both 2009 and 2010. The 2009 Type A citation was assessed after facility staff members reportedly attached inappropriate lyrics to photographs of residents and sent them via text message to other facility employees. The 2010 Type A citation was assessed after a resident eloped from the facility.

According to Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, Hazard Nursing Home and its administrator, Sheila Noe, failed to report accusations that a resident was sexually abused by another resident as required by state law.

The facility spokesman, Eddie Woodruff, would not provide a comment on this specific charge but did state that Hazard Nursing Home has provided "consistently excellent care" to Kentucky residents since 1976. A brief review of Medicare.gov shows that it has received an overall one star rating by Medicare, making it a "much below average" facility. In its most recently reported survey information, Hazard Nursing Home received 11 deficiencies compared to a state average of 7.

The Administrator and the facility's registered agent are due in Court on September 13, 2010 to face the charges.

John and Mae Campbell

Eighty-eight year-old Mae Campbell had been a resident of Hazard Nursing Home in Kentucky since 2005. She and her family decided it was a good fit for her since they knew the facility and staff had taken good care of Mae's husband, John Campbell. They never dreamed that she would be subjected to sexual abuse while a resident of the facility.

Mae Campbell, who suffers from Alzheimer's, was sitting in the hallway of the facility last year in view of a nursing supervisor when a male resident walked up and ejaculated on her face. Three months later, she was sexually abused again by another male resident. A nurse who witnessed the incident was reportedly told by her supervisor not to tell anyone and Campbell had not been harmed. No one told anyone in the Campbell family what was happening to Mae.

The sexual abuses may have gone undetected if it hadn't been for a nurse's aide testifying in a wrongful death case. Debbie Salley testified in her deposition that she quit working at the nursing home after she witnessed the sexual abuse Mae Campbell endured while sitting in the hallway. She thought Campbell should have been better protected.

The State of Kentucky became involved and cited the facility for failing to monitor the man involved in the May 18, 2009 incident, even though he had previously exposed himself to both Campbell and two other female residents.

Another nurse, Sandy Noble, who also was being deposed in a wrongful death suit, testified that she found yet another male resident in Campbell's room and that he had blocked the door. The male resident was nude from the waist down and Campbell had semen on her. Reportedly, according to the deposition, a nursing supervisor told Sandy Noble "to go on and keep working and...not to be discussing it with anyone" and "there was no actual harm done to the patient". Once again, facility staff failed to monitor the man in the second incident even though he had been found in bed with another impaired resident in 2008.

Even after the sexual abuse incidents were uncovered through deposition, the nursing home failed to notify Mae Campbell's family about her alleged abuse. It took attorney Jeff Morgan, who was involved in the wrongful death case, to notify the Campbell family. According to Morgan's investigation, after one of the incident's Mae Campbell complained of a sore throat and soreness and bruising of her inner thighs. She had also complained of men trying to hurt her. Morgan said that the complaints were not properly investigated by the nursing home.

Mae Campbell has since been transferred to another nursing home. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services issued the facility a Type A citation, which indicates that the life or safety of a resident had been endangered. Reportedly, the nursing home staff failed to report the sexual abuse incidents, which is a violation of state law.

The Campbell family sued the nursing home in May 2010 and allowed her to be identified in the press in an effort to spare other nursing home residents from sexual abuse.

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."

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.

Todd Gribbens and Earl Pelphrey

Two former caregivers at Community Presence, Inc., a Kentucky nursing home facility, were sentenced for their roles in the abuse of a resident, who died.

On October 14, 2007, Michael Price, a mentally handicapped resident of Community Presence, Inc. for seven years, died after caregivers placed him in a prone restraint. Price, who also suffered from cerebral palsy, stopped breathing and died after caregiver Matthew Bortles laid on his back for more than 30 minutes. After the caregivers discovered Price's death, they conspired to cover it up.

Todd Gribbens and Earl Pelphrey pleaded guilty on December 4, 2009. As part of their plea agreement, they both received one year for wanton abuse of an adult, first degree wanton endangerment, and first degree unlawful imprisonment. Their sentences are diverted for five years. Both are forbidden to work as caregivers of vulnerable adults or children. Two other men went to prison for their roles in Price's death.

We discussed Richmond Health and Rehabilitation in a previous blog.

Armeda Thomas' family noted severe bruising on her body and facility staff could not explain the origin. The family resorted to placing a "granny cam" in Ms. Thomas' room. The camera caught facility staff "pulling the resident out of bed by her wrists and neck" and "roughly moving the resident from side to side". Ms. Thomas suffered fractures in her lumbar vertebrae after being handled roughly by facility staff. Among other things, the camera captured images of a staff member showing her fist to Ms. Thomas after she was combative and, on another occasion, a staff member dancing in front of Ms. Thomas while another staff member held her down. The camera also captured Ms. Thomas lying on the floor for an hour before being discovered by staff.

Former nurse aide Valerie Lamb pleaded guilty to reckless abuse and neglect of an adult in the incident. Another former nurse's aide pleaded guilty last year and a third nurse's aide faces trial in March 2010.

Todd Gribbens and Earl Pelphrey pleaded guilty to Class D felonies of wantonly abusing an adult, wanton endangement first degree, and unlawful imprisonment relating to abuse of a 25 year-old disabled resident. Charges were brought against Gribbens and Pelphrey as well as Bob Thompson and Michael Yates for their alleged abuse of Michael Price, the resident involved.

On October 14, 2007, Michael Price, a resident of Community Presence, Inc. facilities for seven years, died after caregivers placed him in a prone restraint, which is prohibited by Kentucky Law. Price, who was mentally disabled and suffered from cerebral palsy, stopped breathing and died after caregiver Matthew Bortles laid on his back for more than 30 minutes. Caregiver Brandon Starotska failed to intervene and stop the abuse and watched television instead. After discovering Price's death, both Bortles and Starotska cleaned up Price's blood, hid a bloody pillow, and washed a blood-stained washcloth in an attempt to conceal evidence. Both Bortles and Starotska were sentenced to prison earlier this year.

A nurse and two nursing assistants were indicted recently after an investigation by the Attorney General's Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control found that abuse charges were warranted.

In violation of a resident's established Care Plan, Melissa Lyon, a nurse assistant, was trying to transfer a resident into her bed alone at Creekwood Place Nursing Home in Russellville, Kentucky. During the transfer, the resident suffered a fractured leg. After the injury, Lyon and another nursing assistant, Destiny Duncan, "concealed the true facts of the incident". Nurse Barbara Moore "did not call a physician or family member or check on the victim, all of which caused the victim prolonged suffering and pain".

Each of the employees were indicted on a Class C felony of knowing abuse or neglect of an adult. If convicted, they face between five and ten years in prison.

The Terry Law Firm, a Missouri-based law firm, is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. Please contact us with any questions or concerns about nursing home abuse or neglect 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.

We discussed the tragic situation at Dawson Pointe in Dawson Springs, Kentucky in our previous blog. You will recall that an employee at Dawson Pointe took nude photographs of a female resident sitting nude in a shower chair. Phyllis R. Johnson, 19 and a former nursing assistant at the facility, was indicted by the Hopkins County Grand Jury on charges of video voyeurism and adult abuse. Johnson used her cell phone to record two videos on April 1, 2009. Johnson was fired from the facility on April 20, 2009, the day following her arrest. 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.

Arden Courts, a personal care home located in Louisville, Kentucky, was cited for the second time in less than six months for failing to properly care for its residents. On June 22, 2009, Arden Courts was hit with a "Type A" citation, the most serious citation available from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and faces a possible fine of up to $5,000.

The citation came after investigators determined that a resident was injured on June 12 in a fall at approximately 4:45 a.m. and did not receive medical attention despite her complaints of pain and informing staff that she believed she had broken a bone. No medical attention was provided until family members demanded that a doctor be called after they arrived in the afternoon and saw the resident's condition. The resident was taken to the emergency room and was treated for a pelvic fracture, low blood pressure, and a laceration on her elbow that required stitches. This resident was not to walk without a walker, however, no walker was with her when she was found on the hallway floor early that morning. This resident also required total assistance with bathing and other personal care tasks.

In addition to failing to seek medical treatment for the resident's injuries, investigators determined that the facility also failed to prevent accidents and ensure the safety of its residents. The citation also found that the facility was caring for residents requiring more assistance and services than the facility is licensed to provide.

This facility was also cited in February 2009 for failing to provide appropriate care for seven residents who suffered repeated falls. Two of those residents had developed bedsores and four residents had suffered significant weight loss. All seven residents needed more skilled care than Arden Courts could provide as a personal care home.

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

We discussed this story in a previous blog. Eighty-four year old Harrison Blankenship was arrested for first degree sexual assault at Bradford Square Rehabilitation and Nursing Center after a facility staff member walked in and caught him sexually abusing an 87 year old female resident.

Now, Blankenship says "it was all a big misunderstanding". Allegedly, a nurse at the facility saw Blankenship pushing the resident down the hall to her room. A nurse entered the room and found the curtain closed. When she opened it, she saw Blankenship sexually abusing the resident. Blankenship says the nurse was "mistaken".

Blankenship, a World War II veteran and survivor of a Nazi Prisoner of War camp, is already a registered sexual offender for the rape of a 13 year old in 1995.

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

Eighty-four year old Harrison Blankenship was arrested after he allegedly forced an elderly eighty-seven year old nursing home resident to participate in a sexual act without her consent.

Police were notified that a visitor at the facility had sexually abused a resident at Bradford Square Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. Blankenship was arrested and charged with first degree sexual abuse.

Blankenship was arrested and released from the Franklin County jail. The resident was given a complete medical exam.

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

According to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services, Dawson Pointe Nursing Home was one of the two Kentucky nursing homes recently accused of allowing improper cell phone use. According to the report, an elderly resident of the facility was videoed twice on April 1, 2009 using a cell phone. The videos, taken by a nursing assistant, showed the resident, nude, in a shower chair.

The first video recording showed the elderly resident looking at the device and speaking in garbled speech. The second video revealed the resident's entirely nude body. In that video, the resident appeared to be reaching for the phone as if trying to grab it and was clearly heard saying, "turn it off". While this was occurring, a chuckle can be heard in the background.

Phyliss Johnson, 19, was arrested on April 19, 2009 for this incident and charged with video voyeurism and abuse and neglect of an adult. Her case has been referred to a grand jury.

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 our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services has cited Dawson Point in Dawson Springs, Kentucky for improper cell phone use by employees. The facility Administrator said the facility took "immediate action" to protect its residents and that company officials were "totally appalled" about the incident. The Administrator would not divulge what happened at the facility.

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.

We discussed Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation Center in a previous blog. Investigators from the Inspector General's Office of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services found that employees at this facility were taking photographs of the residents with cell phones, attaching sexually explicit lyrics to the photos, and sending them as text messages to other employees.

"We did not think things would get so far out of hand," said an employee who sent photographs to ten other employees, "We were just having fun. Everybody was on the cell phone 24-7." Documents recently revealed that employees recorded residents screaming or asking to go to the bathroom and then played a guessing game to determine as to which resident it was. Some residents were not fully clothed in the photographs.

The incidents, which involved seven different residents, were investigated in March and April 2009. One resident, who suffered from dementia and was obese, was photographed entering the bathroom and was depicted in the photograph with an exposed back, legs, and incontinence brief, which appeared wet. The staff member then attached lyrics of a sexually explicit song and sent it to a nursing assistant.

In another incident, a resident was photographed in her wheelchair with one thumb up in an "Ok" sign. That photograph was forwarded with the message "Giggity, giggity. Let's have sex." to another employee. When state investigators informed the resident about the incident, the "resident's eyes grew wide" and the resident said, "I don't know why anyone would want to do anything like that or even think about doing something like that."

Another photograph exchanged between nursing assistants revealed a resident lying in bed with buttocks partially exposed. Once the resident learned of the incident, the resident told investigators about wanting to file a lawsuit.

A staff member recorded a ring tone of a resident, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, saying "I gotta do do." and played it for people standing around a nurse's station. An LPN who heard the recording said no one "acted like it was a big deal". That LPN had worked at the facility since July 2008 and said no one enforced the cell phone policy or seemed concerned about the use of cell phones in resident areas.

Currently, there are no laws or regulations in Kentucky concerning cell phone use in resident care areas at long term care facilities. The Inspector General's Office of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services has requested that nursing home facilities prevent cell phone use in resident care areas in the future. Any such compliance to the request would be completely voluntary.

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 our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.

We discussed Richmond Health and Rehabilitation Center, also known as Madison Manor, in our previous blog. Richmond Health and Rehabilitation Center made national news when the family of an eighty-four year old elderly resident, Armeda Thomas, hid a video camera in her room at the facility in an attempt to review facility employees' behavior when working with Ms. Thomas. Their recording led to charges against three facility employees for reckless abuse or neglect. Jaclyn Dawn VanWinkle pleaded guilty to reckless abuse or neglect and received a probated twelve month jail sentence in exchange for helping prosecutors in the case. Amanda Sallee was indicted on one count of wanton abuse or neglect of an adult for allegedly eating Ms. Thomas' meals instead of offering them to her or offering to help her eat. Valerie Lamb was indicted on one count of reckless abuse or neglect of an adult for allegedly lifting Ms. Thomas by the neck and for lifting her legs higher than necessary while performing incontinent duties.

The Department of Health and Human Services for Medicare and Medicaid Services placed Richmond Health and Rehabilitation Center on its "Special Focus Facilities" list on April 23, 2009. Special Focus Facilities are facilities that have either more problems than other nursing home facilities or have a pattern of serious problems over a long period of time that cannot be resolved. Special Focus Facilities are inspected more frequently than the annual inspection that most nursing home facilities undergo. Currently, the facility is classified as a "Class A" facility, which means it is newly added to the focus list and is awaiting a survey from federal inspectors.

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.