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.

Smoking residents at a Kentucky nursing home are not supervised while smoking because "they turn violent if their cigarettes or pipes are taken away", according to records obtained by the Kentucky Herald-Leader.

Nursing home inspectors found 19 deficiencies at Parkview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in between January 1, 2010 and January 31, 2011, according to a spokesperson for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The facility has been added to the federal Special Focus Facilities list, which is a list of the nation's most troubled nursing homes. Kentucky boasts four facilities on that list.

According to the report, on June 3, staff allowed a mentally disabled resident to leave a smoking room with a pipe. The resident reportedly fell asleep with the lit pipe and the mattress caught fire. The mattress smoldered and the resident was found on his knees, coughing in the hallway. He sustained second degree burns to his hand in the incident. The facility was issued a Type A citation for the incident on June 14. According to federal guidelines, nursing homes are allowed to have smoking rooms, but facility staff is required to supervise and assist residents who are unable to safely handle smoking materials. Because the resident involved in this incident became physically and verbally combative when his smoking materials were taken, staff members allowed him to keep his pipe and had been doing so for four years.

Other immediate jeopardy incidents found at the facility involved failures to keep the facility free of dangers that could cause accidents, failure to follow care plans, and failure to run the facility in such a manner that it leads to the highest level of well-being for the residents.

Parkview Nursing and Rehabilitation Care joins Arbor Place, Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation, and James S. Taylor Memorial Home on the federal Special Focus Facilities list. The James S. Taylor Memorial Home has since voluntarily closed its doors.

Kool-Aid dripped on insulin bottles. Expired medications in the refrigerator. No milk in a month due to an unpaid bill. Odors of urine and feces in a hallway. Residents bathing every other day due to no clean towels and a shower that was visibly "dirty and stained with a black and green substance". A resident tried to hit another resident with a wall hanging and facility staff reportedly did nothing. Facility staff reported that the current Administrator only stopped in one or two times a month.

These are the conditions that 35 disabled people were living with in December 2010 when Kentucky state inspectors visited Golden Years Rest Home in Lechter County, Kentucky. Yet, this is not the first time that Golden Year has fallen under state scrutiny.

Eloping Resident Freezes to Death

Larry Huff was 64 year old resident at Golden Years back in December 2006. Huff suffered from mild dementia, schizophrenia, and alcoholism. He wandered away from the facility at least six times prior to January 8, 2007. On that date, he wandered away, never to return. Huff was found frozen to death in the snow.

Facility staff waited seventeen hours to alert police that Huff was missing, despite his history of wandering. Huff's family believes that if the police had been promptly called Larry Huff would still be alive. The Huff family sued the facility and settled their case in 2010.

Residents Suffer Physical Assault, Theft

James "Chum" Tackett was the administrator in 2007, the year that Larry Huff went missing and a resident was assaulted.

According to an Inspector General's citation, a resident claimed that Tackett smacked him in the face and hit him on the head with a rubber hammer. The resident tackled Tackett and Tackett and another staff member began hitting the resident, which caused the resident to slam into a filing cabinet. The resident suffered a would that required several stitches.

State regulators investigated the incident and found that the staff member assisting Tackett in the assault had a criminal conviction for sex with a minor, but the facility had not performed the appropriate state-required criminal background check. Tackett pleaded guilty to reckless abuse of an adult in 2009 and was sentenced to two years probation. As part of the probation agreement, Tackett was no longer allowed contact with the facility, yet, he was present in July 2009 when state inspectors showed up. The facility was cited again for allowing Tackett to be present in the building.

Tackett was charged with taking up to $500,000 in state and federal payments that were due the residents at the facility in April 2010. The indictment came after the Attorney General's Office concluded a seven month investigation. Tackett and the facility have pleaded not guilty to the pending charges. A trial is set for October 3, 2011.

New Leadership

After all the recent problems at the facility, Jonah Tackett, Chum Tackett's grandson, took over running the facility. According to Jonah Tackett, the problems found in the December inspection have been corrected but some of them were misstated or overblown. Tackett did admit that the facility did not have milk for a while but excused it by saying, "We had 2 percent powered and they liked that just as good."

Continue reading "Hardly "Golden Years" For Kentucky Personal Care Home Residents" »

Hilltop Rest Home, a Kentucky personal care home, is closing.

The facility has been cited five with Type A citations, the most serious available, for violations of state regulations since July 2010. The facility's license is set to be revoked on December 9, 2010.

According to the Manager of Health Solutions Assisted Living, Derek Cimala, "We had already investigated and made plans to close the facility sometime in the next several months anyway. The facility was very, very old. It was getting very, very difficult to maintain the facility. The state's action accelerated the inevitable decision." Health Solutions is the owner of the Hilltop.

CITATIONS

July 2010 - A ward of the state was missing for over one day before being located 66 miles away, intoxicated. Local police weren't notified of the missing resident for four to five hours. The facility failed to investigate the elopement. Additionally, the facility failed to have an adequate supply of food on hand for its residents. According to regulations, an adequate supply of food is a three-day supply.

August 2010 - A ward of the state was allowed to wander outside in 100 degree heat. Another state ward was not properly monitored.

September 2010 - The facility was cited for hiring a person listed in the Kentucky Nurse Aide Abuse Registry. The facility hired said employee in 2008 and said employee resigned in January 2010 after reportedly being accused of physically assaulting a resident. The employee was then rehired, desipte being in the Kentucky Nurse Aide Abuse Registry, and was providing direct care to facility residents. Said employee was promoted to assistant administrator on August 23.

September 22, 2010 - Facility cited for not monitoring a resident who drank shampoo and had to be rushed to a local hospital The resident had a history of ingesting inappropriate, sometimes dangerous, chemicals.

October 2010 - Facility cited after resident was not provided with psychiatric medication for three days and attempted suicide.

Hilltop's 27 residents are currently being assisted with placement by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

State Representative Tom Burch (D-Louisville) has pre-filed a bill designed to revamp the system for investigating nursing home deaths in Kentucky.

The proposed legislation would require all deaths to be reported to the county coroner within 24 hours by a specific staff member at long-term care facilities and hospices. Current state law only requires facilities to notify coroners in the event the death is "other than natural". As a result, coroners are rarely even contacted, even when abuse or neglect is suspected of playing a part in the death. In fact, according to Attorney General Jack Conway, nursing homes are allowed such broad discretion on reporting possible abuse or neglect cases that often state investigators are unaware that a death may have been caused by abuse or neglect until notified by a family member or another individual files a complaint.

The proposed legislation also would require coroners to involve local law enforcement or prosecutors if the death is the result of suspected abuse or neglect. Coroners would be allowed to discern which deaths would need review by law enforcement.

Nursing homes would be required to provide the Attorney General's Office with the name of one specific employee charged with the job of reporting deaths to the local coroner under the proposed legislation. Failure to do so would result in fines of $200 per week for the facility's failure to comply and the designated employee could face criminal penalties.

Burch's proposed legislation also calls for specific training on abuse and neglect for nursing home inspectors and facility staff. It also proposes strengthening the criminal penalty for failure to report suspected abuse or neglect. Currently, failure to report is a Class B misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a possible fine of up to $250. Under the new proposal, failure to report would become a Class A misdemeanor, calling for up to 12 months in prison and a possible fine of up to $500.

Once concern about the proposed legislation is the 24 hour notification period. According to Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn, the proposed 24 hour notification period could be too long. Ginn noted that a body could be at a mortuary and already embalmed if a nursing home facility were to wait the full 24 hours before notifying proper authorities of a death.

The Terry Law Firm looks forward to watching the progression of the proposed bill before the 2011 Kentucky General Assembly.

A Kentucky nursing home was hit with a $42,750,000 verdict yesterday in a nursing home wrongful death and negligence lawsuit.

A Hopkins County Circuit Court jury found in favor of the plaintiff and against Harborside Healthcare, a Kentucky nursing home. The case involved Mr. James Offutt, a 92 year old resident of the facility. Mr. Offutt, who suffered from cancer, lived at the facility a mere 9 days prior to his death from dehydration, despite the presence of a feeding tube. According to attorneys prosecuting the case, Mr. Offutt also developed painful sores on his body.

The jury awarded one million dollars for negligence resulting in a death, one million seven hundred fifty thousand dollars for wrongful loss of consortium for Pearline Offutt, and forty million dollars in punitive damages.

The nursing home plans to appeal the verdict.

A Kentucky nursing home resident died last month from injuries suffered in a fall at the facility.

The resident was admitted to Mountain Manor nursing home facility on October 14, 2010. Facility staff assessed the resident on October 15 and found that the resident was a high risk for falls. Facility staff utilized side rails on the resident's bed for protection against falls.

On October 16, 2010, the resident was attempting to get out of bed without assistance by "exiting the bed around the side rails". Facility staff notified the resident's physician, who ordered a bed alarm be placed on the resident. Sadly, according to a citation from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of the Inspector General, "there was no evidence the bed alarm was implemented".

On October 18, the resident was found on the floor near the bed. The resident suffered broken bones around the eye and six broken ribs in the fall. According to a physician, the resident developed lung complications due to the broken ribs and died on October 26.

The facility was assessed a Type A citation by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of the Inspector General, which is the most severe citation available. A Type A citation is assessed in situations where a resident's life or safety was put at risk due to violations of state regulations.

Falls are a major source of injury for elderly nursing home residents. For some reason, many nursing homes still don't take them seriously enough. Physicians' orders are to be promptly obeyed - not delayed.

Despite its Administrator's assertions that the situation at the facility isn't "actually all that bad", Hilltop Nursing Home, a nursing home facility located in Kentucky, was issued Type A citations, the most severe citation possible in Kentucky when dealing with abuse and neglect in nursing home facilities, for four dates in 2010.

On July 2, 2010, Hilltop Nursing Home was cited for failing to provide continuous supervision and monitoring for a resident who eloped from the nursing home facility on June 11. Facility staff were "supposed" to check on this resident approximately every two hours. Sadly, there was no "check" system in place and facility staff reported that "If we haven't seen them for a while, we look for them." This resident was located two days after the elopement, approximately 66 miles from the nursing home facility. The resident was at the police station, intoxicated.

On August 18, 2010, the facility was cited for an August 8, 2010 elopement. The resident had previously eloped on April 28. Around this time, another facility resident, suffering from COPD and mental retardation, was seen walking away from the facility in the excessive heat. According to the facility Administrator, the resident "was walking in the local town" and "does it every day of life".

An August 31, 2010 survey, found that the facility employed an individual listed in the Kentucky Nurse Aide Abuse Registry for two separate incidents.

On September 22, 2010, the facility was once again cited for failing to provide appropriate supervision for a resident. The resident at issue was known to ingest potentially harmful chemicals and had been reported as "eating cigarette butts" and "brushed teeth, mouth, and gums really hard with soap powder". This resident was rushed to a local hospital after ingesting shampoo to cure a lung infection.

According to Belinda Arthur, the new facility Administrator, she suspects that ex-employees were behind the most recent facility problems for "bringing these issues back up". "They were responsible for part of the incidents but because...they were fired, they decide that they want to call the state," according to Arthur.

We discussed the tragic case of sexual abuse a Hazard, Kentucky nursing home resident endured in our previous blogs.

Eighty-eight year old Mae Campbell suffered sexual abuse at the hands of two male facility residents. Campbell suffers from Alzheimer's and was unable to tell her family what was happening to her. Neither facility staff who witnessed the occurrences nor facility administrative staff told the Campbell family about the sexual abuse. The sexual abuse incidents were uncovered through a deposition concerning a wrongful death case. 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.

The State of Kentucky 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.

Now, Sheila Noe, the Administrator of the facility, and Forcht Group of Kentucky, the parent company of Hazard Nursing home, have entered "not guilty" pleas in the case pending before the Perry District Court. Noe reportedly failed to report the suspected abuse to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services as required by law. She could face up to 90 days in jail and a fine of $250.

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.