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.

A Minnesota nursing home is reportedly to blame for a resident's recent untimely death. According to a state Health Department investigation, Sunwood Good Samaritan Society of Redwood Falls, a nursing home facility located in western Minnesota, was negligent in the resident's November 1, 2010 death when its staff allegedly failed to act quickly when a resident's physical condition was unexpectedly deteriorated.

On October 31, the resident was eating dinner when she began coughing and gasping during dinner. Rather than call the woman's physician, a facility nurse faxed the doctor concerning the woman's difficulty breathing. No one responded to the fax or followed up the next day.

The next day, the woman continued to have trouble breathing, her appetite was poor, and she was lethargic. Later that night, the woman's condition worsened and her pulse was erratic and her breathing was more difficult. Her fingertips turned blue and she curled into a fetal positions. A facility nurse administered oxygen and gave her medication for pain. Faxes were again send to the doctor's office, beginning at 4:15 p.m. After the third fax, after 5:00 p.m., the woman's doctor finally responded.

At 5:15 p.m., facility staff called an ambulance for the woman but failed to indicate that it was an emergency. At 6:25 p.m., the same nurse called again for an ambulance, failing again to stress the emergent status of the resident. When the ambulance finally arrived at 6:30 p.m., the woman was in cardiac arrest and died just before 7:00 p.m. Her cause of death was cardio-respiratory failure.

The ensuing investigation into the facility's actions found that the facility failed to have formal processes in place for monitoring and reacting to significant changes in the resident's condition. The facility was ordered to take corrective action addressing the three deficiencies assessed in this case and staff were trained to:

- Call 911 - not sheriff's dispatch - for ambulance requests.

- Respond to "significant changes in condition" of residents appropriately.

- Implement systems for proper physician notification in emergent situations.

Missouri Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney David Terry is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect in Missouri and Illinois. If you suspect that your loved one or family member may be a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, contact us toll-free for a no obligation consultation at 1-888-317-2525 or 314-878-9797.

The Minnesota Department of Health determined that neglect caused a resident's fall and subsequent injury at Benedictine Health Center. We have discussed problems at the facility in previous blogs.

According to a January 26, 2011 investigative report by the Office of Health Facility Complaints, a resident who had left-side paralysis and required extensive assistance was to be moved between her bed and the bathroom on August 27, 2010. The woman's care plan called for a transfer between the wheelchair and toilet using a mechanical lift. Use of the lift including the use of a vest, buttock strap, and straps for the lower legs. The employee assisting the woman admitted that she failed to use the buttock strap during her transfer. The results were tragic.

During the transfer, the resident fell or was dropped. She suffered head injuries and left hip contusions. In the ensuing hours after the fall, the woman "continued to have pain in her left hip, her ability to move declined, and her appetite decreased". She was placed on hospice six days after the fall and died three days later.

According to the facility's Executive Director, Mark Broman, the facility's investigation found that their employee failed to follow the resident's care plan and facility policies and was terminated.

This is a sad case and yet another illustration of how vulnerable elderly residents are. It is good that the employee involved was terminated, but why did this happen in the first place? Where was the supervision? Was the person adequately trained? Sure, she cut corners, but why? Is the facility insufficiently staffed?

Continue reading "Neglect Cited in Minnesota Nursing Home Resident's Fall" »

According to a recent Minnesota Department of Health report, the Bethesda Heritage Center in Willmar, Minnesota is at fault for the choking death of a resident.

According to the report, the resident suffered from chronic breathing problems and anxiety. She was on a restricted diet banning all raw vegetables and anything else that was not "well cooked" due to her difficulty swallowing. On May 29, the resident began choking during her evening meal while eating raw cucumbers in cream sauce. While a staff member did perform the Heimlich maneuver and the resident did expel a mouthful of food, the resident later died at the hospital from respiratory failure and choking.

Facility staff believed that they did not violate the resident's dietary restrictions because the cucumbers were soft and in cream sauce.

According to facility Administrator Michelle Haefner, "We've taken this very seriously. We never want to see this happening again." The facility now requires all meals to be double-checked against each resident's dietary plan.

Westwood Health Care Center, a St. Louis Park nursing home, has been cited for neglect after a dementia resident fell down a flight of stairs.

The incident happened in July 2010. The injured resident was found at the top of a stairwell the day before her accident. She was fitted with an electronic wristband that automatically locks exit doors as residents approach them. A mere eight hours later, the woman wheeled away from an activity in an area of the facility not equipped with the automatic locks and fell down seven concrete stairs. She reportedly was found lying at the bottom of the flight of stairs and most likely fractured two ribs in the fall.

While the nursing home facility disagreed with the state's findings, it did take corrective measures.

As if Brianna Broitzman and Ashton Larson didn't have enough problems after being charged with sexually assaulting and spitting on defenseless nursing home residents at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home facility in Albert Lea, Minnesota, now they face problems due to their friendship on Facebook.

We previously blogged about Broitzman and Larson. The girls are accused of abusing defenseless nursing home residents by spitting in a resident's mouth, groping genitals, hitting and/or touching residents in the breast or genital area, sitting on the lap of a female resident in a wheelchair with bare buttocks, sticking fingers in mouths or noses to keep residents from screaming, and taunting them.

After the girls were charged, they were not to be in contact with each other. In fact, Broitzman posed a $6,000 bond with conditions that included "no contact with co-defendants". Apparently, being friends on Facebook is considered "no contact" by the girls. Now, the police department has to decide whether the girls have contacted each other or if they are just viewing each other's sites.

A mistake in a resident's medical records led to forced care of a Minnesota nursing home resident.

According to a Minnesota Health Department investigation, on the night of June 13, a nurse on duty at Lake Winona Manor realized that a nursing home resident had not had a bowel movement for three days. Unfortunately, the resident's records contained a charting error.

The nurse ordered a suppository and proceeded to administer it by having nursing home staff hold the resident down, even though the resident was kicking and telling the nurse that he had a bowel movement the previous day and did not need a suppository. The resident had the right to refuse treatment.

The facility was cited by the state for violating the rights of the resident, who was described as "cognitively intact and able to communicate without difficulty". The facility was ordered to provide staff training on resident rights and changing the affected resident's Care Plan to reflect that he has the right to refuse treatment.

Lakeshore, Inc., a Minnesota nursing home was cited for neglect of health care due to a medication error that led to a resident's death.

The female resident, who has not been identified, was admitted to the nursing home after being hospitalized for an infection on or about April 29, 2009. As she had a history of small strokes, for which she took the anticoagulant drug Coumadin, she was admitted to the facility with a prescription for Coumadin and an order for follow up testing on May 7 to ensure that her medication dosage was correct.

According to facility policy, the drug was to be discontinued on the day of testing and was to be resumed after the doctor had received the results and authorized a new prescription. Due to an error in transcribing the doctor's order, no blood test was performed and the Coumadin treatment was not resumed.

The woman was discharged from the nursing home facility on May 25. She was re-hospitalized on May 27. The medication error was not discovered until May 28, when the woman's relative called the facility. Sadly, the woman died on June 4 from a stroke caused by a blood clot.

According to Medicare.gov's new rating system, Lakeshore, Inc. ranks as a two star facility out of five stars, making it a "below-average" facility.

On June 16, 2010, a resident of Pine Medical Health Care Center told a facility employee that he felt sick. When the worker arrived with nausea medication, the resident had no pulse.

The facility employee summoned a nurse. Because facility staff could not immediately locate written resusciation instructions, the nurse called her manager who told her where to locate the documents and instructed her to begin CPR. The nurse told state investigators that she "froze" was was unable to begin CPR, despite the resident's resusciation wish. The nurse faces disqualification by the state and could be included on the state's abuse registry.

The Office of Health Facility Complaints assessed a neglect finding on the facility for failing to perform CPR.

Brianna Broitzman entered an Alford Plea on Monday, August 16, 2010, on three gross misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct by a caregiver toward a vulnerable adult in the criminal case of abusing defenseless residents of Albert Lea Good Samaritan nursing home in Albert Lea, Minnesota. An Alford Plea means that the defendant in a case maintains innocence but acknowledges that existing evidence could result in a "guilty" jury verdict.

Broitzman's sentencing is set for October 22, 2010. The gross misdemeanors each carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a $3,000 fine, or both. The case against Broitzman's accomplice in the abuse case, Ashton Larson, remains pending and the Freeborn County Attorney does not envision a similar plea in that case.

We had discussed the abuse these residents suffered in a previous blog.

A fifth Minnesota nursing home resident has been burned by a portable heater. In all five instances, the nursing home facility was found to be negligent by the State of Minnesota.

In January 2010, a hospice resident at Benedictine Health Center in Duluth, Minnesota suffered second degree burns after the calf of her leg rested on the heating element of a portable heater. The resident died that day, but her death was not attributed to her wounds.

Also in January 2010, a resident at Redeemer Health and Rehab, a nursing home facility in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was burned after physically contacting a radiator. He was taken to the hospital with second and third degree burns and died approximately four weeks later.

In December 2009, a Gracepointe Cross Gables West nursing home resident burned three fingers on a heat register located one inch from his bed,

In January 2009, a Alzheimer's resident at Golden Living Center - Meadow Lane suffered first and second degree burns after lying on top of a radiator at the facility. She died nine days later, but her death was not attributed to her injuries.

In November 2009, a dementia resident at Emmanuel Nursing Home in Litchfield, Minnesota was discovered with her leg hanging over the edge of her bed. The leg had contacted electric heat register and the blisters on her left foot "nearly doubled the height of the foot".

After a thorough investigation, the Minnesota Department of Health determined that a Minnesota nursing home facility contributed to the hypothermia death of one of its residents.

According to the recent report, staff at the Jones-Harrison assisted living residence "lost" the female resident in the evening on November 21, 2009, believing that she could be at home with a family member. A family member had signed the resident out of the facility on November 20 but had returned her to the facility, forgetting to sign her back in. The family member told investigators that when she arrived at the facility on the morning of November 22, the resident had not been seen inside the facility for approximately 16 hours and the police had not been called.

Due to the confusion, staff members did not know if the woman had returned to the facility or remained at home with her family. Staff members found the woman on November 22 around 10:30 a.m. near a parking garage, frozen with no pulse. Her cause of death was listed as hypothermia from cold exposure.

The ensuing investigation determined that the woman was able to elope from the facility due to a cyclone fence gate that was left open. The woman, who suffered from dementia, walked through the gate into a wooded area. A maintenance worker, who had left around 4:00 p.m. on November 21, admitted to leaving it unlocked so he could quickly get to his car in the cold weather. The maintenance worker, who had been suspended previously, was fired for misconduct and dishonesty due to the lies he reportedly told initially when he explained how he left the facility that day.

The report concluded that the employee and the facility were guilty of negligence in the woman's death due to the facility's failure to manage its resident register and failing to initiate a missing persons protocol timely.

According to a recently released state health department report, a female nursing home resident fell to her death in May 2009 and a Minnesota nursing home is at fault. On the day of the fall, the resident was found on a concrete stairwell landing, face-down, and strapped into her wheelchair. She was unable to be resuscitated.

According to a report released by the Minnesota Health Department, the deceased resident had a history of wandering around the facility and trying to open doors. Merely weeks before her fatal fall, the resident had been found in a stairwell and brought back in to safety by a facility employee. The employee reported the incident to a registered nurse.

The facility, Providence Place, failed to change the woman's care plan after she twice previously attempted to open the door to the same stairwell. The second attempt came only thirty minutes before she died. Her previous care plan, dated December 2008, indicated that the resident "needed assistance of staff to avoid potentially dangerous situations".

According to a Minnesota State Health Department report, a registered nurse at Woodbury Health Care Center, a nursing home located in Woodbury, Minnesota improperly ordered a halt to CPR on a resident, which resulted in the resident's death.

Reportedly, a facility staff member began CPR on the resident, who was in her 80s and suffered from breathing problems and breast cancer. The nurse, who was not identified, said, "She is dead." The individual administering CPR kept up resuscitation efforts until the nurse "raised her voice and repeated her command". The resident was dead before emergency responders could take over.

The nurse, who has a history of disciplinary actions, was fired. According to her personnel file, she had been cited for needing to improve her job knowledge, professionalism, and relationships with subordinates, residents, and families. In 2007, a doctor filed a formal complaint against her for improper conduct and in 2009, she failed to follow wound-management protocol and was disciplined.

Reportedly, abuse has been uncovered at another Good Samaritan facility, Good Samaritan Bethany, located in Brainerd, Minnesota. You will recall that the Good Samaritan facility located in Albert Lea was in the public eye after several teenage CNAs reportedly sexually, emotionally, and physically abused elderly defenseless residents.

The facility was recently cited for four rule violations surrounding the maltreatment of residents, failing to protect them, and a violation for neglect of supervision and faces a $5,000 fine.

State investigators entered the facility on December 11, 2008 and were told by administrators that one aide might have mistreated several dementia residents. Instead, investigators were shocked to uncover a "pattern of resident abuse" by as many as 20 nursing assistants. The abuse included belittling elderly residents, removing a call-light from a confused resident, and telling a male resident to urinate in his incontinence briefs. Investigators also found that aides swore at residents or punished the residents by refusing them coffee. The alleged mistreatment had been going on for more than three months and as many as 40 employees knew of the abuse, including supervisors.

The facility was slapped with an "immediate jeopardy" citation and was forced to retrain staff immediately or lose federal funding.

Eighty-five year old Paul Reuter, Jr. began showing significant changes in respiration early in the morning on September 30, 2009. Reuter, a resident of Littlefork Medical Center, a Minnesota nursing home facility, died around 5:00 a.m. that day.

A licensed practical nurse at the facility, who remains unnamed and is still employed at the facility, discovered Reuter's low oxygen levels around 12:40 a.m. She failed to consult a registered nurse before connecting him to supplemental oxygen, which appeared to be helping Mr. Reuter's oxygen levels to rise. She checked him twice more, at one hour intervals, before finding him dead at 5:00 a.m.

According to the investigative report, although trained on the proper procedures to follow, the LPN failed to follow established facility procedure when the resident's condition began to deteriorate. When questioned why she did not follow procedure, the LPN said she thought the RN would tell her to put oxygen on the resident and monitor him. She did not believe she neglected the resident.

The LPN was suspended for five days without pay and was disciplined. She was also required to re-train on appropriate reporting and watch a video on critical thinking.

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.

According to a Minnesota State Health Department investigation, the Foley Nursing Center, a nursing home located in Foley, Minnesota, was cited recently for failing to have "an adequate system in place whereby nurses notified the physician of the resident's deteriorating health status.

On March 3, 2009, a facility resident complained to a nurse that his chest was tight and his cough had "slight crackles". The nurse noted that the resident's oxygen saturation level had dropped to approximately 80%. The resident was administered oxygen and his saturation level climbed to 92%.

The following day, the resident attended a previously scheduled physician's appointment, where the physician detected shortness of breath. The man was taken to the hospital and admitted. The man died on March 8 from pneumonia.

The hospital physician doctor told state investigators that when the man's oxygen saturation level dropped to 80%, a nurse should have called a doctor. The state report found that one nurse failed to notify a physician of the "crackles" in the resident's lungs, a second nurse failed to act on that first nurse's concerns, and yet a third nurse didn't notify a doctor about the drop in oxygen saturation.

On October 7, 2009, a nursing assistant was caring for a female resident at St. Anthony Health Center when another resident's sensor alarm sounded. The employee immediately left to check on the other resident, leaving the female resident, who was a known fall risk, unattended and without her Care Plan safety precautions in place. The resident's Care Plan called for her bed to be lowered, a sensor alarm set, and a floor mat placed next to the bed. A facility nurse later found the woman on the floor of her room.

The woman's fall caused a hematoma on her forehead, according to a Department of Health report. Shortly thereafter, the woman became "very drowsy" and had weakness in her legs. She then became unresponsive and had difficulty breathing.

According to the report, with "significant physical status changes", the resident was admitted to hospice care on October 9, 2009 and she died on October 11, 2009.

The nursing assistant was suspended after the incident and was fired after the resident's death.