Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Reportedly, verbal abuse, headlocks and chokeholds are used to restrain residents at a Texas adult daycare center in Spring, Texas.

Westridge Pinnacle Care is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General after the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services found a "threat to the health and safety of the residents" at the facility.

According to the investigator's report:

- A staff member was arguing with one of the disabled residents, who wanted to call his mother to go home because he didn't feel well and reportedly came to blows. The staff member allegedly put the resident in a headlock and shouted, "You're not going to be violent! I'm the only one that is going to be violent! If you do it again, I'll bite your face off!"

- The facility was operating without a valid license. Reportedly, the facility's request for licensure was denied on March 16, 2010 but there are no indications as to why.

A judge issued a temporary restraining order against the facility and ordered the state to place residents in a safe facility.

A Texas nursing home CNA faces charges that he sexually assaulted a nursing home resident.

Richard Sanchez was arrested and is being held on $120,000 bond on three charges. The Sheriff's Office received a telephone call from Community Care Center of Clarendon on April 27, 2010, reporting that one of its residents had possibly been sexually assaulted. Authorities investigated the charge and subsequently obtained an arrest warrant.

The investigation found one victim of sexual abuse that had occurred during the last two months.

For more information about sexual abuse in nursing homes, go to the Terry Law Firm website.

Beverly Rasberry Stone, the operator of Stonecrest Senior Care in Sweetwater, Texas, was indicted on May 11, 2010 on two counts of injury to an elderly person after a resident under her care developed severe bedsores.

The abuse allegations arose after Stone's facility "failed to seek appropriate attention, and (the bedsores) became untreatable". The resident eventually died of unrelated causes and the death is not at issue in the injury charges lodged against the nursing home operator.

According to Stone's attorney, her facility was not permitted to handle more than three residents at one time and that rule was violated for a period of time.

After her recent arrest, Stone was released after posting bonds in the amount of $30,000. Her arraignment hearing has been waived.

We discussed Shonda Rodriguez and her alleged abuse of an elderly nursing home resident at Castle Pines Nursing Home in previous blogs. Rodriguez, who formerly was employed as a licensed practical nurse at the Lufkin, Texas facility, reportedly slapped the hand of a facility resident and woman was found with bruises on the backs of both hands and a skin tear on her upper arm. Rodriguez pleaded no contest on December 15, 2009 to charges of abusing an elderly patient and was sentenced to two years' probation, ordered to pay restitution, and fined $500. She was also ordered not to work with the elderly or small children in her profession as an LPN.

Isidro Olvera

Isidro Olvera, a former housekeeper at St. Elizabeth's Place in Waco, Texas, will spend the next two years behind bars after pleading guilty to three felony forgery counts.

Olvera admitted that he stole four checks from elderly residents at the facility (ages 92, 88, and 85), filled in amounts between $450 and $650, forged the residents' signatures, and cashed the checks. In fact, he reportedly cashed some of those checks after he had been caught and termined from his position at the nursing home.

In addition to jail time, Olvera will face restitution in the amount of $2,100 - the amount of the forged checks.

We discussed Johnetta Phillips and her alleged abuse of an elderly resident at Castle Pines Nursing Home in Texas in a previous blog.

The reported abuse of the 77 year-old resident was caught on a video camera that the victim's husband set up in her room. The victim told her husband that she was being abused but, due to her mental state, she could not identify her abuser.

Phillips was caught on tape on two separate occasions abusing the female resident. According to the arrest warrant, Phillips grabbed the woman's right arm and twisted it and then struck her arm three times. In another incident, Phillips was seen putting the resident to bed roughly, causing her to hit her head on the headboard.

Phillips pleaded guilty to the abuse and was sentenced to twenty months in jail.

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

He was "mad at his life" and looking for a "a lady to choke" when he broke into Clare Ridge, a Brookdale Senior Living Facility in San Antonio, Texas.

Daniel Villarreal, 25, broke into the nursing home facility through a side door early on the morning of October 11, 2009. Randomly selecting a room, he punched and kicked 77 year-old resident Janice Maier in the face as she slept, severely injuring her. Covered in blood, he wandered out of Ms. Maier's room and was stopped by facility employee.

Ms. Maier was admitted to University Hospital with head trauma and cuts. Villarreal was charged with injury to an elderly person, a felony.

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.

According to Clark McLaurin, the Administrator of Keller Oaks Healthcare Center, "we don't really know" why the facility was deemed a special focus facility and was put onto the federal watch list for nursing home facilities.

Among the deficiencies that Keller Oaks, a North Richland Hills, Texas nursing home facility, was cited for were deficiencies for failing to feed residents properly and failure to administer needed medications and failure to keep the nursing home free of dangers to residents.

Participation in the federal program is designed to help nursing homes showing a pattern of serious deficiencies to turn their program around. Failure to correct existing problems can result in penalties from fines to termination of participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

 

"If I said there was no danger, I would be lying." Counselor Ezio Leite on sex offenders on civil committment.

Several weeks ago, sixty year old Boyd Mullens was moved from a halfway house in Dallas to the Lake Worth Nursing Home in Lake Worth, Texas. Mullins is considered a sexually violent predator after being convicted of molesting several teenage boys.

Officials allegedly moved Boyd due to illness but refuse to elaborate. Nursing home staff members say that Mullins is able to ambulate but speaks using a computer device. He lives in a room with several other nursing home residents.

Facility social worker Laura Holbrook allegedly was not aware that Mullins was considered such a dangerous sex offender. While residents in the surrounding Lake Worth neighborhood were advised of Boyd's residency, as were nursing home employees, residents of the facility and their families were not notified. According to Holbrook, "No, we don't divulge that to family members." The nursing home Director refused to comment on the failure to notify and refused to discuss if any extra security precautions were taken to protect the residents.

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

Edna May Sides, an 85 year-old Alzheimer's patient, lived at Hillside Plaza Nursing Home in Wells, Texas. Staff members found Ms. Sides dead outside the nursing home facility around 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 15, 2009.

By the time her family was notified, Ms. Sides' body had been moved and a post-mortem clean up had been performed. While the nursing home treated Ms. Sides' death like a normal passing away, her family was suspicious and contacted the Wells Police Department, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department, and the state Attorney General's Office with concerns. While officials do not think Ms. Sides suffered foul play, they do believe there was possible negligence and are trying to determine who was responsible for ensuring Ms. Sides' safety.

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.

Today, everyone is aware of the seriousness of exposing children to sexual predators and most parents are diligent about checking state sexual offender websites for the locations of sex offenders living near their homes or schools. Has anyone ever thought to cross-check the addresses in the registries to see if any are living in local nursing homes? CBS4 I-Team in Florida did.

After performing an address cross-check and finding approximately 80 sex offenders living in Florida nursing homes (some of whom were court-ordered), CBS4 I-Team Investigator Michele Gillen visited nursing homes and group homes to verify these invidiuals were actually residents at the facilities. One 35 year old offender living at an adult home acknowledged his status and explained that his fellow residents were unaware of his status. He is one of two sex offenders living at that facility.

I-Team also visited The Pines nursing home in South Florida. There, the facility houses two sex offenders. I-Team met with the owner, Jules Ast, and Assistant Administrator Alyce Sica and they discussed the state of the art surveillance system the facility has in place. Both emphasized they are very careful about the type of offender allowed into the facility, as they are located within one block of an elementary school. The offender cannot have the ability to self-propel - they must have total assistance with movement. The sex offender residents are also not allowed to wander off on their own. Facililty staff are advised on the sexual offender status of the residents, but other residents are not informed. Assistant Administrator Alyce Sica actually went to the state ten years ago to encourage the state to create special housing for aging felons. "They need people who know how to deal with people who are dangerous," she said.

Wes Bledsoe, founder of A Perfect Cause, is aware of the problem. A Perfect Cause tracks sexual offenders and their crimes, some of whom can be seen on their website. Bledsoe says, "We are warehousing these offenders with disabled elderly people who can't protect themselves and can't tell what happened to them."

Florida residents can check Florida Sexual Offenders and Predators and Missouri residents can check Missouri Sex Offender Registry. For information on sexual predators in Illinois, click here. Like most states, sexual predator information for Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania can also be located online.

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

We discussed abuse at a Texas Nursing Home in a recent blog. On March 23, 2009, a director at Castle Pines Health & Rehabilitation told police they had seen someone slapping the hand of a resident the previous day. The elderly resident had bruising to the backs of both hands and a skin tear on her upper arm.

Certified nurse aide Shondra Rodriguez, 21, has been arrested in the abuse case. According to an arrest affidavit, Rodriguez abused an 80 year old woman on March 22, 2009. A member of the nursing staff noticed the resident's door was closed and her help light activated. The employee went to check on the resident and saw Rodriguez striking the resident on her left hand. The employee also witnessed blood on the bed and reported it. Other staff members saw bruising developing on the victim's hands and arms.

Rodriguez admits to "popping the victim" and holding her hands down and trying to fight with her. Her bail was set at $5,000 and she has posted bond and been released.

An employee at Castle Pines Nursing Home in Lufkin, Texas has been accused of injuring a resident over the weekend of March 21-22, 2009. The nursing home director stated that the employee was seen slapping the hand of a resident. Investigators found bruising on the backs of both hands and a skin tear on her upper arm. The investigation continues.

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.

James Owen Spurlock, a former maintenance worker at Touchstone Farms in Hawkins, Texas, was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to twenty years for each count on Tuesday, January 14, 2009. He will serve the terms concurrently.

Spurlock was accused of having sex with a 38 year old mentally disabled woman, who told her family that he was using sex "to help prepare her for marriage". The abuse was discovered when the woman began talking about it with her family. The Wood County Sheriff's Office investigated the matter and discovered that he had also victimized a 24 year old mentally disabled woman living there.

The facility, which could only house five residents at a time, was in the process of closing when the abuse was discovered. There were three residents living at the facility at the time - two women and a man. Spurlock was a six year employee at the facility and was in charge of maintaining the facility inside and out.

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

Seijdra Eribo

Asher Kennon hasn't been able to speak since he was a small boy. Asher, now 27, suffers from severe autism. It appears his autism made him an easy target for abuse by one who was to care for him.

In October 2008, Asher suffered second and third degree burns on his neck and arm while staying at a group home in Fort Worth, Texas. The home is run by Medical Case Management and Seijdra Eribo is the Director. Sadly, when Ashton's parents uncovered the abuse, they could not get anyone to tell them what had happened to their son. They called police.

Police investigated the matter and eventually Eribo, the staff director, admitted to burning Asher with hot water. She provided no reason for her cruelty. Eribo was arrested on January 28, 2009, on suspicion of felony injury of a disabled person, causing severe bodily injury. Interestingly, she was fired from the facility for failing to fully cooperate with the investigation - not for abusing a resident!

Sandra Kegler, a care giver at Parson's House assisted living center in North Austin, Texas, has been charged with injury to an elderly individual. Ms. Kegler was seen on surveillance tapes attempting to use credit cards that residents at Parson's House had reported missing. An employee background check was performed on Ms. Kegler, which revealed no criminal history. An arrest warrant has been issued.

A former employee of Loyalton of Austin Assisted Living Center in Austin, Texas has been charged with injury to an elderly person for her role in jewelry thefts from residents at the facility. Gina Lewis, 23, has been accused of stealing jewelry from the residents in her care in May and June 2008. The jewelry was located at a local pawn shop after residents reported it missing.

Loyalton was cited in June 2008 for four violations during an inspection, which included failing to document continuing education for employees and failing to provide a site free of fire, health, or physical hazards.

Power outages should not result in death, but tragically, a resident suffering from heart and lung disease died after her artificial breathing apparatus failed during an April 10, 2008 power outage at Brookhaven Nursing Center in Carrollton, Texas. The power went out after a spring storm around 3:00 a.m. The resident was left alone in a overheated room without oxygen. A nurse checked on the resident around 6:00 a.m. and found the resident "thrashing around in bed" and determined that "the resident was simply uncomfortable because the room was extremely hot". The nurse told investigators that she was not aware that the resident couldn't breathe and couldn't assess her condition "because it was too dark in the room due to the outage". She was found dead at 7:00 a.m. Tragically, the facility did have a backup generator and stored oxygen containers, but the nurses caring for the oxygen-dependent residents had not been trained to deal with an emergency situation.

The State of Texas has charged the center with failing to maintain minimum health and safety standards and is seeking civil penalties of up to $20,000 for each violation of residents' health and safety. During an investigation one week after the tragedy, investigators found 23 violations which placed residents in "imminent jeopardy" and the center was providing "substandard quality of care".

Brookhaven has failed annual inspections every year for the past eight years, with the exception of 2004. In 2003 and 2006, state records show that Brookhaven had been cited for causing "actual harm" to residents or placing residents in "immediate jeopardy".

Interestingly, the parent company, Diversified Healthcare, LLC, of Brookhaven has its own problems. Not only is it not registered with the Texas Secretary of State's Office to operate their business in the State of Texas, but it also owes two years' worth of back franchise taxes.

Richard Ward saved his own life. If it hadn't been for his diligence, he would, in all probability, be dead from a heart attack or blood clot.

Ward was a resident at Life Care Center of Plano after suffering two heart attacks in five days. He admitted himself to the facility for care and provided the staff with a list of all of his medications. Mr. Ward is a retired Army emergency Medicine physician's assistant, so he knows his way around his medications and his medical chart.

After a mere 24 hours at the facility, Mr. Ward was feeling worse than ever. He was so weak he could barely walk to the restroom. Concerned, he began checking his medication cup and to his surprise, the medication cup didn't match what he should have been taking! He questioned facility staff and was told that he was taking what he was supposed to have.

Two days later, a doctor finally visited him at the facility. The doctor performed the normal physical and history and tested his INR level. Testing an INR level is done to determine clotting time of blood. To Mr. Ward's surprise, the INR was way below what doctors had ordered. The facility doctor realized that he was not being given Coumadin and Lovenox, both blood thinners. An emergency meeting was called and the appropriate medications were ordered. Unfortunately, six hours later, Mr. Ward still had not been given the appropriate medications. An Administrator was contacted and promised to call the pharmacy. No one followed up when the medicine had arrived at the facility - Mr. Ward could have been taken care of earlier if the appropriate communication between the facility and pharmacy had been made.

Mr. Ward wasn't finished suffering yet - there was more to come. A Lovenox shot, which is to be administered every 12 hours, was not received. He contacted the medication nurse himself and was told that she hadn't gotten around to him yet. He was given his medicine, along with the past due injection, 45 minutes after talking to the nurse. The shot was late again that night and was told that it hadn't been ordered. He managed to get his shot and checked out of the facility much earlier than expected.

Mr. Ward ordered his chart and the chart revealed multiple errors in identity and medication. To read more concerning this matter, go to Resident Claims Nursing Home Negligence.