Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

A Connecticut nursing home resident was killed on Saturday, August 21, 2010, after he tumbled from his wheelchair.

Eighty-eight year old Percy Sumner, a resident of Bishops Corner Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation, a nursing home facility located in West Hartford, Connecticut, had been a resident of the facility since 2004. Suffering from dementia, Sumner was seen earlier in the morning near the front door of the facility and was redirected. According to Jeanne Moore, a spokeswoman for Genesis HealthCare, the nursing home's owner, "This patient was put on a 15-minute check right away and those observations are documented by our nursing staff. He was last observed in the hallway of his unit at 9:15 a.m. Unfortunately, just minutes later, the patient went out the front door, unwitnessed and unaccompanied by Bishops Corner staff."

When Sumner eloped from facility through the front door, the front door alarm reportedly sounded, as did a personal alarm Sumner wore for safety. It is unknown how much time elapsed between the time the alarms sounded and the time staff responded to those alarms. Sumner rolled 44 feet down a grassy embankment, through a vinyl picket fence, and over a three foot rock wall before falling from his wheelchair and hitting his head on the sidewalk. He was taken to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, where he died.

This is not the first time the facility has been in the eye of inspection officials. Approximately four months ago, nursing home inspectors found that the facility failed ensure that the facility was free of dangers that cause accidents and failed to have a program in place to prevent inspection from spreading. According to the new rating system instituted by Medicare.gov, the facility was rated two out of five stars, or "much below average".

While the Terry Law Firm is not involved in this case, we have handled several cases involving elopement and wrongful death. Elopement as a result of lack of supervision by the nursing staff can often be linked directly to budgeting issues and insufficient staffing.

Elmer Huntsman was admitted to Elmwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on August 26, 2008. Huntsman was required to sleep with a continuous positive airway pressure system device (CPAP), which forced air into his lungs and helped him to breathe at night.

Early in the morning on October 5, 2008, Huntsman began suffering distress, severe oxygen desaturation, and shortness of breath. He called for help from facility staff members, but they refused. Instead, the day staff called for a non-emergent hospital transfer the next morning. By the time Huntsman got to the hospital around 9:15 a.m., he had fixed and dilated pupils and his body showed signs of lividity. Huntsman also had a urinary tract infection, weight loss, and Stage 2, 3, and 4 pressure sores on his buttocks and coccyx.

Huntsman's family filed an 18-count lawsuit in Madison County, Illinois against the facility, its owners, and Fox Med-Equip, the maker of the CPAP machine. The lawsuit alleges that Elmwood failed to properly assess Huntsman's condition, failed to adequately supervise him, and failed to recognize and treat his condition. Fox Med-Equip is accused of failing to have adequate procedures in place to ensure its equipment performed satisfactorily, failed to provide appropriate monitoring of its equipment to ensure it was used in accordance with doctor's orders, and failed to provide adequate documentation for the set up of the machinery and proper staff training.

The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages for pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience, physical impairment, loss of capacity to enjoy life, loss of chance of survival and loss of remainder of life. Michael Huntsman, his son, also seeks a judgment of more than $800,000 plus punitive damages and attorney's fees.

We discussed Britthaven of Chapel Hill nursing home in our previous blog. Britthaven came under scrutiny of the North Carolina's Health and Human Services Department after it was discovered that a former nurse at the facility, Angela Almore, reportedly used unprescribed morphine to drug six residents to "make them more manageable". She was charged with second degree murder after an 84 year old resident died. She also faces charges of patient abuse.

The North Carolina Health and Human Services Department recommended a $20,000 fine, which is the maximum penalty that could be assessed against the nursing home.

Pilgrim Haven, a northern California nursing home, has been fined $100,000 in the death of one of its residents. The eighty-five year old man sustained a severe head injury in a December 2009 fall and died the following day.

Reportedly, on December 7, 2009, the elderly man was found on the floor of his room where he had fallen. Although he denied hitting his head, the man was given a neurological exam that appeared normal. Later, when he turned pale and began vomiting, facility staff failed to assess him for head injuries and did not notify his physician for approximately two hours because there was no registered nurse on duty that evening.

The man was transferred to a local hospital, where he died the next morning. CT scan results found that the man suffered bleeding in the brain.

Frankly, the nursing home employees appear to have failed "head injury symptoms 101" in their response. Any time someone suffers a head injury, there are certain symptoms to watch for. If you notice any of these symptoms, call for help:

- Nausea that won't go away
- Vomiting
- Worsening headaches
- Change in behavior
- Weakness or numbness in legs or arms
- Increasing paleness
- Seizures

The nursing home employees at Pilgrim Haven should have recognized these obvious signs of head injury and contacted a physician or had the resident transferred to a local hospital for treatment.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed Senate Bill 326 into law at 2:00 p.m. today. The new legislation is designed to improve the quality of life in nearly 800 nursing homes in Illinois.

Among other things, the new legislation will require nursing home owners to hire more staff members to care for residents, the number of nursing home inspectors will nearly double by 2013, and hospitals would have to initiate criminal background checks prior to transferring patients into nursing homes.

A July 25, 2010 fire at a Missouri retirement home claimed the lives of two residents and injured five others.

Firefighters responded to a call at the Danford Hall Apartments in St. Joseph, Missouri on Sunday evening. The fire began in the southeast section of the second floor and raced down the hallway of the facility, which is home to more than 40 residents in 38 apartments.

The five injured residents suffered from injuries ranging from smoke inhalation to minor burns. The deceased residents were identified as eighty-nine year old Ellis Stephens and his eighty-six year old wife, Iris Stephens.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Juanita Jackson

A Florida jury awarded $14 million in damages and $100 million in punitive damages to a Florida family after their mother died after a rehabilitation stay at Integrated Health Services at Auburndale (IHS), a nursing home facility in Auburndale, Florida.

Juanita Jackson entered IHS in March 2003 for rehabilitation. When she was moved from the facility in May 2003, she was suffering from pressure sores and was malnourished and dehydrated. Sadly, she died on July 6, 2003.

Her family filed a lawsuit against Trans Healthcare and Trans Health Management in 2004 alleging that Jackson was injured after a fall, was overmedicated, malnourished, dehydrated, and suffered from pressure sores. The lawsuit alleged that while staff knew that Jackson was a fall risk, no preventative measures were put into place and she suffered her first fall within two weeks of her admission into the facility, sustaining a closed head injury and a fractured arm.

According to Blair Mendes, an attorney representing the family, the companies refused to participate in the lawsuit a few weeks ago after years of litigation. A default judgment was taken against them on July 7, 2010 and jurors were given the task of determining damages. On July 20, 2010, the jury awarded $14 million in damages and $100 million in punitive damages.

A careless teenage prank is being blamed for the death of a 101 year-old nursing home resident.

Mildred Ellefon was injured when a car crashed through a wall at Palisade Manor, a nursing home in Garretson, South Dakota. Ellefson initially was treated at a local hospital and returned to the facility, where she later died.

The accident happened as three people were waiting on the parking lot of the nursing home for a friend to get off work. The eighteen year old driver, Clarrissa Kutil, decided to play a trick on the two sitting on the trunk of the car and revved the engine. She accidentally shifted the car into reverse and crashed through the wall of the facility. She was cited for careless driving and no driver's license but could face more charges.

Just one year after being warned that it needed to secure areas in its dementa unit to prevent residents from having unsupervised access, a ninety-three year old Florida assisted living resident died from severe burns of the esophagus after drinking sodium hydroxide solution.

Michael Gruen, who suffered from the late stages of Alzheimer's, lived at Homewood Residence at Delray Beach, an assisted living facility in Delray Beach, Florida. Early in the morning on December 28, 2009, Gruen managed to enter a satellite kitchen at the facility through a split door while facility staff were busy with another resident. While one half of the door was locked, Gruen reportedly reached around and unlocked the other half to enter the kitchen. There, he was found standing over the dishwashing detergent container but couldn't tell facility staff if he had swallowed anything. By the time paramedics arrived, Gruen was lying on a couch, drooling. He died eighteen hours later from severe burns to his esophagus.

The question facing this facility is how a resident suffering from dementia could have access to this dangerous product if the area was to be secured and they had already been warned by the state. A Homewood Resident parent company spokeswoman said that there was no way staff could have predicted the events that led to Mr. Gruen's death. Really? People suffering from dementia wander and open doors. People with dementia put things in their mouths that they shouldn't. Sounds predictable to me.

The facility faces a $10,000 state fine related to the incident.

Registered nurse Angela Almore was charged with second degree murder on June 7, 2010 after a nursing home resident in her care died.

Almore, a registered nurse employed at Britthaven of Chapel Hill in North Carolina, reportedly gave a dose of unprescribed morphine to 84 year-old Rachel Holliday, an Alzheimer's resident who later died. The medical examiner attributed Holliday's death to pneumonia from asphyxiation and reported that the levels of morphine in her system likely contributed to her death.

Almore was also charged with six counts of felony patient abuse after other Britthaven reportedly became lethargic and had to be hospitalized. Testing revealed that all of the affected residents had morphine in their systems, although none of them had been prescribed the drug.

The investigation continues.

An Illinois nursing home faces a lawsuit in St. Clair County Circuit Court after a resident died while in their care.

The lawsuit was filed May 4, 2010 by Shirley McManus against Caseyville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Caseyville Property alleging that Newton J. McManus, Jr. died after the facility failed to provide adequate care, failed to protect him from abuse and neglect, failed to notify his physician of significant changes in his condition, failed to institute a regular treatment program to address his pressure sores, and failed to ensure that he maintained his body weight.

Newton J. McManus, Jr. was admitted to Caseyville Nursing and Rehabiltation Center on May 8, 2008 and developed ischemia, a condition characterized by pain, gangrene, and non-healing wounds. Additionally, Mr. McManus developed a urinary tract infection, decubitus ulcers, and suffered from malnutrition and dehydration. He died on May 31, 2008, not even a month after his admission to the facility.

Shirley McManus is seeking a judgment of more than $150,000 in addition to attorney's fees and expenses.

On July 1, 2009, emergency responders received a call about a dependent adult at an unlicensed board and care home in Solano County, California.

Sixty-two year old Charles Frank was a ward of the state and reportedly died at Sutter Solano Hospital from starvation and dehydration. His autopsy found evidence of severe neglect.

On May 26, 2010, after an investigation, the care home's manager and business owner were arrested. Patricia Ronquillo and Gene Bambo were booked into the Solano County Jail on $25,00 bail each. Police expect to make more arrests in the case.

We previously blogged about the abuse Cesar Ulloa heaped on unsuspecting, defenseless nursing home resident that ultimately resulted in the killing of one resident at Silverado Senior Living, an upscale nursing home facility located in Calabasas, California.

Ulloa, 22, was found guilty of torture and seven counts of elder abuse in April 2010. He was arrested in October 2008 after an eleven month investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. An anonymous call to the widow of Elmore Kittower, who had died in November 2007, told her that Kittower had died of abuse. The ensuing investigation found that Kittower had suffered abuse at the hands of Ulloa for months prior to his death.

The New York Department of Health found 23 deficiencies at Uihlein Nursing Home, a New York nursing home facility, nine of which "posed immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety".

In one instance, in July 2009, an elderly male resident was given ten times the normal dosage of Xanax. The man was prescribed 0.125 mg of the drug to be administered on July 24 and July 25. Instead, he was given two 1.25 mg on the assigned days. Two nurses found that they could not rouse the resident and reported that he was cold to touch. Admitted to the hospital, he was found to "have had a benzodiazepine overdose with coma". He later died.

The Health Department also found other problems with prescribing and adminstering drugs at the facility. The facility was cited for three Level 4 deficiencies, the most serious level, in pharmacy services. The facility was also cited for four "immediate jeopardy" deficiencies in nursing home administration when the facility failed to hire a properly licensed administrator and the facility failed to choose a doctor to be its medical director, among other things.

The facility was fined $116,150 by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, but because the facility waived a hearing, it was granted a 35% reduction in the fine and only paid $75,497.

A female resident at Champaign County Nursing Home suffered an injury that went undetected and died mere days later.

The resident, only known as R7 in a report from the Illinois Department of Public Health, reportedly "slid" out of a lounge chair but was caught by a CNA. According to the report, "CNA slid under (R7) and pulled her onto her lap...(R7) denied pain...did not hit head...did not hit w/c (wheelchair) or w/c pedals. (R7) talking and laughing with staff...able to move arms and legs without a problem or pain...Body check done with no areas of redness noted,". The report, dated January 25, was identified as a "late entry" and it was unclear if the fall occurred that day or prior to that date.

On January 29, bruising was noted on the resident's right leg and hand. Her doctor ordered her to be seen at a hospital where staff noted "right leg has progressively increased in size with diffuse ecchymosis (bruising)...It does appear (R7) struck her head."

The resident was diagnosed with multiple serious problems, which included shock, acute kidney failure, hypovolemia (low circulating blood flow), and acute posthemorrhagic anemia. According to an ER physician, there was an "incredible amount of blood lost in the leg" and 'it "took a lot of fluid and blood to fix (R7's) anemia/shock which resulted in CHF (congestive heart failure)." She died on February 4 from cardiopulmonary arrest, respiratory failure, and hypovolemic shock.

The ensuing investigation by the Illinois Department of Public Health found that the nursing home failed the resident in the following ways:

"failing to implement existing policies on Falls, Lab and Diagnostic Test Results, Laboratory Testing, Orders for Anticoagulants, Anticoagulants and Change in Residdent's Condition or Status";

"failing to notify the physician in a timely manner of high laboratory values, neglected to identify a fall, to notify the Physician/Nursing staff of the fall and implement post fall monitoring";

"failing to assess and monitor significant bruising as a side effect of anticoagulant therapy"; and

neglecting "to notify the Physician of the significant bruising in a timely manner, but continued to administer anticoagulants to R7".

Two other visits to the nursing home by investigators have revealed other problems at the facility.

An April 2, 2010 inspection revealed that the facility failed to follow its own policy in handling an employee allegation. A resident alleged that she had provided money to a staff member for a soft drink but never received it or her money back. She lodged a complaint with another staff member, who failed to report the incident.

The April 29, 2010 inspection found that facility staff did not use proper equipment when transferring three residents. One resident, a 91 year old resident suffering from dementia, broke her hip after standing up from her wheelchair and falling. She was to be wearing a personal safety alarm.

The investigations have resulted in fines of approximately $50,000 against the nursing home. The nursing home is appealing the penalties.

Hancock Park Rehabilitation Center, a nursing home facility located in Hancock Park, California, was cited and hit with a $100,000 fine in the death of an eighty-four year old resident nearly two years ago. The fine is the highest and most severe fine that can be assessed.

The resident, who was recovering at Hancock Park from prostate cancer and a fractured hip, was being fed by a nasal tube. Reportedly, the man's was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital with a feeding tube inserted into his lungs. As the tube was improperly inserted, it allowed food to leak into the man's lungs, causing him to developed pneumonia. He subsequently died from his injuries in May 2008.

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.

Yesterday, we discussed a $1.1 million verdict for pain and suffering and loss of companionship handed down by a California jury for the wrongful death of seventy-nine year old Frances Tanner while a resident at Colonial Healthcare, a nursing home owned by Horizon West Healthcare. The jury was to decide punitive damages after that.

After the attorney for the Tanner family urged them to "make them feel it", a California jury opted to financially punish Horizon West Healthcare for reportedly understaffing its facility and providing substandard care when it awarded the Tanner family $28 million in punitive damages, the largest elder abuse award in Sacramento County history. The attorney for the Tanner family provided the jury a view into the inner workings of a nursing home network and advised the jury that Horizon West was worth approximately $200 million.

Horizon spokesman, Dan Niccum, said the company "will vigorously contest the verdict", based on "constitutional guidelines that were ignored".

Frances Tanner

Seventy-nine year old Frances Tanner was mobile and involved in life admitted to the Colonial Healthcare nursing home in March 2005, suffering from mild dementia. Seven months later, she died from an infected bedsore after falling and breaking her hip.

Her family filed a lawsuit against Colonial Healthcare and its parent company, Horizon West of Rocklin, alleging the entities were responsible for her untimely death. This week, after deliberating less than two days, a jury agreed and awarded $1.1 million in damages for her pain and suffering and her daughter's loss of companionship. After deciding that the facility's conduct was "malicious, oppressive, or fraudulent", the jury will hear further testimony about the corporation's finances before deciding on punitive damages.

Colonial Healthcare, which was formerly known as Hilltop Manor, has had a history of problems in caring for its residents. Frances Tanner's case was the fourth case in recent time in which the facility was cited for the death of a resident.

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".