San Diego County Personal Injury Lawyer articles in category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse

Medicare and Medicaid released a report this week listing nursing homes and hospitals from around the country that have fallen below benchmarks set for patient restraints, bedsores, and surgical infections. Of the 1400 California nursing homes, 674 made the list.The purpose in releasing the specific nursing homes was to hold accountable the private contractors hired by Medicare and Medicaid to...

Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts of the California budget may increase the risk of elder neglect and abuse to the nearly 150,000 elderly residents of nursing and residential care facilities.According to the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), the proposed cuts will reduce inspections and will further cripple an already struggling program. Moreover, a reduction in the...

Because part of my law practice involves representing seniors in nursing homes who have been subjected to abuse or neglect, I am frequently asked for recommendations for a "good" nursing home. I respond that I don't know any. But on the other hand, I tell the person asking, I don't necessarily know the "bad" ones either. One thing I have learned, in cases against fancy chain homes or the...

Our firm represents individuals and families all over Southern California in cases involving nursing home neglect and abuse, and has seen first hand just how bad care can be in certain nursing homes. But I still get shocked at some of the carelessness that occurs by those taking care of some of our most fragile citizens. Take this story elder neglect just up the freeway in Fontana.Regulators...

A 94 year-old resident of Palomar Heights Care Center in Escondido died early Thanksgiving morning after wandering out of the facility and being struck by a car. To compound matters the resident, Maria Cobian, was wearing a bracelet intended to alert staff if she attempted to leave the facility. According to Escondido Police, the only door the bracelet doesn't trigger an alarm. "Either she...

Studies show that elderly people fear moving into a nursing home and losing independence more than they fear death. Are you surprised to read this? I'm not.A study called "Aging in Place in America" found that seniors, when asked feared losing their independence most [26%], and second moving into a nursing home [13%]. Only 3% of seniors said that death was their greatest fear. Here are some...

A class action lawsuit for substandard nursing home care was filed in Orange County Superior Court against S&F Management Company, Inc.; S&F Management Company, LLC; Windsor Healthcare Management, Inc.; and its 15 skilled nursing care facilities around the state of California.Stephen Garcia, attorney for the plaintiff, alleges in the complaint that Windsor promotes itself in a misleading way,...

Advocates for nursing home residents were stunned by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of a bill that would have required state nursing home inspectors to complete complaint investigations of abuse and neglect in a timely manner. The bill, which required that investigations be completed in 40 days, had broad support in Sacramento. "I think its garbage," said Pat McGinnis, executive director...

This Halloween a San Luis Obispo transplant surgeon is accused of dependent adult abuse after allegedly prescribing excessive painkillers and sedatives to expedite the death of a 25-year-old patient with the hope of harvesting his organs.Prosecutors say Dr. Hootan Roozrokh ordered massive doses of drugs to speed the death of 25-year-old Ruben Navarro last year. Navarro was taken to Sierra Vista...

Only hours before it would become law, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 399, a popular assembly bill that would have required the California Department of Public Health to complete investigations of nursing home neglect and abuse complaints within reasonable time limits and to notify complainants of findings. According to the California Advocates of Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), abuse...

A UCLA study has revealed that vulnerable elderly patients receive only 65 percent of the tests and other diagnostic evaluations and treatments for a number of conditions, including heart disease and diabetes.The research was gathered from 100,258 community-dwelling geriatric residents in 19 California counties. All the patients studied were enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, and all a mean...

A bill which would require the California Department of Health Services (DHS) to investigate the majority of all claims of elder abuse in nursing homes within 40 days, has made it to the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bill was sponsored by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) and passed the Legislature last month. An article in the Los Angles Times referred to a number of occasions...

The county-owned nursing home Vermilion Manor in Virginia is looking to increase the bottom line. Last year it lost money, and a consultant hired to address the problem has the answer: reduce the number of nurses. According to the News Gazett, the consultant found that the nursing facility provides daily nursing that exceeds the state and national averages, so cutting nursing hours, he...

Last week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a major crib recall, reporting that 1 million Simplicity and Graco cribs have been recalled after three children became entrapped and suffocated, including a 9-month-old child who died. But bed rail entrapment is a danger not limited to the young. It continues to injure and kill many elder Americans every year.It is estimated that...

A man entered a nursing home in Berea, Kentucky and sexually assaulted a 90-year-old resident there. It is unknown how he was able to enter the building or what kind of security measures were in place. The nursing home assault happened early in the morning on Monday. "Basically what happened is that the employees of the nursing home heard a patient scream," Clark said. "When they went to...