Posted on June 25th, 2010
Charges have been filed after a nursing home fire in 2008 killed several nursing home residents.
The fire began after a resident began smoking and suddenly became unconscious. The resident was unsupervised during the incident and the cigarette then began a fire that spread throughout the entire facility and killed three of the 120 residents.
Five of the employees at the nursing home are charged with elder abuse. Investigators found that the fire was not caught early because the fire alarms had been turned off and that this was negligence of people who do the upkeep of the building. This error gave the residents no warning of the fire that was spreading around them.
Elder abuse can have devastating effects on everyone involved, our thoughts are with the elderly victims in the accident.
Posted on May 14th, 2010
Colonial Healthcare of Auburn, Calif., and its parent company, Horizon West of Rocklin, Calif., were found guilty Wednesday of elder abuse in the 2005 death of a 79-year-old woman. The jury leveled $28 million in punitive damages against the nursing home corporation in a case brought by the woman’s daughter.
According to reports, the woman was admitted to the nursing home with full mobility but mild dementia. She fell and broke her hip, reports say, and seven months later she died from an infected bedsore. Her daughter’s lawyer accused the nursing home of putting corporate gain ahead of good resident care. The nursing home was also accused of being understaffed and keeping poor medical documentation. The company denied the charges of nursing home abuse and argued that the woman was never neglected but had one-on-one care.
Posted on April 15th, 2010
Cesar Ulloa, a 21-year-old former employee of an upscale elderly care facility in Calabasas, California, was convicted last Thursday on eight counts of torture and elder abuse. He could receive up to life in prison when he is sentenced in May.
According to witnesses, Ulloa would often laugh as he terrorized his victims. Many of the patients that he tortured were too feeble or dementia-ridden to call for help.
A fellow caregiver testified that she once saw Ulloa jump off of a dresser and land knees-first on an elderly man’s abdomen. Another time, he grabbed an elderly patient’s arm and used it to hit another patient, attempting to provoke a fight.
Ulloa was caught after an anonymous phone-call was made to a grieving widow the day after the funeral of her husband, suggesting that she look into his cause of death.
When her husbands body was exhumed and an autopsy performed, multiple broken bones and severe blunt force trauma were found. A radiologist at the trial compared the man’s broken ribs to injuries that would be sustained if one were hit by a train.
Nursing homes are responsible for the employees that they hire and for keeping track of their behavior. If someone you love has been a victim of nursing home abuse, contact the New Jersey nursing home abuse attorneys of Levinson Axelrod at 800-346-5529 as soon as possible to discuss your legal options.
Posted on April 9th, 2010
Nursing homes are increasingly housing mentally ill criminals, but sometimes their safety barriers are not sufficient in keeping these dangerous individuals from the elderly residents.
This was the case in that of a 22-year-old convicted felon with a history of violent crimes who pleaded guilty this morning to the rape of a 69-year-old woman in his Elgin nursing home. He will serve at least 12 years for his crime.
Nursing homes are more often housing younger, mentally ill felons without appropriate supervision or safety precautions. In this case, the 22-year-old man was housed on the second floor psychiatric wing of the nursing home, separated from the elder residents by only a few doors and a flight of stairs.
A State Department of Public Health investigation found that the nursing home administrators did not properly check the young man’s criminal background. In addition, the facility initially claimed that the young man and elderly woman had engaged in consensual sex in an attempt to cover up their negligence.
Nursing homes that do not adequately protect the safety of their residents should be held responsible in a court of law. If someone you love has been the victim of nursing home negligence or abuse, contact the New Jersey nursing home abuse attorneys of Levinson Axelrod at 800-346-5529 today to discuss your legal options.
Posted on April 8th, 2010
New details have emerged in the case of the veterans care facility in Big Spring, Texas where some elderly patients have reported abuse at the hands of facility workers. According to details reported by the Dallas Morning News, patients at the state-owned veterans homes were subjected to physical abuse, including choking, rough placement on beds, and excessive physical restraint.
The Big Springs case highlights the importance of proper training of facility workers and more oversight of some state-run facilities. If someone you love has been the victim of nursing home negligence or abuse, contact the New Jersey nursing home abuse attorneys of Levinson Axelrod at 800-346-5529 to discuss your legal options.
Posted on April 2nd, 2010
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in Buffalo, N.Y. has been able to secure convictions of 30 nursing home employees who were accused of abuse and mistreatment of patients. After securing family consent, officials of the Attorney General’s office placed hidden cameras patient’s rooms to watch for misconduct. Alleged misconduct included failure to provide necessary care to a patient, failure to prevent bedsores, moving a patient without a mechanical lift, and falsifying medical records.
Nursing home abuse can have devastating effects on patients and their family members. If someone you love has been the victim of abuse at the hands of a nursing home professional, contact the New Jersey nursing home abuse attorneys of Levinson Axelrod at 800-346-5529 today.
Posted on March 10th, 2010
A New Jersey woman was accused of negligence and charged with abuse following the death of a two-year-old boy who was in her care since birth. The 21-year old woman from Linden was a friend of the child’s mother and had assumed responsibility of the boy from an early age. Police found signs of abuse and neglect upon finding the child.
It is the responsibility of caregivers to provide responsible and adequate care, whether they are caring for children, infirm, or the elderly. If someone you love has been injured or killed due to the negligence of a caregiver, contact the New Jersey nursing home abuse lawyers of Levinson Axelrod at 800-346-5529.
Posted on January 18th, 2010
According to the special interest group the Elder Justice Coalition, the Senate Health Bill includes the Elder Justice Act, a measure meant to curb the rise in nursing home abuse. If you’ve been the victim of eldercare abuse, it’s your right to speak out. The New Jersey nursing home abuse attorneys of Levinson Axelrod would like to help fight for your rights.
The Elder Justice Act is meant to provide protection to elderly Americans by combining law enforcement and public health options to prevent and punish abuse. The proposed act notes that there are somewhere between 500,000 and 5 million cases of elder abuse each year, a number that will increase as aging baby boomers retire. The New Jersey nursing home abuse lawyers of Levinson Axelrod believe that no one should be the victim of eldercare abuse.
Many eldercare experts believe that the time has come for increased legislation protecting elderly Americans. The problem has received considerable national attention due to the recent nursing home abuse scandal in Illinois.
If someone you love has been the victim of nursing home abuse, contact the New Jersey eldercare negligence lawyers of Levinson Axelrod today by calling 800-346-5529.
Posted on January 12th, 2010
At a nursing home in California, residents complained that the nursing director there was using powerful drugs to restrain them. If you fear that an elderly person you love is being abused, the New Jersey nursing home abuse lawyers of Levinson Axelrod may be able to help you.
One female resident was given a powerful anti-seizure drug that killed her. There have been complaints of residents being physically held down or given too much medication in order to quiet them down. Three of the nursing home officials were charged with elder abuse and face up to 11 years in prison.
If you or someone you love has been the victim of nursing home abuse, contact the New Jersey nursing home abuse lawyers of Levinson Axelrod by calling 800-346-5529 today.
Posted on January 5th, 2010
On Tuesday, a woman was arrested and charged with two counts of battery on a person that is 65 or older. If you suspect that an elderly person that you love has been a victim of elderly abuse, the New Jersey eldercare abuse lawyers of Levinson Axelrod may be able to help you fight for what you deserve.
The woman was a personal care assistant who was formerly employed by Homestead Village Retirement Center. An investigation revealed that the woman used a pillow to cover the face of an 86-year-old patient who was in her care. She also pushed the patient down multiple times, causing the patient to bruise. If she is convicted of both counts, she could face 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
If you or someone you love has been a victim of eldercare or nursing home abuse, contact the Nursing Home abuse lawyers of Levinson Axelrod by calling 800-346-5529.
