Tag: elder abuse

Get Legal Representation: Nursing Home Abuse Still Widespread

Despite continued efforts by nursing home abuse lawyers and various governmental agencies, recent studies have shown that in some northeastern states, as many as one in seven people above the age of sixty have been subject to some form of elder abuse. In some states, as many as over 250,000 senior citizens suffer from incidents of elder abuse in any given year. These statistics are a sobering reminder for anybody who has a loved one currently receiving care in a nursing home facility.

How Do I Know if My Loved One Has Suffered From Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect?

new jersey philadelphia nursing home abuse lawyers neglect still widespreadFirst of, if you have any concerns, consult with an experienced attorney as well as appropriate state agencies. Telltale signs of nursing home abuse are the presence of bed sores, also known as pressure ulcers. Bed sores occur when a nursing home patient is left immobile in one position for too long, causing skin in sensitive areas to loose circulation. This causes tissue damage and eventually kills the skin cells. If caught early and treated properly, bed sores can be easily remedied. However, if neglected, a bed sore can progress past stage two, causing serious health problems for affected nursing home residents.

Another indicator of nursing home abuse is septic shock. Nursing home residents who require regular cleanings but fail to receive them are often susceptible to septic shock. This is a serious infection that is almost always preventable with proper daily cleaning. If you have a loved one who has suffered from septic shock more than once or who has been hospitalized for septic shock, there is a good chance they are not being cared for properly. Take action for those who cannot take action for themselves: Contact an attorney and appropriate state agencies to investigate. Often times abuse is not discovered until it has progressed for some time, but it is never to late to take action.

Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia

The qualified nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at The Mininno Law Office know how to get results and make a difference in your case. They can get the results your loved one deserves. Contact the Mininno Law Office if you have any questions regarding the health and safety of your loved ones. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Septic Shock is Number One Indicator of Nursing Home Negligence

new jersey philadelphia nursing home abuse lawyers septic shock indicator negligenceAccording to the Nursing Home Complaint Center, a website sponsored by the consumer advocacy group America’s Watchdog to provide people with a place to report the varying nursing home abuse events they have encountered, sepsis, also know as septic shock, is the number one indicator of intense nursing home abuse or neglect.

These infections are usually preventable with normal and regular cleaning, but when they do develop, they often require trips to the hospital emergency room or even admittance to an intensive care unit. There is no excuse for this level of abuse.
If you know somebody in a nursing home who has been diagnosed with septic shock and has been hospitalized as a result, that person may be a victim of nursing home negligence. If that is the case, you should seriously consider contacting authorities, as well as an attorney.

How Do I Know if Septic Shock is a Result of Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect?

If someone you know has been diagnosed with septic shock infection while residing at a nursing home or long term care facility, that person could very well be the victim of nursing home negligence. Septic shock is most often caused by improper and infrequent cleaning of residents that require regular cleanings as part of their normal care. If a resident of a nursing home or long term care facility is diagnosed with septic shock more than once, or requires a trip to the emergency room or admittance to an intensive care unit, this is a major indicator that the resident is not being properly cared for. This is a clear sign of nursing home abuse and neglect. If this is taking place, the nursing home or long term care facility is simply not doing their job.

Nursing Home Negligence Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia

The skilled Pennsylvania and New Jersey nursing home negligence attorneys at The Mininno Law Office have years of experience and are committed to exposing and stopping the unfortunately widespread problem of nursing home abuse and neglect. Contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation, or call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0060 in New Jersey or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia, if you would like to discuss a nursing home abuse case.

Nursing Homes Not Elderly Adults Only Choice Today

Nursing home abuse has affected millions of people in the United States because, for such a long time, nursing homes were the only option a family had when their loved one’s physical state required additional help. However, according to census data, only 7.4% of elderly Americans are living in nursing homes, a number that has fallen from the 8.1% in 1990. Many elderly people and their families, especially those 85 years and older, are now turning not to traditional nursing homes, but instead to long term care assistance at home, in-home care, and other options. This is great for the families that can afford to maintain other types of care for their loved ones. But for the 1.8 million people that still live in nursing homes, care should be adequate, training should be provided, and abuse should be prevented.

Nursing Home Care Must Be Improved

The quality of care a patient receives should not depend on how much money they have to spend, but unfortunately, nowadays, that seems to be the case. If nursing home administrators and medical providers spent more of their efforts on improving the quality of care in nursing homes and less of their efforts on their bottom lines, other unneccessary costs would be non existent. Bedsore treatment or litigation costs can be astronomical, but providing adequate and focused care can avoid the need for such spending.
              
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Nursing Home Abuse Laywers in New Jersey and Philadelphia

If you feel that your loved ones have been a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, please contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. The nursing home abuse abuse lawyers at the Mininno Law Office are experienced and very skilled in earning victims of nursing home abuse the full and fair compensation that they need and deserve. Be sure to act promptly, as a statue of limitations could run out on your claim.

You may also call for a free consultation at 856-833-0600 in New Jersey, or 215-567-2380 in Philadelphia. Let the Mininno Law Office work to earn justice for you and your family.

Resident Dies in Hospital After Ingesting Dishwashing Detergent in Nursing Home

nursing home negligence new jersey philadelphia attorneys homewood residenceIn a tragic case of nursing home abuse and negligence, an assisted living facility in Delray Beach, Florida will be paying a $7,500 fine after the death of 93 year old resident Michael Gruen. Gruen suffered from advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease and died after drinking dishwashing liquid.

Homewood Residence (a Brookdale Assisted Living Facility), which has until now neither accepted or denied responsibility for Gruen’s death, received warnings in 2008 regarding insecure areas of their facility. Dangerous chemicals were accessible to the number of dementia patients living within the nursing home. Apparently, the appropriate changes were not made.
Michael Gruen accessed the detergent in the early morning hours of December 28, 2009, while caretakers were busy with another patient. A staff member found Gruen standing over the liquid, and asked him if he swallowed it. Gruen did not answer. He was rushed to the emergency room at Delray Medical Center but died 18 hours later as a result of severe burns to his esophagus.

NJ and PA Nursing Home Negligence and Abuse Attorneys

The 2008 citations were not the only warnings Brookdale’s Homewood Residence had received. In February 2009, Homewood Residence paid a $3,000 fine when 10 residents became sick with norovirus. And in April 2009, a $1,500 fine was given after questions arose during an inspection regarding the treatment of bedsores. The treatment and care this nursing home was providing was inadequate and negligent then, and continues to be now.
State health agencies investigate these homes and hand out citations and fines, but these small amounts don’t seem to instill any fear or sense of responsibility into those that are running these nursing homes and long term care facilities. Perhaps the only way to truly make owners and administrators aware is to take them to court and let a jury decide their penalties.

If you or a loved one have been victimized by nursing home negligence, please contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation or call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
Our elder abuse attorneys are here to earn you the compensation you deserve.

Elder Abuse and Nursing Home Neglect: Is Any Resident Safe?

elder abuse new jersey philadelphia attorneys nursing home negligence prospect park residenceA New York nursing home finds itself in the midst of nursing home abuse allegations after being accused of holding a frail Brooklyn judge prisoner by blocking his mail and visitors. The allegations are the latest twist in a case launched this year by the family of Judge John Phillips against Prospect Park Residence, the nursing home in which Phillips resided for eight months until he died at age 83 in 2008.

The family’s lawyer, John O’Hara, a long time friend of Judge Phillips, said of the tragedy:

The whole thing was surreal. It looked like a nice place, but it was a death house.

Elder Abuse and Nursing Home Negligence

Unfortunately, families are often led to believe that a nursing home that appears to be well maintained would provide care equal to the quality of the physical surroundings. There is often little correlation between how nice the home looks and how good the care is. In fact, a beautiful nursing home often gives the family a false sense of security about the care they expect their loved one will receive.

Court papers allege nursing home officials misled the former judge’s family and attorneys about the services they could provide for the diabetic. Nursing homes will make any promise necessary to gain residents. Families bring their loved ones to nursing homes because their conditions just become too fragile for these families to handle. This is why nursing homes exist – to take care of our loved ones when we no longer can.

The former judge’s family alleges that he didn’t get the diabetic meals or regular insulin shots he needed, which caused his health to quickly deteriorate. This is why it is important to maintain a primary care physician who is independent from the nursing home. It is also important to make sure the nursing home is communicating with the family and physician in a timely fashion about changes in the resident’s condition.

The suit charged that “Judge Phillips was confined against his will for approximately eight months by the defendants at their facility … denying [him] proper medical care.”

The nursing home’s executive director David Pomerantz declined to talk about the lawsuit. “On the advice of our attorney, I cannot comment,” he said. Phillips was in good shape when he arrived at the Prospect Park West facility, but quickly declined, friends said. “He was getting sicker and more miserable,” said O’Hara.

NJ and PA Nursing Home Negligence Attorneys

Is your loved one a victim of elder abuse or nursing home negligence in a nursing home or long term care facility? Donald Browne is an experienced Elder Abuse attorney at the Mininno Law Office. Donald has seen it all from the nursing home industry: avoidable bedsores, avoidable falls leading to fractures, medication errors, and physical and/or sexual assaults by staff members or other residents are amoung the most common.

Nursing homes make many promises, and lawyers like The Mininno Law Office’s Donald Browne hold them accountable when they put profits over people and do not follow through on these promises.
Please contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation, or simply call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Elder Abuse in California Responsible for Death of 58 Year Old Man

The California Department of Public Health recently announced that the Browning Manor Convalescent Hospital, a nursing home in Delano, California, has received an AA citation – the harshest penalty under California State Law – for nursing home abuse and negligence.
The citation was accompanied by a $100,000 fine from the State for the death of a resident that resulted from inadequate supervision and care.

Elder Abuse at Brown Manor

nursing home negligence attorneys new jersey philadelphia elder abuse Browning Manor Convalescent HospitalThe resident was a 58 year-old man from Kern County. He had a history of aggression and outbursts, and was particularly difficult with staff members on June 23, 2009. Brown Manor Policy states that residents displaying agression should be monitored for at least 72 hours, or until their disposition is relaxed. This monitoring and extra supervision did not happen, however, and a few days later, the 58 year old man fell out of his wheelchair, sustaining injuries to his brain and spine.

He was taken the hospital and release, but died two days later. The Kern County coroner wrote that the man’s cause of death was indeed related to the injuries he suffered on the day of the accident.
Elizabeth Tyler, a representative for the nursing home, claims the man left the facility that day well and coherent. She also announced that Brown Manor has hired an expert neurologist who will testify that the man’s death was not brought on by injuries sustained from the fall.

NJ and PA Elder Abuse Attorneys

The New Jersey and Philadelphia nursing home negligence lawyers at the Mininno Law Office are eager and prepared to handle the toughest cases of elder abuse. If you or a loved on have suffered at the hands of a negligent nursing home or long term care facility, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation or call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Nursing Home Neglect Brings Criminal Charges to Facility Owner and Employee

In a shocking and rare turn of events, nursing home abuse has put an assisted living facility caretaker in jail for 31 months following the death of a resident.

Nursing Home Neglect in a Washington State Facility

new jersey philadelphia elder abuse attorney nursing home neglect jean rudolph houghton lakeview
Jean Rudolph died in 2008 at age 87 due to infection caused by three stage 4 bedsores that went untreated.
Jean Rudolph, 87, was a resident at the Houghton Lakeview adult home in Kirkland, Washington. She suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as varied heart problems. She was virtually bedridden and had extreme difficulty verbalizing any complaints she may have had regarding pain or discomfort.

When Jean died, she weighed 68 lbs, and was being ravaged by infections caused by three untreated, stage 4 bedsores that had burrowed to her bones. A pressure ulcer on her hip revealed a hip joint jutting out of her body.
When her son was notified of the bedsores, after almost a month of severe neglect, he rushed his mother to the hospital where she died three weeks later.

Her caretaker, Effie Tutor, was sentenced to 31 months in jail for a felony count of first-degree criminal mistreatment. Nursing Home owner, Patricia Goodwill, plead guilty to second-degree criminal mistreatment. Prosecutor Page Ulrey has asked for a one year jail sentence.

Unbeknownst to Rudolph or her family, the Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) had previously cited Houghton Lakeview with a number of serious health and safety violations. After Rudolph’s death, the facility was closed down. Investigators are looking into another nursing facility that Goodwill owns in Washington. The DSHS is currently reviewing her conviction to determine whether or not she should be stripped of her license to run the other facility.

Are You a Victim of Elder Abuse or Nursing Home Neglect?

Elder Abuse and Nursing Home Neglect are a serious epidemic in today’s long term care industry. It’s a good thing that law enforcement and juries are seeing these as criminal offenses, and forcing punishments upon offenders.
If you or a loved one have suffered in any way due to elder abuse and/or nursing home neglect in a nursing home or long term care facility, please contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation or call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Let the Mininno Law Office team earn you the compensation you deserve.

Elder Abuse Takes the Form of Fraud and Theft

new jersey philadelphia elder abuse attorneys nursing home neglect lawyers theft fraudTypically, nursing home abuse is thought to be of a physical nature. Residents are left unturned in their beds, growing bedsores; they are manhandled and dropped out of wheelchairs or lifts; or they are over medicated to remain sedated. But often times, elder abuse takes the form of theft or fraud.

In one such elder abuse case, a 36 year old social worker, working with several elderly patients, did great harm to the bank account of an 89 year old woman. In ten months, that social worker stole upwards of $25,000 dollars from the woman. After that “tap ran dry,” she took another $9,000 from a different patient she had been seeing. Authorities claim the money was used for personal purchases; clothing, groceries, and the like.

In other related elder abuse cases, the same social worker was fraudulently cashing checks she had written to herself from a patient’s checkbook. She was also using the victim’s debit card. What happened when the checks ran out? She lied to the bank to obtain more, and continued to write them to herself.

Elder Abuse Attorneys in New Jersey and Philadelphia

The social worker is currently being prosecuted, but it truly is ashame that she was able to go on committing these crimes for so long. It is imperative that we keep our eyes open to this kind of elder abuse, or else offenders will not be punished, and care will never improve.
If you or an elderly loved one have been abused in a nursing home or long term care facility, please contact the Mininno Law Office. Our NJ and PA elder abuse attorneys are here to answer all of your questions and help you present the best possible case.

No one should have to endure the kind of negligence and abuse that goes on in some of our nation’s nursing homes. Help bring an end to these trends of deplorable treatment, and call an NJ or PA elder abuse attorney today. Free consultations at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey and (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Chamber of Commerce Attacking Legal System through Radio Ads

In this country, we all have the right to hold another person or party, or even corporation responsible for their acts of negligence, malpractice and other cases of harm. Recently, the Chamber of Commerce has entered the radio advertisement arena in an attempt to protect its high standing members from these lawsuits and claims of negligence. They claim that this is to protect people from meaningless lawsuits, but these ad campaigns are supported by the same people that the Chamber of Commerce is trying to protect, including oil, tobacco, and insurance companies. It seems to like the Chamber of Commerce does not really care about proper care and practices for individuals and Americans, it seems like they care more about protecting their highest paying and loyal supporters. Once again money is put before rights and in this country people have fought for those rights and they deserve the chance to exercise them when the situation calls for it. People’s rights and needs should come first before money, but once again, this is not the case. If people listen to the ads of the Chamber of Commerce than people will not be able to sue for neglect or abuse of a loved one in a nursing home, or a injury due to a product defect or the injuries that can error due to improper label of products. If the members of the Chamber of Commerce were injured due to malpractice they would want to have the right to sue, so other people deserve this right as well.

For additional information on the Chamber of Commerce radio campaigns, you may visit:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28211.html

 

If you or a loved one feels you have been injured due to medical negligence, please contact a malpractice attorney right away. They will help you get your voice heard and your rights protected.

Nursing Homes in Danger of Disappearing

According to a report from Connecticut, many nursing homes and their staff and services are in serious danger of being cut and even closed completely due to Medicare rate adjustments and other cuts as part of the health care reform. The president of the American Health Care Association even sees many nursing homes closing because of these cost cuts. The U.S. Census Bureau shows that 1.85 million people are now being taken care of in the nation’s 16,000 nursing homes and this is up from 1.79 million in 2007. This is clearly not the time to be cutting nursing home funding and closing nursing homes. Despite these figures though, many nursing homes, including twenty-four in Connecticut are being cut and closed due to rising costs and the challenge to keep big nursing homes running. Many people that are getting older, are disabled, and need the nursing home care are now turned away because of heavy debts and other problems. Many businesses are struggling due to the recession, but it may not be the best idea to include these types of cuts in health care reform especially since more people than ever need the care.  We need to still remember people first and money second. If we do not help this long term care crisis, there will more injuries, problems, and improper health care not only now but every day all over the U.S. long into the future.  

For more information on this nursing home crisis, you may visit this page.

If you feel that your loved ones have been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, please contact a medical malpractice attorney right away. They will help you advocate for the rights and care of your loved ones and help you get them what they need.