As nursing home abuse lawyers, we write about the many different forms of nursing home abuse in order to bring awareness to this serious issue. Most nursing home abuse cases are about abuse of power, whether that is through physical or mental terrorizing or stealing money from the patients or the facility.
Facility Administrator Received Money for False Transport Claims
Kelvin Washington, 47, who works as an administrator at a Sugar Land nursing home in Texas, was arrested on August 4, 2011 and is being charged with conspiracy, health care fraud and violations of the anti-kickback statute. He is being accused of creating a plan where he billed federal health care programs for ambulance transport and received payments totaling approximately $20,000 for referring the dialysis patients to a Houston ambulance transport service between 2003 and 2007. He allegedly conspired to have unknowing doctors sign transport prescriptions for patients who were never even admitted to the nursing home. Medicare and Medicaid were billed almost $1 million in false health care claims. The maximum penalties for a violation of the health care fraud statue in Texas is a maximum of 10 years in prison. The maximum sentence for a violation of the conspiracy statue or the anti-kickback statute is five years. Each of the 10 counts charged also carry a maximum $250,000 fine as punishment upon conviction.
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If you have witnessed any questionable or abusive behavior in a nursing home, directed towards your loved one or even another resident, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
According to the complaint, from 2004 to 2008, many of the facility’s residents suffered injuries, and five patients died during that time. The poor care in question involved failure to follow physicians orders, failure to treat wounds and bed sores, failure to update resident care plans, and failure to monitor the blood sugar levels of diabetic residents.
On June 11, 2011 Juan David Hernandez, 28, who is a Colombian citizen and a resident of Florida, was arrested in Vancouver for obstruction of justice after he gave a false name when he was pulled over for an illegal turn by a police officer. According to Vancouver Police Det. Rick Stewart, “When they looked inside the vehicle’s front seat, they saw bags and bags of mail.” The bags were full of letters from all over the world containing checks for $30. After an investigation, they discovered that Hernandez was guilty of 
Ms. Sanders is now testifying in support of a bill authorized by Senator Fran Pavley that will enforce new regulations on the issuing of signature stamps. The bill would make it harder for caregivers with ill intentions to obtain the stamps by requiring that a bank employee witness and sign all requests for new signature stamps. Customers given the stamps will also be provided with information on the risks associated with them, in hopes that people will be more aware of the signs of theft or fraud, and also more careful of where the signature stamps are kept. The bill would also increase the punishment for financial elder abuse in California.
Whistleblower and qui tam claims do essentially the same thing; they allow employees to file lawsuits against their employers for fraud or other illegal practices. Many times, especially in the healthcare industry, companies engage in fraudulent advertising to increase popularity of a product. Pharmaceutical companies are largely guilty of committing this type of fraud. Creating false or untested uses for a certain drug, or offering physicians large amounts of money (kickbacks) to recommend and prescribe certain drugs is very much illegal, and equally as dangerous.
Dr. Andrew Wakefield caused a significant decrease in MMR vaccinations since the publishing of his study in 1998 that claimed that the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccination was, in fact, causing “regressive autism“. Regressive autism is a form of the disorder that starts to develop after a child has displayed no symptoms, and has led, up until that point, a “normal” life.
Typically, 
The money will be distributed under the guidelines of the Affordable Care Act, and the National Background Check Program will begin in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Missouri, and Rhode Island. Eleven additional states may be added to the program as early as November of this year.
We’ve talked before about how nursing homes are businesses; big businesses with corporate agendas and money hungry CEO’s. Today, these corporations are wide-eyed at the thought of an influx of baby boomers entering their facilities. This prospect of large profits has caused a major drop in the level of care provided to our elderly loved ones.
By definition, an ombudsman is a government official who hears and investigates complaints by private citizens against other officials or government agencies.