As nursing home abuse lawyers, we hear about a lot of abuse and neglect cases, but sexual abuse is always the most disturbing. Sexual elder abuse is an unsettling problem happening far too often in nursing homes and with in-home aides. Workers hired to care for this vulnerable population are taking advantage of the disabled and elderly. These workers often prey on those who cannot speak up for themselves and defend against the sexual assault, making it very hard to discover and/or prove.
Man Gets Ten Years Probation for Sexual Assault of Elderly
Telesforo Vasquez III, 25, was facing counts of attempted sexual assault and injury to an elderly person, but was given ten years of probation during an August 22 hearing. On November 24, 2010, Vasquez reportedly exposed himself to a 91-year-old female resident of the Castle Pines nursing home in Lufkin, Texas where Vasquez worked. He directed the elderly woman to touch him sexually, but when she refused he pushed her down causing injuries to her hip and buttocks. Part of his probation includes restrictions that say he cannot work in a nursing home, hospital or rehabilitation center.
This behavior is unacceptable. As nursing home abuse lawyers, we wish this man had received a greater punishment than probation. Even though he is not allowed to work in any form of caregiver position, he is still free to sexually assault someone else. It is good that he will be supervised and not let go completely, but we hope that the probation deters him from performing any form of abusive behavior again.
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If your loved one is currently a resident of a nursing home or care facility and you witness or suspect any form of inappropriate or abusive behavior from the staff, you must report it. If you feel uncomfortable reporting negligent or abusive care to the nursing home, 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.
After almost two weeks of trial, a jury awarded the family of Dorothy Douglas a total of $91.5 million in damages. The jury found that the facility and the staff failed to feed and care for Douglas and indirectly caused her death. Dorothy Douglas suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease and several other conditions. Prior to moving into a nursing home, while Douglas was living with her son, her heath had improved. She could speak, walk and recognize loved ones. But in 2009, during the short three-week period when Douglas was a resident of the Heartland of Charleston nursing home, her health deteriorated. When she was transferred to the Heritage Center nursing home, she had lost 15 pounds, was dehydrated and unresponsive. The day after she was transferred, September 24, 2009, Douglas died at the age of 87 at the Cabell Huntington Hospital.
Milagros Angeles, 62, is being accused of theft by a caretaker, elder abuse, false imprisonment, and being in possession of altered checks. If she is found guilty, Milagros may be facing more than six years in prison. She worked as the caretaker of Navy veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor Arnold “Max” Bauer, 93, since 2009. When employees at Bauer’s bank noticed a series of suspicious checks drawn on his account during a 6 month period of absence, they contacted Adult Protective Services. Investigators were sent to check on him. Once in the home, they found that the elderly man was living in “filth and squalor,” with trash, rotting food and rat feces covering the house. According to San Diego Sheriff’s Sgt. Mark Varnau, Bauer was found disoriented and dehydrated and “It appears he has advanced Alzheimer’s … He can engage in conversation for a very short period of time and then he drifts off. He is very vulnerable and very much open to being victimized and manipulated.”
Deborah Rutledge was experiencing numbness in her groin, legs, and feet when she went in search of medical help at the Andersen Air Force Base clinic in Guam. A doctor’s assistant and a nurse met with Rutledge but failed to conduct proper medical examinations for the numbness the woman experienced. To compound the problem, the medical professionals did not report the case to their supervisors and instead misdiagnosed what Rutledge was suffering from. Lawyers say that the symptoms persisted, even after an emergency operation. Rutledge continues to suffer today from nerve damage.
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.
Creekside Care Center in Stockton, California was fined $100,000 last month following the death of one of their residents. After an investigation from the state, they found that inadequate care led to the victim’s death. The nursing home staff failed to treat her properly after her left thigh bone broke in October 2008. The injury and lack of treatment led to cardio-respiratory distress and her death in the emergency room a few days later.
Melodee first began experiencing symptoms, such as pain, blood in her stool, and constipation in 2006. After multiple hospital visits, medical professionals diagnosed her with hemorrhoids. It was recommended that the hospital perform a colonoscopy, but the hospital failed to follow up on that procedure or provide any screenings for rectal cancer. Professionals say that the following year, in 2007, Adam Cloer was transferred to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, where his wife would learn that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes because it was not treated in a timely manner. Melodee underwent chemotherapy, radiation, and numerous surgeries to remove her organs, all of which proved to be of no avail. The medical malpractice attorneys working the case stated, 
Sick and elderly citizens that depend on others for care are perhaps the most vulnerable of our population. Unfortunately, this populations is too often taken advantage of. Financial 
The doctors have been provided a sixty day window to edit and review their online profiles before they become accessible to the public. If doctors provide false information, and mislead potential healthcare consumers, lawyers believe that they will be subject to different forms of discipline. Other information that will be included in these profiles includes the medical schools they attended, specialty board certification, number of years in practice, location of practice, and whether or not the doctor participates in Medicaid. 
Jawara Henry, a 27 year old autistic patient at the South Beach Psychiatric Center, a state run facility in New York, died after a supervisor tried to restrain him. Henry was “agitated and aggressive and was biting staff and other patients,” when Erik Stanley, 37, a supervisor for disabled adults at the Staten Island mental health facility held him in a wrongful restraint. Stanley allegedly applied excessive pressure to the neck and torso of Henry. According to a source, he placed the patient in a “chokehold,” forced him onto his stomach, and got on top of the patient while he was face down on the floor. Stanley did “not follow protocol nor use proper techniques while to trying to restrain” and used “excessive force.” The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was asphyxiation by neck and chest compression. Stanley was charged with criminally negligent homicide and endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person. He pleaded not guilty and was released without bail.