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.
Initially, Susan Piro cancelled the trip she planned to take to America. However, the vacation became too hard to resist, and Susan departed, leaving her mother behind. Ironically, the point of the excursion was to visit places in America her mother had once lived. Susan’s selfish and clouded judgement have now prevented her from ever being able to share these memories with her mother. 
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.
On average, research has shown that the process to upgrade to pressure-reduction mattresses would cost about 30 cents per patient. This minimal investment would soon pay major dividends in the healthcare world. Professionals project that the reduction in bed sores could save $32 dollars per patient in treatment and care costs. This equation leads to one conclusion, big money will be saved once healthcare costs decrease. Murray Krahn, a principal investigator with the study stated that “pressure ulcers are a huge but under-appreciated problem across multiple settings in our health-care system.” He continued by stating, “though they are not the full solution, pressure-reduction mattresses are an inexpensive and easy way to address the problem.”
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 
When a child is between the ages of six weeks and nine months, surgery is usually done to close the cleft lip. Additional surgery may also be necessary down the road if the cleft has a major effect on the nose and the surrounding area. If the cleft lip can be successfully closed by this initial surgery, it becomes much more likely that the child will have normal speech developments as the aging process continues. During the early months however, a prosthetic is sometimes inserted temporarily to close a baby’s palate to ensure that a baby can receive the proper food and nutrients. When a baby is able to take in the proper amount of nutrients, even with the cleft lip and cleft palate, lawyers say that growth and weight issues are not nearly as likely.
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. 
Many parents are alarmed after their child’s surgery when new scars are red. During the healing process, the body re-routes blood vessles to the scar to bring an extra supply of blood, creating that red color. The red will progressively darken for about three months and will be raised off the skin and stiff to the touch. Eventually, the scar will fade, soften, and flatten. Ultimately, the scar should look like a soft, flat, white line.
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.