San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

At The Brod Law Firm, we are proud to serve as lawyers for victims of nursing home abuse in Sacramento. The elderly can be a very vulnerable population and Sacramento elder abuse can go unrecognized because some older individuals are unable to report the incidents or are unconsidered unreliable because of dementia. We are proud to serve as attorneys for individuals who fall victim to these abuses and work closely with concerned family members to represent their interests.

Abuse and neglect are all too common, but it is important to remember that the nature of even well-run elder care facilities can create health concerns. On Tuesday, The Sacramento Bee reported that public health authorities were tracking an outbreak of the norovirus in senior care environments. The virus has been confirmed in three skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, is suspected to be the culprit in at least four other locations and is believed to have caused at least 174 residents and staff to fall ill. Norovirus cause a range of gastro-intestinal ailments and, especially in the medically vulnerable elderly population, can lead to dangerous dehydration. At one facility, 15 out of 85 residents are reported to have fallen ill from the highly contagious bug.

Norovirus itself cannot be treated but symptoms can be managed with palliative care, including rehydration where necessary. The disease is spread very easily and is particularly likely to spread in close quarters like cruise ships, schools, and nursing facilities. There are several strategies that can prevent norovirus and other contagious diseases from spreading. Hand-washing can be very effective in limiting the spread of illness, although it is often not done properly. The Center for Disease Control recommends that hands be vigorously rubbed with soap and water for a minimum of twenty seconds, noting that mentally singing “Happy Birthday” twice can help ensure hands are washed for a sufficient time. Since norovirus often originates in contaminated food, proper food-handling techniques are also key. Fruits and vegetables should be thoroughly washed and infected individuals should not be involved in food preparation. Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and laundering clothing and bedding can also help prevent norovirus from spreading.

We do not intend to assert that the current outbreaks are the result of any improper actions. However, given the medical vulnerability of the elderly and nursing home residents in particular, it is important that elder care facilities follow strict procedures to limit the spread of contagious disease among residents. When researching residential care for a loved one, it is important to ask about the measures taken by the facility to prevent the spread of disease and whether specific measures are taken when an outbreak is suspected. Caregivers should be trained to prevent the spread of disease and to recognize norovirus and other infections early so that symptoms can be treated and the contagion can be confined.

While most infections are an unfortunate reality of communal living, inadequate care and prevention is inexcusable. If you believe a loved one has fallen ill due to neglect in a Sacramento nursing facility, please contact our skilled Northern California elder abuse lawyer. Speaking up can help you recover the costs associated with your loved one’s care and can also let nursing facilities know that neglect and inadequate care will not be tolerated.

See Related Blog Posts:
San Francisco-Oakland Attorney Comments on Nursing Home Lawsuits
Nursing Home Neglect in San Francisco and Beyond

According to the San Jose Mercury News, three former nursing home workers have been charged over allegations that one abused an elderly resident, while the other two did nothing to stop it. Officials with the California Department of Justice says agents on Wednesday arrested 27-year-old Arnold Samson on suspicion of committing elder abuse and battery against a resident at the Idylwood Care Center in Sunnyvale. The other two, 22-year-old Ryan Tan and 50-year-old Ricardo Martinez were also arrested. Authorities say they knew about alleged abuse, but failed to report it, as required by law. Idylwood spokesman Larry Kamer told the reporters that the three no longer worked at the center. All of the charges are misdemeanors.
In January agents from the state Bureau of Medi-Cal fraud and Elder Abuse received an allegation of sexual misconduct from the Department of Public Health’s Licensing and Certification Division. A staff member reported that one of the Idylwood residents was complaining to him about being grabbed in the “private area” over several days by one of the certified nursing assistants. As the employee was in the process of questioning the resident, he said he saw Samson grab the resident’s genitalia and make a crude comment. The employee reported the abuse immediately and Samson was suspended. A news release from the state department stated several members, whom agents interviewed, said Samson had grabbed and pulled on the testicles of the same resident and made crude comments on other occasions as well as threatened to touch resident’s private parts in an attempt to torment him. In an interview with agents, Tan allegedly admitted that he had seen Samson threaten the resident several times. Tan also allegedly told agents that he watched Samson grab the man’s private parts while the resident was sleeping “in order to get a rise out of him.”
Here at the Brod Law Firm we agree with what Kamala Harris said in a statement regarding the matter: “As a mandated reporter, caregivers are bound by law to report anyone they see commit abuse or are told an abuse has occurred. We want to send a clear message to facility caregivers around the state that if you fail to report abuse, we will come after you." If you or a loved were suffered abuse at a nursing home facility, please contact our firm for a free consultation.

A recent report revealed that low federal standards and inconsistent state regulations have created lapses in the types of employees hired by nursing home facilities. The majority of nursing homes hired staff with criminal convictions, according to the Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) report in which investigators conducted background checks on all nursing home employees who were working on June 1, 2009 at 260 nursing homes across the nation. The report also revealed that 92 percent of the facilities had at least one employee on staff with a criminal conviction, and that five or more individuals with criminal records at just about half of the facilities. Nearly 98 percent of the facilities said they conducted criminal background checks on employees. Only 43 states mandate some sort of criminal background check and only 10, a state and FBI check. Checking in both formats enables nursing homes to see convictions over state lines; when both formats are not used, which occurs in the majority of cases, the inconsistency enables criminals to slip through the check if they have recently moved.
The offenses discovered included:
• crimes against persons, such as assault, battery, murder, rape, and robbery;
• crimes against property such as burglary, larceny, possession of stolen property, shoplifting, theft vandalism and writing bad checks; driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol;
• other driving related crimes such as leaving the scene of an accident or transporting an open container of alcohol in a vehicle;
• drug related crimes such as possession or sale of controlled substances and disorderly conduct, prostitution, resisting arrest or weapons violations.

A national program was created under President Obama’s health care law that standardizes federal and state nursing home background checks, but the program is voluntary. So what we have here, essentially, is a dysfunctional system being used to determine who will be responsible for providing care for our aging population during the most challenging time in their lives and a new law that is merely one small step in the right direction. If you or a loved one suffered injures due to negligence or abuse at a nursing home facility, please contact our firm for a free consultation.

California Watch reported last week that, since 2010, five lawsuits have been filed against nursing home operators, all of which allege neglect or abuse due insufficient staffing. The lawsuits are a “big wake-up call,"according an attorney representing one of the plaintiffs. State data was used by prosecuting attorneys to identify nursing home chains and facilities that provided inadequate numbers of staff, and their message is clear: the practice of earning profits through understaffing is no longer acceptable, now that plaintiffs are fighting back. Complaints by the plaintiffs varied and include: being left unattended, call lights were left unheeded; received inadequate help with getting to the bath room, which resulted in sitting in a urine-soaked bed for yours; one resident was not moved enough to avoid developing bed sores; inadequate assistance with eating and rough handling by staff; being drugged until feeling sleepy and groggy; surgery to correct bedsores.

As we have stated before, deciding to place a family member in a nursing home is painful and difficult. Some families, however, have no other choice when the medical and physical demands make other options impossible. Choosing the right and appropriate home is not a task to be taken lightly. Families should make an appointment to tour each home in which they are interested. During each tour they should ask to see more than the public areas and visit several residents' rooms. And, if possible, families should try to walk through the facility on their own, which will allow them to experience it without input from staff or the managing director, who may have a one-sided biased interpretation. Also, It is advisable for families to meet the other caregivers, faculty, and staff, and establish a relationship with them, and make sure that their loved ones receive care in a manner and in an environment that promotes dignity and respect. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we believe there is no substitute for visiting and seeing for yourself if a particular nursing home is acceptable—we have heard too many horror stories from families about relatives that were neglected or abused due to lack of oversight.

Another story of nursing home abuse has made the headlines again. This new story took place in Fair Oaks, California. According to the Sacramento Bee, a man named Sean Suh installed a video camera, referred to as a “grannycam,” beside his grandmother’s bed at the time she moved into residential care. He did so because he wanted to make sure that the staff was aware that his grandmother, Kyong Hui Duncan, was being watched and that her family cared for her. Sadly his grandmother, who was 73, died from a variety of problems that, as Shu sees it, were a direct result of abuse she suffered at Fair Oaks Residential Elderly Care.

Suh found the "grannycam" unplugged during many of his visits to his grandmother--and is the main reason the family was seeking a new facility. Shu did recover a short video in which a staff member is seen violently shaking Duncan while in her wheelchair. That clip is the major reason for California’s decision to shut down Fair Oaks and the civil lawsuit filed by Duncan’s family in which abuse, neglect, and wrongful death are alleged. When his grandmother began presenting with gashes and bruises and was apparently “drugged,” Suh sought a new home, but when he found a new place, and then he received a the call that she had passed away.

Suh’s complaint led to an investigation, which then led to an order by California Department of Social Services to shut down the facility. The State of California is seeking permanent revocation of the home’s license. The evidence and allegations against them are damaging. One piece of evidence is a video showing a staff member move Duncan to her wheelchair, then dump the chair backward while shaking the wheelchair. Other allegations are that staff did not appropriately restrain Duncan and neglected to respond to her in a timely manner after she fell. There were also occasions in which Duncan suffered from bruises and untreated infections. Her autopsy report showed toxic narcotic levels that indicated there was at least one drug in her system that had never been prescribed by her doctor. The lawsuit charges that a combination of factors ultimately contributed to Duncan’s death. Other accusations against the facility include fire code violations, inappropriate disposal of contaminated needles, forging prescriptions, and using expired prescription medications.

If you or a loved on has suffered injuries due to abuse at a nursing home or if you have questions regarding elder abuse law, please contact our firm.

We are always following issues of nursing home abuse and think it’s important to talk about cases from time to time. We look at it as a way to remind our readers about the dangerous issues seniors face when they are in a nursing home. Last month a Superior Court Judge in Sacramento upheld a $29 million verdict in a nursing home abuse case. Judge Roland Candee rejected Horizon West Healthcare’s arguments seeking a new trial or significantly reduced damages in the case involving Frances Tanner, a 79 year old retiree who worked for the FBI and the IRS. Tanner suffered from mild dementia when she moved into Colonial Healthcare. During her time there she fractured her hip, which was left undiagnosed, and seven Months later she died due to an infected bedsore. Testimony revealed that Horizon illegally understaffs its sites and conducted business based predominantly on a concern for the bottom line, not on sympathetic patient care. The jury awarded tanner’s daughter $28 million in punitive damages and $1.1 million for pain and suffering, which the judge reduced to $800,000.

In addition to neglect, some nursing homes give residents medications for seemingly no reason. Antidepressants, antipsychotic and sedatives are sometimes given without consent and without valid diagnosis. Some facilities actually use these kinds of drugs as a chemical restraint to silence residents. As a consequence some seniors suffer a variety of adverse responses that include tremors, dangerous lethargy and a higher risk for falling or even death. According to Medicine Net, the risk of a senior dying increases by more than double when they are abused through neglect, physically, financially, sexually, or emotionally. If someone close to you is the victim of nursing home abuse, please contact the Brod Law Firm. Or if you have questions regarding nursing home abuse laws, feel free to contact our office.

Several elderly patients at Valley View Skilled Nursing Facility in Ukiah, California were covered with a greasy, ointment cream by nursing home staff as part of an apparent “prank”. The patient-victims suffered from dementia, and were unable to protest about the way they were treated. Six former employees of Valley View Skilled Nursing Facility were arrested, and California Attorney General Jerry Brown called the alleged abuse of the elderly patients "despicable behavior." The former employees are being charged by Mendocino County with misdemeanor counts of an injury to an elder or dependent adult; battery committed on elder or a dependent adult; conspiracy; and battery committed while on hospital property. In addition to the criminal charges against the nursing home staff, the California Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act provides a civil remedy for those who have been a victim of this kind of physical abuse.

If you or an elderly member of your family has been the victim of ) Financial Abuse; 2) Physical Abuse and Neglect; and 3) Abduction, please call the Brod Law Firm at (800) 427-7020 for a free consultation. If you prefer to send us an email with an inquiry, please email us.

California’s Elder Abuse and Dependant Adult Civil Protection Act (the “Act”) is relatively new legislation, which was intended to protect the abuse of an elder or a dependent adult. The abuse can be physical or financial, and may be evident in a case of neglect, abandonment, isolation or abduction. As cases of elder abuse become reported, the Act helps to provide a way in which violations can be addressed, extreme wrongdoers can be punished, ideally to prevent others from becoming victims of elder abuse.

In Humboldt County, a jury awarded a verdict of nearly $619 million based upon health code violations against Skilled Healthcare, one of the largest nursing chains in the United States. The verdict did not include punitive damages, which were to be decided at a later time. The class action lawsuit involved approximately 32,000 patients. The facilities involved with the health code violations were: Eureka Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, LLC; Granada Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, LLC; Pacific Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, LLC; Seaview Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, LLC; and St. Luke Heathcare and Rehabilitation, LLC .

Ideally, jury verdicts like the recent one in Humboldt County will send a message to nursing facilities across California and the rest of the country. If you abuse elderly or dependent citizens, you will pay. If you or an elderly member of your family has been the victim of ) Financial Abuse; 2) Physical Abuse and Neglect; and 3) Abduction, please call the Brod Law Firm, P.C. for a free consultation.

Federal regulations require that each resident of a nursing home receive the necessary care and services to attain or maintain physical and mental health. Residents who are unable to independently carry out daily activities, such as grooming and eating, are entitled to receive the highest level of services needed to maintain good nutrition and personal hygiene. Also, it is required that nursing home facilities provide each resident with a nourishing, well-balanced diet that meets the special dietary needs of each resident. Therefore, nursing homes must employ qualified dietitians and sufficient support staff and provide assistive devices and special eating equipment for residents who need them. Failure of a nursing home facility to follow dietary regulations can result in serious injuries of residents, due to dehydration and malnutrition—both of which are preventable.

Since patients are often dependent on staff members to provide them with water and food, they are especially vulnerable to dehydration and malnutrition. Malnutrition can lead to confusion, muscles weakness, bacterial and viral infections and even death. To ensure the overall health of residents is maintained, a nursing home must also maintain medically trained staff. Federal nursing home regulations state that a facility must have 24 hour licensed nursing services and a registered professional nurse for at least 8 consecutive hours every day (under some circumstances there can be waivers of these requirements as long as it does not endanger the health or safety of the residents). When nursing homes fail to maintain adequate levels of staffing, residents are sometimes neglected or abused by overworked, stressed-out staff members.

Here at the Brod Law Firm, we are sometimes asked why nursing home abuse occurs. The following are typical reasons. Low wages and large numbers of residents assigned to each staff member lead to high turnover rates, which leads to mismanaged care. It is often the case that knowledge of the specific needs of residents is lost with high turnover rates, as there is little time for each new trainee to get to know their residents. As result, new trainees feel overworked and unable to meet the needs of residents, then stay a short time and quit. And the cycle goes on and on. Sadly, this happens because most of the nursing home industry is for-profit. As such, these corporations, in order to increase their net profits, try to keep their staffing costs low and hire fewer staff members than is required. So, when staff members place food in front of residents who can’t feed themselves and then don’t bother to assist them, it is essentially the same as starving them.

Growing old in America is not what it was, let’s say, 100 years ago. It used to be the case that age was venerated in society. Today, however, there is a negative perception associated with aging that is fostered by our culture. For the most part, the experience of the elderly is discounted by the media, or it is not represented at all--very definitely, youth and prestige have gained superiority over experience. Age has diminished as a distinguishing element among the elderly as it pertains to their worth. Without argument, the message in society today is this: to be worthwhile, you must be young. Consequently, as the negative image associated with aging is continually perpetuated throughout society, it leaves the elderly with a sense that they are worthless. Sadly for some elderly, the feeling of worthlessness is compounded when they are placed in a nursing home, especially if it is not a well functioning one. Without proper care at nursing home, the elderly commonly suffer from what we consider “nursing home abuse.”

Medicare and Medicaid have had a large impact on the use of nursing homes and the changes in patterns of financing have encouraged the construction of nursing homes. Despite Medicare and Medicaid funding and laws created to protect the elderly, there are few safeguards to ensure that a standard of patient care is maintained. Countless nursing home studies have found that proper staffing is one of the main factors to a well functioning nursing home. Investigators usually find that understaffing leads to verbal abuse and neglect. When nursing homes cut staff, pay lower wages or let caregiver levels slip below a state mandated minimum, the residents suffer. State inspectors continually undercover a litany of violations, such as neglecting bedsores and giving patients the wrong drugs. There is an implicit good faith agreement between staff and residents that they will receive proper care. Yet some nursing homes house, as part of their business plan, a high percentage medically fragile patients in order to receive higher reimbursements--which is dangerous when combined lower staffing rates.

A common injury due to understaffed nursing homes is the development of pressure sores--a telltale sign of neglect. Some patients, especially diabetics or those with high blood pressure, can develop pressure sores on ankles and tailbone. Sores can become so deep to the point that bone becomes exposed and then becomes severely infected. When a bed sore develops, nursing home staff must be quick to identify the wound and implement the use of medical equipment, such as pressure relieving mattresses and heel protectors, to prevent the wounds from worsening. When bed sore are not treated in their initial stage, they progress and become difficult and more costly to treat. A stage 3 or 4 bed sore typically requires aggressive medical treatment. In some cases, though, by the time significant medical treatment his utilized, many patients are already suffering from serious complications. In the most extreme cases, gangrene can set in and a patient has to have their leg amputated. And the worst cases of all are those that result in the death of a patient.