Category : Nursing Home Abuse

Number of Elder Abuse Lawsuits Drops Under Current California AG

Under the current Attorney General of California, there have been more dismissals of elder abuse lawsuits and a rollback of surprise inspections of elder care facilities.  It is a situation that should cause California elder abuse lawyers great concern because it directly impacts the safety of thousands of elderly residents in the nursing homes.

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Sacramento Jury Hits Nursing Home with $28 Million Punitive Damages Verdict

A nursing home in Rocklin got an unexpected verdict this week. The nursing home has been slapped with a $20 million verdict for punitive damages in the death of a resident. The nursing home Colonial Healthcare of Auburn as well as its parent company, Horizon West of Rocklin, were both found guilty of elder abuse.

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Orange County Nursing Home Negligence May Have Led to Wrongful Death

The family of a 77-year-old man who died after a catastrophic injury, possibly resulting from at a Santa Ana nursing home negligence case, has filed a lawsuit against the facility. The lawsuit alleges that the nursing home operators, Kindred Healthcare Operating Inc. and its subsidiary Kindred Nursing Centers West LLC failed to take adequate measures to prevent the  accident.

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California Nursing Home Resident Found Dead

A nursing home resident in Concord, who was reported missing last month, was found dead in a culvert. The body of Rosemary Nelson was found on the morning of 26^th January. She had been reported missing on the 23^rd of January. She had last been seen at about 5 pm at a nursing facility, and had then gone missing. Family members have told the police that she had walked out of similar facilities before. According to the coroner’s office, Nelson probably died from exposure to the harsh elements.

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Ventura County Jury Awards $7.75 Million to Family of Elder Abuse Victim

A jury in Ventura County has awarded $7.75 million to the family of 71-year-old Maria Arellano in an elder abuse lawsuit.

Arellano is a resident at the Fillmore Convalescent Center. In 2006, her family members noticed bruises on her body and complained to the nursing home management. However, they allege that the nursing home failed to investigate the bruises.  The family then came up with their own way of investigating the bruises. They set up a hidden video camera recording system in Arellano’s room.

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Murder of Nursing Home Resident Raises Questions of Abuse

California nursing home abuse lawyers and elder safety advocates around the country have been stunned at the murder of a 100-year-old nursing home resident by her 98-year-old roommate. The murder occurred at the Brandon Woods nursing home in Dartmouth in Massachusetts. Ninety-year-old Laura Lundquist allegedly strangled her 100-year-old roommate Elizabeth Barrow after conflicts over room space. Barrow was found dead on September 24^th this year. She had been strangled to death by tying a plastic bag around her neck. Initially, people believed that Barrow had committed suicide, but a medical examiner later confirmed that it was a case of homicide.

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Unfit Temp Nurses Increase Risk of Elder Abuse in California

A nationwide nursing shortage has meant that hospitals and nursing homes are turning to temp staffing agencies to fill their demand. As the Los Angeles Times reports, very often, these agencies fail to conduct a thorough screening of the staff, raising the possibility of neglect and abuse.

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California Department of Public Health Fails to Prevent Nursing Home Abuse

A report in the Contra Costa Times says the California Department of Public Health fails to oversee nursing homes and prevent abuse in these facilities.

Case in point: Diana Harden and her daughter. Last month, Diana Harden went on a shooting spree in a nursing home in Oakland. She shot and killed her disabled daughter who was living at the Oakland Springs Health Care Center and then shot herself. In the letter that Harden wrote to a TV station just before the tragic murder-suicide, she claimed that her daughter, who had brain damage, was being ill-treated at the facility. Harden suffered from health concerns, and worried for the safety of her daughter after her passing.

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San Diego Nursing Home Receives Citation after Negligent Care Causes Resident’s Death

As California nursing home abuse lawyers, we constantly monitor the quality of services of our state’s nursing homes and make note of nursing care facilities that have been fined, penalized or cited for elder abuse. This month, a San Diego county nursing home received the state’s most severe penalty for senior abuse, after a resident at the facility died.

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California Nursing Home Fined $100,000 for Elder Abuse

A nursing home in Placerville in El Dorado County has been issued a fine of $100,000 for its role in the death of an elderly resident.

Placerville Pines Care Center also received an AA citation from the state, which is the most severe penalty under California law. According to KCRA.com, the fines and citations were announced by the director of the California Department of Public Health. The Department said in a news release that the Placerville Pine Care Center failed to adequately assess the patient’s health, and notify the doctor when there was a change in the patient’s condition. The Department found that the center’s failure to notify the doctor about the patient’s condition, contributed to the patient’s death.

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