Articles Posted in Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect

Do you have a loved one in a nursing home? If so, do you know who is taking care of your beloved grandparent, parent, aunt, uncle, or friend? Unfortunately, it is entirely possible that the person watching your loved one may have a criminal record. According to a recent report from the American Association for Justice, entitled “Standing Up for Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans,” many nursing homes fail to properly check the criminal records of its staff, or they run checks and ignore the results. This negligent hiring of employees with criminal records has devastating consequences often leading to nursing home abuse for seniors.
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People invest in life, long-term care, and other types of insurance thinking it will protect them when they need it. The last thing they expect is that they will need protection from the insurance companies themselves. In the recent American Association for Justice’s report entitled “Standing Up for Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans,” it appears that people, especially senior citizens in nursing homes, are often the victims of senior fraud perpetrated by large insurance companies.
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What if a mechanism put on the side of your loved one’s sick bed, presumably to protect them, ends up seriously injuring or killing them? Unfortunately, this is what happened to 63-year old Alzheimer patient, Billie Trew due to nursing home neglect. She was strangled to death by the restraints on her bed while sleeping. Her family brought the nursing home and the bed manufacturer to court, and discovered that at least 20 other patients had died and over 60 had been injured by similar bed rails!
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What do you expect when you put a loved one in a nursing home? Do you expect loving, respectful care or do you expect that your loved one will suffer from elder neglect in the forms of malnutrition, dehydration, pressure sores from being left in bed, or worse? According to a recent report from the American Association for Justice, entitled “Standing Up for Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans,” it’s the latter that is far too often the case for our nation’s seniors in nursing homes.
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Rudy was born and raised on a farm in South Dakota. For over 80 years, Rudy lived and worked on that farm. He got married and raised three children there. His children eventually grew up and moved away. After 63 years of marriage, Rudy’s wife Lucille passed away. Rudy lived alone on the farm for a while, but his doctor eventually told him that he should move into a nursing home.
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Do you ever read all the fine print in the long consumer contracts you receive? If so, you’ve probably noticed a “mandatory arbitration” clause buried deep inside the contract. Most consumer contracts now have them — even contacts for nursing homes. By entering in a nursing facility, seniors or their families often have to agree that even if the nursing home harms, neglects, or abuses the senior in its care, the senior has no right to go to court to protest. It means the senior has no right to a judge, a jury, or a right of appeal. Also, the arbitrators do not have to follow the law, and there is no public review of the arbitrator’s decisions to make sure that he got it right. Additionally, forced arbitrations are often more expensive than taking a case to court.
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If you put your beloved parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle into a nursing home, how would you feel if you found out that the nurses and doctors at the home tied them up to a bed or wheel chair? How outraged would you be if you knew that the people you’re paying to look after the well-being of your loved one were physically restraining them just so they would be “less of a bother?” According to a recent report from the American Association for Justice entitled, “Standing Up for Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans,” it turns out that what is happening in nursing homes with increasing frequency is not that far off. Instead of using ropes and chains though, nursing homes are using chemical restraints on seniors — psychotropic drugs that sedate or control behaviors.
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In the not too distant past, most nursing homes in this country were family-run affairs. The people running the nursing home lived and worked in the community, and the homes were places where seniors and their families could count on compassionate care. Nursing home neglect and abuse were unthinkable. According to a recent report by the American Association for Justice entitled, “Standing Up for Seniors: How the Civil Justice System Protects Elderly Americans,” this situation is changing drastically and senior abuse is on the rise. One of the main reasons is that an ever increasing number of America’s nursing homes are being run by corporations who are often more interested in profits than people. The result is that the corporations cut staffs, services, and standards of care to save some money.
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Financial crimes against the elderly generally fall under two categories: fraud committed by strangers, and financial exploitation by relatives and caregivers. This blog will concentrate on financial elder abuse by relatives and caregivers.

Unlike strangers, relatives and caregivers often have a position of trust and an ongoing relationship with the elderly. Financial exploitation can be as follows:

1. borrowing money and not paying it back;
2. denying services or medical care to conserve funds;
3. giving away or selling the elder’s possessions without permission;
4. signing or cashing pension or social security checks without permission;
5. misusing ATM or credit cards, or using them without permission;
6. giving away the elder’s money to family or friends;

The financial abuser will use deceit, intimidation, emotional abuse, or promises of care.
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The nursing home abuse problem also plagues veterans and their families. This segment of society fought for their country and now nursing homes are areas of abuse for them.

The name for Veterans Administration (VA) homes is “VA Community Living Centers” and seeks to provide compassionate care to veterans who meet the following criteria: veterans with chronic stable conditions such as dementia, those requiring rehabilitation or short term specialized services such as respite or intravenous therapy, or those who need comfort and care at the end of life.
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