August 12, 2013
A Florida agency, which specializes in elder care within our nursing homes, has recently published a report card grading each state’s overall ability to provide the proper care. It was the first ever a state-by-state nursing home report card has ever been released. Families for Better Care is the name of the leading advocacy group from the state of Florida which recently published the report. States were ranked and graded based off of numerous conditions. Eight different federal quality measures were used in order to determine scores. States doing the best overall included New Hampshire, Alaska and Rhode Island. States […]
July 30, 2013
On July 22nd, 2013 a Polk County jury handed a $1.2 billion verdict down for a nursing home negligence case. After nearly five years, damages were finally handed down. Nursing home negligence is an ever increasing epidemic within the state of Florida. It took the jury just one hour to come to their decision. $110 million was awarded in damages and $1 billion in punitive damages. Ultimately it’s going to come down to how much of that money will be collected by the plaintiff, Arlene Townsend (family). She was a resident at the Auburndale Oaks Healthcare Center. When she fell, […]
July 10, 2013
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine Taking Action on Nursing Home Abuse This Month in Ohio, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) reported that over the last several months they’ve noticed an augmentation in nursing home abuse and neglect complaints. To report nursing home abuse in Ohio, please visit the Ohio Department of Health for more help. Also contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office here: 800-282-0515. Mike DeWine, Attorney General of Ohio, announced his office has seen nearly twice as many complaints compared to this time last year (131 compared to 74 last year). DeWine has gone on the record to […]
June 21, 2013
Hidden cameras are used every day to expose and exploit someone for wrongdoing. Within nursing homes, families are turning to this technology to catch nurses in the act of abusing their loved ones. While this may generate a lot of privacy concerns with the nursing facility, filming an abused loved one in a nursing home with a hidden camera is in fact legal in most states. When this form of abuse or neglect occurs, having documented video evidence in the court room can be a powerful tool in a nursing home abuse case. While it is legal in most states […]
June 21, 2013
Right now in the United States there are currently 44 million people over the age of 65. By 2030, that population is expected to nearly double to 78 million people. Long term care facilities, in home care, and independent living will all become more popular trends over the next 20 years. Currently there are nearly 1.5 million seniors in nursing homes, and nearly 940,000 in assisted living facilities. Nearly six million seniors receive some form of in home care (mainly from a family member). Our nations seniors, at some point or another, must turn to some form of nursing care […]
June 15, 2013
On June 15, 2006 the United Nations with help from the World Health Organization and the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, created World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD). This day was created so that individuals, organizations, and communities are aware and concerned with seniors rights. Members of these organizations believe that elder abuse, as prominent as it is around the world, goes unrecognized and unreported in most cases. Why create an entire day to elder abuse? Abuse and neglect plague nearly 1/10 seniors each year within our nursing homes and assisted living facilities. But only 1/14 of […]