Nursing Home & Elder Abuse

• Sexual Assaults on People with Disabilities

  Ken Margolin | March 02, 2007 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  The Florida InjuryBoard law firm partner of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A., just took on a case of an autistic young adult who was sexually assaulted while in the care of a group home. The obligation of organizations providing day and residential care for people with disabilities, to keep them safe from sexual assault, is undeniable. Sexual assaults on the disabled are...

• Nursing Home Falls

  Ken Margolin | February 21, 2007 11:50 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Anyone who has seen an elderly loved one living in a nursing home, may think that falls are an inevitable part of aging with frailty. That perception is inaccurate. While some nursing home falls may be inevitable, many can be prevented. Doing everything feasible to prevent falls is a primary obligation for nursing homes. Falls can begin a downward spiral leading to complete dependence or death....

• Pressure Sore Risk in Nursing Homes

  Ken Margolin | January 27, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Pressures sores, also known as "bed sores" and "decubitus ulcers," are a risk for anyone confined to bed for long periods of time with limited mobility. They can become a dangerous problem in nursing homes, especially in residents already frail from age and other diseases. Pressure sores can kill as they can provide the conduit for deep systemic infection. Certain residents are at highest risk...

• Nursing Home Abuse and Assaults by Fellow Residents and Visitors

  Ken Margolin | January 12, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Previous blogs on this site have touched on nursing home abuse of residents by staff. Unfortunately, cases are increasingly coming to light of abuse and assault of nursing home residents by visitors and fellow residents. An elderly woman in a Minnesota home was the victim of a sexual assault by another resident of her home who had been in prison and had a long history of committing sex crimes....

• Nursing Home Drug Errors

  Ken Margolin | January 03, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Any regular readers of this blog site know that two of my primary concerns are medication errors and nursing home negligence. The two areas are not entirely unrelated. Medication errors often harm the most vulnerable - children and infants, people weakened from the illness that is being treated, elderly patients. Nursing home negligence always harms those who are vulnerable. Tragically, the two...

• Preventing Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

  Ken Margolin | January 01, 2007 1:00 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  It is frightening to think about the vulnerability of seniors in nursing homes. Stories of nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect show up with alarming frequency in the news and some sources claim that these incidents are increasing as funding decreases across the healthcare system, leading to the staffing problems that create situations for abuse and neglect. Many of the instances of...

• Nursing Home Negligence Verdict

  Ken Margolin | October 17, 2006 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Juries continue to show their appreciation of the sanctity of life even for older and ill individuals. A Middlesex County jury awarded $285,000 ($441,665 with interest) to the family of an 80 year old nursing home resident who suffered severe burns from uncovered and excessively hot radiators. The woman died subsequent to her injuries. While the jury did not believe that the resident's death was...

• Nursing Home Neglect - Dehydration and Malnutrition

  Ken Margolin | October 13, 2006 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Few choices are more emotionally wrenching than entering a family member into a nursing home. The only purpose for removing a loved one from their home and placing them into an institution, is the belief that they will be well care for, protected when they can no longer live on their own or with family help. Nursing home neglect is a disgrace that should never occur. Dehydration and malnutrition...

• Buyer Beware-Nursing Home Neglect

  Staff Writer | July 03, 2006 4:02 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA

  Your stay at a nursing home in Massachusetts may be a one way ticket to a hospital. Today the Boston Globe reports the series woes prevalent in Massachusetts nursing homes. The report cites lack of qualified staffing and overreliance on nurse practitioners (rather than M.D.'s) as a cause. What could be minor medical problems--such as dehydration, urinary tract infections, chronic pulmonary...