San Diego Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys

Selected Elder Abuse Articles of Interest

Stifling Senior Abuse

By: Eileen Sondak [Reprinted by the San Diego nursing home injury attorneys of Berman & Riedel, LLP with permission of SDJJ]

When you send loved ones to a nursing home, you expect the facility to treat them with kindness, consideration, and respect. After all, nursing home patients are seriously ill, elderly, and frail-and require more care and medical expertise than you can give them at home.

Unfortunately, too many nursing homes violate your trust and put patients at risk of more serious illness or even death. Despite the good intentions of their relatives, many patients become victims of abuse and neglect at the hands of these “caregivers.”

As Attorney William Berman noted in a recent interview, the shocking truth is that “40 percent of all facilities in the state of California have serious violations for standards of care and there are a lot of cases of nursing home wrongful deaths. Some residents have suffered not only neglect of their basic needs but also severe physical abuse, even death, as a result of the actions of caregivers in nursing homes.”

In a much-publicized lawsuit, Berman proved that severe negligence and callousness led to the death of a helpless resident. The client was awarded a $2.2 million settlement on behalf of the 74-year-old patient-the largest ever reported against a California RCFE.

According to Berman, these abuses are not just found in run-down facilities.

“It doesn’t matter whether the facility is a very expensive home with a beautiful building or a small mom and pop operation,” he said. “We are finding these acts of abuse and neglect in all types of facilities.”

There is something you can do to protect your loved ones. You can give careful consideration to the placement of a family member into an RCFE or skilled nursing facility. Follow these guidelines, before you make your decision:

1. Get recommendations about facilities from people you trust (family, friends, doctors, and clergy); in other words, from people who have had experiences with nursing homes.
2. Call your area’s Agency on Aging, Better Business Bureau, local office of Consumer Affairs, or State Health Department, and ask if they have information on the quality of nursing homes in your area.
3. Visit the nursing homes you are interested in and take a formal tour of the facility. Look at the residents and note how they are being treated by the staff. Try to talk to the residents and families about their satisfaction with the nursing home and its facilities. Ask for several references.

Remember, even after you have made the decision to place a family member in a facility, it is important to visit the patient as often as possible to monitor the care being provided. Be sure to observe obvious signs of neglect and abuse.

Here are a few signals that should raise a red flag:

1. Poor personal hygiene or generally unsanitary conditions of the residents or facility,
2. Open bed sores,
3. Sudden and unexplained loss of weight,
4. Malnutrition or dehydration,
5. Repeated falls,
6. The improper withholding of medication,
7. Over-medication,
8. Unexplained change in demeanor, such as confusion or abnormal behavior (pulling out hair, rocking, etc.), and
9. Signs of abuse, such as bruises, cuts, burns or skin discoloration.

As Berman warned, if you witness or suspect neglect or abuse, immediately report the incident to the resident’s regular physician, as well as the local Ombudsman’s office and/or the Department of Health Services, so that proper investigation by trained professionals can be conducted. Time is of the essence in preventing further abuse and neglect. Be diligent and make sure that your family members and others receive the care and attention they deserve.

Lesson to Learn: A Single Fall Incident at a Nursing Home May Constitute “Neglect”

When Can A Single Fall Incident at a Nursing Home That Cause Serious Personal Injury or Death Constitute “Neglect?”

The San Diego elder abuse lawyers at Berman & Riedel, LLP, represented the family of an 87-year-old skilled nursing facility patient who died after suffering a serious fall only four days after being admitted to the facility. In forwarding the action, our California nursing home injury lawyers argued that nursing staff had neglected the patient by failing to properly care for the patient's safety despite deeming the patient to be at “high risk” to suffer falls. Indeed, despite the facility's own assessment that the patient was at “high risk” for falls, the facility failed to initiate any fall prevention plans. Four days after being admitted, the patient fell shortly after being left unattended. As a result of the fall, the patient sustained a serious head injury and despite being transferred to the hospital where emergency medical care was rendered, the patient died.

In defense of the case, the California elder abuse attorneys for the skilled nursing home filed a motion with the court arguing that a single fall incident could not as a matter of law constitute neglect. The court, however, disagreed. In overruling defendant's motion, the court stated that it would be up to a jury to decide whether or not the conduct of the facility in failing to properly care plan for a “high-fall-risk” patient who thereafter suffers injury from a single fall incident, rose to the level of neglect. The case never did get to jury; shortly following the court's ruling on defendant's pre-trial motion, the self-insured facility agreed to settle with our San Diego nursing home abuse attorneys and pay the plaintiff’s family $475,000.00 to resolve the case

The lesson learned here is simple: a single fall incident at a nursing home can constitute elder abuse or elder neglect under “certain circumstances,” and it would be up to a jury to decide whether or not the facts of any given case demonstrates that the patient was improperly cared for to the point of being neglected or abused. If you or a loved one has suffered a personal injury or death as a result of a fall incident at a California nursing home or any other type of abuse or neglect, feel free to call a San Diego elder abuse lawyer at Berman & Riedel, LLP, to find out about your rights.

Story Airs on Channel 10 News San Diego Featuring Elder Abuse Attorney William M. Berman

A story entitled "Brutal Kidnapping Sheds Light On Growing Trend Of Elder Abuse" recently aired on Channel 10 News San Diego.

Considered by the media to be an expert in the area of elder abuse and neglect litigation, San Diego elder abuse lawyer William M. Berman explains the growing trend of elder abuse and offers his professional insight on the problems affecting our elderly community. Watch video.

California Elder Abuse Attorney William "Bill" Berman

Notable Case Results:

$2,200,000 Settlement
Elder Abuse / Neglect
74-year-old resident of an Oxnard, California Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) choked on her own vomit and died after staff at the facility intentionally tied her emergency call cord out of her reach. Given the precedential result of this case, including the fight for non-confidentiality in reaching settlement, lead California elder abuse attorney William M. Berman received much recognition following his handling of this case.

$1,125,000 Settlement
Elder Abuse / Wrongful Death
In a complex case, the firm's San Diego elder abuse lawyers represented the families of two patients who were admitted into a Southern California based Long Term Acute Care Facility (LTAC) and died shortly after their admissions due to a lack of receiving appropriate care.

$1,700,000 Settlement
Elder Neglect / Wrongful Death
An 85-year-old woman developed bilateral heel wounds due to a lack of proper care. After her wounds became severely infected and she passed away due to complications from a below-knee amputation in an attempt to save her life, the San Diego nursing home abuse attorneys of Berman & Riedel, LLP represented the surviving family in achieving the monumental result.

$1,500,000+ Settlement
Skilled Nursing Facility / Wrongful Death
An 88-year-old woman bled internally for 26 days, eventually bleeding to death, as a result of the San Diego-based skilled nursing facility's failure to monitor her Coumadin medication levels as ordered by her physician. Our California nursing home injury lawyers helped to hold the facility accountable for their wrongful act.

$950,000 Settlement
Disabled Adult Abuse / Wrongful Death
A 31-year-old developmentally disabled male resident of Lanterman Developmental Center suffered several months of physical abuse, which the facility knew of and nonetheless failed to protect him before he suffered another serious intentional blow to the abdomen that proved fatal. Handled by the firm's dependent adult abuse litigation specialists, the claim was successfully pursued against the State of California.

$1,050,000 Settlement
Resident Care Facility / Wrongful Death
A 92-year-old board and care facility resident died shortly after his admission into the emergency room where medical personnel diagnosed him as being severely malnourished and dehydrated with muscle wasting as well as having live insects in his eyes and mouth, after living at the care facility for just three months. The case generated significant media attention for the San Diego elder abuse lawyers in the firm.