Elder Abuse Nursing Home Blog | California Nursing Home Attorneys Berman & Riedel, LLP

American Space Exploration Pioneer Dr. Lawrence Kavanau Suffers Severe Neglect While in California Nursing Home, Resulting in Death

He is in death, just as he was in life, an icon in American History. He is credited as being a pioneer of the current American Space Program – having served as the Co- Director of the United States Apollo Project which, under the direction of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, landed man of the moon. In fact, he was the last person that President Kennedy spoke with before President Kennedy promised America that “we would land man on the moon before the end of the century.” President Kennedy called him at home, before going live on American television, to obtain his stated assurances that he could not only land man on the moon, but more importantly, he could get our astronauts back safely, without incident. Indeed, he did.

So imagine the surprise of his loving children when in his old age, during what was thought to be a brief stay for rehabilitation therapy at a Southern California Skilled Nursing Facility, this Proud American icon wasted away due the severe neglect of management and nursing staff at a “skilled” nursing facility. From contracting painful bed sores, to severe contractures which crippled him, to suffering severe dehydration and malnutrition, his care was simply ignored. What was supposed to be a very brief stay at the facility so he could regain his strength before returning home, turned into his final days. If it could happen to him, it could happen to just about anyone.

Dr. Lawrence Kavanau was at the center of one of the most exciting eras in our nation’s history: the era of space travel and exploration. Kids sat in front of their televisions, riveted by the coverage of each launch into space. Parents dreamed that their children would grow up to be rocket scientists just like Dr. Kavanau, forging ahead into what our country believed was the next great frontier. The thrill of watching and reading about America’s “Space Race” with our cold-war enemy, the Soviet Union, instilled a great sense of fascination and pride, maybe like no other time in our nation’s history.

From a very young age, Lawrence Kavanau was intrigued with outer space. As a teenager “Larry” would announce to people at parties that our country would one day “land on the Moon.” To think that he was actually able to carry out that dream is quite astonishing.

In pursuit of fulfilling his dreams, Dr. Kavanau earned many academic degrees, including a Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science from his beloved University of Michigan, who bestowed its Sesquicentennial Award upon him in 1997 in recognition of his accomplishments and services to the engineering profession and society. Upon graduation from Michigan he served in the U.S. Air Force as a guided missile test engineer, followed by aerodynamic research at the University of Michigan and California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He also received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Berkeley in 1955.

In July of 1961, Dr. Kavanau, then a scientist employed by the Department of Defense, was tapped to be the co-chairperson of the DOD/NASA Large Launch Vehicle Planning Group (LLVPG). The goal of the group was to recommend a booster rocket for Apollo Project and other large launch vehicle configurations to be used by NASA in the future. The LLVPG made technical and policy recommendations to President John F. Kennedy regarding what was to become the Apollo missions program.

Though there were several doubting critics along the way, Dr. Kavanau successfully convinced his colleagues and the U.S. government that the Saturn C-4 spacecraft which the LLVPG helped create was capable of “lunar orbit rendezvous,” and that we could use it to “beat the Russians” in the race to be the first humans to safely land on the moon. Dr. Kavanau provided critical leadership, resulting in the president’s momentous decision and seminal speech in May 1961 when he announced that the United States would put a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s. Moments before President John F. Kennedy made his promise to Americans that we would be the first country to put astronauts on the moon, Dr. Kavanau was called by the president and asked to assured him that it could be done safely. In response, Dr. Kavanau was unequivocal in stating, “We can do it sir … We can go to the moon and come back safely.” Dr. Kavanau’s confident assertions would be proven correct when on July 20, 1969, the United States successfully completed its mission to put a man on the moon, as commemorated by Astronaut Neil Armstrong when he famously stated, “One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”

Dr. Kavanau’s dedication and commitment to our nation’s space program continued throughout his life. Dr. Kavanau also involved in the development of several successful space rockets, the Gemini and Apollo spacecrafts, as well as influencing the Space Shuttle design to be used in future decades. He was a passionate advocate for a permanent return to the moon for its exploration, industrialization and settlement, particularly recommending utilization of space resources, such as lunar solar energy, to reduce our planet’s dependence on fossil fuels.

In addition to his many achievement with the federal space program, Dr. Kavanau held a number of research and executive positions in the aerospace industry, including Lockheed Aircraft Corporation Space and Missile division, Ford Motor Company where he co-founded what became the Ford Aerospace Corporation, and Executive Vice President of North American Aviation, Inc., during the time they built the Apollo spacecraft. As an aerospace entrepreneur, he founded and directed several small start-up companies, his most successful being SYS Technologies Inc., which evolved as a recognized industry leader for integrating systems analysis and engineering, especially related to information and knowledge technologies.

By all accounts, Dr. Kavanau was a man of unparalleled distinction. He is described by colleagues as a man of legendary accomplishments, a person of substance and unlimited generosity, as well as a man of great modesty and loyalty to friends and family.

Dr. Kavanau had the proud distinction of being one of the great men and women who made America’s dream to put a man on the moon a reality. Dr. Kavanau was highly respected for his knowledge, foresight and ingenuity, and he was truly an American hero during one of our country’s brightest moments.

While the attorneys at Berman & Reidel, LLP, did not get the privilege of getting to know Dr. Kavanau in life, they certainly got a close look into his life history in representing him post-mortem. In representing him against the facility and care providers that so miserably failed him, the attorneys at Berman & Reidel, LLP, were honored to take up his cause, and find success in holding those who deprived Dr. Kavanau the dignity he deserved in life, and in death, accountable for their actions. Almost exactly two years after civil litigation was initiated by Berman & Reidel, LLP, the elder abuse and wrongful death claims brought on behalf of Dr. Kavanau and his surviving family resolved successfully, with defendants agreeing to pay significant monies in settlement. As Dr. Kavanau’s surviving family has expressed, some dignity has been restored – and Dr. Kavanau can now once again be thought of as an American icon rather than a victim of elder abuse/neglect.

By wberman

Misrepresentation by RCFE Leads to Broken Hip: Case Results in $1,000,000.00 Settlement

A VALUEABLE LESSON REGARDING ELDER ABUSE AND NEGLECT – Michele, the daughter of 76-year-old Irene, diligently researched several local care facilities when her mother’s health declined to a point where she needed living assistance. In an effort to find the right place, Michele looked into several different care facilities, taking tours of the facilities and meeting with their directors and staff. When she found a place that looked nice, a facility that stated it could meet all of her mother’s needs, she even agreed to pay additional fees for her mother to receive top level “enhanced services” to ensure that her mother would be properly cared for in her elder years. After such extensive research, how then is it possible that Irene was neglected to the point of suffering at least six falls, a severely broken hip, and several decubitus ulcers while residing at the facility?

This is what Michele asked the director and staff of a Southern California Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (“RCFE”) when her mother was severely neglected after top level administration had assured her that her mother would receive “great enhanced care” by its “team of nurses” who provided “24-hour care.” Unbeknownst to Michele, the facility did not even employ the services of licensed nurses at its RCFE.

Key administration of the Southern California RCFE falsely led Michele to believe that the facility would provide her mother the best possible care money could buy. Unfortunately, this false sense of security lead Michele to place her trust in the facility’s administration and staff.

During a pre-admission tour of the facility, the Executive Director assured Michelle that the facility could meet her mother’s needs because they had a “great team of nurses” who would provide “great enhanced care” to residents with special needs, such as Irene. Because the facility appeared professional and reputable, Michele authorized the facility to assess her mother’s needs in order to determine whether they could be met appropriately.

During the assessment, the RCFE specifically learned of all the ailments affecting Irene, including her total blindness, her need to be fed through a G-tube, and her potential as a high fall risk resident. After learning these needs, the facility’s administration informed Michele that her mother was appropriate for placement and residency at the facility. Two days after the evaluation and following several persuading discussions with the facility’s Executive Director and Director of Resident Services, Michele admitted her mother into the RCFE.

Irene was not only totally dependent on the facility’s staff for daily activities, but she was also completely dependent on staff for her health, safety, and well-being, a fact that the administrative staff assured Michele they were capable of satisfying, given their in-depth evaluation of Irene before admission. Based upon their own assessment, Irene was deemed to require the top level of care and Michele agreed to pay significant additional fees for the facility’s “enhanced services.”

Despite the fact that the facility had identified Irene as being at high risk for falling, just days after her admission to the facility she fell from her bed. In all, during the six months she resided at the facility, Irene fell at least six times. In a direct effort to cover up their neglect, the facility failed to give notice to Michele or Irene’s primary care physician each and every time she fell. The facility also failed to take appropriate measures to devise and implement a care plan to prevent further fall incidents from occurring. On the sixth fall, she severely broke her hip, a fracture that required reparative surgery.

After undergoing emergency surgery to repair her broken hip – which Michele believed was the result of an isolated fall incident – the Executive Director of the facility assured Michele that Irene would be well-cared for upon her return to the facility, and Michele believed that her mother was indeed receiving the best possible care money could buy. Unbeknownst to her, Irene was not even receiving proper “basic care.” Unaware that this was a pattern of problems within the facility, Michele returned her mother to the facility.

After Irene’s return to the facility, the under-staffing situation continued to degrade to the point that she was even further neglected, being left in her bed for unknown amounts of time without being moved or re-positioned. As a result, she suffered numerous decubitus ulcers (bed sores), all of which caused severe pain and required specialized medical care. However, the staff did not follow Irene’s physicians’ instructions in caring for the ulcers, causing them to worsen and they ultimately progressed to Stage III classification. It was at this point that Michele removed her mother from the facility, thereafter retaining legal counsel.

During litigation, it was uncovered that the facility’s lack of care for Irene was not an isolated event, but rather the inevitable result of defendants’ fraudulent misrepresentations and conscious disregard for the health, safety, and welfare of its residents. The problem was systemic in that the facility was not only understaffed, but the minimal staff that was on duty was entirely untrained and unqualified to provide proper wound care. In addition, the acting ownership and administration failed to properly train its staff to ensure compliance with Title XXII of the California Code of Regulations in a direct effort to minimize expenses and increase profits. As such, the care and attention rendered to the residents of the facility was secondary to the overall goal of defendants to maximize their profits. Despite express representations that had been made by the facility, the RCFE failed to provide Irene the promised level of care she not only needed, but more importantly paid to receive.

Over the period of nine months, attorney William M. Berman aggressively litigated Irene’s case against the Southern California based RCFE and its managing agents. After uncovering many acts of wrongdoing, Mr. Berman, on behalf of his clients, was successful in obtaining a settlement for the full limits of the defendants’ insurance policy in the amount of $1,000,000.00.

While Irene eventually made a full recovery, an important lesson can be learned from the wrongful acts that were committed against Irene and Michelle. The lesson: Regardless of how attractive a facility may look, it is extremely important to ask the right questions of a facility in which you intend to place a loved one at, and just as important to monitor the actions of the facility staff in which you place a loved one to ensure that they are providing the proper care and attention that your loved one rightfully deserves.

By wberman

Senior Care Facility Agrees to Pay $953,500 to Settle Elder Neglect Lawsuit

San Diego, California – Talk about a bizarre set of circumstances that gave rise to a most rightful case of elder neglect. The facts are almost too unbelievable to be true.

The family of 85-year-old K.C. (last name withheld for family’s privacy) believed they had found a safe, comfortable facility to care for their father during the day, while they were at work running a busy distribution outlet in San Diego. To ensure their father had personal attention and a comfortable environment amongst people with whom he could socialize, the family entered into contract with a local San Diego Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (“RCFE”) to place K.C. in their Adult Day Care program. More specifically, the family contracted with the RCFE to allow them the ability to drop off Dad off at the facility on their way to work Monday through Friday, so he would be taken care of during the day, but they would then pick him up every night so he could eat dinner with the family and sleep in the comforts of the family home. K.C. would also spend every weekend at home with his family. Assured that the facility could meet K.C.’s needs, the family admitted K.C. into the facility.

Several years went by without incident. By all accounts, the facility seemed nice. It was kept clean and the staff seemed pleasant. The food, albeit not five-star cuisine, was tasty. And K.C. developed relationships with many of the facility’s staff members and other residents. Both K.C. and his family were happy with the care being provided. But in a single day, that all changed.

Unbeknownst to his family, K.C. was taken off facility property one day by a staff member for an impromptu facility organized “group field-trip.” K.C.’s family was not only unaware of this trip, but did not consent to this trip. Yet K.C. and five other residents were taken over 40 miles away from the facility to a casino in East San Diego County.

Once at the casino, K.C., who walks with the assistance of a cane, was directed to enter the casino through a revolving door. While attempting to walk through the revolving door, K.C., who was unassisted, fell and sustained a severe fracture to his left hip.

Despite being in obvious pain and medical distress following the fall, the bus driver who had taken the facility residents on the outing declined medical treatment for the non-English-speaking K.C. by signing a release on his behalf, against the medical advice of the casino paramedics. Even more astonishing, despite the serious injury sustained by K.C., the bus driver allowed the remaining residents to gamble at the casino while K.C., who was expressing signs of severe pain, was placed in a wheelchair in the casino lobby and made to wait.

While later attempting to board the facility van for return to the facility, K.C. again expressed his obvious pain. In fact, the bus driver needed to seek help to lift K.C. into the van because K.C. was unable to move on his own due to the pain. Yet despite these clear signs of severe injury, the bus driver continued to refuse medical assistance for K.C.

Upon return to the care facility at approximately 4:30 p.m., the bus driver reported K.C.’s complaints of pain to the head administrator and other staff. However, no attempt was made that day to notify K.C.’s family, his primary care physician, or any other medical personnel regarding K.C.’s serious injury. Instead, facility administration and staff left K.C. to sit in his assigned room, in a wheelchair, with a broken hip, and in extreme pain for several hours. In fact, the head administrator even left the facility for the weekend without asking any care giver to check on K.C. In doing so, the head administrator stated that if need be she would summon medical attention for K.C. upon her return to work the following Monday morning.

Despite continuing to show signs of extreme pain, K.C.’s injuries were not addressed until his daughter came to the facility to pick him up that evening at approximately 8:20 p.m. When she arrived, she immediately recognized that her father was in severe pain and demanded an ambulance be called. At the hospital, K.C. was diagnosed as having suffered a severe hip fracture, which required extensive surgery and rehabilitation to repair the injury.

While K.C. eventually recovered from his injuries, the events that led to his injuries and need for subsequent care angered the family. They were most angry for the manner in which the facility’s staff and administration handled the situation – that is failing to immediately obtain medical assistance for K.C. once it became obvious that he had suffered injury. As a means to hold the facility accountable for their wrongful conduct, the family of K.C. retained elder abuse attorney William M. Berman to file suit against the facility, where damages were sought to satisfy the extensive medical bills that were incurred as well as to compensate K.C. for his pain and suffering. Just over four months after filing suit, attorney Berman was able to obtain an astounding $953,500.00 cash settlement on behalf of K.C. In face of clear and bizarre facts that showed a complete disregard for K.C. rights, safety and well-being, the facility recognized its errors and agreed to resolve the claim rather than face trial to answer for its conduct.

By wberman

Administrative Hearing Underway to Determine Whether Nursing Home’s License will be Revoked

By: Christopher C. Walton, Attorney at Law

PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA – The California Department of Public Health has initiated an action to revoke Colonial Healthcare’s operating license. This action resulted from the Auburn, California facility receiving its third “AA” citation, as well as an “A” citation and eleven “B” citations, since 2005. As a “AA” citation is the most severe penalty that a facility can receive, California law mandates that an automatic action to revoke a facility’s license be instituted if a facility receives two such citations within a 24-month period.

The fact that these proceedings are underway should be a relief to those California residents concerned with the level of care our elderly population is receiving. As an advocate for the elderly, the California Department of Public Health works to protect those residing in the estimated 1400 nursing homes that operate throughout California, and this administrative hearing is evidence of their continued efforts to protect such a vulnerable class of persons.

Berman & Riedel, LLP, a prominent California elder abuse and neglect litigation firm, tirelessly advocates on behalf of its clients who have been victimized by nursing homes’ misconduct. Its dedicated and knowledgeable attorneys and staff understand this complex area of law, and offer both experience and compassion as they fight for just compensation on behalf of elderly victims that have been so seriously injured by the others’ misconduct.

By wberman

Nursing Home Issued “AA” Citation, Most Severe Under California Law

By: Christopher C. Walton, Attorney at Law

LEMON GROVE, CALIFORNIA – The California Department of Public Health instituted an investigation after a 74-year-old resident of Lemon Grove Care & Rehabilitation Center caught fire as she attempted to light a cigarette with her jacket while standing within the facility’s designated smoking area. As a result, the woman, who suffered from memory loss, confusion, and decreased safety awareness, incurred burns on her head, chest and arms, and died 10 days later.

Through its investigation, the California Department of Public Health discovered that the facility did not have staff supervising the residents located in the designated smoking area at the time the woman caught fire. It further found that Lemon Grove Care & Rehabilitation center did not institute routine or random monitoring to ensure that residents within the smoking area were safe. Based upon these deficiencies and the serious consequences which ensued, the California Department of Public Health issued the nursing home a “AA” citation and an $80,000 fine. In the aftermath of this tragic incident, the facility has changed its policy, and now ensures that there is always staff present when there are residents smoking in the designated area.

Berman & Riedel, LLP, has developed a reputation as a prominent California elder abuse and neglect litigation firm. Armed with experienced attorneys and staff, the firm understands these complex cases, and possesses the knowledge and compassion to aid victims of abuse and neglect in obtaining just compensation for their injuries.

Christopher C. Walton is an associate attorney at Berman & Riedel, LLP, and handles elder abuse and neglect cases throughout the State of California.

By wberman

Protecting Our Elderly from Burn Injuries

By U. Kelley Riedel, Attorney at law

CALIFORNIA – The American Burn Association has revealed that elderly adults, those 65 years of age or older, are two to four times more likely to die from a burn injury than the average American. More than 1,200 elderly Americans die from these injuries every year, and the American Burn Association anticipates that proportion to rise as the nation’s elderly population increases.

Older people are more susceptible to such injuries because they experience physical and cognitive changes as a natural result of aging, which commonly affect their ability to see, hear, and feel fire dangers. Further, where an elderly person suffers from decreased mobility, they may be unable to escape fire should on break out. Statistically, the most common causes of these burn injury deaths include cooking, careless smoking, scalding incidents, faulty electricity, and chemical burns. Further, not only do these injuries occur in private homes, but they can also take place in nursing homes if proper protocols are not being created or implemented.

In order to protect the almost 13% of the American population that are classified as “elderly adults”, it is important that their loved ones ensure that they are provided assistance with daily living, that they receive education concerning fire dangers, and they the live in a fire-safe environment. The risk of fire injury death must be assessed based upon each individual elderly person’s circumstances, and should not be taken lightly.

Care facilities housing elderly Americans have a duty to ensure that they afford their residents as much protection as possible from fire dangers. All care plans should include an assessment of fire safety and burn prevention, and employees, patients, and their families must be aware that this risk exists, of the common causes, and what can be done to prevent fire and burn injuries.

However, even more alarmingly, elderly persons that live independently are 30% more likely to suffer an unintended injury such as a fire or burn injury. It is only through education and prevention methods that the risk of such types of injuries can be reduced.

U. Kelley Riedel is a partner at Berman & Riedel, LLP, a serious personal injury firm respected for its success in litigating elder abuse and neglect cases.

By wberman

California Nursing Home Receives “AA” Citation Based Upon Resident’s Death

CALIFORNIA – Casa Bonita Convalescent Hospital received three separate citations and fines totaling $121,000 from the California Department of Public Health after its investigation concluded that grossly substandard care led to a resident’s death.

The resident, who was entirely dependent on an ventilator for breathing, died after the ventilator became disconnected, and the problem went unnoticed for a significant period of time. Compounding matters further, the reason that the disconnected ventilator went unnoticed for a significant period of time was that the machine’s remote alarm had been intentionally disarmed by the facility’s nursing staff.

For this conduct, the facility was given the most serious level of disciplinary action allowed under California Law, “AA” citation along with a $100,000 fine. The state agency’s citation was justified based upon the facility failing to have a system in place to prevent residents from becoming disconnected from a ventilator, and also failing to ensure that the remote alarm was engaged to alert staff if the ventilator disconnected or failed to work properly. Another citation, a class “A” citation, and an additional $20,000 fine was also issued against the facility based upon its failure to follow the resident’s plan of care by checking the frequency alarms and monitoring the remote alarm on the ventilator. Additionally, Casa Bonita was also issued a third “B” citation and a $1,000 fine for failing to implement staff development policies for the sub-acute unit regarding new employee orientation, completing employee orientation checklists and ventilator education and certification.

By issuing citations and fines against these abusive and neglectful facilities, the California Department of Public Health is making an serious effort to protect the residents of the estimated 1,4000 elderly care facilities operated throughout California. However, notwithstanding these enforcement efforts, substandard care is a common problem that continues. All too often, elderly Californians do not receive the care, dignity, and respect to which they are entitled.

If you notice that a loved one is being treated poorly or receiving inadequate care, it is important to retain a knowledgeable attorney with experience in the areas of elder abuse and neglect. At Berman & Riedel, LLP, we offer the experience and skill necessary to provide you or your loved one with sound advice on how to protect your legal rights. As a prominent nursing home litigation firm that largely focuses its practice on handling elder abuse and neglect cases, Berman & Riedel, LLP can offer these victims knowledgeable and compassionate legal assistance.

By wberman

Potential Nursing Home Wandering Leads to Death of Elderly Man

By: William M. Berman, Managing Partner of Berman & Riedel, LLP

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – A passerby spotted the body of an elderly man in the bushes to the side of the southbound 405 Freeway near Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The victim, yet to be identified, appeared to be in his mid-60s, and was in attire that made it seem as though he had just been released from a hospital or skilled nursing facility. However, the exact circumstances surrounding his death are still under investigation.

Hospital and skilled nursing facility wandering incidents present an all too common problem among elderly people. Wandering incidents, or elopements, are often the result of patients suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, leading them to become confused. Oftentimes, such episodes indicate an underlying lack of care or attention on the part of the care facility. Tragically, when patients wander away from the facility, they are often suffer serious injury or even death as a result of being involved in accidents with motor vehicles.

When an elderly care facility admits a patient with a documented history of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or that is known to wonder, that facility has a special duty to pay even closer attention to these patients than they do to their general population. Still, despite this heightened responsibility, many elderly patients or residents wander away from skilled nursing facilities or residential care facilities for the elderly every year.

The attorneys at Berman & Riedel, LLP, having litigated several wandering cases against California elderly care facility’s. Through this work, Berman & Riedel, LLP has found that, even when a patient/resident is known to have a tendency to wandering, the staff at these facilities can often become overworked, and end up not noticing or overlooking these disappearances. Unfortunately, however, in such a situation, being overworked and committing and oversight can have very serious and lasting consequences.

If you or a loved one have suffered an injury or loss as a result of a wandering incident, please call the attorneys at Berman & Riedel, LLP. Berman & Riedel, LLP is uniquely qualified in the areas of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect, and can offer much needed assistance during a potentially devastating and confusing time.

William M. Berman is the Founding and Managing Partner of the San Diego based civil litigation firm, Berman & Riedel, LLP. Mr. Berman is known for having developed firm’s nursing home and elder abuse litigation department, which quickly became one of the most prominent elder abuse and neglect practices in the State of California. He words diligently on behalf of his clients not just to obtain the compensation to which they are entitled, but also to bring the issues of elder abuse and neglect to the forefront of the media and state legislature’s attention.

By wberman

Woman Who Suffered Brain Damage at Nursing Home Awarded $1.6M

By: Ray Huard, Staff Writer for the San Diego Union Tribune [re-printed with permission of the San Diego Union Tribune]

EAST COUNTY COURTS – An El Cajon woman who was permanently brain damaged as a result of the care she received at a county-owned nursing home has been awarded $1.6 million in a court settlement.

Ruth Lomeo, 44, is unable to care for herself and has limited ability to communicate with her 9-year-old son and her mother, her lawyer, William M. Berman, said in an interview Wednesday.

“She can talk, although she communicates now like a 5-year-old,” Berman said. “She needs assistance with all the activities of daily living.”

In July 2005, Lomeo was given an overdose of a pain medication, and nurses at Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital in Santee waited 20 minutes to call 911 when she began to have trouble breathing, Berman said.

Lomeo sustained brain damage from lack of oxygen.

Her lawyers initially sued San Diego County for $2 million in damages. They accepted $1.6 million to provide for her continuing care in a settlement approved Friday by El Cajon Superior Court Judge Eddie C. Sturgeon, Berman said.

Senior Deputy County Counsel Dave Axtman said the county admitted no liability but “made a business decision” to settle rather than risk a costlier jury verdict if the case went to trial.

“All of the underlying facts were disputed,” Axtman said in an e-mail. He said any deficiencies at the nursing home have been corrected.

Lomeo was transferred to Edgemoor from UCSD Medical Center in April 2005, Berman said. He said she had been in the hospital since November 2004 for treatment of lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood, and kidneys.

Lomeo no longer needed the intense care of a hospital but was sent to the nursing home for further treatment.

At the nursing home, Lomeo had been prescribed the pain killer fentanyl, to be administered in the form of two skin patches on alternating arms every 48 hours, Berman said. On July 25, 2005, those treating her Lomeo left one patch on one arm and put two patches on the other, causing the overdose, Berman said.

When Lomeo had trouble breathing just before 10 p.m., the nurse at Edgemoor called her supervisor and a nursing home doctor to ask permission to call 911.

It wasn’t until 10:21 p.m. that the nurse called 911. Medics arrived at 10:27 and took her to Grossmont Hospital, Berman said.

“Unfortunately, the damage had been done,” Berman said.

By wberman

Family Gets $2 Million in Elderly Abuse Case

Pain, Suffering: Suit alleges workers at board and care facility left woman lying in her own vomit.

By: Tamara Koehler, Staff Writer for the Thousand Oaks Star [re-printed with permission]

The family of an elderly Oxnard woman who died after workers at a board and care facility were ordered to leave her lying in her own vomit for hours received a $2.2 million settlement in an unprecedented lawsuit alleging elder abuse.

Lorraine Konblett, 74, lapsed into a two-month coma after the incident at Channel Islands Gardens in Oxnard, then died in January without ever regaining consciousness. Her death was a result of pneumonia and lung failure caused by inhaling her own vomit, according to the suit filed in Ventura County Superior Court.

“I never got to speak to her again,” said Konblett’s daughter, Sheila Schlichter. “She turned 74 that morning, and I was coming to get her and take her our for her birthday. I wouldn’t have known anything about what had happened if an employee there had not called me and told me I’d better come check on her.”

Attorneys for the defendants could not be reached for comment. The board and care facility is under new ownership, which is not implicated in the case.

The civil action was filed under California’s Elder Abuse Statute, which allows families to sue for pain and suffering damages if it is proven that caretakers acted with malice, fraud or great recklessness.

The $2.2 million settlement figure, which was recently paid by the facility’s insurance company, is an unprecedented amount. Such cases usually involve medically licensed nursing homes that are protected civilly by a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering damages. Channel Islands Gardens is a board and care facility, which helps the elderly with daily living but not serious medical conditions.

Schlichter’s attorney William Berman said the case was settled once the defendants realized that numerous staff members told the grim story of what happened to Konblett in sworn statements that were videotaped.

According to those employees, Konblett began feeling extremely ill shortly after midnight Nov. 15. During the next three hours, she pulled her emergency call cord repeatedly to summon help. Her frequent calls angered the night supervisor, Felipe Marcello, who ordered a certified nurse assistant monitoring Konblett to “tie up Lorraine’s cord so she could not bother them anymore.”

The assistant tied up the emergency call cord, despite Konblett’s pleas of “No . . . No . . . Don’t tie my cord.” The assistant also unplugged the telephone in Konblett’s room and pushed the disabled woman’s wheelchair out of reach.

Four hours later, another nursing assistant came on duty and discovered Konblett lying on the floor covered in dried vomit.

He also testified that the pull cord was tied up, and the phone unplugged.

The assistant notified Marcello, who was still on duty.

“[Marcello] indicated that he was aware that Mrs. Konblett was on the floor and indicated that she had been there ‘all night,’” according to the lawsuit. “[The assistant] further testified that Felipe Marcello instructed him to ‘check out other residents before attending to the needs of Mrs. Konblett.’”

The assistant disobeyed Marcello and returned to help Konblett, who was having great difficulty breathing by then. He notified the day shift supervisor of the problem, but he refused to check on or help Konblett because he was “too busy passing out the medications of other residents.”

When the day shift supervisor finally checked on Konblett at the assistant’s insistence, an hour had passed. Konblett was by this time in serious condition and had to be rushed by ambulance to the hospital. She was diagnosed with respiratory failure, and clung to life in a coma until Jan. 19.

Schlichter met her mother at the emergency room, after another worker called to tell her about the incident.

“They murdered her; as far as I’m concerned they killed her by not saving her,” said Schlichter, who put her mother in the facility only after an accident left her partially paralyzed in early 1998. “If they would have gone to her, she would have been all right.”

While details of such civil cases are often kept confidential as part of a settlement agreement, Schlichter and Berman, of San Diego, insisted the case be made public as a warning for other families.

“After awhile, it wasn’t about money anymore, it was about public disclosure to make people aware that elder members of society aren’t getting the care they deserve,” Berman said. “There are so many similar incidents of people whose parents are dying in nursing homes and board and care facilities . . . there is horrific abuse and neglect going on in these facilities.”

By wberman

California Personal Injury News & Issues / Blog