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Worst Nursing Homes List Published
February 14, 2008

After months of resisting full disclosure of a list of the worst nursing homes in the country, the government has conceded and has released the names of the facilities. The dubious list consists of what the government calls "special focus facilities" or nursing homes that require more than the normal amount of inspections. These facilities are required to have visits and inspections every six months instead of the norm, which is once a year. What this means, is that these facilities are on the government's radar for incompetence and negligence.

Last year, the government released a list of 54 nursing homes it said merited extra attention, and the publication of the new list was in response to growing pressure to make the findings public.

A series of nursing home scandals in recent months have hogged headlines all over the country. Just yesterday, we ran a story on the shocking rape and abuse case at the Concord Care Center in Ohio where paralyzed and blind inmates were abused by a caregiver. According to the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, the publication of the report is just one step in a process of improving the kind of quality patients and their families can expect in care-giving facilities. According to their spokesperson, there is no "substitute for visiting the nursing home in person."

At least 52 nursing homes on the list have been unable to rise above their "higher risk nursing home" status. This is a troubling revelation. If a facility has failed to improve upon the quality of its services after having once been the focus of criticism, then there might not be much hope for any improvements in the near future. We hope these facilities are taken off Medicare immediately, instead of waiting until the next sex-abuse-nursing-home scandal breaks, which seems to be the case more often than not.

In the Concord Care case for instance, the caregiver in question had been seen being abusive and threatening to patients by other staff members. Some of the staff members even allegedly bought it to the attention of the authorities, but there was no action taken.

Publication of this report is beneficial on a number of levels. For one, it rips the fa?ade of such nursing homes and presents their true picture to the public. For too long, abusive facilities have hidden behind legalese and red tape to get around punishment for their negligence.

The report will make it easier for patients looking for facilities to make their decision. Among other things, the report recommends calling the State Survey Agency to dig up background on the home, and compare results from the last CMS list of worst nursing home.

Protection of the individual must be foremost on the agenda, not protection of a few vested interests who treat the nursing home as a business with patients being sacrificed at the golden altar of profits.

If you have a loved-one who has been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury law firm. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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$1.5 Million Awarded Against Assisted Living Facility
February 01, 2008

Maybe it's the extreme vulnerability of Audrey McGhee's condition. Maybe it is the horrific nature of the injuries received. Whatever the reason, the lawsuit against the assisted living home operator, Residential CRF Inc. and the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, merits special shock and sympathy to the victim.

The shock certainly isn't because the assisted living facility, which was entrusted with Audrey McGhee's day-to-day needs, treated him so badly; we've seen too many nursing-home-turned-torture-chamber scandals to be shocked again.

42-year-old Audrey McGhee had been a patient of the now defunct New Castle State Development Center since 1998. He suffered severe first and second degree burns to his leg when he was placed in a tub of scalding water.

Attorneys for the operator argued that McGhee must have turned on the faucet on his own. Mr. McGhee is a cerebral palsy patient and is blind, mute and deaf making it logically impossible for him to have turned on the faucet himself. Further he is said to have the mental faculties of a baby, making it further unexplainable that he could have burned himself in an accident. The attorneys for the Residential CRF argued valiantly, but the jury wasn't impressed. Both residential CRF and the state must pay a total of $1.5 million in damages to Mr. McGhee's estate.

Attorneys for Mr. McGhee's estate had argued for a monetary settlement that would cover personal care for the 42-year-old man for the rest of his lifetime, calculated at 30 years.

The attorney for Residential CRF was adamant that this was not a "punishable offense." If scalding a helpless and blind person with not enough mental development to be able to speak or hear even if he could, is not a "punishable offense" one dreads to think what kind of care they had been offering other patients in their home. It certainly does sound as if they think this incident wasn't something to make a big fuss about.

For now, Audrey McGhee is safely ensconced at another assisted living facility in Anderson, Indiana.

If you have a loved-one who has suffered injuries at an assisted living home, you need the help of an aggressive California personal injury law firm. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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