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California Nursing Home Fined $100,000 for Abuse
April 24, 2008

Changing names doesn't really change the way a nursing home is run, or the sort of abuse that is carried on within its walls. Over a period of time, the Marysville Care Center in Marysville, California has gone by a number of names - Sunrise Care Center, Sunbridge Care Center and Two Rivers Care Center. For a nursing home of its size - just 86 beds- the instances of negligence leading to elder abuse that were reported after inspections were considerably higher than the average for facilities in this size segment. Now, the facility has come under added scrutiny after a patient was found dead with her head stuck between the bedpost and the bed railing. 84-year-old Dorothy Rothacher is believed to have died from to asphyxiation. She was only discovered in the morning.

The home has been fined $100,000 by the California Department of Health and Human Services. The fine was levied on February 27 after a series of investigations that revealed a number of instances of negligence and nursing home abuse, which contributed to Rothacher's death.

The investigations into the nursing home abuse revealed that the facility failed to use bed alarms that would have warned staff that she was about to leave her bed. They also failed to lower her bed rails. The level of ineptitude going on can be gathered from the fact that none of the staff seemed to even agree on whether Dorothy was in the habit of leaving her bed or not. One nurse claimed she was constantly getting out of her bed, and then a few months later, changed her testimony to read that she never got out of bed, taking pains to point out they had once found Dorothy on a mat placed near her bed.

This sort of negligent care of a patient who has a history of Alzheimer's disease, psychoses and osteoporosis, is no doubt what led to the tragedy. On the morning of May 21, 2007, Dorothy was found lying on the floor with her head stuck between the bed and the rails. The cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation arising out of a fractured larynx. This is a case of nursing home neglect and abuse, pure and simple.

It's no secret that the management of Marysville Medical Center also manages the Yubas City Care Center, which has the dubious distinction of being the very worst nursing home in California, with the most number of nursing home abuse citations against it. It may not be hard to conclude that the management that is responsible for the California's worst nursing home could also have been responsible for the kind of shoddy functioning and abuse at its other facility that led to the death of a patient.

In Dorothy's case, the care plan after her admission asked for the installation of a bed alarm, and the positioning of bed rails at the top portion to enable her to get out of bed from the lower section. As the citation read, these points were completely ignored, and the nursing home failed to protect her and safeguard her environment, leading to her death.

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

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Nursing Home Raids Reveal Neglect
April 18, 2008

Residents at a Cincinnati nursing home told police tales of abuse and neglect, leading to the filing of a 4 page complaint that lists a total of 72 building code violations. The police had raided the Westside Health Care and The Terrace assisted living facility for the second time in almost a month.

The nursing home was said to be in an appalling state of neglect. Many residents were eager to tell the police the difficulties they faced in the nursing home, many crying as they recounted tales of neglect and physical abuse.

The stories of abuse are horrifying. One person said he had not received his medication for four days, while another complained of being pushed and hit in the chest by staff. Yet another claimed that he had been splitting blood for 10 days before he was taken to hospital. Diapers were changed just once a day. Investigators said the facility reeked of feces and urine. Toilets were in an inoperable state, and doors did not open when the fire alarm went off. The gutters were dirty.

In other words, this was a place many people would feel uncomfortable about keeping their dogs in.

The lawyers for the owner of the facility, Abe Fischer, say that the charges are trumped up. They maintain that leaving a building in disrepair is not a crime. When you have aged people living in a building, the need for maintenance becomes acute.

One lawyer also alleged that the raid on the facility was not warranted, and that any complaints that the inmates had could have been resolved through "normal channels." The problem with nursing homes that have a history of neglect and abuse as this one clearly does, is that by the time "normal channels" are resorted to, it's usually too late. The elderly can die under supposedly "natural" circumstances before the truth is uncovered. Such raids help uncover the truth faster, so that changes can be made and these innocent people are helped before it's too late.

By the accounts of the neglect going on at the facility, it looks like it was just a matter of time before there was a major tragedy to report. It's not just a matter of one defective toilet or a window latch being broken. When these violations reach a mind boggling 72 in number, you begin to seriously worry about the safety of the residents.

Inmates who live in an assisted living facility are people who have spent a life contributing to society in their own way. It's shameful that they are treated like this in the final years of their lives.

Abe Fischer has pleaded not guilty to the violations. His lawyers insist that they will ask the judge to quash the case because the raids were "unmerited." It seems like people have to die for things to have merit these days.

If you have a loved one who has suffered due to nursing home abuse, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury attorney. Contact a lawyer at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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