Personal Injury 3870 articles

On May 25, MSNBC reported that investigation continues in cases of illness resulting from FEMA trailers provided to evacuees from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. Formaldehyde was detected in the travel trailers and mobile homes in unusually high levels, and about 17,000 people are claiming the homes caused illnesses for themselves or loved ones. This report was written by MSNBC’s Spencer S. Hsu. WASHINGTON – Within days of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in August 2005, frantic officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered nearly $2.7 billion worth of trailers and mobile homes to house the storm’s victims, many of them using a ... Read More

A decision from Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller’s office on May 27 reverses an earlier decision to keep secret the names of people fired from care facilities for abusing elderly and disabled clients. According to The Des Moines Register, the new decision comes nine months after the state first began to limit access to the information. The Register reports that records with names of caregivers fired for abuse were sealed beginning last August based on a new interpretation of a state law that has been on the books for 17 years, which specifies that judges are obligated to keep “unspecified ... Read More

A review of the nation’s nursing home inspection reports by the Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) lists Alabama among nine states with the worst records of nursing home inspection accuracy, saying inspectors missed serious problems in more than 25 percent of all inspections from 2002-2007. The report said most states still fared dismally, missing at least one serious deficiency in 15 percent of all inspections. Other states on the “worst reporting” list are Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota. Results of the report were published in the New York Times May 15, which says the study ... Read More

The Wall Street Journal reported in its Health Blog on May 21 that the Federal Aviation Administration has banned the stop-smoking drug Chantix for pilots and air traffic controllers. According to the report, Pfizer’s smoking-cessation drug Chantix came in for a bit more trouble as a research group cited reports of physical side effects associated with the drug. The FAA, which reviewed the report, barred pilots and air traffic controllers from taking the drug, the WSJ reports. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices examined adverse-event reports turned into the FDA in the fourth quarter of last year, and found 988 ... Read More

“Every day, American families face difficult decisions about whether to move a loved one into a nursing home. There are nearly 17,000 nursing homes in the United States that currently care for 1.6 million residents — a figure expected to quadruple to 6.6 million residents by 2050. The quality of care provided by these nursing homes has been the subject of much scrutiny in recent years.” – U.S. Congress Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Chairman Henry A. Waxman, 110th Congress According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), no one knows precisely how many older Americans are being ... Read More

On March 3, the Des Moines Register reported that in 2007 the state fined 23 Iowa nursing homes $10,000 or more for providing substandard care. Some of those homes were also hit with federal fines and sanctions against their state licenses. Of those 23 homes, 16 stand to collect bonus Medicaid payments this year from state and federal taxpayers, according to the Register. The bonuses are tied to a state program that rewards nursing homes for providing quality, cost-effective care. Elderly abuse is a crime. If you or a loved one have suffered nursing home abuse and neglect, please contact ... Read More

As for people with family in nursing homes, Kathleen Sadlier says to be careful. “If you have someone there, really keep an eye on everything to see what is going on. Don’t just think they are being taken care of, because they might not be. I feel sorry for those in nursing homes who don’t have family members to watch over them. More people need to speak out about this.” Sadlier transferred her mother, Rita, from a hospital to a nursing home, thinking she would get rehabilitation. Instead, her mother received poor care and even an injury. Although Rita was ... Read More

A daughter was horrified when she found that her 82-year-old father had been badly neglected while in a Florida nursing home. The WWII veteran entered the nursing home at the recommendation of hospice workers, due to serious lung problems and the inability to use his legs. They recommended the more constant care provided in a nursing home environment. Unfortunately, the man’s condition deteriorated in the facility due to apparent neglect. Anthony Vincent Digiannurio was eventually taken to the Florida Hospital DeLand by ambulance, where he was initially admitted for respiratory problems. However, after examining him, hospital staff were shocked to ... Read More

The family of an 84-year-old man who died while in the care of a Louisiana nursing home has been awarded $1 million in damages stemming from a nursing home neglect and medical malpractice lawsuit. Leon Nelms of Tallulah, La., died in November 2004 because of complications arising from neglect at Olive Branch Senior Care Center, the jury found. The 12-person jury rendered its verdict on Nov. 2. Shortly after entering Olive Branch Senior Care, Nelms had to be taken to a hospital because of infected pressure sores, weight loss, malnutrition and dehydration, the lawsuit alleged. He died six days later ... Read More

It is a family’s worst fear realized. They entrust the care of a loved one to a nursing home facility, only to find evidence of neglect and abuse. It’s the situation the Graham family of Louisville, Ky., experienced in 2007, when Rev. Dennis Graham, just shy of his 55th birthday, died while a resident of Harborside Healthcare in Jefferson County. According to a report by local television station WAVE3 in November 2007, family members say Rev. Graham, who had required full-time nursing care since 1999 after a fall left him a quadriplegic with a serious brain injury, began a quick ... Read More