After an “accidental” fall in a Brick Township, New Jersey nursing home landed an Alzheimer’s patient in the hospital, the patient’s daughter advocated for more protection of the elderly. The elder abuse regulations geared to prevent elder abuse are finally law.

Gov. Chris Christie signed Peggy’s Law (S-1219), named for Peggy Marzolla, in August of 2017. The law aims to protect senior citizens in nursing homes from abuse by requiring facility staff to promptly report suspected abuse and exploitation to law enforcement. Previously, staff members were only required to submit cases of abuse to New Jersey’s Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly, but not to the police.

Continue Reading Peggy’s Law Aims to Protect Nursing Home Residents from Abuse

Recently, the Department of Veterans Affairs released inspection reports of 99 VA nursing homes across the country, and the results are staggering. Out of the 99 VA nursing homes inspected, 52 were cited for deficiencies that caused “actual harm” to veterans.

Continue Reading Over 50 VA Nursing Homes Found to Have Caused “Actual Harm” to Veterans

The federal government imposed a $600,331 fine on the New Jersey nursing center where a viral outbreak left 11 children dead and 36 sick last year. Investigators reported Wanaque nursing home’s poor infection controls, lack of administrative oversight, and slow response from medical staff “directly contributed” to the rapid spread of the virus and its related death toll.

Continue Reading Federal Government Slaps $600K Fine on Wanaque Center After 11 Children Die

Earlier this month, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing to discuss reports of abuse and neglect in some nursing homes across the country. The Committee also discussed how to protect these patients from abuse.

This hearing was held only weeks after a health care facility in Arizona discovered that one of their patients, a 29-year-old women in a vegetative state, had been raped. The pregnancy was discovered when the woman went into labor. In January, a 36-year-old nurse was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting and impregnating the woman.

Continue Reading U.S. Senate Holds Hearing to Examine Nationwide Nursing Home Abuse

Last week, two US Representatives introduced the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act. The goal of this bill is to increase Americans’ rights to seek justice and accountability through jury trials in the Court system as opposed to corporate sanctioned arbitration. The NJ State Constitution provides for a jury trial in cases involving money damages under the Seventh Amendment.

Continue Reading Democrat Lawmakers Introduce Legislation to End Forced Arbitration Clauses

The daughter of a 76-year-old man is suing her father’s nursing home in South Holland, Chicago, over a video in which multiple caretakers allegedly coerced him into exposing himself on Facebook Live.

The lawsuit was filed last week against Holland Home, an assisted living facility, and claims that the employees abused and humiliated the resident, who is a stroke survivor and was diagnosed with dementia.

Continue Reading Chicago Nursing Home Sued Over Alleged Abusive Facebook Live Video

November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. There are more than 5 million Americans who have been diagnosed Alzheimer’s. Approximately 40% of people over age 65 experience some form of memory loss and symptoms become progressively more severe as age increases. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s, the most common cause of dementia, but research is showing that diet, exercise, mental activities and social interactions can help increase brain health.

Common signs of dementia include: memory loss, misplacing things, unable to retrace steps, difficulty planning, taking longer to solve problems, experiencing changes in mood or personality, or becoming confused as to where one is or as to time and date.

If you suspect that you or a loved one is exhibiting signs of Alzheimer’s and/or dementia, you can find more information at the Alzheimer’s Association website.

Continue Reading November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

The Center for Medicare Advocacy (CMA) recently issued a Special Report focusing on progressively ineffective enforcement actions against nursing-home facilities that have demonstrated a pattern of serious noncompliance with federal nursing-home care standards meant to ensure quality care and resident safety.

The report concludes that in addition to a noncompliant nursing home’s ability to mislead consumers about its quality of care by masking staffing levels and self-reporting quality-care measures to the federal government, penalties in the form of monetary fines—imposed on the most unsafe nursing homes—are declining, and thus, are likely ineffective in improving the care provided to residents.

Continue Reading What You Should Know About Special Focus Facility Nursing Homes

June 15th is recognized as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. This day was designated to raise awareness of the many issues involving abuse and neglect of older persons, some of the most vulnerable people in society. The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization (WHO) at the United Nations (UN) worked together to establish this day of awareness.

According to the National Council on Aging, at least 10 percent of older adults have suffered from elder abuse. The UN’s International Plan of Action recognizes elder abuse as a public health as well as human rights issue.

Elder abuse includes physical, psychological, emotional, or sexual abuse, as well as neglect, abandonment, and financial exploitation. By establishing the Elder Abuse Awareness Day, the goal is to create a call-to-action for people and organizations to further raise awareness about elder abuse and neglect.

Continue Reading The More You Know: Today is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day