The Guardian Blog : Arizona Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Solomon & Relihan Law Firm : AZ Assisted Living Neglect & Abuse : The Guardian Blog

A woman that worked as a nurse in a nursing home was accused and charged with stealing medication from the elderly residents. 64-year-old Sandra Delp is facing 8 to 12 months in prison and a three year probation sentence in connection with the incident. Delp argued that although she did steal the medication, she never used them for herself in any way.

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A caretaker at the Carolina House nursing home has been accused of elder abuse after allegedly verbally and physically abusing a 93-year-old woman at the nursing home. 41-year-old Sonia King turned herself in to the Sheriff’s Office on Thursday the 13th and was charged with 3 counts of abuse of a vulnerable adult in connection with the incident.

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In Illinois, a nursing home where a 12-year-old boy was killed negotiated with state officials to reduce a fine of $50,000 down to $10,000 following the incident. In the entire state, several other locations have successfully negotiated fines down to only 21% of the initial amount. 9 other homes had to pay a total amount of $220, 000 but only paid $45,000 in fines despite a high number of deaths in each facility. In another incident, a facility was fined $25,000 after a 28-year-old woman died as a result of pneumonia.

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In an incident that occurred in October 7th, a nursing home patient has accused a nurse from Berkshire Health Systems of assaulting her. In the incident, the nurse was reportedly drawing blood from the elderly woman when she began complaining that the nurse was hurting her. The woman began to flail her arms trying to release the nurses grasp.

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The Mercury reported the accomplice of a home health aide in Pennsylvania that allegedly stole over $11,000 from an elderly patient was arrested this past week. 21-year-old Goanutaye Goanue reportedly worked together with 24-year-old Mercy Nagbe to steal from an 84-year-old woman. Nagbe was working in the elderly woman’s home when she reportedly stole two credit cards and some of the woman’s checks.

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A company known as The Sun Valley Group has been investigated and that investigation found several charges made to elderly patients under the group’s care. Jenette Long and her sister Marie shared roughly $1.3 million in savings when the court-appointed group began caring for Marie. The two owners of the company hired themselves to care for the woman and collected $15,000 a month in fees as well as fees for their guardianship.

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In Pittsboro, NC Becky Fisher, 80, is seeking compensation from her assisted living center in Chatman County after surviving an attack by a housekeeper that left two other residents dead. The attack was four years ago with two her friends Peg Murta and Mary Corcoran. Barbara Clark is now serving life in prison because she killed Murta and Corcoran because the three women confronted her about stealing $1,000 from their checking account. Becky Fisher was lucky to survive the attack, suffering a cracked skull and brain injuries from Clark beating her with a walking cane.

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WCTV in Florida reports that complaints against nursing homes have risen 8.8 percent in the last year ending in September. In addition, staffing and volunteer positions are falling as a result of the economic downturn.

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A former nursing home operator in Brooksville, FL pleaded guilty to charges of elderly neglect and owning or operating an assisted living facility without a license. Gloria Olson will serve a 3-year probation sentence and pay $8,000 in fines. Olson will be barred from running a nursing home or assisted living center from now on.  The probation sentence and fine was likely given due to the lack of any criminal history on Olson.

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A caregiver in a group home has been accused of abuse of a vulnerable adult after he allegedly placed a 53-year-old man suffering from physical and mental disabilities in scalding hot water. The man suffered second-degree burns to his legs, feet, back and buttocks according to the report on Hometownlife.com.

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50-year-old Calvin Wallace was arrested January 2nd and charged with home-invasion robbery, abuse of an elderly adult, and impairing a telephone to further a burglary. Wallace broke into the home of a 98-year-old woman and robbed her. Wallace reportedly pulled the telephone cord out of the wall and threatened to kill the woman if she made any noise or tried to get help. Wallace arrived to the woman’s house and told the woman he needed $20 from her because her nephew was in trouble.

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The Nursing Home Complaint Center is now making cases of sepsis, septic shock, wrongful death and broken bones in elder care facilities its highest priority. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Nursing Home Complaint Center will investigate any case where relatives of elderly individuals have proof that their loved ones died as a result of neglect or abuse that led to their suffering from any of these ailments.

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In Fall River, MA, 21-year-old Corey Cabral pleaded not guilty to charges of negligence when he was arraigned in Superior Court. The charges against Cabral stem from an incident when Cabral and his family had to take his 80-year-old grandmother to the hospital. When she arrived at the hospital, doctors discovered the elderly woman had suffered severe, deep bedsores that exposed tendons in her elbow as well as a blood infection and pneumonia. The 80-year-old woman died just two days after being admitted to the hospital.

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A nursing home employee in South Carolina has been suspended on suspicion of elder abuse against an 83-year-old female resident. The 41-year-old employee is suspected of physically harming the resident, giving her a bloody nose. An internal investigation as well as an investigation from South Carolina authorities is currently in effect to determine the validity to this incident. The victim did not suffer any other injuries as a result of this incident, according to the report from the islandpacket.com website. There is no information on whether other incidents have occurred in the facility in the past or not.

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A nursing home employee in Eugene, OR has pled not guilty to charges of first degree sexual abuse. In an incident that occurred on December 22nd, Robert Price allegedly made sexual contact with an elderly woman that was reportedly mentally and physically incapable of defending herself. The director of the facility stated they are cooperating with police on the investigation in the matter.

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The company Your Friends and Neighbors, the parent company for several group homes in the Fort Wayne area had its property seized and/or frozen as a result of a class-action lawsuit against them. 29 former employees filed a class-action lawsuit arguing that they were not paid wages, vacation pay or overtime pay that they should have been paid before or while the company was closing its doors in October.

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Nursing homes in the Southern California area could be required to display their scores on several examinations including quality of care scores. These new laws apply to skilled nursing homes under Medicaid and Medicare insurance.

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A woman in Kalamazoo, MI still mourns the death of her elderly mother who died in August 2010 at her nursing home. The elderly woman’s tracheostomy tube was somehow caught around a bed rail and became dislodged.

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The Human Development Center in Tampa, Florida has come under investigation several times because of complaints from both residents and others regarding the policy the company utilizes regulating sexual behavior for its residents. According to the Tampaybay.com website, the facility has a permissive policy allowing its residents to participate in sexual behavior amongst each other at their own discretion. This facility is reportedly for male residents that have some sort of mental disability, some of which had records as sex offenders.

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ElderPlus in Baltimore and the nationwide PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for Elderly) are working together to provide care for elderly individuals in an attempt to keep them out of assisted living and nursing homes. According to washingtonpost.com, over 23,000 people are enrolled in the PACE program in 29 states.

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State officials in Illinois are currently discussing regulations that would increase fines on facilities with repeated neglect complaints from residents at nursing homes. A panel consisting of state officials created by Governor Pat Quinn is considering legislation that would be instated in March and would increase the amount in fines a facility would receive if a facility’s employees interfere in an investigation of the facility. In addition, this legislation would limit the number of admissions a facility could allow until the facility fixes any known violations.

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