Michigan Group Calls for Tougher Nursing Home Abuse Laws
Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service, a private nonprofit group, has released recommendations for strengthening laws governing nursing home abuse and neglect in the state. The recommendations follow a study of state records on abuse and neglect that showed the nursing homes and employees were allowed to continue without punishment despite documented cases of abuse and neglect.
The group performed a thorough investigation of the state's inspection records, which revealed numerous instances of abuse and neglect in which the responsible employees were not disciplined. These included a case in which a resident choked to death after an employee improperly performed the Heimlich maneuver and another in which a resident died after being improperly moved to a wheelchair. Neither incident was reported to the state and was only discovered due to the inspectors' random inspection of files. Neither of the employees was disciplined.
Michigan Protection & Advocacy is recommending that the state legislature pass laws that will result in tougher and faster sanctions against nursing homes for abuse and neglect. They are also recommending laws calling for more consistent reporting of incidents at nursing homes and making it more difficult for sanctioned employees to find work at other facilities.
This study and these recommendations demonstrate that even when the state knows about cases of abuse and neglect, facilities and their employees are frequently allowed to operate with little or no consequences for their actions. This is why family members of nursing home residents should be diligent about detecting and reporting abuse.
