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A nursing assistant has been charged with second-degree murder after she allegedly gave a healthy non-diabetic patient an injection of insulin, which sent the elderly woman into a coma. The nursing home assistant had used the elderly woman’s credit card 10 days later before she had died. The nursing assistant had withdrawn several thousands of dollars according to state officials. She was charged with 16 counts of financial exploitation and attempted financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult in connection with just the credit card use. The charges of murder will have her facing 20 years to life without parole if convicted; the abuse of a vulnerable adult charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

It is a shame that this nursing assistant used the medications she was entrusted with to harm another patient. Most elderly patients are unable to realize what is going on and have no choice but to trust their surroundings and the people around them. This nursing assistant was heartless about this horrific act, and had the audacity to steal from the elderly woman after she had attempted to kill her.
 

The man’s family was horrified upon knowing the circumstances of their loved one’s death. State investigators concluded that the nursing home was at fault for the medication missteps that preceded the death of the elderly man. The investigation also uncovered that there were 26 omitted does of medication that occurred with multiple employees over several days. The death certificate of the elderly man stated that chronic lung disease was the cause of death but it also noted that the use of Ativan (another name for lorazepam) was among the conditions present at the time of death. Overdoses of that particular medication can lead to a coma and even death is some instances. The nursing home was cited for two federal rule violations and one state violation.

All the employees involved in the medication mishap were terminated according to the nursing home administrator, but is that enough? The family of the loved one has to endure knowing that the death of their family member could have possibly been prevented had the nursing home staff paid better attention to the medications for their residents. If your loved one was harmed by the negligence of a nursing home worker, then contacting a professional to discuss your options for compensation.
 

The man ran a personal care facility, which provided long-tern services for residents who did need full-time nursing home care. The Kentucky attorney general began investigating the facility in 2009 after reports that the residents had not received their $250 federal stimulus checks. The investigation uncovered extremely poor conditions, with expired medications, deteriorating facilities and no milk for the residents because the food bill had not been paid.

This horrible case highlights the many ways in which unethical administrators can contribute to the neglect and abuse of residents in nursing homes, group homes, personal care homes, and other long-term care facilities. In addition to committing financial exploitation by stealing directly from residents, the administrator's embezzlement of funds meant for the care of residents led to a variety of other problems including expired medications, inadequate facilities, and malnutrition. This is why residents of these facilities and their families must be vigilant in detecting and reporting any irregularities, as they may be symptomatic of larger problems that are endangering the health and safety of all of the facility's residents.

In Tulsa, Ok police are looking for a man who robbed an elderly man for his prescriptions that he had just purchased from a pharmacy. The elderly man was walking out of the store when the robbery occurred around 1:45pm. The suspect grabbed the elderly man’s sack and caused the elderly man to fall to the ground. Luckily the elderly man was not injured in the fall. The suspect was described as between 20 and 25 years of age about 6’0” and 160 pounds with brown hair.

It is cruel for any individual to take another person’s prescriptions.  Prescriptions can help with pain, or be part of an extensive treatment.  Most often times when your prescriptions are stolen, it can be difficult for you to get some type of reimbursement or free replacement medications.  Some stores will deny responsibility in the theft of medications just because they can be pricey to replace. The elderly struggle each day to fill their prescriptions and to pay for them. If you or a loved one was robbed of prescriptions then you should contact a professional so you can convict the guilty party. 

The judge stated the supervisor did not show any criminal behavior. The prosecution stated they will be continuing with a case against the nurse who was accused of administering the morphine to the residents. The report states there are still several civil lawsuits pending against the operators of the facility.

Although the supervisor was cleared of all charges, the fact that she argued she was not aware of what was going on in the facility raises even more questions as to her ability to supervise the staff members. If the supervisor had no knowledge of the staff member’s actions and did not commit any wrongdoing herself, it begs the question how the staff member involved in this incident was able to get away easily after causing the death of six residents. The most unfortunate part of this incident is that the victims and their families will not see any justice in their favor for the suffering and loss the perpetrators caused in this incident.
 

65-year-old Patricia Dias suffers from multiple sclerosis and was admitted to Bakersfield Heart Hospital for a blood pressure problem.  After a few weeks, she was transferred to LifeHouse Parkview nursing home to be treated for a bed sore.  After less than two weeks at the nursing home, Dias had developed severe burns over large portions of her body.  Her family transferred her out of the nursing home and outside doctors said the burns were most likely the result of a reaction to her medication and that the nursing home staff should have looked at them much sooner. 

It is likely that Mrs. Dias was a victim of nursing home neglect.  Nursing home staff must be attentive to the needs of their residents and take note of any unusual symptoms.  Side effects from medications are a common problem for nursing home residents, who are often taking several types of medication at once, and it is the job of the nursing home staff to notice and take action when side effects first develop.  Not taking action on side effects may make a small problem turn into a much larger one.

For more information on nursing home neglect, visit the Solomon & Relihan Nursing Home Advocates website.