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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.

Neida Niles was a resident of the Prairie Village HealthCare Center in Jacksonville, IL when she fell during a routine dialysis treatment in April 2007. The suit alleges that the nursing home did not properly assess her fall risk and take proper precautions to prevent her from falling. 

In addition to her fall, Niles developed bed sores and a skin condition when she was bed ridden following the fall. Bed sores, also known as pressure sores or pressure ulcers, occur when a person lies on one part of their body for a long period of time. Nursing homes are supposed to regularly turn bed ridden residents to prevent them from occurring. The development of bed sores is usually a sign that residents are not being turned properly.

Falls and bed sores are both problems that frequently occur because of inadequate staffing levels and improper training of staff. Prairie Village HealthCare has a history of both problems and the suit claims that this was a contributing factor in Niles' death. According to a Medicare report, which gave the facility the lowest possible rating, an average nursing home resident receives 42 minutes of registered nurse care per day, but residents at Prairie Village only received 14.

For more information on nursing home abuse and neglect, please visit the Nursing Home Advocates.

Topics Discussed in this Post:

Falls in Nursing Homes

Bed Sores/Pressure Ulcers

Improperly Trained Staff in Nursing Homes

The newspaper's investigation found that of the 107 Type A citations that were issued over the past three years, only seven were prosecuted as crimes. Type A citations are the most serious that the state issues and are reserved for severe neglect or abuse that typically leads to severe injuries or death of residents.

The newspaper found that so few were prosecuted due to a combination of complicated system and the lack of will. The state attorney general is notified of all Type A citations, but must get the permission of local prosecutors to prosecute them as a crime. Most local prosecutors are never informed of the cases. In addition, the investigation found that at least five of the cases over the past three years were never even properly delivered to the attorney general.

Though this investigation focused on Kentucky, there is a similar lack of will to prosecute nursing home staff and administrators throughout the country. This is why it is important for nursing home residents and their families to be diligent in detecting and preventing abuse and neglect.

For more information on nursing home abuse and neglect, please visit the Nursing Home Advocates.

Issues Discussed in the Post:

Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse

Nursing Home Injuries

Nursing Home Deaths

Nursing Home Abuse Detection

Nursing Home Abuse Prevention

We originally wrote on the story of Frances Tanner two months ago when the original verdict was reached. After awarding Tanner's family $1.1 million for pain and suffering, the jury leveled the staggering $28 million punitive damages judgment due to the evidence of gross abuse and neglect that had occurred at the nursing home and led to Mrs. Tanner's death.

Tanner had become bedridden due to a hip fracture that resulted from a fall was not recognized by the staff and, while confined to a bed, developed a fatal bed sore. Severe bed sores like Mrs. Tanner's are almost always the result of nursing home staff failing to turn the patients properly.

Though the nursing home complained that the punitive damages judgment was excessive, the judge called the trial "a classic demonstration of how well the jury system works." He said the large judgment was justified because the evidence demonstrated that the home "based, time and again, predominantly on a concern for the bottom line" instead of patient care, as evidenced by their improperly trained workers.

Punitive damages are an often-misunderstood part of the legal process. They are separate from compensatory damages, which are designed to compensate victims and/or their families for medical bills, lost wages, and/or pain and suffering that result from the defendant's bad acts. In the Tanner case, this would be the $1.1 million judgment.

Punitive damages, on the other hand, are designed to punish the defendants and remove the financial incentive to cut corners. Due to the pattern of neglect and abuse and concern for profit over patient care in this case, the jury and the judge decided that the $28 million punitive damages was needed to force them to change their entire corporate culture.

For more information on nursing home abuse, visit the Nursing Home Advocates.

Prior posts on this topic:

California Nursing Home to Pay $28 Million in Death