Philadelphia Injury Lawyer Blog

With the cold weather now, hopefully over, there will still be nights when we might just want to warm up by the fire. Beware: there are dangers that have been recently reported due to faulty fireplace gas logs. Lennox Hearth Products has recalled their Vent-Free Gas Logs due to gas leaks, fire hazards and possible carbon monoxide poisoning

Early symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as headaches, nausea, and fatigue, are often mistaken for the flu because the deadly gas goes undetected in a home. Prolonged exposure can lead to brain damage and even death, as in the following case which our firm litigated

Mrs. X was 91 years old, partially blind, and confined to a wheelchair in an upscale assisted living senior citizens nursing home. The property was beautifully kept with an excellent staff-to-patient ratio. Mrs. X, in addition to the facility personnel, had her own outside companions to assist her. Her children, both professionals, took the greatest of care for their mom who, despite her age and physical infirmities, had full presence of mind and was still laughing and telling stories to her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Mrs. X and her home healthcare worker were found one morning when she failed to answer her door for the breakfast call. Facility nurses found Mrs. X comatose and the companion groggy and disoriented on the floor. Emergency rescue was called and they rushed both ladies to the hospital. While the healthcare aid survived without serious consequences, Mrs. X did not fare so well. Despite receiving administration of 100% oxygen and hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment, Mrs. X remained in a comatose state for 3 weeks, and a diagnosis of brain death left no alternative to her family than to permit removal of the life support system which was keeping her alive.

Because of the age of the decedent, and the expenses involved in litigating a carbon monoxide poisoning case, the family was turned down by two firms which the family sought to engage. As a personal favor to the family of the decedent, PP&L accepted the case with the proviso that should PP&L not find a substantial basis of responsibility that would make litigating feasible, the firm had the option to withdraw from the case.

Continue reading "Carbon Monoxide Poisoning of 91 year old Settled for $518,000." »

The Philadelphia nursing home injury attorneys at Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis have recently settled two nursing home fracture cases. Both nursing home residents were paraplegic and unable to turn over by themselves in bed let alone walk or transfer by themselves. When they suffered fractures, suspicion arose that the nurses and aides caring for them must have been responsible.

Our attorneys obtained the necessary records by starting suit and doing careful and persistent discovery. We pieced together what actually happened. Nursing Home Resident #1 suffered a fractured knee cap when she fell to floor while being transferred by Hoyer Lift by one nurse’s aide when correct protocol demanded that all transfers be done with the assistance of two of the nursing home staff. The head nurse and aide denied that she fell and tried to cover up the incident. Proof was found in a video that showed only one aide entering the room prior to Resident #1 coming out of the room by wheelchair and by our client’s telling her story that day to a social worker who heard her crying out in pain.

In addition to her knee fracture this poor woman also suffered a Stage IV bed sore. By careful analysis of both the nursing home’s records and inpatient hospital records over a year’s time, an experienced Philadelphia injury attorney in our firm was able to demonstrate that the decubitus ulcer was allowed to go from Stage II to a chronic infected Stage IV ulcer without proper preventative treatment such as regular repositioning and special bedding. The case settled for well over $100,000 despite the fact that Resident#1 suffered from chronic pain unrelated to her knee fracture and bed sore.

Resident #2 suffered a fractured hip, needing open reduction internal fixation with a rod when she fell out of bed when being turned for bed bathing. Again there was only one aide when there should have been two, one on each side of the bed. The bed rail failed to lock and our poor client was pushed off the side of the bed. She remained on the floor with a broken hip for over an hour before adequate help arrived. Again careful examination of records showed that this was not the first time the bed rail had gone down unexpectedly. The case settled for close to six figures.

Continue reading "PHILADELPHIA NURSING HOME INJURIES – FRACTURES" »

An Illinois nurse has been accused of killing patients at a nursing home because she felt that they had lived long enough or were too difficult to care for anymore. The nurse allegedly gave "medication cocktails" to these patients in 2006. Additionally, two former employees also face criminal charges of including neglect of residents. The investigation is ongoing at this time, and a health department spokeswoman in Woodstock, Illinois declined comment.

If your elderly loved one has been mistreated in a nursing facility in Philadelphia or anywhere in Pennsylvania, please contact the experienced nursing home abuse attorneys at Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis, LLP today to schedule your confidential consultation.

The parents of a severely disabled man who choked to death while eating a hot dog at a day shelter are suing the facility's operator, claiming negligence. Gregory and Betty Jo Payne filed the lawsuit in Kanawha County, West Virginia Circuit Court against Deaf Education and Advocacy Focus, Inc., a non-profit group based in South Charleston, West Virginia.

Craig Payne, the 22-year-old son of the Paynes who had cerebral palsy, died in February 2007 at DEAF's West Sattes Adult Day Treatment Center in Nitro. A worker assigned to Payne that day wasn't trained to work with him and didn't know he couldn't eat solid food, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit also alleges that no workers attempted to perform the Heimlich maneuver when Payne began choking; no one immediately called for an ambulance either. The plaintiff's attorney, Bill Forbes said the workers' improper training and improper application of protocols caused his clients' son's death.

Under pressure from the state, DEAF closed its West Sattes site and another one of its programs in another county in West Virginia. Eighty disabled adults had to be transferred to other programs.

If you or a loved one has suffered or died as a result of someone else's negligence in Philadelphia, you should contact a Pennsylvania Wrongful Death Lawyer at Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis today to schedule your personal consultation.

Nursing home negligence and abuse among senior citizens has become a growing concern to those dependent on extended health care institutions for the care of their elderly loved ones. As the population in the United States ages, the demands placed on its medical system to care for the elderly have escalated substantially.

At the current time, there are approximately 34 million people over the age of 65 in our country, and nearly one in twenty of these elderly people will require some form of assisted living. Sadly, however, our senior citizens are frequently becoming victims of intentional abuse and neglect in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. It is difficult enough to place a loved one in these places, let alone see that loved one suffer under the care of an abusive, overburdened, and under-trained nursing home staff.

The National Center for Elder Abuse reports that neglect of our senior citizens' basic needs is the number one type of elder abuse. Physical abuse by caregivers is number two with a staggering one million senior citizens being abused each year.

Institutional abuse (abuse taking place in nursing homes and assisted living facilities) can come in many forms including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, neglect, abandonment, and financial exploitation. General neglect of elders is the most pervasive type of abuse, and typically occurs when the caregiver simply does not care about the elderly person left in their care. Neglect can often lead to health disorders such as dehydration and malnutrition, both of which can be fatal if left untreated.

If your elderly loved one has been abused in a nursing facility in Philadelphia or anywhere in Pennsylvania, please contact the experienced nursing home abuse attorneys at Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis, LLP today.

Last week, a 50-year old man who suffers from dementia, pled not guilty of beating his nursing home roommate to death with a clock radio. Witnesses report seeing him standing outside his room with blood on his shoes and hands.

The roommate was a 77-year-old victim of Alzheimer's disease. Coroners report his injuries were consistent with being struck on the head with a clock radio. His family has filed a suit alleging nursing home negligence on the part of the All Faith Pavilion for pairing the two men together in a room.

According to officials, the nursing home has a history of public health violations, including at least two prior wrongful deaths linked to neglect. Although the roommate may have wielded the weapon, it is a sure thing that the nursing home is responsible for the elder man's death. When you put your loved one in a nursing home, you must be careful to learn as much as possible about his or her roommates, because in many cases the staff doesn't consider the possible ramifications of such placements.

If you have lost a loved one as a result of nursing home negligence, contact an experienced nursing home negligence lawyer at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free initial consultation and case evaluation.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that three employees of a nursing home had been wrongly convicted of nursing home patient abuse. The appeals court ruled that because the dead cannot be classified as patients, the three employees could not be found guilty of the crime of patient abuse. The Attorney General had filed misdemeanor charges of patient abuse against the three employees who had already been fired from their jobs following the incident. The Attorney General's rationale was that the corpse was still under the care of the nursing home and therefore should have been treated responsibly. The judges ruled that the actions of the employees--including posing for pictures with the corpse and asking the woman to wake up--may have been "reprehensible and disrespectful," but were not criminal, since Michigan has no statute against corpse abuse.

Of course, the treatment of the corpse is a window into the employees' attitudes, and it does make one wonder about the incidence of nursing home neglect at the home.

In Pennsylvania, however, there is a statute against corpse abuse. Pennsylvania statute 5510 states that "Except as authorized by law, a person who treats a corpse in a way that he knows would outrage ordinary family sensibilities commits a misdemeanor of the second degree." If you believe the remains of your loved one were not treated in a respectful manner at the nursing home, you may be able to receive compensation.

If your loved one has suffered as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect at a Pennsylvania nursing home, even after he or she has passed on, contact the experienced nursing home abuse lawyers at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free initial consultation and case evaluation.

I wrote earlier today about nursing home abuse as a corporate crime motivated by greed. A clear-cut example of the kind of greed that motivates many nursing home owners is given by the three Texas men who have received prison sentences ranging from four to ten years in prison for a nursing home scam to cheat the government of $34 million in taxes.

The three men controlled about 40 nursing homes in Texas, Iowa, Kansas, Virginia, and Oklahoma, licensed for about 6000 residents and appearing to employ 4500 employees, although the actual number of residents and employees is not available. The men took the employees withholding taxes and placed them into 150 sham staffing and payroll "entities" designed to launder the money.

Stephen Michael Ewing, represented as the ringleader of the case, was sentenced to ten years in prison and ordered to pay $11.6 million in restitution that will go into the Medicaid and Medicare fund. Gary R. Trebert was given a reduced sentence of six years for turning states' evidence against Ewing, and ordered to pay $ 11.6 million in restitution. Larry Gordon May was also given a reduced sentence of four years, but was apparently not required to pay restitution.

But is this merely a monetary crime? No, because while the conspirators were absorbed in laundering their money, they were not monitoring care at their facilities. At least one resident died in the "care" of one of the nursing homes run by the conspirators. The wrongful death lawsuit against the company concluded last week, with a verdict for $2.1 million in favor of the relatives. Although 79, the resident was relatively healthy when she entered the nursing home for physical therapy. Within a month, she was dead from kidney failure after being prescribed three times the recommended dose of a painkiller and suffering from an untreated urinary tract infection. The doctor who had written the prescription had previously been restricted from prescribing drugs because he over-prescribed them, but had been hired as medical director at the nursing home anyway. The urinary tract infection went untreated because of a broken fax machine that the staff neglected to fix and therefore did not receive important medical information.

If you have lost a loved one as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect, chances are your tragedy was allowed to happen for someone else's profit. Do not let them keep their ill-gotten gains. Warn others of the dangerous conditions at the facility. Contact an experienced nursing home neglect attorney at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free consultation.

This week, John Riems, a 22-year veteran nurse who worked as a nursing home supervisor, was served with more charges of rape and "felonious sexual penetration." Police say the man may have worked in as many as 10 nursing homes in three Ohio counties, and, according to his confession, may have abused as many as 100 residents. His victims were generally disabled and unable to defend themselves.

What makes these crimes even worse is that they do not occur in a vacuum. Instead, while Riems was abusing residents, he had coworkers and supervisors who should have known and many of them probably did. Coworkers who have come forward have described him as physically and verbally abusive to residents and coworkers. Some said they went to management with complaints about evidence of abuse and neglect at the nursing home where Riems had been promoted to nighttime supervisor, but management was "sweeping stuff under the carpet."

Nursing home abuse and neglect is a corporate crime. In addition to the individual criminals, there is a support structure of facilitators, often managers and executives who are happy to turn a blind eye to abuse or neglect, as long as costs are kept low and profits high. If your loved one has suffered abuse or neglect in a nursing home, it is unlikely that only the perpetrator is to blame.

If you or a loved one has suffered as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect, it is important to target the revenue stream that motivates executives to turn a blind eye to the conditions at their facilities. To stop nursing home abuse, abusive nursing homes must become unprofitable. Contact an experienced nursing home injury attorney at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP, to make sure everyone responsible is made to suffer for what they have done to you.

In addition to physical, mental, and financial abuse, Philadelphia's nursing home residents are subject to another form of abuse. Nursing home abuse can take the form of political disenfranchisement, or, worse, pure exploitation. Absentee voting has made it easier for some residents to get their voices heard. With the loosening of restrictions for voters with physical disabilities that prevent them from making their way to an inaccessible polling place, and with blanket permission for voters over the age of 65 to use absentee ballots, Pennsylvania is allowing more elderly to vote than ever.

However, this comes at a price, as some nursing home administrators abuse the voting rights of mentally disabled residents. In 1999, Austin Murphy, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania was convicted of one count of voter fraud (out of 4 original charges, 3 of which were dropped as part of the settlement) for forging nursing home residents' ballots. Although Murphy's conviction is a rarity, there are many dubious practices followed in collecting votes from elderly residents. In one common practice, nursing home operators take payments for each resident who votes in favor of a certain candidate.

Make sure that your elderly relatives get their vote counted as it should be. Don't leave assistance to the nursing home operator, who may have other designs. Visit the Pennsylvania Department of State's online voting information and resource center for more information on helping elderly and disabled relatives to cast their ballots.

If you think you or a relative has been a victim of political abuse, contact the experienced nursing home abuse attorneys at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free initial consultation.

In neighboring Ohio, residents of a nursing home outside of Columbus, Ohio escaped a potentially deadly fire thanks to the astute action of a visitor. A woman who was visiting her friend at the nursing home smelled smoke and called 911. Her quick action was crucial to making sure that her friend and other wheelchair-bound residents were able to make their way out of the home without injury.

This event calls attention to another Ohio nursing home that is being sued by a former resident, who claims that nursing home neglect forced her to have surgery. While at the home rehabilitating from a hip fracture, she developed a bedsore and infection that reached the bone. In addition, an inspection report of the home found nine deficiencies in health care and five fire safety violations.

Fire safety violations are a dangerous combination of nursing home neglect and dangerous premises. By failing to maintain fire safety at the nursing home, operators can potentially cause the wrongful death of many residents who are unable to evacuate the home quickly enough.

If you fear the Philadelphia nursing home where your loved one lives is unsafe, contact an experienced nursing home neglect attorney at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free initial consultation.