As if things weren’t bad enough with a global Coronavirus pandemic, now come reports that con artists are using the disaster to steal money and gain access to personal information. They do so by preying on fears with false health claims, stimulus check scams, robocalls, and phishing using well-honed tactics to separate the elderly from…
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For the past three months, nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities nationwide have been on lock-down – and for a good reason. Deaths in nursing homes skyrocketed at the start of COVID-19 and have accounted for 1 in 10 cases, as well as 1 in 4 deaths, nationwide. During the past few months, steps that…
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One of my colleagues recently handled a case where a resident was left out on the patio of a skilled nursing facility in a wheelchair, and the resident was unable to talk or move. The staff put him out on the patio thinking, oh he’ll be able to get the fresh air. But then they…
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I recently had a case of an adult disabled woman who was mentally and physically impaired – very impaired. She was in an assisted living facility that was licensed by the Department of Social Services, and that facility had poor Safety Awareness. Their facility was staffed lean and mean. At some point, they had cameras…
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Finally, some good news! The US Supreme Court yesterday ruled 6-to-3 that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay and transgender Americans from workplace discrimination. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the ruling is the fact that it comes from a Court that is now overwhelmingly conservative. Despite that, one recent Trump appointee, Justice Gorsuch,…
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It is fascinating for me to see a new generation growing up with technology, and how so many of them are facile with coding and electronically stored information. The world of record-keeping has moved from analog paper files to digital files stored in electronic health record systems stored in the cloud. Surprisingly, the laws surrounding…
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When bad things happen in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living facilities, the administrators of those institutions will not want to be held accountable. It’s human nature to avoid responsibility, especially when liability can bring with it major punitive and financial damages for a skilled nursing facility chain. At York Law Firm, we get…
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Felicia Whitcomb was 89 and lived in a skilled nursing facility here in Northern California. Felicia required two CNAs to lift her safely out of bed. Unfortunately, her care facility was understaffed, which meant that the staff had to take shortcuts. One day, Felicia’s nursing assistant tried to get her out of bed without the…
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The death toll at nursing homes in the United States from the Coronavirus continues to climb. According to the New York Times, of the estimated 110,000 deaths so far, approximately one-third (~35,000) are residents of nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, and institutions that care for the elderly. With residents continuing to die, more people are…
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A fairly common occurrence at nursing homes is when a resident cigarette smoker suffers a cigarette burn to some part of their body. When a cigarette burn happens, it means that the resident was not adequately supervised. Some residents are more at risk than others. Someone who is cognitively impaired, for example, is at greater…
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