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Every year the Long Term Care Community Coalition (LTCCC), a nonprofit that monitors nursing homes and assisted living facilities, publishes a report card on the previous years performance of the various government entities charged with protecting New Yorkers who rely on long term care services. LTCCC just released its report for 2010, with mixed findings. LTCCC was impressed with the aggressiveness of New York State Attorney Generals Office (A), Office for the Aging (A-) and Medicaid Inspector General (A) in combating nursing home neglect and abuse. LTCCC found that both the State Senate (D-) and State Assembly (C) were essentially useless. The Department of Health (DOH) received a passable (B-) regarding its responsibilities for ensuring nursing home quality and safety

The dreaded day when a family realizes that their loved one can no longer be cared for in their home, even with assistance, and must be confined to a nursing home will hopefully become less common and traumatic. Earlier this month Governor David A. Paterson announced that New York State will fund up to $150 million in projects to help communities develop alternatives to traditional nursing homes. The primary goal of this procurement is to help communities organize, finance and develop care alternatives by coordinating a variety of licensed residential programs in the development of residential options. It is hoped that this community-based care will provide the level of health care the elderly need while preserving the independence they hold dear. The funding will help communities/regions develop alternatives to nursing home care for long-term care populations while

This afternoon the Jets face the San Diego Chargers for the chance to play the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game. The Jets and their fans go into the game brimming with confidence and excitement. Butin a complaint filed Friday by the U.S. Attorney in Boston, prosecutorsalleged that health care giant Johnson & Johnson paid tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks so nursing homes wouldimproperly medicatemore patients on Risperdal, a powerful schizophrenia medicine, and other drugs - prescription pain relievers Duragesic and Ultram, and the antibiotic Levaquin. Although approved for treating schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, Risperdal is not approved for use in elderly

One of my favorite court decisions of 2009 was the Appellate Division, Second Department decision in Vinluan v. Doyle, 60 A.D.3d 237, 873 N.Y.S.2d 72. This is so because of the eloquent and impassioned defense of the constitutional right of an attorney to give, and a client to receive, advice of counsel. The case involved the simultaneous resignation of ten nurses from positions at a Smithtown, Long Island nursing home, Avalon Gardens Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, over pay and other working conditions, including being required to work as clerks for about $12 per hour and being housed in a single-family staff house with only one bathroom, inadequate heat, and no telephone service. The nurses were indicted for the misdemeanor offenses of conspiracy in the sixth degree, endangering the welfare of a child, and endangering the welfare of a physically-disabled pe

Highgate LTC Management, LLC, a limited liability company, operated Northwoods Rehabilitation and Extended Care Facility (Northwoods) in Cortland County. Following a 2005 investigation into the care of a patient at Northwoods who was in a persistent vegetative condition, five of its employees were convicted of various crimes relating to their failure to provide required care to that patient, despite stating in facility records that such care had been provided.The operator of the nursing home was subsequently charged in an indictment with six counts of willful violation of health laws and three counts of falsifying business records in the second degree, arising out of its employees' treatment of the patient. Following a jury trial, Northwoods was convicted as charged, sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge prohibiting it from operating Tagged with: Nursing Home Neglectabuse Lawyer Medical Malpractice Personal Injury Lawyer Accident Lawyer

With little notice and without a public comment period, a Bush administration change in federal rules on nursing home inspections will have the practical effect of forcing litigants to go to greater lengths, including seeking court orders, to get inspection reports or depositions for cases they are pursuing or defending. The new rule generally prohibits state health departments and contractors from participating in private lawsuits involving facilities that are in the federal assistance program. The rule accomplishes this by reclassifying state employees who inspect nursing homes for the federal government as federal employees who are not allowed to provide "privileged" information or documents to the public without approval from the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Issued in September of 2008 and effective in October, the Bush administration's new rule shuts

It may be hard to find a more eloquent and impassioned defense of the constitutional right of an attorney to give, and a client to receive, advice of counsel than in the decision in Vinluan v. Doyle, 60 A.D.3d 237, 873 N.Y.S.2d 72 (Appellate Division, 2nd Department, January 13, 2009). The matter granted a petition for Article 78 review brought on by a group of ten nurses and their attorney to prohibit the Suffolk County district attorney from prosecuting, and Supreme Court justice from presiding over, a criminal case against the nurses, who were indicted for the misdemeanor offenses of conspiracy in the sixth degree, endangering the welfare of a child, and endangering the welfare of a physically-disabled person. The prosecution came in the aftermath of their simultaneous resignations from positions at a Long Island nursing home. The attorney who provided these nurses with legal advice was also indicted for allegedly advising

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released new Interpretive Guidelines for nutrition and sanitary conditions in nursing homes effective September1, 2008. The changes clarify areas such as assessment, care planning, and interventions for LTC residents. This guideline is significant as it contains detailed instructions for acceptable parameters of nutritional status, details on required nutritional assessment, food and fluid intake, care planning, and weight-related interventions. There are also added sections on wound healing and feeding tubes which were not in the previous Interpretive Guidelines. Appendix PP - Guidance to Surveyors for Long Term Care Facilities updates the tags on nutrition (F-Tag 325) and sanitary conditions (F-Tag 371). Nutrition The intent of the revised tag on nutrition is that the resident maintains, to the extent possible, acce

A recent article in The Providence Journal notes that although doctors in almost every state are required by law to report suspected elder abuse of their patients, hardly any of them do, even if they fear that their silence may subject an elderly person to continued abuse at the hands of a caregiver or in a nursing home. Physicians report just 2 percent of the elder abuse and neglect cases recorded each year by state protective service agencies, according to medical and legal experts and recent articles published in medical journals. One study, published in 2005 in a journal focusing on geriatric medicine, says that the actual figure may be even lower. 44 states and the District of Columbia have laws that mandate physician reporting of suspected elder abuse. In New York, Public Health Law 2803-d requires a report when there is reasonable cause to believe that a person receiving

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl have introduced the Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2008 which seeks to force nursing homes to provide clearer information about ownership and accountability. Confusion regarding ownership has made it difficult for regulators to identify parties responsible for poor care and shields owners from potential lawsuits. Additionally, a primary goal is to make it easier for the public to compare nursing homes.The legislation would trigger the largest reform of nursing home care in 21 years. The law would force nursing homes to file paperwork clearly stating ownership to enable the residents and the government to know who actually owns the nursing home. The troublesome trend in care rendered by nursing homes owned by corporate conglomerates was outlined in an article that concluded that care declined at