Alabama Injury Attorneys Blog

A Florida jury recently awarded the family of Elvira Nunziata with a $200 million verdict after she fell and died in a local nursing home. Nunziata began living at the Pinellas Park nursing home in 2003. In October 2004, Nunziata, 92, was found strapped to her wheelchair at the bottom of 10 stairs. Paramedics were immediately called in; however, Nunziata died shortly after their arrival. Prone to wonder, Nunziata was with a group of residents at the Florida retirement home when employees noticed she was missing. About an hour later, Nunziata was found at the bottom of an emergency exit.

At the time of the accident, Trans Health Management managed the nursing home. Nunziata's son sued Trans Health Management for his mother's wrongful death in 2005.

It took the jury less than one hour to return a verdict in favor of the plaintiff. The jury returned a $60 million verdict in compensatory damages and $140 million in punitive damages. According to the personal injury attorney representing the case, this is one of the largest nursing home neglect verdicts in the state. The personal injury lawyer representing the family asked the jury to return a verdict that would send a message to the nursing home that neglect and bad healthcare would not be tolerated.

During the nursing home abuse trial, former caregivers testified that the nursing home was understaffed and that prior to her death Nunziata had suffered several falls and injuries. Nunziata also had early onset dementia and staff and caregivers knew this.

It is estimated that for every one instance of nursing home abuse, another five are unreported. Reports indicate that 5% of the elderly population in the United States resides in nursing homes which equals about 1.8 million people. Every year loved ones are placed in nursing home facilities across the county and undoubtedly large percent of them will endure some form of nursing home abuse or neglect.

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The two-year old nursing home of Borgess Gardens faces a potential wrongful death lawsuit after one of their patients died while under their care. On August 20, 2010, a nurse's aid was trying to turn Alicia Cegers when her tracheotomy tube became entangled in her bed rail. The aid was unable to reinsert Cegers's breathing tube. Causing her body to be deprived of oxygen, the lack of air ultimately caused her heart to stop. Alicia Cegers died at 51 years old.

Having suffered a stroke early on and suffering from several other ailments, Cegers had resided at the nursing home for years. Cegers was hospitalized seven times in the past year while under the care of the Borgess nursing home. While hospitilized, doctors at the nearby hospital noted inadequate care of her breathing tube along with irritation, obstruction, infection and swelling.

At 244 pounds, Cegers required two aids to take care of her as stated by her medical care plan. However, on the day of her death, only one aid was present to help-a noted error by the personal injury attorney representing the wrongful death lawsuit.

According the personal injury attorney representing the family of Alicia Cegers, the wrongful death at the nursing home could have been prevented. The nursing home costs $17 million to build and is currently on a federal watch list as one of the state's most troubling nursing home facilities. If the nursing home does not improve its facility, Borgess Gardens could potentially loose Medicare and Medicaid funding which is vital to keep it running. The nursing home is currently ranked as the lowest nursing home in the state.

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An instance of nursing home neglect has prompted a wrongful death lawsuit against Regent Care Center nursing home. The family of Rachel Mohr, 78, filed the nursing home neglect lawsuit after she suffered a massive head trauma and died.

According to reports, Mohr was found on the floor of her nursing home yelling for help. Having fallen out of her bed and bleeding, Mohr endured a head trauma that would eventually kill her. Instead of immediately taking her to the hospital, Mohr was placed back in her bed only to be found hours later non-responsive.

The nursing home neglect lawsuit originally claims that Mohr was alert and coherent before the fall. In addition, it was not until Mohr was found unresponsive that the nursing home took her to the hospital.

The wrongful death lawsuit alleges the nursing home failed to provide Mohr, a known fall risk, with proper care and allowed her to fall. Doctor's orders were to keep her bed in a low position with floor mats nearby and a bed alarm. However, the nursing home neglect attorney representing the family claims the facility did not follow the doctor's orders.

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The Texas Attorney General's Office is investigating claims of neglect at a Brownfield, Texas nursing home. Three people have been arrested after a 71-year-old patient died of hypothermia in February, 2011. The patient suffered from Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Surveillance video is believed to show the patient walked outside unattended in frigid temperatures; the patient was found dead several hours later.

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Shirley Osborn, a Putnam County resident, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Genesis Nursing Home after the untimely death of her husband, John A. Osborn.

Mr. Osborn, resided at the nursing home facility, from July 22, 2009 to July 29, 2009. According to Mrs. Osborn, the nursing homes negligence and abuse led to the physical and mental destruction of her husband. Mrs. Osborn alleged that Genesis Nursing Home engaged in nursing home abuse, and failed to meet Mr. Osborn's basic needs. Mrs. Osborn described the nursing home as an "unsafe" environment where Mr. Osborn suffered from dehydration, urinary tract infection and sepsis. Mr. Osborn sustained a fractured right hip after a fall at the nursing home, and Mrs. Osborn claims that an unknown jury lead to Mr. Osborn's untimely death.

Mrs. Osborn is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages after the loss of her husband.

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Three women have been arrested and charged for abusing a 78-year-old woman at a local nursing home facility in Haverford, PA.

After hearing complaints of alleged nursing home abuse from his mother-in-law, Lois McCallister, Paul French secretly installed a nanny cam inside the McCallister's room at Quadrangle Retirement/Nursing Home Facility. What Paul and his wife Mary French would find would be horrifying.

The nanny cam recordings on March 31st would later reveal staff taunting and tugging at the ears of the 78-year-old victim and screaming in her ear. One employee was caught striking the victim across the face and head, while another was caught harassing her while she was topless. A third incident shows a nursing home staff member poking the victim in the eye. The same three women, Samirah Traynham, Ayesha Muhammad, and Tyrina Griffin, were responsible for all recorded instances of nursing home abuse.

The nursing home initially denied allegations of abuse and attributed it to McCallister's dementia stating the claims were "unfounded." However, the three women taking care of McCallister (Traynham, Muhammad and Griffin) were later arrested, and charged with aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, neglect of care-dependent person, harassment and recklessly endangering another person.

The CEO of Sunrise Senior Living, which operates Quadrangle, has since announced that this was an isolated incident, however, the district attorney didn't rule out that other staff, including high level administration, could face charges of nursing home neglect.

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We have often heard of the phrase "Nanny Cams" or Nanny Cameras, which are used to watch nannies care for children and infants. Known to some as "spy cameras," a nanny camera allows the viewer the opportunity to monitor and record the activities of their nanny/caregiver. Completely legal, however considered invasive by some, Nanny Cams or Nanny Cameras may be the future to prevent child abuse and nursing home abuse.

Gloria Diaz of North Bergen kept finding unexplained bruises on her 87-year-old mother, Modesta Alvarado, a resident of The Harborage Nursing Home. After repeatedly questioning the nursing home and calls to state officials about the unexplained bruises, Diaz and her family decided to take matters into their own hands. They placed a small hidden video camera called a "nanny cam" in her room at The Harborage Nursing Home. What they found was disturbing and horrifying footage on their nanny cam.

Modesta Alvarado died on Januray 16th at The Harborage Nursing Home in New Jersey. Several days after the death of the 87-year-old patient, Diaz "started looking at the video [from the nanny cam] and that's when she started finding out" that her mother had been a victim of nursing home abuse. Alvarado's caregiver at The Harborage Nursing Home, Julia Galvan, 59, had been repeatedly assaulting, abandoning and neglecting the elderly patient and it was all caught on video tape.

Galvan, the caregiver, was repeatedly caught removing the victim's oxygen mask without authorization and striking the victim on several occasions. Galvan has not been charged with Alvarado's death but has been fired from the nursing home facility.

Alvarado, who was paralyzed after having a stroke seven years ago, had been a resident of The Harborage Nursing Home for sometime. Initially living with her daughter, Diaz felt she was unable to properly care for me mother after the stroke, and placed her in a nursing home where she thought she would be looked after and properly cared for.

After discovering the footage of the repeated nursing home abuse her mother endured, Diaz and the personal injury attorneys representing her held a press conference earlier this week announcing their intent to sue the nursing home. Since the allegations of abuse were caught on tape by the nanny cam, Diaz and her attorney announced a lawsuit would be filed within 30 days.

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Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Cases can be extremely difficult and challenging to endure. When you place a loved one in a nursing home, you expect that loved one to be cared for and looked after by professional health care providers. Sadly, however, this is not the case. In 2007, federal inspectors received over 31,000 complaints against nursing homes nationwide with about one fifth of those involving some form of abuse. In 2008, federal investigators found over 90% of the country's nursing homes in violation of federal health and safety standards.

If you suspect a loved one is a victim of nursing home abuse it is important to learn the signs of abuse and how report it:

• If you find unexplained injuries such as bruises, cuts, bedsores and burns, sudden personality changes in the elderly patient, over-medicated state or notice extreme financial changes you should suspect nursing home abuse.

• Before choosing a nursing home watch how the nursing home interacts with both patients and staff. Research the facility to note any legal issues and their history of violations to determine any trends in nursing home abuse.

• If you suspect abuse or neglect in the nursing home and/or if you have proof of abuse, file a complaint with the administrator. If the complaint is not investigated or not taken seriously, contact the Alabama Attorney General's Office to file a report and contact an attorney at Farris, Riley & Pitt that handles nursing home abuse cases.