Guilty Verdict in Kent Assisted Living Rape

Posted by Kevin Coluccio on July 16, 2009

Joseph Thurura, A 32-year old former assisted living employee has been found guilty of rape by Judge Richard McDermott in King County Superior Court. The rape occurred while the victim, Jaime - a 45-year-old woman who is blind and mute, was living at Integrated Living Services, an assisted living facility in Kent, Washington.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports:

Unable to identify her assailant, police took DNA samples from 11 men who had been in a position to have sexual contact with the woman. Prosecutors asserted that Thurura proved a 99.99 percent match to DNA recovered from fetal tissue.

McDermott's ruling means Thurura faces 6 ½ to 8 ½ years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced August 14 at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.

An investigation showed that the facility had done criminal background checks, and the staff was informed as to signs of elder abuse. Unfortunately, the discovery of those signs did not translate into a check for rape until Jaime was found to be pregnant.

If your loved one is in a nursing home, be aware of the signs of abuse. Bruising, scratching, or behavior outside the norm for them could be indicators of a traumatic event. Seeing them early may help to prevent abuse or stop it early on. 

$1,500,000 verdict for resident fall

Posted by Kevin Coluccio on July 16, 2009

New York Nurse Home Abuse Lawyer Blog recent reported on a $1,500,000 verdict for a nursing home resident fall. 

In July 2004, an Erie County jury awarded plaintiffs, Thomas S. Kolbert and the Estate of Victoria Poielski, $1,500,000 in damages in a lawsuit brought under the New York Public Health Law for nursing home negligence. The plaintiffs alleged that Ms. Poielski, an 80 year-old resident suffering from dementia, fell while unattended in her bathroom and suffered a fractured right elbow.

Apparently, the resident was left alone on the toilet for a three hour period. When no staff member came to her assistance, she tried to move from the toilet to her wheelchair and suffered a fall. Pressure sores (bedsores, decubiti) also developed on her heels after the fall.

While the verdict itself is not surprising, I still find that the post offers something important to talk about -- Nursing homes focusing on profits to such an extent that it places the residents of their homes in real danger.

In most businesses, when you want to cut down on overhead, one of the things you look towards is cutting staff. I can't tell you how many companies I've worked for where, as soon as you feel some financial tension, line level workers are cut, units consolidated, and so on and so forth.

But when you are talking about helping the elderly, the sick, those who can't care for themselves, cutting staff (or not hiring enough staff) placed people at peril. This poor woman was sitting on the toilet for THREE HOURS waiting for someone to help her back to her bed. It was either stay there and wonder if someone would ever come to help her, or try to make her way back. Though unsteady, she attempted it, resulting in her fall. 

Unfortunately, I have seen story on top of story of residents using their call lights and having to wait hours for assistance. Often it involves going to or coming from the bathroom, a basic human need. The failure to respond often results in falls, fractures, or soiling themselves. Those things can further lead to infections and decubitis ulcers (pressure sore wounds). Its sad to say that with just a few more staff, most nursing homes would be able to adequately respond to those lights and a plethora of injuries could be avoided.

3rd Circuit Recognizes Civil Rights Action for Abuse

Posted by Kevin Coluccio on July 09, 2009

It's rare that I see a blog post or a shift in the law that catches me off guard. Its even rarer that such a thing also reaffirms my belief that we will be able to get these companies to change their ways. Joseph Lamy recently posted about a landmark decision out of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The case, Grammer v. John J. Kane Regional Centers, recognizes that an action for rights abuses was created under the Federal Nursing Home Reform Amendments (FNHRA).

While Grammer's recognition of a civil rights action at a circuit level is monumental, the recognition that this is a civil rights action is not new. Turns out the Eastern District of New York decided the same thing last year. 

     For all these reasons, I conclude that plaintiffs are part of the class for whose particular benefit the NHRA was enacted, and that the NHRA creates a federal right that plaintiffs may enforce under § 1983. Accordingly, plaintiffs meet the first Blessing factor, as limited by Gonzaga. Moreover, there does not appear to be any dispute that the statute meets the remaining two Blessing factors-that the statute is not “vague and amorphous” and that it imposes binding obligations on the state. The statute mandates a clearly-defined process to be followed by the state before an individual with mental illness may be admitted to a nursing home and if an individual has a significant change in condition while in the facility. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1396r(e)(7)(A)(i), (e)(7)(B)(i), (e)(7)(C)(iii); 42 C.F.R. §§ 483.104, 483.106, 483.112, 483.126, 483.128, 483.132. The PASRR regulations are precise, unambiguous, and mandatory.

Joseph S. v. Hogan, 561 F. Supp. 2d 280 (E.D.N.Y. 2008).

It looks like a framework is starting to emerge for the recognition of § 1983 cases, with recognition in the second and third circuits. 

 

 

The Dangers of Dehydration

Posted by Kevin Coluccio on July 02, 2009

Dehydration is one of the more prevalent problems seen in nursing homes. Patients that are confined to their bed have little to no control over their fluid intake. A bed-ridden patient is essentially limited to the water they have within their reach. When the pitcher runs dry and doesn't get replaced, the fluid intake can suffer. If a resident's fluid intake and output isn't monitored, the resident runs the risk of developing a myriad of problems. 

Thomas Gallivan at New York Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog explains how dehydration leads to other problems:

Although it would seem that keeping a resident hydrated in a nursing home setting would be simple enough, it is one of the most common diagnoses when nursing home residents are discharged from a nursing home to a hospital.

Dehydration can occur if residents are on certain types of medication and/or if a resident has diarrhea. In addition, some nursing home residents become refuse to eat or drink. However, in these situations, it is incumbent upon the nursing home staff to be more vigilant in monitoring the resident's hydration. Unfortunately, dehydration is often the result of nursing home neglect and/or understaffing. Dehydration can lead to:

1) Infection;
2) Confusion;
3) Weakness;
4) Bedsores;
5) Pneumonia; and
6) Death.

Signs of dehydration include dry mouth, grey or ashen skin, confusion, dark or amber urine, low urine output, fever, delirium, and infection. We cannot stress enough how important it is for families of nursing home residents to be a constant presence where a loved one is a resident. By doing so, the family members can observe and react appropriately if signs or symptoms of neglect or abuse arise.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen reports from nursing homes where residents were dehydrated, yet consistently left without water within their reach. These same people, though clearly showing the signs of dehydration, weren't monitored as to the fluid intake and output. Its these simple things that or so simple to do that get lost in budget cuts. We never see the dehydration in isolation. We see it combined with a myriad of other problems, just as described above. If you have a loved one in a nursing home, please follow Tom's advice and keep an eye on these things that the staff may be missing.