Sandra L. Hughes, J.D., of the American Bar Association, Commission on Law and Aging, identified some scenarios where bank tellers could detect possible financial exploitation of the elderly. In some cases, it is obvious that an older adult is being taken advantage of by a caretaker or someone he or she trusts. In one of the cases featured in the 2003 article “Can Bank Tellers Tell? –Legal Issues Relating To Banks Reporting Financial Abuse of The Elderly” discussed an 86 year old, Florence Harter, who was being blackmailed by an employee of the hospital that she had been admitted to. The blackmailer went to the bank and tried to withdraw $10,000 from her bank account, yet the bank teller was suspicious of the transaction. The activity was reported to the police and the perpetrator was caught.
In this case, Florence Harter got lucky that a bank teller was concerned about her bank activity and decided to become involved. Yet, in other cases, bank tellers don't want to get involved in the personal affairs of their banking clients for fear of possibly offending their clients. Hence, many bank tellers may not do anything to help prevent the possible financial exploitation or theft of money from the elderly.
With the population of older adults (especially those over the age of 85) increasing significantly, banks should be obligated to report possible financial abuse or any activity that appears remotely suspicious. Banks should also be protected from liability if they do report potential financial abuse. If the state and federal laws do not provide immunity to banks and financial institutions for reporting financial abuse, bank personnel will be less inclined to become involved for fear of being reprimanded or getting in trouble for violating the bank customer’s right to privacy. According to Hughes, “Of the states with mandatory reporting laws, only three states, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, identify banks as mandatory reporters” of such financial abuse. Hughes states that “in most states that have tried to make banks mandatory reporters [of elder financial abuse], the banking industry has opposed such efforts” because they are scared of the liability if they do or do not report the abuse. But I believe that the risk is small and the benefit of requiring disclosure is great. Most elderly individuals are probably not using online banking since many are not comfortable with the computer. Since most of their banking is being done in person with a bank teller or employee, there are many opportunities for bank employees to detect possible financial abuse or exploitation. For instance, large amounts of money suddenly being withdrawn for no apparent purpose should raise red flags. Bank employees should immediately investigate this activity to determine if the client is aware of these withdrawals and whether the withdrawals are being made for the benefit of the client.
I do understand that obviously there is a risk of error. A bank employee may be mistaken as to certain withdrawals of money- there may be a legitimate reason for these large withdrawals. Regardless, it is better that the employee make sure that there is no fraud or abuse. Even if errors are made, most customers will probably appreciate the extra protection that is being offered to them by a concerned employee asking about a suspicious situation.
I think legislation that requires the reporting of any suspicious activity detected by bank employees involving possible financial abuse of elders should be passed. The requirement should make it mandatory that any employee who is suspicious of possible financial abuse must report the activity to the proper authorities. This would do wonders.
http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/ncearoot/main_site/pdf/publication/bank_reporting_long_final_52703.pdf
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Congress passed the Elder Justice Act as part of the Health Care Reform Bill
The Elder Justice Act of 2009 (S. 795) was introduced in the Senate several years ago by Orrin Hatch (R-UT), but the bill never passed until recently when it passed with the Health Care Reform Bill. The purpose of the act is to amend the Social Security Act to “prevent, detect, treat, intervene in, and prosecute” elder abuse and neglect. You can read the text of the Elder Justice Act at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-795.
The Elder Justice Act will coordinate at the federal level all efforts to stop elder abuse. Previously these efforts were at the state and local level. The Office of Elder Justice will be created at the Dept. of Health and Human Services and Justice in order to coordinate public and private and federal, state and local efforts relating to elder justice.
Now, there will be federal funding available for Adult Protective Services (which would add an additional 1,700 case workers), and for research grants to study elder abuse and find solutions for its prevention. The bill provides $700 million can be spent on combating elder abuse. By passing this bill, elder abuse is at the forefront of issues that must be addressed at the national level.
-A national data repository will be established so that information about elder abuse can be kept in one place so that it is easy to collect and access.
-By providing grants and funding for research, this bill will increase the research which is conducted on this topic.
-Also, funding will be provided for creating an improved forensic expertise in the area of detecting and proving elder abuse.
-Elder abuse victims will have somewhere to go with the creation of “safe havens,” which will provide shelter for seniors who are not safe at the place they live.
-More funding will be available for law enforcement to help in the prosecution of elder abuse cases.
-Funding will be available for training so that abuse can be prevented before it occurs.
-More funding will be available for criminal background checks of potential nursing home employees, for training of employees, for improving the general overall staffing at nursing homes.
Whether you agree with the Health Care Reform Bill or not, the Elder Justice Act is very important to help prevent and reduce the incidence of elder abuse. Its passage is a major step in protecting our elderly in nursing homes. We should all pay attention to how Congress is spending the $700 million designated for this issue.
The Elder Justice Coalition. The Elder Justice Act-S. 795. http://www.elderjusticecoalition.com/legislation.htm
The Elder Justice Act will coordinate at the federal level all efforts to stop elder abuse. Previously these efforts were at the state and local level. The Office of Elder Justice will be created at the Dept. of Health and Human Services and Justice in order to coordinate public and private and federal, state and local efforts relating to elder justice.
Now, there will be federal funding available for Adult Protective Services (which would add an additional 1,700 case workers), and for research grants to study elder abuse and find solutions for its prevention. The bill provides $700 million can be spent on combating elder abuse. By passing this bill, elder abuse is at the forefront of issues that must be addressed at the national level.
-A national data repository will be established so that information about elder abuse can be kept in one place so that it is easy to collect and access.
-By providing grants and funding for research, this bill will increase the research which is conducted on this topic.
-Also, funding will be provided for creating an improved forensic expertise in the area of detecting and proving elder abuse.
-Elder abuse victims will have somewhere to go with the creation of “safe havens,” which will provide shelter for seniors who are not safe at the place they live.
-More funding will be available for law enforcement to help in the prosecution of elder abuse cases.
-Funding will be available for training so that abuse can be prevented before it occurs.
-More funding will be available for criminal background checks of potential nursing home employees, for training of employees, for improving the general overall staffing at nursing homes.
Whether you agree with the Health Care Reform Bill or not, the Elder Justice Act is very important to help prevent and reduce the incidence of elder abuse. Its passage is a major step in protecting our elderly in nursing homes. We should all pay attention to how Congress is spending the $700 million designated for this issue.
The Elder Justice Coalition. The Elder Justice Act-S. 795. http://www.elderjusticecoalition.com/legislation.htm
What are the motivating factors for elder abuse committed by nursing home employees?
Brian Payne and Randy Gainey of Old Dominion University studied nursing home abuse from the perspective of a criminologist. They found that nursing home abuse occurs when 3 elements are present: an offender who is motivated, absence of capable guardian for the elder and a suitable target. The key to stopping elder abuse is finding a way to minimize or eliminate these 3 elements. For instance, in a nursing home, those patients who have cognitive disabilities are more likely to be abused because they are a suitable target. Also, since many nursing homes have inadequate staff which are poorly paid and poorly trained, the absence of a capable guardian is more common than people think.
Payne and Gainey consider the different motivating factors for the abuse. In some instances, there is abuse because a stressed out employee who is overworked reacts negatively and abusively to an elderly resident because of the situation. In other circumstances, there are “pathological tormentors” where there is no apparent reason for the provocation and there is a very severe response. These pathological offenders or serial abusers have a history of abuse—it is not a one time occurrence.
The reason why it is important to distinguish between the different types of motivating factors is to have laws and policies which actually prevent the abuse. In nursing homes, the residents must rely on laws and formal measures to stop the abuse, yet this study shows that stricter penalties and mandatory reporting laws are not really effective in reducing abuse and therefore cannot act as “capable guardians.” The reason stricter penalties and mandatory reporting don’t really work is because so much of the abuse is not reported and if it is, punishment is not likely.
Therefore, the more effective means of reducing nursing home abuse is to increase the staff to patient ratio so that employees are not overworked and stressed out. Alternatively, more managers should be hired to oversee and supervise the employees who work with the elderly. Another suggestion is to pair employees together as a team so that abuse does not go undetected. Also, better training and increased pay would help reduce the abuse caused by the stressed out employee. Additionally, better background checks, including criminal background checks, should be used to discover past abuse by potential employees.
By studying the precise causes and motivations for elder abuse, we can specifically target the causes and prevent the abuse. Rather than passing stricter laws and more laws about reporting abuse, it would be more effective to increase the staffing requirements and hours requirements for employees so that they are not overworked and over-stressed.
Payne, Brian and Randy Gainey. The Criminal Justice Response to Elder Abuse in Nursing Homes: A Routine Activities Perspective.
Payne and Gainey consider the different motivating factors for the abuse. In some instances, there is abuse because a stressed out employee who is overworked reacts negatively and abusively to an elderly resident because of the situation. In other circumstances, there are “pathological tormentors” where there is no apparent reason for the provocation and there is a very severe response. These pathological offenders or serial abusers have a history of abuse—it is not a one time occurrence.
The reason why it is important to distinguish between the different types of motivating factors is to have laws and policies which actually prevent the abuse. In nursing homes, the residents must rely on laws and formal measures to stop the abuse, yet this study shows that stricter penalties and mandatory reporting laws are not really effective in reducing abuse and therefore cannot act as “capable guardians.” The reason stricter penalties and mandatory reporting don’t really work is because so much of the abuse is not reported and if it is, punishment is not likely.
Therefore, the more effective means of reducing nursing home abuse is to increase the staff to patient ratio so that employees are not overworked and stressed out. Alternatively, more managers should be hired to oversee and supervise the employees who work with the elderly. Another suggestion is to pair employees together as a team so that abuse does not go undetected. Also, better training and increased pay would help reduce the abuse caused by the stressed out employee. Additionally, better background checks, including criminal background checks, should be used to discover past abuse by potential employees.
By studying the precise causes and motivations for elder abuse, we can specifically target the causes and prevent the abuse. Rather than passing stricter laws and more laws about reporting abuse, it would be more effective to increase the staffing requirements and hours requirements for employees so that they are not overworked and over-stressed.
Payne, Brian and Randy Gainey. The Criminal Justice Response to Elder Abuse in Nursing Homes: A Routine Activities Perspective.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Can running criminal background checks help reduce elder abuse in nursing homes?
There is much discussion about whether criminal background checks should be allowed or whether they violate an individual’s right to privacy, how they should be used, whether the information in them should prevent employment of anyone with a criminal record forever or for a set period of time.
I think once a person has committed a crime and has been convicted, the record should always be available so that employers can determine whether they want to hire the employee for the particular position if they have committed a particular kind of crime. Forensic psychologist Vern Quincey agrees with me. He thinks employers should have this information available when making hiring decisions. In order to ensure the quality of the care that nursing home residents will receive, we must hire employees who are capable of working with elderly residents—although it is difficult to predict who can and who shouldn’t work with the elderly. One measure to determine whether someone should be employed is their prior criminal history—wouldn’t you want to know if a potential employee was guilty of abusing an elderly person within the last year? Of course, that is the very clear case. Apparently what is less clear, although I don’t agree, is whether a conviction unrelated to elder abuse which occurred 20 years ago should be considered in the employer’s decision to hire this person. I personally think all criminal convictions and information about a potential employee should be available. If more information is available to the employer, a more informed decision can be made. Bryan Robinson proposes that all potential employees should have a criminal background check if they want to work in a nursing home, including janitors and maintenance workers. I agree. If a nursing home is considering hiring an employee with a criminal record, then some kind of psychological profiling should be conducted to determine whether this individual will potentially abuse the elderly he/she is working with. Also, according to Vern Quincy, all arrest records should be available since they are more complete than the conviction record which would be obtained after a plea bargain.
Since there is a shortage of workers which will only get worse with an increasing population of elderly, there may be times when a nursing home must hire someone who has a criminal record. But under no circumstances should a person be hired who has committed elder abuse previously. Some of the “rules of thumb” proposed by Vern Quincy for hiring employees with a past criminal record are: conduct a clinical assessment (using the history and diagnostic tests) and an actuarial assessment (statistically determine if the offender is likely to commit the same crime, to determine whether they will commit elder abuse). One important consideration according to Quincy is to determine if any prior crime is committed against “a vulnerable population of people.”
According to Vern Quincy, psychopaths have usually committed more crimes (a larger variety of crimes), and have started at an earlier age. Psychopaths are more likely to commit another crime and be abusive if they are repeat offenders. Likewise, if someone has not committed another offense in more than five years since the original offense, that should be considered. The bottom line is that before any potential employees with a criminal record are hired, serious consideration should be given to what was the original crime, when did it occur, what was the nature of the crime, who was involved, was the crime against a vulnerable population and therefore is there a likelihood of another crime being committed by this same person.
Basically, I understand that there may be a shortage of workers at nursing homes; however, I don’t think we should sacrifice the health and well being of our nursing home population. I think the nursing home owners should pay more money for salaries and therefore entice more employees to work in nursing homes. I think the laws of supply and demand work—higher pay for nursing home workers when there is a shortage and lower pay when there are too many available workers.
What Can we learn from Criminal Background Checks. An Interview with Forensic Psychologist Vern Quinsey
http://www.preventelderabuse.org/nexus/bgchecks
Roboinson, Bryan. ABC News “He Choked Me:’ Why Some Elderly Attacks Go Unnoticed. March 7, 2002. http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=91848
I think once a person has committed a crime and has been convicted, the record should always be available so that employers can determine whether they want to hire the employee for the particular position if they have committed a particular kind of crime. Forensic psychologist Vern Quincey agrees with me. He thinks employers should have this information available when making hiring decisions. In order to ensure the quality of the care that nursing home residents will receive, we must hire employees who are capable of working with elderly residents—although it is difficult to predict who can and who shouldn’t work with the elderly. One measure to determine whether someone should be employed is their prior criminal history—wouldn’t you want to know if a potential employee was guilty of abusing an elderly person within the last year? Of course, that is the very clear case. Apparently what is less clear, although I don’t agree, is whether a conviction unrelated to elder abuse which occurred 20 years ago should be considered in the employer’s decision to hire this person. I personally think all criminal convictions and information about a potential employee should be available. If more information is available to the employer, a more informed decision can be made. Bryan Robinson proposes that all potential employees should have a criminal background check if they want to work in a nursing home, including janitors and maintenance workers. I agree. If a nursing home is considering hiring an employee with a criminal record, then some kind of psychological profiling should be conducted to determine whether this individual will potentially abuse the elderly he/she is working with. Also, according to Vern Quincy, all arrest records should be available since they are more complete than the conviction record which would be obtained after a plea bargain.
Since there is a shortage of workers which will only get worse with an increasing population of elderly, there may be times when a nursing home must hire someone who has a criminal record. But under no circumstances should a person be hired who has committed elder abuse previously. Some of the “rules of thumb” proposed by Vern Quincy for hiring employees with a past criminal record are: conduct a clinical assessment (using the history and diagnostic tests) and an actuarial assessment (statistically determine if the offender is likely to commit the same crime, to determine whether they will commit elder abuse). One important consideration according to Quincy is to determine if any prior crime is committed against “a vulnerable population of people.”
According to Vern Quincy, psychopaths have usually committed more crimes (a larger variety of crimes), and have started at an earlier age. Psychopaths are more likely to commit another crime and be abusive if they are repeat offenders. Likewise, if someone has not committed another offense in more than five years since the original offense, that should be considered. The bottom line is that before any potential employees with a criminal record are hired, serious consideration should be given to what was the original crime, when did it occur, what was the nature of the crime, who was involved, was the crime against a vulnerable population and therefore is there a likelihood of another crime being committed by this same person.
Basically, I understand that there may be a shortage of workers at nursing homes; however, I don’t think we should sacrifice the health and well being of our nursing home population. I think the nursing home owners should pay more money for salaries and therefore entice more employees to work in nursing homes. I think the laws of supply and demand work—higher pay for nursing home workers when there is a shortage and lower pay when there are too many available workers.
What Can we learn from Criminal Background Checks. An Interview with Forensic Psychologist Vern Quinsey
http://www.preventelderabuse.org/nexus/bgchecks
Roboinson, Bryan. ABC News “He Choked Me:’ Why Some Elderly Attacks Go Unnoticed. March 7, 2002. http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=91848
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Update On Conviction of Cesar Ulloa: He was found guilty of all 8 counts of torture and elder abuse
My last blog discussed the trial of Cesar Ulloa, a former employee of a very upscale retirement home, Silverado Senior Living in Calabasas, who was charged with elder abuse for physically assaulting and abusing residents of the retirement home. Here is the update- the trial has ended and he was convicted!
Jurors only deliberated for five hours to find that Cesar Ulloa was guilty of all eight counts against him. Cesar could get life in prison when he is sentenced. They didn’t need to deliberate any longer after hearing that he laughed as he abused the residents. Because many of the residents had dementia, they couldn’t understand what was happening and couldn’t get help.
Rita Kittower, who was the widow of one of the victims cried thru the trial, and said, "My husband can now rest in peace, and I can live in peace." Rita is the one who had received an anonymous phone call after her husband’s funeral telling her about the abuse. When they started looking into the allegations and started to get suspicious about Cesar, they found that there were other victims. The families of the victims felt that the jury verdict was fair and “justice was served.”
Silverado Senior Living in Calabasas is supposed to be a very upscale and posh retirement home which costs more than $70,000 a year to live there. One would assume for that kind of money that residents would get the best care possible and would be treated gently and caringly.
I think that Silverado should be help accountable for the abuse of their employees. The victims should bring an action against Silverado and ask for damages for their suffering and abuse. Unless the retirement home is held accountable for this kind of elder abuse, we will never see any change. Cesar was just a low level employee who was not properly trained or supervised. It was the responsibility of the retirement home and its owners to make sure that they supervise, train and teach their employees how to do their jobs in a caring and loving manner. The fact that they didn’t have cameras in the rooms shows that they couldn’t ever see how these patients were being treated when they were being changed, bathed or fed. How was Silverado supervising if the patients had dementia and could not communicate with any supervisors?
The Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-elder-abuse9-2010apr09,0,7841577,print.story
Jurors only deliberated for five hours to find that Cesar Ulloa was guilty of all eight counts against him. Cesar could get life in prison when he is sentenced. They didn’t need to deliberate any longer after hearing that he laughed as he abused the residents. Because many of the residents had dementia, they couldn’t understand what was happening and couldn’t get help.
Rita Kittower, who was the widow of one of the victims cried thru the trial, and said, "My husband can now rest in peace, and I can live in peace." Rita is the one who had received an anonymous phone call after her husband’s funeral telling her about the abuse. When they started looking into the allegations and started to get suspicious about Cesar, they found that there were other victims. The families of the victims felt that the jury verdict was fair and “justice was served.”
Silverado Senior Living in Calabasas is supposed to be a very upscale and posh retirement home which costs more than $70,000 a year to live there. One would assume for that kind of money that residents would get the best care possible and would be treated gently and caringly.
I think that Silverado should be help accountable for the abuse of their employees. The victims should bring an action against Silverado and ask for damages for their suffering and abuse. Unless the retirement home is held accountable for this kind of elder abuse, we will never see any change. Cesar was just a low level employee who was not properly trained or supervised. It was the responsibility of the retirement home and its owners to make sure that they supervise, train and teach their employees how to do their jobs in a caring and loving manner. The fact that they didn’t have cameras in the rooms shows that they couldn’t ever see how these patients were being treated when they were being changed, bathed or fed. How was Silverado supervising if the patients had dementia and could not communicate with any supervisors?
The Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-elder-abuse9-2010apr09,0,7841577,print.story
Friday, April 2, 2010
Retirement Homes Must Be Held Accountable For Supervising And Training The Employees They Hire
Cesar Ulloa, who is 21 years old, is charged with seven counts of elder abuse and one count of torture, and if he is convicted, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Cesar worked at the very posh and upscale senior living facility, Silverado Senior Living, which is located in Calabasas. It costs more than $70,000 a year to live in what is supposed to be a very nice facility. Cesar began working at this facility when he was only 19 years old and had only a few days of training. Cesar has a high school education and no formal training to care for the elderly. He made about $10 per hour. If this facility is charging $70,000 per year to take care of a resident per year, then the daily cost is $192.00. If the caregivers make $10 per hour, then each resident could use 5 hours of a caregiver’s time each day (totaling $50) and the facility is still making $142 per day—plenty to cover the expense of food and shelter. There is a hefty profit margin left. Of course each resident does not get 5 hours of a caregiver’s time each day just for themselves and therefore these facilities are making even more of a profit. Instead of hiring untrained, uncompassionate caregivers who make minimum wage and are not educated in caring for the elderly, retirement homes should upgrade the quality of employees they hire to insure that their residents are well taken care of and are not abused.
Although there were cameras installed in the hallways of the Silverado Senior Living facility, there were none in the rooms of the residents so the caregiver could not be watched when he or she was bathing or changing the residents. Cameras only work if they are actually viewed by the management in order to deter abusive behavior towards the elderly, and if they are installed in the rooms where the abuse is most likely to occur.
One of Cesar’s victims was Elmore Kittower, who died in 2007 at the Silverado Senior Living facility. He may have been beaten to death by Cesar. Rita Kittower, his wife for more than 50 years was called by an anonymous caretaker to tell her that her husband’s death was not of natural causes. The Sheriff’s department exhumed the body a few days after the funeral and discovered that blunt force contributed to his death. At the trial of Cesar, evidence was presented of abusing Mr. Kittower, and of Cesar jumping on a deaf and mute woman's chest and slamming her into a bed. He also encouraged residents to fight among each other.
This type of abuse shows that retirement homes have to be more careful in who they select as employees. Additionally, more training should be required in order to work in these facilities. Perhaps by paying higher wages, better trained and more experienced employees would be willing to work at these jobs. Retirement homes need to be accountable for their employee’s behavior because they reap the benefits of the profits they make from residents and therefore must supervise their employees more diligently and insure that their residents are treated respectfully and kindly.
Faturechi, Robert. “Brutal abuse at Calabasas retirement home described in testimony.” Los Angeles Times. March 30, 2010. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-elder-abuse31-2010mar31,0,5439663,full.story
Cesar worked at the very posh and upscale senior living facility, Silverado Senior Living, which is located in Calabasas. It costs more than $70,000 a year to live in what is supposed to be a very nice facility. Cesar began working at this facility when he was only 19 years old and had only a few days of training. Cesar has a high school education and no formal training to care for the elderly. He made about $10 per hour. If this facility is charging $70,000 per year to take care of a resident per year, then the daily cost is $192.00. If the caregivers make $10 per hour, then each resident could use 5 hours of a caregiver’s time each day (totaling $50) and the facility is still making $142 per day—plenty to cover the expense of food and shelter. There is a hefty profit margin left. Of course each resident does not get 5 hours of a caregiver’s time each day just for themselves and therefore these facilities are making even more of a profit. Instead of hiring untrained, uncompassionate caregivers who make minimum wage and are not educated in caring for the elderly, retirement homes should upgrade the quality of employees they hire to insure that their residents are well taken care of and are not abused.
Although there were cameras installed in the hallways of the Silverado Senior Living facility, there were none in the rooms of the residents so the caregiver could not be watched when he or she was bathing or changing the residents. Cameras only work if they are actually viewed by the management in order to deter abusive behavior towards the elderly, and if they are installed in the rooms where the abuse is most likely to occur.
One of Cesar’s victims was Elmore Kittower, who died in 2007 at the Silverado Senior Living facility. He may have been beaten to death by Cesar. Rita Kittower, his wife for more than 50 years was called by an anonymous caretaker to tell her that her husband’s death was not of natural causes. The Sheriff’s department exhumed the body a few days after the funeral and discovered that blunt force contributed to his death. At the trial of Cesar, evidence was presented of abusing Mr. Kittower, and of Cesar jumping on a deaf and mute woman's chest and slamming her into a bed. He also encouraged residents to fight among each other.
This type of abuse shows that retirement homes have to be more careful in who they select as employees. Additionally, more training should be required in order to work in these facilities. Perhaps by paying higher wages, better trained and more experienced employees would be willing to work at these jobs. Retirement homes need to be accountable for their employee’s behavior because they reap the benefits of the profits they make from residents and therefore must supervise their employees more diligently and insure that their residents are treated respectfully and kindly.
Faturechi, Robert. “Brutal abuse at Calabasas retirement home described in testimony.” Los Angeles Times. March 30, 2010. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-elder-abuse31-2010mar31,0,5439663,full.story
Monday, March 1, 2010
How can we protect our elderly from dangerous care givers who cross state lines to work in other states?
Although the federal government now has a national database listing
incompetent care givers who have been disciplined in any of the fifty
states, this database is not complete and thousands of serious
disciplinary actions against health care providers are missing according
to a February 15, 2010 article in the Los Angeles Times.
The purpose of having a national database is to insure that incompetent
care givers who have been disciplined cannot move to another state and
obtain a job as a care giver without the new prospective employer
finding out about the disciplinary action. Before this national database
was created, the problem was that when care givers were disciplined in a
particular state, then other states could not gain access to the
disciplinary record. The federal government prepared a national database
which allows hospitals from all states to check the disciplinary record
of care givers, nurses, and other licensed healthcare professionals.
In a February 15, 2010 article in the Los Angeles Times it was reported
that this federal database was incomplete and was missing important
information about disciplinary actions against care givers. “Some of
the missing cases involve providers who have harmed patients…a nurse
whose license was pulled after she injected a patient with painkillers
in a drugstore parking lot…” (Los Angeles Times, 1). The data was
supposed to be obtained from state licensing board websites and was to
be complete. However, according to this article, there is missing
information which the federal officials were not aware of. The Health
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) admitted that certain data
is missing. Information which is on state websites never made it to the
national website. According to the LA Times article, the mistakes are
numerous.
Although the government has kept a national database for disciplinary
actions taken against doctors for 20 years, no such database existed
until recently for other healthcare providers or care givers. Now that
the database exists, apparently massive information is missing and has
not been included on the national website. Although we have moved in the
right direction by establishing a national website, the fact that it is
incomplete is almost worse because now prospective employers will check
the website and believe that they have done their due diligence when, in
fact, they have not obtained all the correct and complete information.
“With an incomplete database…employers could be given ‘a false
sense of security that somebody who may be really dangerous isn’t,
because their name isn’t there’” (Los Angeles Times 2).
The federal government should make this a priority-it is very important
that prospective employers of nurses and care givers who have been
disciplined in a particular state obtain this information before they
make their hiring decisions.
Weber, Tracy and Charles Ornstein. The Los Angeles Times. February 15,
2010. www.latimes.com/news
incompetent care givers who have been disciplined in any of the fifty
states, this database is not complete and thousands of serious
disciplinary actions against health care providers are missing according
to a February 15, 2010 article in the Los Angeles Times.
The purpose of having a national database is to insure that incompetent
care givers who have been disciplined cannot move to another state and
obtain a job as a care giver without the new prospective employer
finding out about the disciplinary action. Before this national database
was created, the problem was that when care givers were disciplined in a
particular state, then other states could not gain access to the
disciplinary record. The federal government prepared a national database
which allows hospitals from all states to check the disciplinary record
of care givers, nurses, and other licensed healthcare professionals.
In a February 15, 2010 article in the Los Angeles Times it was reported
that this federal database was incomplete and was missing important
information about disciplinary actions against care givers. “Some of
the missing cases involve providers who have harmed patients…a nurse
whose license was pulled after she injected a patient with painkillers
in a drugstore parking lot…” (Los Angeles Times, 1). The data was
supposed to be obtained from state licensing board websites and was to
be complete. However, according to this article, there is missing
information which the federal officials were not aware of. The Health
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) admitted that certain data
is missing. Information which is on state websites never made it to the
national website. According to the LA Times article, the mistakes are
numerous.
Although the government has kept a national database for disciplinary
actions taken against doctors for 20 years, no such database existed
until recently for other healthcare providers or care givers. Now that
the database exists, apparently massive information is missing and has
not been included on the national website. Although we have moved in the
right direction by establishing a national website, the fact that it is
incomplete is almost worse because now prospective employers will check
the website and believe that they have done their due diligence when, in
fact, they have not obtained all the correct and complete information.
“With an incomplete database…employers could be given ‘a false
sense of security that somebody who may be really dangerous isn’t,
because their name isn’t there’” (Los Angeles Times 2).
The federal government should make this a priority-it is very important
that prospective employers of nurses and care givers who have been
disciplined in a particular state obtain this information before they
make their hiring decisions.
Weber, Tracy and Charles Ornstein. The Los Angeles Times. February 15,
2010. www.latimes.com/news
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
How the False Claims Act protects against elder abuse
Since our population is aging, there will be a large percentage of people who are over the age of 65 and residing in nursing homes in the near future. By 2025, it is estimated that 62 million people will be over the age of 65 and that 43% will need nursing home care. Although there are many abused elderly, only 10% of the elder abuse cases actually get reported. Additionally, in a two year period between 1999 and 2001, “more than thirty percent of nursing homes had at least one reported incident of abuse that could have resulted in harm to a resident” (Davidson, 330).
One statute that is used to stop elder abuse is the federal and state False Claims Act (FCA). Lawsuits based on the False Claims Act are brought when nursing homes did not provide proper care for their residents, but for which they received reimbursement from the government. Examples of false claims can be, for instance, overcharging for a product, not providing a service that was paid for, performing unnecessary procedures, providing less than the paid for amount of products, and charging for a particular product at a certain price but delivering another.
Anyone who is found guilty of making a false claim will pay triple damages, attorney's fees, and a fine of $5,500 to $11,000 for each claim. The people who report the false claim are “whistleblowers” because they blow the whistle to bring attention to the wrong being committed. The whistleblower can hire a lawyer on a contingency fee so if they win, they get to keep a percentage of the winnings (False Claims Act Legal Center, 1). Since the whistle blower is rewarded financially, he will have an incentive to report the abuse. This is a way private citizens can help the government stop these cases of fraud.
More attention is being brought to these cases. For instance, “the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia has entered into two settlements in cases against nursing homes, for $100,000 and $500,000, respectively, in addition to requirements for facility monitoring and significant improvements in quality of care” (Stiegel, 5). In July 2006, Tenet Healthcare settled their case with the Federal Government for $900 million for billing violations, kickbacks and overstating their bills. (False Claims Act Legal Center, 1).
In the future, if more people report these cases and more nursing homes are held liable under this statute, nursing homes will have more incentive to protect their residents against abuse.
Davidson, Michael J. “The Elder Law Journal.” Feb. 25, 2005. Volume 12, pg. 327-330.
"Seniors & the Law: A guide for Maturing Californians." 2009. California Bar Foundation.
Stiegel, Lori. "The Changing Role of the Courts in Elder Abuse Cases. American Bar Association."
The False Claims Act Legal Center.
One statute that is used to stop elder abuse is the federal and state False Claims Act (FCA). Lawsuits based on the False Claims Act are brought when nursing homes did not provide proper care for their residents, but for which they received reimbursement from the government. Examples of false claims can be, for instance, overcharging for a product, not providing a service that was paid for, performing unnecessary procedures, providing less than the paid for amount of products, and charging for a particular product at a certain price but delivering another.
Anyone who is found guilty of making a false claim will pay triple damages, attorney's fees, and a fine of $5,500 to $11,000 for each claim. The people who report the false claim are “whistleblowers” because they blow the whistle to bring attention to the wrong being committed. The whistleblower can hire a lawyer on a contingency fee so if they win, they get to keep a percentage of the winnings (False Claims Act Legal Center, 1). Since the whistle blower is rewarded financially, he will have an incentive to report the abuse. This is a way private citizens can help the government stop these cases of fraud.
More attention is being brought to these cases. For instance, “the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia has entered into two settlements in cases against nursing homes, for $100,000 and $500,000, respectively, in addition to requirements for facility monitoring and significant improvements in quality of care” (Stiegel, 5). In July 2006, Tenet Healthcare settled their case with the Federal Government for $900 million for billing violations, kickbacks and overstating their bills. (False Claims Act Legal Center, 1).
In the future, if more people report these cases and more nursing homes are held liable under this statute, nursing homes will have more incentive to protect their residents against abuse.
Davidson, Michael J. “The Elder Law Journal.” Feb. 25, 2005. Volume 12, pg. 327-330.
"Seniors & the Law: A guide for Maturing Californians." 2009. California Bar Foundation.
Stiegel, Lori. "The Changing Role of the Courts in Elder Abuse Cases. American Bar Association."
The False Claims Act Legal Center.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The neglect and abuse that occurred at Creekside Care Convalescent Hospital is unbelievable!
Bessie Seday, an 84 year old, who was a resident of Creekside would sit in her dirty soiled bed for hours without anyone helping her or cleaning her. As a result she developed a bed sore which would not heal. Apparently Bessie was put in the whirpool which should have helped her bedsores but it did not help because the whirlpool was used to wash dirty bedpans so basically Bessie Seday was being placed in this pool with the dirt and feces that went into it from the dirty bedpans. Bessie’s left buttocks and part of her pelvis was removed to fix the problem.
Rhoda Johnson was another resident of Creekside who had a bedsore on her hip that was so deep that you could actually see her hip socket and bone inside the wound. Her daughter found her with dried feces on her.
Both Bessie and Rhoda hired lawyers and sued Creekside. Bessie got a $862,500 settlement, while Rhoda received a $775,000 settlement. Also, it was at Creekside that attorney Von Packard started looking at death certificates of people who died in nursing homes in California. He claims that more than 7% of those deaths were caused by bedsores that went untreated, malnutrition, or other problems that could have been prevented or treated. Four other residents also sued Creekside and received more than $2 million in settlements.
This story was reported in 1997 but it doesn’t appear that too much has changed since then. In a New York Times article in May, 2008, it was reported that nursing home inspectors do not report serious problems at nursing homes. For instance the report found that many times bedsores, malnutrition, overuse of certain prescribed medicines and abuse still do not get reported by the inspectors or was not treated seriously. They even found that some patients had maggots in their wounds.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
I think more lawyers should prosecute these nursing homes which do not give adequate care and when the owners of these nursing homes pay out enough money to settle lawsuits, then they may be inspired to make some changes. Economic solutions are always the most effective—hit them where it counts—their pocket book.
Graff, James, Mark Thomson and S.C. Gwynne. “Nursing Homes: Fatal Neglect.” Time Magazine. October 27, 1997. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,987233,00.html
Pear, Robert. “Serious Deficiencies in Nursing Homes Are Often Missed, Report Says.” The New York Times. May 15, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/washington/15health.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
Rhoda Johnson was another resident of Creekside who had a bedsore on her hip that was so deep that you could actually see her hip socket and bone inside the wound. Her daughter found her with dried feces on her.
Both Bessie and Rhoda hired lawyers and sued Creekside. Bessie got a $862,500 settlement, while Rhoda received a $775,000 settlement. Also, it was at Creekside that attorney Von Packard started looking at death certificates of people who died in nursing homes in California. He claims that more than 7% of those deaths were caused by bedsores that went untreated, malnutrition, or other problems that could have been prevented or treated. Four other residents also sued Creekside and received more than $2 million in settlements.
This story was reported in 1997 but it doesn’t appear that too much has changed since then. In a New York Times article in May, 2008, it was reported that nursing home inspectors do not report serious problems at nursing homes. For instance the report found that many times bedsores, malnutrition, overuse of certain prescribed medicines and abuse still do not get reported by the inspectors or was not treated seriously. They even found that some patients had maggots in their wounds.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
I think more lawyers should prosecute these nursing homes which do not give adequate care and when the owners of these nursing homes pay out enough money to settle lawsuits, then they may be inspired to make some changes. Economic solutions are always the most effective—hit them where it counts—their pocket book.
Graff, James, Mark Thomson and S.C. Gwynne. “Nursing Homes: Fatal Neglect.” Time Magazine. October 27, 1997. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,987233,00.html
Pear, Robert. “Serious Deficiencies in Nursing Homes Are Often Missed, Report Says.” The New York Times. May 15, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/washington/15health.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
Monday, January 25, 2010
What cruel things can nursing home employees do to the elderly residents to make their job easier?
In one case, a nurse, physician, and a pharmacist of a nursing home were arrested for "forcibly administering" psychotropic medications because it was convenient for the staff. The three individuals who were arrested were the director of nursing, the pharmacist and a staff physician. This medicine caused three residents of this nursing facility in Bakersfield to die. Apparently these patients were being drugged so that the nursing staff would not have trouble with the difficult patients who complained or had Alzheimer’s disease.
Once an investigation was done by the Department of Public Health, they immediately issued a Certificate of Immediate Jeopardy which resulted in the director of nursing being dismissed. After much investigation, criminal charges were filed in Kern County Superior Court and the case is being prosecuted by the Attorney General with the help of the District Attorney’s office.
(http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/print_release.php?id=1682)
What is most unbelievable about this is that one of the defendants that was charged had been fired for over-drugging a patient at another nursing home she had worked at previously in Fresno, and the nursing home did not tell the next employer because they were scared of being sued. There must be some reporting requirements which would have prevented this abuse from happening again.
The defendants return to court early this year. The defendants could face up to 11 years in prison. Each person is charged with eight counts of causing harm or death. The director of nursing was also charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
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