Long-Term Care Litigation articles from September 2002

Long-Term Care Litigation archives from September 2002

Assessing facility negligence: determining pressure ulcer "avoidability".
September 1, 2002... Pressure ulcers in the nursing home continue to be of burgeoning concern in the medical-legal arena. A review of federal and state legal databases shows a dramatic increase in litigation related to pressure ulcers in the last decade....

Alleged violations of Arkansas Abuse of Adults Act. (Abuse).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Arkansas attorney general's office filed a complaint alleging that Eureka Springs Nursing & Rehabilitation Center repeatedly failed to meet demands to improve the care of its residents. A pretrial conference was held August 16, 2002. The...

Civil penalty relates to respirator-dependent residents. (Administrative Sanctions).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a civil monetary penalty imposed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services against a skilled nursing facility for failure to comply with Medicare regulations governing care of...

Entrapment risk was foreseeable. (Bed Siderails).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... In a wrongful death action, the North Carolina Court of Appeals concluded that the nursing home operator's negligence was responsible for the death of a resident whose head became wedged between her mattress and bed siderail. However, the...

State claim survives claimant's death. (Cause of Action).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Fourth District Appellate Court of Illinois held that the executor of a deceased nursing home resident's estate could bring, under the Survival Act, the decedent's cause of action for statutory violations of the state Nursing Home Care...

Adequacy of expert reports successfully challenged. (Chemical Restraint).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A Texas appellate court has affirmed a trial court order dismissing a case alleging that chemical restraint use for staff convenience contributed to the death of a resident who overdosed on sedatives administered to prevent his wandering...

Failure to suction resident results in $100,000 award. (Damages).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... In a wrongful death/survival action, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the defendant nursing home was negligent in caring for a resident with Lou Gehrig's disease who required suctioning due to her inability to swallow. The...

Resident's rape charges against student CNA unforeseeable. (Duty of Care).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Tennessee Court of Appeals determined that a nursing home resident's rape charges against a student enrolled in a Certified Nursing Assistant's (CNA's) training program were unforeseeable. Thus, the state appeals court affirmed a trial...

Life-sustaining procedures withheld from patient in terminal condition. (End-of-Life Care).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Iowa Court of Appeals reasoned that genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether a 92-year-old hospital patient without a declaration relating to life-sustaining treatment was in a "terminal condition" at the time defendants...

Class certification for Medigap fraud allegation. (Fraud).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Arkansas Supreme Court granted class certification for a lawsuit alleging Medigap fraud. The court noted that it is "dealing with elderly, low-income persons who may lack knowledge regarding insurance coverage. If they are not allowed to...

State licensing body sued after resident dies from burns. (Government Liability).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A blind and mentally challenged resident of a Georgia personal care facility scalded in his bath died of second and third degree burns. State regulation requires that heated water provided for a resident's use not exceed 110 degrees...

State not liable for negligence of nurse paid through Medicaid. (Home Health Care).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A disabled public assistance recipient suffered a recurrence of pressure ulcers on his heels while being cared for by a home care nurse paid by Medicaid funds distributed by Nebraska's Department of Health and Human Services. He sued the...

Texas jury awards $2 million in punitive damages. (Pressure Ulcers).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Texas jurors awarded $2.3 million to the estate of an 84-year-old nursing home resident. The jury did not find the facility liable for her death, but they did find it liable for her injuries. The award included $300,000 in actual damages and...

Texas jury awards $3.8 million for improper treatment. (Pressure Ulcers).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Texas jurors awarded a 71-year-old nursing home resident's estate over $3.8 million after finding the facility failed to treat a nursing home resident's pressure ulcer for 19 days and failed to notify physicians about the ulcer. The ulcer,...

Pennsylvania resident allegedly dies from pressure ulcers. (Pressure Ulcers).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The U.S. District Court for the astern District of Pennsylvania denied a defense motion to dismiss negligence per se allegations and to strike the punitive damages claim in a case involving a Pennsylvania nursing home resident who allegedly...

Washington nursing home resident dies; frivolous suit filed. (Sanctions).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Washington Court of Appeals remanded a case involving the death of a physically restrained nursing home resident who died after falling from a wheelchair to determine and impose appropriate sanctions for the filing of a frivolous suit....

First plaintiff's victory under Texas' HMO liability law nets $13 million. (Landmark Verdict).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Texas jurors awarded $13,050,000 to the family of an 83-year-old nursing home resident and Cigna Medicare+Choice enrollee who died one week after his health maintenance organization (HMO) prematurely sent him home from a skilled nursing...

Pennsylvania nursing home failure of care case resolved. (Settlements).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Patrick L. Meehan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, announced a civil settlement between the United States and 110-bed nursing home Suburban Woods, LLC. The civil settlement addresses payment by the federal government...

Statute of limitations in Texas. (Sexual Assault).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... An 82-year-old nursing home resident alleged repeated sexual assault by a fellow resident, claiming that the facility failed to prevent the incidents despite knowledge that the attacker had assaulted several other residents. A Texas appellate...

Class action filed in California. (Transfer Trauma).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A case management conference is set for November 8, 2002, in a class action lawsuit filed July 10, 2002, against the owners and operators of Sereno Care Center in Vallejo, Calif. on behalf of former facility residents and their family...

Selection and preparation of the defense expert in a long-term care case: a medical perspective.
September 1, 2002... Although lawsuits against nursing homes have risen dramatically in the last decade and show little sign of abating in the near future, many of these actions are successfully defended through use of appropriate experts obtained early in the...

Appeals process for coverage decisions. (Medicare).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a process for beneficiaries to appeal local or national Medicare coverage determinations. The proposal provides for independent review of these coverage policies. Comments are due...

Electronic submission of cost reports. (Medicare).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Comments are due September 24, 2002, concerning a proposed rule for cost reporting periods ending on or after December 31, 2002. The proposed rule would require all hospices, organ procurement organizations, rural health clinics, federally...

Payment changes for Fiscal Year 2003. (Medicare).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... * Skilled nursing home facilities The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a 2.6 percent increase in Medicare payments to skilled nursing facilities for fiscal year (FY) 2003. The increase will result in nearly $400...

New model improves quality of care and reduces RN turnover without added cost. (Case Study).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Wellspring, a coalition of 11 freestanding, not-for-profit nursing homes in Wisconsin, stabilized staff turnover and eliminated serious quality deficiencies on state inspections, all without additional cost, according to an evaluation of the...

Five steps to take on the Internet before deposing a doctor. (Internet Resource Review).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... In the lawyer's everyday practice, the deposition of the treating doctor is the mainstay of effective discovery. Follow these five steps to quiz deponents more effectively about their background and experience. 1. Obtain a Physician...

Average monthly cost. (Assisted Living Facilities).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The average cost of an assisted living facility in the U.S. is $2,159 per month, or $25,908 per year, according to the MetLife Assisted Living Market Survey 2002. The study, the first of its kind, found that the highest monthly average was...

Report calls for National Medical Malpractice Legislation. (Federal Legislation).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... On July 24, 2002, the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) released "Confronting the New Health Care Crisis: Improving Health Care Quality and Lowering Costs by Fixing Our Medical Liability System." The strongly worded report calls...

Report notes wide variation in state health spending. (Health Care Spending).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... According to a report released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and published in the July/August issue of Health Affairs, health care spending in 1998, the most recent year for which state level data are available, ranged from...

Report finds complaints go unanswered. (New York Nursing Homes).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Detailing a "troubling failure of oversight," New York Comptroller H. Carl McCall released an audit report documenting the state's failure to adequately investigate allegations of abuse, neglect, and mistreatment of nursing home residents....

Recent developments and policy directions. (State Long-Term Care).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A Department of Health and Human Services-funded report released July 26, 2002, provides a thumbnail sketch of long-term care budgets, legislation, and planning in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The focus of this report is mainly...

Validation report. (Nursing Home Quality Indicators).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Assessments of health care quality and the dissemination of resulting information about quality is becoming more widespread in the U.S. These assessments are frequently in the form of "quality indicators" that seek to reflect the quality of...

Hospital transfer can be disruptive and costly. (Transfer Trauma).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... A new study released at the 2002 annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society indicates that transfers of severely ill residents from skilled nursing facilities to hospitals are costly and can add unnecessary complications to end-of-life...

Guidelines to reduce risk and loss in long-term care facilities. (Risk Management).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The Texas Department of Insurance has adopted best practices for risk management and loss control for for-profit and not-for-profit nursing homes. The guidelines respond to the following nursing home risk exposure areas: falls, resident...

Texas attorney general criticizes litigation costs as limiting access to elder care. (Perspectives).(John Comyn)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... In a campaign stop for the contested Texas Senate race, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn urged state and federal lawmakers to protect access to quality health care by containing lawsuits against providers. Speaking at Christian Care Center,...

The key to nursing home satisfaction may be found in resident involvement. (Perspectives).(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... As government agencies closely scrutinize and publish nursing home quality standards, studies by Press Ganey Associates, a health care satisfaction measurement firm, indicate that nursing homes may achieve high levels of satisfaction by...

New JCAHO long-term care accreditation alternatives approved.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... T To address concerns of duplication between Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) accreditation surveys and the federal government's annual skilled nursing facility (SNF) Medicare/Medicaid certification...