South Carolina Nursing Home Blog : South Carolina Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Poliakoff & Associates Law Firm : Elderly Care, Senior Care

Finally an Attorney General has indicted THI entities for resident abuse and neglect.   It is about time.  Hopefully, this will open the flood gates for other state attorney generals to investigate and indict these entities who have shown a pattern of neglect and careless indifference to their residents. See indictments here and here.   The indictments have a lot of factual information showing the lack of care provided to a vulnerable adult. 

Murray Forman and Leonard Grunstein own and operate Fundamental Long Term Care Holdings which own, operate, and control the hundreds of THI facilities in the U.S. managed by Fundamental Clinical Consulting (the successor company to indicted THI of Baltimore Management).

The pattern of poor care and careless indifference by Fundamental in their THI facilities is well known in the nursing home industry.  Hopefully, these indictments will change their policies and procedures but it is doubtful.

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WLKY out of Kentucky reported the indictment for neglect by nurse Elizabeth Toyse who was employed at Golden Livings Nursing Home.  Based on the records, Golden Living and Elizabeth Royse knew the resident was at risk of dehydration, but neglected to execute her duties which include monitoring the patients fluid intake and inadequately supervising the nursing assistants.

The neglect led the resident to become hospitalized.  The Cabinet of Health and Family Services conducted a survey in 2007 of the facility, where Golden Livings received a regulatory Type A citation.

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The Richmond Register had an article about three employees who were arrested, indicted, and plead guilty after a family placed a hidden camera in their mother's room.  Valerie Lamb (one of three employees of Madison Manor nursing home indicted for abuse of a patient) pled guilty in Madison District Court to one count of misdemeanor abuse of an adult.  Judge Earl-Ray Neal accepted the state recommended sentence of a two-year diversion program that includes 50 hours of community service.  Lamb’s community service may not involve work with children, vulnerable adults or any program funded by Medicaid or Medicare, according to the judge’s order. She also must remain drug free and commit no other criminal violation.

Lamb was indicted after the family of Armeda Thomas suspected their loved one was being abused at the nursing home and planted a hidden camera to record her care in August 2008. The indictment accused Lamb of reckless abuse and neglect of an adult by “lifting Thomas by her neck and by highly raising her legs when she performed incontinent changes resulting in pain or injury to Ms. Thomas.”

Another defendant in the case, Jaclyn Dawn VanWinkle of Richmond, also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and received a similar sentence. VanWinkle later was indicted on rape and sodomy charges for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old boy.

A third defendant in the Madison Manor abuse case, Amanda Sallee of Richmond, is scheduled to stand trial March 15 in Madison Circuit Court on charges of wanton abuse of an adult.  The indictment of Sallee accused her of denying Thomas food between Sept. 1 and Sept. 5, 2008, and eating the meals herself.  Wanton abuse or neglect of an adult is a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison if convicted. Reckless abuse or neglect is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

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The indictment alleges that the men ran about 70 nursing homes in Texas and other states and were responsible for a $200 million operation but hid their control of the facilities. Payroll companies: More than 150 sham payroll companies were created to avoid paying taxes, according to the indictment.

A former Hurst nursing home executive who crisscrossed the Atlantic as part of a tax-evasion scheme pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to cheat the IRS out of $34 million.

As part of a plea agreement, Larry G. May will cooperate with the prosecution of two of his former North Texas business associates, who the government said helped control the nursing homes involved.  May, Stephen Michael Ewing of Bedford and Gary R. Trebert of Frisco were indicted in March on 29 federal counts including mail fraud, making false statements to a government agency, and defrauding the IRS and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department.

May also pleaded guilty Wednesday to perjuring himself by signing false tax returns for 63 nursing homes with payroll taxes totaling $4.45 million.  

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