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

KCRA reported a lawsuit against El Dorado Care Center in California for the wrongful death of Johnnie Esco.  "Some people called her Sunshine. She'd walk in the room and the room would light up. She was my life," her husband of 61 years said.

Johnnie was 77 years old when she recovered from pneumonia, and went to El Dorado Care Center in Placerville for short term physical therapy to regain her strength, then go home. Two weeks after entering the nursing home, her health had deteriorated. She was rushed back to the hospital, where she died in 2008.

"If she had received proper care, she would still be alive today," Esco said.  He sued El Dorado Care Facility and parent company Horizon West, which owns 27 nursing homes.  "My wife's death was ruled unwarranted, but the facility was fined $18,000. That is ridiculous," Esco said.  "She basically did not receive care. She was neglected, warehoused," attorney Lesley Clement said.

The suit alleged the nursing home staff failed "to provide basic custodial and nursing care services, a failure to assess and treat her pain and a failure to prevent Mrs. Esco from developing a severe and life-threatening bowel impaction." It also alleged that Horizon West "failed to staff El Dorado Care with sufficient numbers of trained and supervised caregivers."

In taped depositions, employees say they were understaffed.  Research shows Horizon West increased its acuity levels, accepting more of the sickest and most expensive Medicare patients, while at the same time, decreased the nursing staff qualified to care for them.

Esco and Horizon West settled the lawsuit out of court. They won't say for how much, but KCRA 3 was told the nursing home paid a significant amount of money to Esco.

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According to the AmLaw Daily, another disgruntled investor has filed a civil suit against Troutman Sanders, real estate partner Leonard Grunstein, and corporate partner Lawrence Levinson.   Also named as defendants are Murray Forman, an investment banker and business partner of Grunstein's, Harry Grunstein, the lawyer's brother, along with several entities created and controlled by the defendants that operate and control nursing home and health care investments.
The action comes after the three were named as defendants in a civil suit filed in state court in Manhattan by New York real estate investor Rubin Schron.

In this latest lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, plaintiff Allen Bodner accuses the defendants of legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty as part of a scheme to divest Bodner and a company he controlled of an interest in a lucrative health care and real estate venture.

Bodner's 54-page complaint claims Grunstein, the former head of Troutman's real estate capitalization and investment practice groups, "accounted for a substantial portion of the revenues of Troutman's New York office, much of which was attributable to the legal representation of Rubin Schron and companies associated with him."   Grunstein served as his attorney and was the "mastermind" and "legal architect" behind a series of transactions named in the complaint. Bodner further claims that Grunstein concealed his "conflicting personal financial interests" in several of those transactions, which allowed Grunstein and the other defendants to misappropriate "the real estate and health care assets" that were under the control of Bodner and his holding company.

According to a letter filed by Coles in the Schron suit, several firms have lined up advisory roles as the litigation expands. Arent Fox, Latham & Watkins, Atlanta's Arnall Golden Gregory, and New York's Brodegaard & Simone are representing several companies named as defendants in the dueling civil suits. Grunstein's brother, Harry, who now lives in Israel, has retained New York's Davidoff Malito & Hutcher, while Troutman and Levinson have turned to New York's Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman.
 

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The Boston Herald had a story about the lawsuit filed against a nursing home for failing to protect a resident from an assault by another resident.  Nursing homes have a duty to keep residents safe and protected. 

Elizabeth Barrow suffered blunt impact to her head and torso and widespread internal hemorrhaging. The cause of her death was ruled strangulation and suffocation by plastic bag.
Scott Barrow’s civil action filed in Newburyport Superior Court names Brandon Woods and members of its staff as defendants along with the resident who was involved. Laura Lundquist stands accused of brutally beating and strangling Elizabeth Barrow in September, then wrapping a plastic bag around her head as the centenarian widow lay in bed at  Brandon Woods.  Prosecutors have said Lundquist was upset over the number of visitors Elizabeth Barrow received and that her bed had a choice window view.

Elizabeth Barrow was “bruised and battered and strangled. This can’t be happening quietly at 6 in the morning,” said attorney Suzanne McDonough. “There’s a staff in this place for a reason. Otherwise, just call it a hotel.”

Lundquist is still undergoing a mental-health evaluation at Taunton State Hospital.

 “All (Brandon Woods) had to do was provide for safety,” she said. “We’re not talking about open-heart surgery or end-of-life decisions. It’s about day to day living in a residential facility.”
 

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The Madison-St. Clair Record had an article about a lawsuit filed on behalf of Wealthie Lee Lockett against The Lincoln Home and Weiss Management Group for acts of negligence resulting in a broken thigh bone.  The lawsuit contends that employees continuously violated Lockett's rights from Jan. 18, 2008, through her death on Dec. 18, 2008.

During her stay at the nursing home, Lockett sustained a comminuted left femur fracture, among other injuries, causing her to suffer severe and repeated pain, mental anguish and emotional distress and to become further debilitated and disabled. Employees at The Lincoln Home failed to evaluate Lockett to ensure she received adequate supervision, failed to provide her with adequate care, failed to provide her with immediate treatment by trained personnel, failed to notify her physician of significant changes in her physical condition, failed to ensure that they established a nursing care plan based on her needs, failed to provide necessary services to maintain Lockett's highest state of well-being and failed to appropriately update her plan following her fracture.

Weiss Management, which owned The Lincoln Home, also allegedly performed a number of negligent acts, including its failure to operate the home in such a way that provided Lockett with adequate supervision, its failure to operate the home in such a way as to protect Lockett from neglect, its failure to properly monitor its employees and staff, its failure to screen and evaluate the references of nursing staff, its failure to terminate employees at the home who were known to be careless and incompetent, its failure to provide nursing personnel duties consistent with their education, its failure to prevent and correct problems at the nursing home and its failure to discharge its legal obligations, the suit states.

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WLBT had an article about several Mississippi nursing home organizations that have filed suit against the state's division of Medicaid.  These organizations are lobbysits for the industry. The Mississippi Health Care Association, The Independent Nursing Home Association, and dozens of nursing homes are involved. They want to keep their profits by stopping regulations to prevent waste and corruption.

Medicaid recently proposed cuts of more than 14 million dollars in payments to health care provider services for April, May, and June of this year because of waste, overpayments, and double billng by the nursing home industry.  Only half of the proposed cuts being targeted to nursing homes.

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Another lawsuit involving nursing home owners and operators Murray Forman, Leonard Grunstein, and Rubin Schron.  Forman and Grunstein are accusing Schron of  treating their company as "his personal piggy bank" and looted it for more than $100 million.   Rubin Schron first fattened his piggy bank in 2006, with $40 million that he claimed was repayment of a capital contribution from CAM-Elm Co., his family-owned business that's majority owner of plaintiff SMV Property Holdings.

Schron took $66 million more in 2008 and 2009 to recoup money he lost in personal investments, including rate swaps with Citibank, shareholders say in New York County Court.  Schron's eight children were majority owners of CAM-Elm, giving them the right to remove their father from his position, but since they did not, the plaintiffs say, they are suing them too.

"Schron is not content with the substantial economic returns that he, his family, and his companies have "legitimately" earned. Instead, Schron has resorted to theft, improper accounting manipulation, and more, against those who trusted him and relied on him," the complaint states.

Schron has also accused Leonard Grunstein and Murray Forman of "stealing from the company," so they added a defamation charge to the claims of misappropriation.   Of course, truth is the ultimate defense to defamation.

The plaintiffs seek an accounting and $105 million in damages and want Schron booted from his position and new managers appointed.  See full Complaint here.

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ChicoER.com had an article about a lawsuit  filed against Windsor Chico Care Center by  Virginia White, a resident who claims the staff's negligence led to a fall that caused significant injuries.  
White was living with her grandson, Donald White, because she needed so much help with activities of daily living. In August 2009, Donald White needed to go to San Francisco for medical tests, and he arranged for Windsor Chico Care Center to take care of her in his absence.

Donald White carefully explained to nursing-home administrators how his grandmother needed help when moving from place to place or going to the bathroom.  When moving about with her walker, she needed two people to assist her, one in front and one in back, to guard against falls.

On Aug. 14, less than a week after she was admitted to Windsor Chico, Virginia White fell and was hurt.  She had called for help to go to the bathroom, and one certified nursing assistant came to her aid and helped her get to the bathroom.  Contrary to Virginia White's care plan and the doctor's orders, the assistant left her standing in the bathroom. White fell forward, hitting her neighbor's bathroom door and falling into her neighbor's room, face first on the floor.

She sustained "a multitude of facial fractures."   Virginia White was admitted to an acute-care hospital where she spent four days. Then she was transferred to an acute-care rehabilitation facility to recuperate. Finally, she was transferred to another nursing home for long-term care.

The suit alleges that Windsor Chico Care Center was at fault by, among other things, failing to carry out all written orders and failing to employ enough nursing staff to meet the minimum daily requirement of the law.

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The West Virginia Record had an article recently about the lawsuit against another Sava Senior Care facility owned and operated by Murray Forman and Leonard Grunstein and others.  Defendants include six companies, an individual and multiple unknown individuals and entities for negligence in a nursing home. Canyon Sudar Partners, SVCare Holdings, Sava Senior Care, SSC Equity Holdings, SMV Management Company, SMV Huntington and Unidentified Entities 1 through 10 are the companies named in the law suit. Huntington Health and Rehabilitation Administrator, Annica Stansberry, and John Does 1 through 10 were also named in the suit.

Faith Cole claims Ruth Haynie was a resident of Huntington Health and Rehabilitation from Sept. 20 until Nov. 1, according to a complaint filed Feb. 25 in Cabell Circuit Court. Cole claims the defendants were aware of Haynie's medical condition and the care she required, but that during her stay, Haynie experienced falls, a fracture and a subdural hematoma.

Cole claims the defendants owed a duty to residents to exercise reasonable care in providing oversight and management of the nursing home.

The defendants breached their duty by failing to properly manage, operate and/or control the nursing home in a manner that a reasonably careful person/corporation would have provided.

Cole is seeking compensatory damages. She is being represented by James B. McHugh and Michael J. Fuller Jr.

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NY Daily News had an article about Judge "Kung Fu" Phillips who died at a nursing home as a result of neglect and negligence.  Prospect Park Residence - where Judge John Phillips lived for eight months until his death two years ago - refused to give him a diabetic menu and frequently missed giving him required insulin shots.

Phillips - known as the "Kung Fu judge" during his 17 years on the Civil Court bench for his habit of making martial arts moves in court - died at 83 in February 2008 after collapsing in a Prospect Park Residence elevator.

Phillips' nephew, the Rev. Samuel Boykin, who is managing his estate, said he noticed signs of trouble soon after Phillips moved into the Prospect Park West nursing home.  He insisted poor care - not just advancing age - led to Phillips' decline, noting the judge was "a health fanatic."

"My uncle was a 10th-degree black belt in Asiatic martial arts," he said. "He never drank. He never smoked cigarettes. He went to bed every night at 8 o'clock.

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The Madison Record had an article about a recent complaint filed by Steven Steiner against Caseyville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Caseyville Property.  Theresa Mary Steiner died after employees at an Illinois nursing home allowed her pressure sores to deteriorate, causing sepsis to flow throughout her blood.

On Dec. 12, 2008, Caseyville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center admitted Theresa Steiner as its patient, according to the complaint. At the time of her admission, Theresa Steiner had three stage II pressure sores on her buttocks and one pressure sore on each of her heels, the suit states.   However, by the time of her discharge on Dec. 19, 2008, Theresa Steiner had three stage IV pressure sores on her buttocks and multiple pressure sores on her heels, the complaint says.

"Steiner sustained personal injuries, including, but not limited to, development and deterioration of her pressure sores on her buttocks and bilateral heels which, in turn, led to Steiner developing sepsis throughout her bloodstream," the suit states. "On December 19, 2008, Theresa Steiner was hospitalized at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Illinois, where she subsequently died on January 7, 2009, due to sepsis and acute respiratory failure."

Before her death, Theresa Steiner experienced severe pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress and loss of dignity.  Steven Steiner blames the defendants for a number of negligent acts, including their failure to properly screen Theresa Steiner before admitting her, their failure to have an adequate wound care nurse on staff, their failure to develop an appropriate plan to treat Theresa Steiner's pressure sores, their failure to advise Theresa Steiner's physician of the deterioration of her pressure sores and their failure to adopt appropriate policies to treat pressure sores.

In the six-count complaint, Steven Steiner is seeking a judgment of more than $300,000, plus attorney's fees, costs and other relief the court deems just. William P. Gavin of Gavin Law Firm in Belleville will be representing him.

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