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

I saw this story in a Pittsburgh paper.  I can't believe they gave probation to a nurse who lied, changed medical documents, and covered up the circumstances of neglect that caused the death of a nursing home resident. 

What kind of deterrent is this?

Kathleen Galati who was a nursing home supervisor was sentenced to only five years' probation.
She pleaded guilty in March to perjury, false swearing, criminal conspiracy, and tampering with evidence in connection with the October 2001 death of Mabel Taylor, 88, at Ronald Reagan Atrium I Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman also banned Galati from working in health care during her probation.  So in five years she can go back to covering up neglect in nursing homes!

Atrium head Martha Bell helped cover up the death of Taylor, who died after wandering outside on a cold night.  Bell was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and health care fraud and sentenced to at least seven years in prison.

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A former nursing aide who admitted raping and impregnating a profoundly disabled and defenseless woman at a Bloomingdale nursing home three years ago was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison.

Reynaldo Brucal Jr., 20, pleaded guilty in November to aggravated criminal sexual assault of the then-23-year-old woman, who has cerebral palsy, is brain-damaged and has the mental capacity of a 3-year-old. She was in his care at Alden Village Health Facility for Children and Young Adults when the attack occurred in 2004.

Brucal, who is not a U.S. citizen, has been in DuPage County Jail since his 2005 arrest. 
After serving his sentence, he will be deported to his native Philippines.

Staff at the nursing home, where the victim and her twin sister had lived for 13 years, discovered she was expecting in June 2005 when she was more than 28 weeks' pregnant. A baby girl was delivered by Caesarean section in July 2005.

The twins, who cannot speak or function independently, have been moved to another area nursing facility, and their family has filed a civil lawsuit against Alden that is pending.

The facility also has been fined $10,000 by the Illinois Department of Public Health for lack of oversight and mishandling of the investigation.

According to the probation department's pre-sentencing report, Brucal admitted assaulting the woman because he was "bored."

But Brucal, who began working at Alden in September 2004 and was 17 at the time of the attack, "didn't believe he did anything wrong," Berlin said.

Initially, Brucal denied sexual contact but was arrested in November 2005 after admitting such contact, claiming a latex glove he used as a condom had failed.

See article here

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 I saw this story and thought of all the residents who suffered pain as a result of his intentional act. This is why supervision of nursing home employees is crucial.

A 40-year-old nurse who pleaded guilty to switching out painkillers meant for nursing home patients has been sentenced to just over five years in prison.

Michael Paul Smith of Falmouth was charged with tampering consumer products and health care fraud.  Smith may face mandatory exclusion from working in any federal health care program.

Prosecutors say he removed pills containing oxycodone and morphine by separating the cardboard backing from blistercards and substituted the pills for similar-looking medication nearly two years ago.

He was employed at the Odd Fellows Nursing Home in Worcester at the time.

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