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Anatomy Of The Elder Abuse Case

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This document discusses strategies for pursuing elder abuse cases against nursing homes. It notes that such cases are often about ongoing neglect rather than isolated incidents, and require gathering extensive documentation over long periods of time to show patterns of understaffing, budget cuts prioritizing profits over care, and resulting harms like malnutrition, dehydration and bedsores. The document provides examples of sources of evidence like regulatory reports, corporate memos, accounting records, and testimony from former employees that can demonstrate a failure to provide adequate custodial care due to understaffing.

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Anatomy of the Elder Abuse Case
Nursing Home Cases AreNursing Home Cases Are Not About The MedicineNot About The Medicine
Nursing Home Cases ongoing benign neglect failure to deliver custodial care conscious indifference deterioration of the vulnerable
Investing Time and Resources a good plaintiff lawyer must be willing to investa good plaintiff lawyer must be willing to invest serious time and resources to gather of all of the dataserious time and resources to gather of all of the data
not recreating a moment in time but an ongoing course of conduct monthsmonths yearsyears several corporate entitiesseveral corporate entities
Documenting and Demonstrating Staffing Cuts
Corporate memoranda Profit expectationsProfit expectations Staffing cutsStaffing cuts
Accounting documents Management Rewards
Annual inspections/surveys Complaint or adverse - incident inspections Corporate schemes designed to maximize revenues while minimizing expenses
Former Employees widespread and chronic short staffing managements efforts to fix problem
General Accounting Office (GAO) Department of Justice (DOJ) Health Care Financing Administration Congressional Hearings The template upon which to build an effective case theme
54% of the homes in America were dangerously short of staff
"A number of highflying nursing home chains appear to have incorporated defrauding Medicare as part of their business strategy."
Anatomy Of The Elder Abuse Case
Plaintiffs Opening Statement
died a needlessly painful death because the company chose to under- staff.
YOU ARE GOING TO HEAR THAT THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH STAFF, THAT THEY WERE WOEFULLY UNDER-STAFFEDWOEFULLY UNDER-STAFFED ON THE DAY OF MARCH 30 AND 31ST. YOU ARE GOING TO HEAR EVIDENCE THAT FOR THE YEAR PRIORYEAR PRIOR, THEY WERE BELOW THE MANDATED MINIMUM ON ANBELOW THE MANDATED MINIMUM ON AN AVERAGE.AVERAGE.
No experts needed?No experts needed? failure to feedfailure to feed failure to give waterfailure to give water failure to turnfailure to turn failure to bathefailure to bathe
Weight loss Malnutrition Dehydration Bedsores
ULCERS
Common Locations for the Development of DecubitusCommon Locations for the Development of Decubitus Ulcers or "Bedsores" or "Pressure-Sores"Ulcers or "Bedsores" or "Pressure-Sores"
Common Locations for the Development ofCommon Locations for the Development of Decubitus Ulcers or "Bedsores" or "Pressure-Sores"Decubitus Ulcers or "Bedsores" or "Pressure-Sores"
Common Locations for the Development ofCommon Locations for the Development of Decubitus Ulcers or "Bedsores" or "Pressure-Sores"Decubitus Ulcers or "Bedsores" or "Pressure-Sores"
Anatomy Of The Elder Abuse Case
Anatomy Of The Elder Abuse Case
Anatomy Of The Elder Abuse Case
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Nursing Homes: A Different Kind of Defendant--Different Kind of Class

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Anatomy Of The Elder Abuse Case

Editor's Notes

  1. Jim Wilkes discusses the distinct nature of for-profit nursing homes and offers advice on bringing suit against them
  2. Understanding the Medicine Medical Malpractice Cases Are about a failure that occurred during a moment in time usually as a result of a botched procedure or a misdiagnosis
  3. Nursing Home Cases Ongoing benign neglect and failure to deliver custodial care Deterioration of an already vulnerable person Conscious indifference to the pain and suffering
  4. Comb through literally dozens of time sheets and payroll records Former employees, especially CNAs, must be located and interviewed
  5. Encourage management to cut staff and supplies to meet revenue and profit expectations
  6. Accounting documents: Use a CPA to review and show that operators cut staff to make budget targets and maximize profits. Rewards: Management is often rewarded for meeting these budgetary goals
  7. Especially certified nursing assistants for: direct accounts of widespread and chronic short staffing that management did little or nothing to fix that problem
  8. "Medicare: Tighter Rules Needed to Curtail Overcharges for Therapy in Nursing Homes," U.S. General Accounting Office, March 1995; "Nursing Home Bankruptcies: What Caused Them?" U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, September 2000 "Appropriateness of Minimum Staffing Ratios in Nursing Homes," Health Care Financing Administration, August 2000 "Abuse of Residents Is a Major Problem in U.S. Nursing Homes," U.S. Congress Committee on Government Reform, July 2001. Government Surveys
  9. August 2000 report shows that 54% of the homes in America were dangerously short of staff placing residents in jeopardy. Forprofit homes are the worst offenders.
  10. May not require experts to explain
  11. May not require experts to explain
  12. Leads to adverse medical consequences that are not the central focus of your theme