Pennsylvania Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Blog

Nursing home employees have a lot of access to prescription drugs. As Philadelphia nursing home negligence attorneys, we know that this can lead to serious wrongdoing in some cases -- such as the case of 26-year-old Andrea Markland. The Allentown Morning Call reported Feb. 9 that Markland, a former aide at a Telford nursing home, will stand trial for stealing time-released painkiller patches from the bodies of residents. She is charged with neglect of a care-dependent person as well as theft and receiving stolen property.

Markland's victims were two women in their eighties who had been prescribed time-release patches containing fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate. One of the victims has died since the thefts. In written statements to police, Markland admitted that she stole the patches five to seven times, cut them open and ate the medicated gel inside to feed an addiction to painkillers. By stealing the patches, the home's nursing supervisor said, Markland left the women in "debilitating pain." She also stole from the people who were paying for the women's treatment, a police officer said. Markland was caught after another employee saw her leaving an area where she wasn't supposed to be working.

As Philadelphia nursing home abuse lawyers, we suspect that this problem happens more often in nursing homes than it's reported. Opiates and other painkillers are widely abused and are heavily restriction because of their high potential for abuse. It's easy to predicts that nursing home workers might be tempted to abuse their positions, or even intentionally take a job to get access to narcotics. Nursing homes have a legal and ethical obligation to protect their residents from employees and potential employees willing to feed their addictions at residents' expense.

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A recent Chicago Tribune article called attention to a little-recognized but important problem among nursing home patients: physical and sexual violence between patients. As our Pennsylvania nursing home abuse attorneys know, mentally ill or diminished patients in particular pose a risk to other patients if not properly medicated and supervised. The Chicago Tribune took a look at this problem and published some disturbing results Jan. 26. According to the article, authorities have investigated 86 cases of sexual violence in Chicago nursing homes since 2007, in a quarter of the city's homes. Despite all of those investigations, authorities made an arrest in only one case.

In the majority of the cases, elderly or disabled female residents were attacked by male residents. Only a few cases involved attacks by staff, although the one prosecution the newspaper found was of an orderly. The Tribune said attacks were more likely in homes that housed a high percentage of younger mentally ill people who had been convicted of crimes, some of them violent crimes. Of the 30 homes where sexual assaults happened, 21 were federally rated as below average or well below average on staffing levels. In one case, a 61-year-old woman yelled "No, no, please" as she was assaulted by a 47-year-old man with a history of "inappropriate sexual behavior," but said she was too scared to fight back. The home's police report, filed months later, said she described the sex as consensual.

These stories are deeply disturbing to Philadelphia nursing home negligence lawyers like us. Most stories of nursing home abuse focus on abuses of power by staff, but as this article shows, abuses by other residents can and do happen. Every nursing home resident has a basic right to be safe in his or her home. Homes that fail to provide adequate protection not only fail in their basic duties, but leave themselves vulnerable to administrative or criminal penalties and nursing home negligence lawsuits.

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Our Pennsylvania nursing home neglect attorneys were shocked and disturbed to read a recent article exposing serious problems with two state-run nursing homes. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Jan. 25 that the state health department's inspectors found negligence and misuse of psychiatric drugs at the Hollidaysburg Veterans Home between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Another home, the Gino J. Merli Veterans' Home in Scranton, was cited for allowing two outbreaks of scabies, failure to prevent or treat bedsores and failing to maintain sanitary conditions. The state runs four other veterans' homes, but only these two garnered the lowest possible rating because of serious repeat violations.

In Hollidaysburg, health inspectors found that patients were improperly receiving psychiatric medicines to control their behavior. Attendants routinely physically restrained patients for bathing or medical treatment. Abuse concerns reported by a psychiatrist went uninvestigated by a director who said he didn't believe he had to investigate statements about staffers' personal feelings. In another case, home staff didn't contact police about suspected abuse, despite a state law compelling them to, so the victim's wife did it.

At the Scranton home, residents endured two rounds of scabies because home officials failed to ensure that an employee had recovered fully before coming back to work. It was also cited for failure to prevent bedsores. In one case, a doctor ordered treatment for bedsores, but the home failed to take action for nine days. At least two other patients were cited for dehydrated residents. And over three years, the state found 38 reports of possible patient abuse by staff or other patients.

As Philadelphia nursing home abuse lawyers, we hope this article leads to immediate corrective action by state regulators. Nursing home patients are in homes because they can no longer care for themselves, and that often means they're at the mercy of their caregivers. As the report shows, bad caregivers can have a profound effect on their health and their quality of life.

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As Pennsylvania nursing home abuse attorneys, we see many clients who discovered abuse and neglect of their loved ones after it led to severe health consequences. Unfortunately, this is probably the most common way families discover problems, because victims don't always have the ability to directly tell their loved ones something is wrong. And of course, corrupt nursing home staff take steps to hide abuse and neglect. But if your family suspects abuse or neglect, there are steps you can take to prevent serious physical and emotional harm to your loved one.

Experts say the best offense against nursing home abuse is to stay aware. Studies show patients receive better treatment when their families visit often, so if possible, make sure you visit regularly. To reduce the chance that nursing home staff will anticipate your visits, you should try to schedule the visits at different times of the day and week. During your visit, check the patient for physical and mental problems not related to any underlying health condition. Examples might include unexplained weight loss, signs of dehydration, confusion in a mentally competent person or medications a doctor didn't order. Also, examine the cleanliness of the facility itself and the way staff interacts with the patients. If patients seem dominated by staff, anxious or overly sedated, there may be a problem.

If you discover evidence of neglect or abuse at a nursing home, you can and should report the home to state health authorities. Families have also set up hidden cameras in homes to capture clear and convincing evidence of abuse. But even a swift investigation that shuts down a bad home for good can't help families deal with the physical and emotional damage abuse can cause. To penalize negligent nursing homes and recover the financial costs of dealing with the abuse, families should contact a Philadelphia nursing home neglect lawyer to discuss the possibility of a civil lawsuit.

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