Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

NURSING FACILITIES ELDERLY FRAUD

There are currently probes by the Justice Department in nursing homes in nine states. Investigations are looking into substandard care toward the elderly.

First, quality care should be a priority because all residents should be treated with dignity and respect. Some residents have money or valuables in their possession and employees take them by convincing them that they are putting them in a safe place.

It has been discovered that some nursing homes fail to adhere to basic procedures of hygiene and infection control; fail to provide residents with enough food leaving them emaciated and weak; withhold pain medication; use physical or chemical restraints to restrain or otherwise sedate residents. Such failures cause residents to suffer in pain and to be exposed to great indignities. Care failures cause residents to develop pressure sores down to the bone, to lie in their own waste for hours, to starve because they cannot reach the food on their trays and to remain unwashed for weeks at a time.

The Department of Justice is in the process of bringing justice to owners and operators who have profited at the expense of their residents and help ensure residents receive the care to which they are entitled.

In 2012, a Georgia nursing home operator was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after a trial before a judge found facilities had experienced food shortages bordering on starvation, leaking roofs, few housekeeping supplies, poor sanitary conditions, major staff shortages and safety concerns. The defendant in this case, is expected to be released from prison in late 2029. He stole millions to bankroll a luxurious lifestyle, using Medicare and Medicaid funds designated for residents. He used corporate accounts to pay for Mercedes-Benz automobiles, vacations and furniture.

Far too often people place loved ones in nursing facilities for care and seldom if ever visit them. Once a resident is observed not having visitors, he/she becomes at risk of fraudulent care.

Whatever you do, check in on family and friends often because your presence lets the staff as well as the resident know that you care and will take serious actions if there is any slight evidence of mistreatment of anyone who lives there.

Photo Senior Citizens are easily vulnerable to fraud