South Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

Your lawyers in Charleston at Howell and Christmas, LLC recently read a Post and Courier article concerning of a horrifying incident of nursing home abuse at a Mt. Pleasant facility. The alleged assailant is a 44-year-old North Charleston man and former employee of Mount Pleasant Manor, a 132-bed nursing home facility on Bowman Road, and is accused of assaulting and kissing a 101-year-old resident of the Manor.

Video evidence of the alleged assault was taken by a hidden camera placed in the resident's room by a private investigator after the resident alerted his granddaughter of abuse. The Post and Courier report indicates that the resident’s granddaughter hired the investigator.

Continue reading "Former Employee Faces Criminal Charge for Alleged Assault/Abuse at Mt. Pleasant Nursing Home " »

Back in March of 2011 your Charleston, SC lawyers at Howell and Christmas, LLC posted a blog entry concerning a sexual assault on an elderly woman living in a Mt. Pleasant hospice. A week ago last Thursday the 56-year-old alleged attacker was convicted of raping the elderly woman, found guilty (but mentally ill) of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and subsequently sentenced to 30 years in prison. According to a Local News Report, the solicitor for the Ninth Judicial Circuit actively sought the maximum imposed sentence upon the defendant, but disclosed that a 30-year prison sentence for the 56-year-old man is likely to serve as a life sentence.

The attack occurred in the early morning hours of February 12, 2011, when the then 54-year-old man entered an unlocked door at a Mt. Pleasant hospice, walked across the corridor to the victim's room, and proceeded to sexually assault the then 86-year-old patient. It was not until a nurse reportedly heard a scream that the attacked was discovered in the facility atop the hospice resident. Reportedly, in a statement given to authorities, the man imparted that he peered into one of the facility's windows before finding an entrance.

According to authorities, the convicted attacker was a homeless man with an extensive criminal history; including an 1982 arrested on charges of committing a lewd and lascivious act, and an 1987 arrest for buggery, which is a term adopted from British English and close in meaning to sodomy. As a criminal charge in South Carolina, it is classified under "Offenses Against Morality and Decency."

In connection with the instant case, the convicted attacker was also charged with trespassing, criminal domestic violence, petty larceny, possession of cocaine and meth, and public disorderly conduct. As mentioned, the man was determined to be mentally ill, but the presiding judge ruled him competent to stand trial after hearing from two psychiatrists. Mental competency may have become an issue once the attacker decided to waive his right to a jury trial, and, generally, the first question asked by the presiding court is, "Was the waiver given voluntarily?"

Continue reading "Update of Previous Entry Concerning a Sexual Assault at a Mt. Pleasant Hospice; Assailant Receives 30-Year Prison Sentence" »

Your Charleston medical malpractice attorneys at Howell and Christmas, LLC recently read about a case in which a doctor is alleged to have prescribed ten times the normal dose of morphine to two elderly patients (aged 78 and 86) while he surfed the internet. The alleged drug overdose killed both of the patients at a home for Alzheimer's and dementia. Prosecutors are claiming that the drug was inappropriate for the patients' individual circumstances; reportedly the elderly patients were suffering from a number of health problems, including painful ulcers. Further, analysis of the records at the facility revealed that before handling the prescriptions the physician had not looked at the patients' records and was surfing the internet; using the practice computer for personal banking and emails, accessing news, and checking cricket results from India.

Prosecutors assert that the physician failed to carry out a clinical assessment of either of the two now deceased patients, as well as failed to adhere to guidelines for administering pain relief to elderly patients. For these alleged failures, the physician has been charged with manslaughter by gross negligence. The nursing staff and pharmacist, according to the prosecution, however, share the burden of responsibility in this pair of fatal medical errors. The nurses who administered the doses to the elderly patients did not question the accuracy of the prescription, and, equally, the pharmacist who filled the morphine prescription did not inquire as to the appropriateness of the prescription's concentration.

In court, the patients' family members spoke of their shock upon seeing their relatives after the alleged medical error, describing their loved ones in an obvious drug-induced state. The stepdaughter of the 86-year-old patient stated: "I was shocked at his appearance. I could see what looked like a little shrunken head with his mouth wide open and his eyes slammed shut. A nurse said he had been given some morphine the day before," according to reports.

A recent New York Times article explains that hospitals and doctors' offices, in an effort to reduce the frequency of medical errors, have invested heavily to put computers, smartphones, and other devices such as tablets into the hands of medical staff. The idea is that these devices will allow hospital staff and physicians instant access to patient data, drug and prescription information, and case studies. But like many cures, however, this technology-based "solution" comes with an unintended side effect: doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other medical staff can be focused on an electronic device's screen and not the patient, even at times of critical care.

Continue reading "'Distracted Doctoring' Allegedly Kills Two Elderly Patients" »

On the early morning of February 12th, allegedly, a homeless man entered an unlocked door of Gentiva Health Services, a Mt. Pleasant hospice, walked across the hall, into an 86-year-old woman’s room, and sexually assaulted her. After hearing a scream, a nurse rushed to the room and found the homeless man atop the helpless hospice resident.

Since the attack, the victim’s daughter filed a suit in federal district court in Charleston, contending the hospice failed to provide “reasonable and necessary security.” The suit accuses the hospice’s operators of negligence after the aforementioned attacker gained unchallenged entry into the facility and eventually to the dying woman’s room. The suit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages.

Charleston nursing home neglect attorneys know the residents and families of residents in hospice facilities are dependent on the caregivers in that setting to provide quality care. When nurses, nurses' aids, doctors, or administrators in a nursing home fail to care for residents' well-being in a manner consistent with standards applicable to that setting, the result may be pain and suffering, or even wrongful death.

Continue reading "Elderly Woman’s Daughter Files Negligence Suit Against Mt. Pleasant Hospice" »

Charleston nursing home abuse attorneys came across a Kentucky suit that recently awarded a monumental sum of $42.75 million to the family of a man who, allegedly, died due to negligent care in a nursing home. The amount was granted by a Hopkins County jury in Lexington, Kentucky and according to court documents the jury awarded $1 for the man's pain and suffering, $1.75 million for his wife's loss, and $40 million in punitive damages.

The suit claimed that a 92-year-old man's death was caused because of a Madisonville nursing home's negligent behavior by not ensuring he had enough water to live. Despite having a feeding tube the elderly man became lethally dehydrated. The man was only in the nursing home for nine days before being transferred to a regional medical center where he ultimately died.

The experienced wrongful death lawyers at Howell and Christmas, LLC understand the possibility of abuse or neglect in a nursing home is a serious consideration when a resident suffers from dehydration. Other considerations include malnourishment, falls, bedsores, or injury due to lack of supervision of staff.

Continue reading "Jury Awards Big Time, Causing Nursing Home to Seek Appeal" »

Charleston personal injury attorneys know the decision to move disabled or elderly family members into a nursing home is never easy, but once that decision is made, families trust that loved ones will be properly cared for while under the supervision of the home's staff. Unfortunately, the quality of care families expect is not always met. In such cases, much like the following, it is important for families to take legal action against those who are liable for compromising the well being of their loved ones, as this process helps to prevent future similar incidents of injury and wrongful death.

An elderly veteran and retired Philadelphia police officer froze to death after wandering from a state veterans home New Year's Eve 2007 and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania agreed to pay $250,000 to his family and estate, settling a negligence and wrongful death claim. The 75-year-old man ambled away from the Delaware Valley Veterans Home in Northeast Pennsylvania at 5:30 p.m. on December 31, surveillance footage included in court records also showed the elderly gentlemen walk past a security desk unnoticed, while garbed only in his pajamas.

Records also show that several staff members were suspended or admonished for their inattention to the man. One of the aides decided to quit rather than submit to questioning, state officials later learned this particular employee had previously been convicted of stalking. The Pennsylvania Department of Health inspection report specified that the veterans home staff failed to take timely action, which resulted in the residents actual harm and eventual death.

Continue reading "Elderly Man Walks Out of Nursing Home Unnoticed, Freezes to Death" »

The experienced accident attorneys at Howell and Christmas, LLC are pleased to announce that a Georgia jury has found that a nursing home operator must pay over 40 million in damages in a wrongful death case. The owner also faces federal charges for alleged fraud steming from the company's billing of Medicare. The monies from the verdict are to be paid to the estate of a man who died from inadequate care while living in the facility. According to reports, the nursing home had been cited for numerous violations, both state and federal, while operating.

The home was operating under the name Moran Lake Nursing Home and was located in Rome, Georgia. This was one of three care facilities owned and operated by the defendant. The federal charges against the homes' operator allege that he took monies from medicare and medicaid that were intended to provide needed medical care and treatment to those living at these homes but instead the money was allegedly used for the owner's personal gain for things like private homes and cars.

The deceased plaintiff had allegedly fallen on several occasions causing serious injuries such as a hip fracture. The nursing home was negligent in not informing the plaintiff's family of his injuries and in failing to inform his doctors of same. According to reports, the Georgia Department of Human Resources" Office of Regulatory Services inspected the home over the past few years and as a result of their investigation closed the facility permanently. The home is now operating again but under a different name and with different management.

Continue reading "South Carolina Wrongful Death Lawyers - Jury Orders Defendant To Pay Over 40 Million" »

Nursing homes in South Carolina and elsewhere are increasing their use of mandatory arbitration in nursing home contracts to protect them in negligence and abuse cases. These clauses force the injured and their families to take their case to an arbitrator even when a loved one is seriously injured or dies. Nursing home corporations that slip arbitration clauses into the fine print of admission agreements frequently fail to explain the clauses and force their elderly residents to sign in order to be admitted into the facility. The decision to place a family member in a nursing facility is a difficult and sometimes urgent choice. These agreements prey on families when they are most vulnerable and in most need of help.

When a Texas woman had to enroll her elderly grandmother into a nursing home she did not know that she was signing an arbitration agreement at that time. When she later filed a negligence claim against the home for her grandmother's broken leg, she then learned about the arbitration clause. The nursing home did not explain arbitration to her at any time prior to her filing her case in court. After the claim was filed on behalf of the elderly nursing home resident, the home then attempted to enforce its arbitration clause. The plaintiff then settled her case knowing the nursing home intended to enforce the arbitration clause and take the case to the Texas Supreme Court if necessary.

The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act, introduced by U.S. Senators Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) in April of this year, would protect families from mandatory arbitration by ensuring that arbitration is voluntary and agreements to arbitrate occur only after a dispute has occurred.

"Negligent nursing home corporations should not be able to hide behind arbitration clauses to avoid being held accountable for wrongdoing," said American Association for Justice member Ken Connor. "Corporations who use and enforce these agreements are putting their profit margins above the health and safety of America's seniors."

Source: American Association for Justice