Massachusetts Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

The National Quality Forum and CMS have designated 28 common medical errors as "never events". Never events are injuries that should never happen in a Hospital or Nursing Home facility.

The 28 "Never Events" have several categories:
Surgical Events
Device Events
Patient Protection Events and
Care Management Events
Environmental Events and
Criminal Events

The Care Management Events, include Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers acquired after admission to a healthcare facility
Hospital infections MRSA and C.Diff are not on this list.

Findings from a new study estimate that measurable medical errors cost the U.S. economy $19.5 billion in 2008. The cost for Pressure Ulcers alone has in some reports been estimated to be $11 Billion annually!

The study documented 1.5 million measurable medical errors occurred in 2008, according to the co-author Jonathan Shreve.

The study identifies the 10 medical errors that are most costly to the U.S. economy each year. Approximately 55 percent of the total error costs were the result of five common errors:

* Pressure ulcers
* Postoperative infections
* Mechanical complications of devices, implants, or grafts
* Postlaminectomy syndrome
* Hemorrhages complicating a procedure

Reports available from this study include:
* The Economic Measurement of Medical Errors
* Appendix B: Detailed Results for Each Error Type

In Grammer v. John J. Kane Regional Centers, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (Fed) created a new action for victims of Nursing Home Neglect or Abuse. In that case the victim, Melviteen Daniels, was a resident of the John J. Kane Regional Center at Glen Hazel, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. who developed decubitus ulcers, became malnourished, developed sepsis, and died.
Daniel's daughter, Grammar, brought suit for wrongful death under OBRA Federal Law claiming that the Defendants negligence violated her civil rights. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is a vehicle for imposing liability against anyone who deprives a person of "rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws."
The Court found that 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and its subsequent amendments are replete with rights-creating language. They found that "residents" were a class designed to be protected under the statutes. The plain purpose of these laws and revisions was to protect rights afforded to individuals.
The Court found that Congress intended to create individual rights in drafting and adopting § 1396r, and that Grammar's mother fell within the zone of interest these provisions were meant to protect

Grammar v Kane

$29 million was awarded in a CA jury verdict in a nursing home death of a 79-year-old woman who died from bed sores and delayed treatment. Horizon West Nursing Home was charged at trial with understaffing and cutting expenses to boost corporate profits. For example, the nursing home avoided paying overtime to maintain sufficient nursing staff and cut its staff to the "bare bones". Patient care suffered as a direct result.

The nursing staff only had 1 RN for the care of 40 Alzheimer patients. A certified nursing assistant - CNA at the nursing home testified that she quit because the patients were not getting adequate care. Punitive damages were included in the award.

The jury appeared angry over the Nursing Homes emphasis of bottom line profits over the care of dependant elderly patients. That a death occurred needlessly because of understaffing underscored this feeling that adequate care should never be sacrificed in favor of corporate greed.

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