On September of 2008 The Department of Health and Human Services released "Trends in Nursing Home Deficiencies and Complaints". The memorandum report described trends in deficiencies and complaints from 2005 through 2007. To those of us who routinely represent victims of nursing home abuse and neglect the results were not surprising. However, the general public should be outraged.

According to the report, 91 percent of nursing homes surveyed were cited for deficiencies. Even more disturbing was the fact that 17 percent of nursing homes surveyed were cited for actual harm or immediate jeopardy deficiencies. The most common deficiency categories cited were quality of care, resident assessment, and quality of life. For profit nursing homes had the highest deficiencies in each of the above categories. Within the for profit nursing homes, the biggest offenders were the nursing home chains.

In Florida, the numbers reported were even worse. An alarming 97 percent of nursing homes surveyed were cited for deficiencies. This number remained fairly constant over the 3 years of the survey. You would think these numbers would have the Florida legislature going into special session to deal with the problem. Especially since Florida has one of the largest nursing home populations in the country. Unfortunately, the Florida legislature does not seem to have as a priority protecting nursing home residents. If anything, the Florida legislature's priority seems to be protecting the nursing home industry from any effort to hold nursing homes responsible for abuse and neglect. The last few times the legislature has addressed nursing home regulations, they have actually decreased them in response to pressure from the nursing home industry. In 2003, the Florida legislature made it harder for juries to punish neglectful and abusive homes with punitive damages. In 2001, the legislature eliminated strict liability for nursing home resident rights violations and eliminated the right to an award of attorney's fees for nursing home residents that prove they were abused or neglected.

Each time the legislature sided with the nursing home industry over nursing home residents, it was in response to the industry claiming personal injury lawsuits were driving them out of business. One of the rationales used to persuade legislators to make some of the changes described above was that the money saved would be used to improve the quality of care in Florida nursing homes. Unfortunately, the deficiency report appears to demonstrate the promise of using the savings to improve the quality of care in nursing homes was illusory.
On the other hand, the new laws have had the desired affect. Nursing home lawsuits in Florida have decreased drastically since 2001. The result is that the nursing home industry is paying substantially less in attorney's fees, settlements, jury verdicts, and liability insurance premiums. Only the nursing home operators themselves know where the savings are going.
The nursing home industries standard operating procedure seems to be to vilify those that attempt to hold them accountable. When Florida trial lawyers fought against the changes in the law, the nursing home industry claimed that greedy trial lawyers were the real problem. Now the industry appears to be blaming the surveyors themselves. According to an article by the New York Times, Bruce Yarwood, president of the American Health Care Association, a nursing home trade group, said the inspection system "does not reliably measure quality....Inspectors are subjective and inconsistent. They interpret federal standards in different ways."
Mr. Yarwood's comments would make sense if the citation rates were much lower. Then claiming the problem was the result of inconsistent and overzealous surveyors might make sense. However, with deficiency rates consistently over 90 percent, there is no way to legitimately claim the industry itself does not have a problem. Even Mr. Yarwood had to acknowledge "we have to do a better job."
Trial lawyers will continue to hold the industry accountable for nursing home abuse and neglect until they actually do a better job.

http://www.distasiolawfirm.com/Attorney_Profile.aspx
Tampa Personal Injury Lawyer

DISTASIO LAW FIRM
HELPING INJURED PEOPLE
OFFICES: TAMPA
888-595-0022

http://www.TampaNursingHomeLaw.com

Drivers in car accidents in Tampa Florida now have even more reason to independently document what happened in their accidents. The reason is that Tampa Police officers have a new ticket policy. According to an article posted on Tampabays10, under the new policy, after a motor vehicle accident, the police will rarely do more than review drivers licenses, registration, and proof of insurance. In fact, the officer that answered the phone when we placed a call to the Tampa Police Department confirmed that in most cases the officers will no longer interview the parties and witnesses to determine who was at fault, issue citations for the accident, document the names of witnesses, and document how the scene looked at the time of the accident. As unbelievable as it may seem, the only time the officers will make a finding of fault, issue a citation, and do all of the other things that go along with it, will be if the officer witnesses the accident or the accident involves, DUI, severe injury, or fleeing the scene of the crime.

The justification for the change in policy, according to Tampa Police spokesperson Laurie McElroy is that the city will save about 8,000 man hours a year. The article made no mention of the loss of revenue the city will experience because they will be issuing substantially less citations. The article also did not mention whether the savings in man hours really means police officers will be losing their jobs. The officer we interviewed did not have answers to these questions.

McElroy claimed the fact these citations will no longer be issued will not affect insurance claims because "their citations carry no weight with the insurance companies". She is simply wrong. It is true that the parties' statements to the officer about how the accident happened and the officer's determination of fault are not admissible at a trial in a personal injury lawsuit or a dispute involving an insurance company. However, that does not mean the information gathered by the police after a car wreck "carries no weight with the insurance company." In fact, the vast majority of times the insurance companies recognize the accuracy of the officers findings and admit them as true. Even in those rare cases when the insurance company disputes the officer's conclusions, the officer's observations at the scene and documentation of those observations is invaluable. Without the officers written report, the identity of witnesses, the condition of the roadway, and how the vehicles came to rest will not be documented. If the parties involved in an accident do not document these things, the information may very well be lost.

Under the circumstances, we urge everyone to make sure their cars are equipped at all times with a camera, a notepad, and a pen or pencil. If an auto accident happens, the camera should be used to take photographs of the scene, the resting place of the vehicles, and the damage to the vehicles. The notepad should be used to get the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the witnesses. If you do not do this and you need to make an insurance claim for personal injuries or damage to your vehicle in Tampa Florida, you may not be able to prove your case.

Scott Distasio
Tampa Personal Injury Lawyer
DISTASIO LAW FIRM
HELPING INJURED PEOPLE
OFFICES: TAMPA
888-595-0022

http://www.TampaAccidentInjuryLaw.com

An assisted living facility (ALF) is a place where senior citizens can live that need some help with activities of daily living but do not need skilled nursing care. Often those living in ALF's have some form of dementia and therefore need some level of supervision.

Most ALF caregivers have their jobs because they have a strong desire to help people. Unfortunately, however, some are only looking for a pay check. It appears Episania Fitzgerald of Largo Florida, is one such caregiver. According to tbo.com, she was in charge of 21 residents of a local Clearwater ALF when she decided to leave the residents unattended for two and half hours on October 31, 2008. While she was gone, an 88 year old resident fell in the bathroom and injured herself. Another resident called 911 for help.

When Pinellas Suncoast Fire Rescue arrived, the workers called the Pinellas County Sheriff because there were no facility caregivers present. According to the Sheriff's office, when deputies caught up to Fitzgerald, she apparently admitted she left another resident in charge when she left to provide home health care services somewhere else. Apparently Fitzgerald's desire to make money working two jobs was stronger than her desire to supervise the ALF residents. As a result, she has been charged with one count of abuse and neglect of an elderly person and one count of possession of Vicodin, a controlled substance.

Many people expressed outrage in there comments on Tbo.com over the fact that one caregiver was in charge of 21 residents. Given the number of residents Fitzgerald was in charge of, it doubtful her presence would have made a difference to the outcome in this case. The real problem with ALF's in Florida is that the minimum staffing ratios do not provide for enough staff to properly supervise all of the residents. Anyone that is truly outraged by this story should lobby their state legislators to raise the minimum staffing levels. In addition, support personal injury lawsuits against such facilities instead of condemning them as the product of greedy lawyers and people just out for money. The truth is that most personal injury lawyers that bring such lawsuits are doing so because they have a strong desire to bring about a change. Furthermore, most clients bring such claims in hopes that the financial penalty will deter the conduct in the future.

Scott Distasio
Tampa personal injury lawyer

DISTASIO LAW FIRM
HELPING INJURED PEOPLE
OFFICES: TAMPA
888-595-0022

http://www.TampaNursingHomeLaw.com