Government agencies charged with overseeing the care received in nursing homes can fine those homes if violations are found. Such violations can include the cleanliness of the facility and the care that the residents receive. These fines can range from a few thousand dollars to tens or hundreds of thousands. The Commercial Appeal reports on a Tennessee Nursing home charged with the highest fines ever imposed.
Inspectors at the Memphis Ashton Place Health and Rehabilitation Center found widespread neglect that had led to the harm of residents in the facility’s care. One patient had wounds infected with maggots that had gone untreated. That patient was transferred to a hospital and later died.
Fines totaling $50,000 were charged to the facility, the highest such penalty ever charged. In addition to the fines, the Tennessee Health Commissioner, John Dreyzehner froze new admissions and appointed a worker to oversee corrections to the violations.
The 98-page inspection report detailed such violations as failure to follow physician orders, failure to administer prescribed drugs, and failure to advise doctors of their patients’ deteriorating conditions.
A male patient, admitted in July had no visible wounds. He was transferred to the hospital multiple times for ulcers and ultimately passed away in October. This is when hospital staff found maggots in wounds that had gone untreated.
The patient’s record failed to detail at least five wounds that hospital staff discovered and it was also revealed that he had not been given prescribed pain medication.
Another patient had been left in her own stool for five hours. Another was found choking after pulling out an oxygen tube. Records also revealed that one patient did not receive 37 of 106 prescribed doses of Lyrica and 29 of 106 prescribed doses of morphine.
Have you or a loved one been the victim of neglect or abuse in a nursing facility? You may have a case. Let the attorneys at the offices of Schenk Smith fight to get you the compensation you deserve. Call for a consultation today.
