A federal judge recently denied the release of a woman charged with stealing more than $200,000 in retirement benefits of a man she allegedly secretly buried after he died in her care in the mid-1990s. The 46-year-old woman was ordered to be held until her July 24 trial.  According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the woman has been linked to at least three additional suspicious deaths.

A major nursing home chain has decided to end it’s operations in one state after increased litigation and the failure of the legislature to pass a law which would have made it more difficult to sue nursing homes. Extendicare Health Services Inc. has decided to lease all 21 of its skilled nursing centers in the state to a different operator.  The lease will also allow the operator to buy out the facilities if they wish to do so.

According to police, an assisted living facility was burglarized recently at about 3:30 a.m. Witnesses told police a woman in her mid-20’s, entered the building through the back door and demanded narcotics. According to staff at the facility, the woman surprised a resident entering the building and demanded to be let inside.

An assisted living facility was shut down after an investigation uncovered financial elder abuse. According to police, the women caring for the residents of the small facility stole $28,000 from one of her client’s bank accounts and gambled much of the money away at a local casino. Police arrested the woman, 54, after they discovered the theft.

Three US senators have banded together to curb the over use of powerful sedatives, known as antipsychotics, in nursing homes. The three have proposed that federal regulators be required to issue mandatory rules for nursing homes to follow in seeking permission from patients, or their designated health care agents, such as a family member, before administering antipsychotics for any off-label use. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved uses for antipsychotics including schizophrenia,…

The family of man who died in a nursing home fall have recently filed suit against the facility.  According to the complaint, the elderly man was injured when staff members dropped him from a hoyer lift while attempting to transfer him. Also according to the complaint, the man suffered extensive leg wounds as a direct result of the fall which resulted in death. For more, read the story.