According to police, a 28-year-old man has been arrested for stealing medication from the elderly. Authorities took the suspect into custody Thursday after they say he stole a zip-lock bag containing medication from the office of an assisted living center. Police made a visit to the mans home near the assisted living facility earlier this week to assist with a medical call.

Fire Department officials have commented that a Thursday afternoon fire at an assisted living facility was sparked by a resident who was apparently smoking a cigarette while wearing an oxygen hose. The man was smoking in his room when the fire spread to the bedspread and the rest of the 4th floor room, prompting the smoke alarm to sound and the sprinkles to go off. When crews arrived, they found that the man had ran out of the building and suffered a cardiac arrest.

A woman has been charged with felony elder abuse after spanking an elderly person who has Alzheimer’s disease at a nursing home. The 50-year-old former employe, was arrested Tuesday and was released on a $5,000 bond this week. Investigators say that on May 28, the employee struck a female resident “on the lower back/buttocks approximately five times with an open hand to spank her when trying to get her to sit in a chair in the kitchen,” according to a police documents.

In a ruling on June 29, 2011 The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has issued orders stating that juries, rather than arbitrators, should be the decision makers in nursing home health care disputes. The issue was brought to light by three separate cases of nursing home neglect in which admission agreements were signed which contained an arbitration clause. Nursing home arbitration clauses, which are signed upon admission to the facility, require that any legal disputes regarding the care pr…

Police suspect that an elderly woman shot her husband before killing herself at a retirement community because she was discouraged by his poor state. Police say they believe the 83-year-old woman was distraught over her dementia-patient husband and fatally shot him then turned the gun on herself. A church volunteer told police that the woman was upset about her husband’s deteriorating health Friday night.

A nursing home employee has come forward after footage of abuse was released saying that her frequent reports of potential abuse were ignored by the Administrator. The nurse said that she reported issues including scratches and bruises. The nurse’s aide, who did not want to be identified because she fears punishment by her bosses, said that the bosses did not want to hear her reports.