The state Department of Aging and Disability Services moved to close an assisted living facility last month after discovering severe neglect and abuse. Residents of the facility were subjected to repeated verbal and physical abuse, including being forced to wear soiled diapers wrapped in bags around their necks, according to state records. The facility’s owner disputed the allegations that led to the April 15 shutdown of Affordable Quality Care Assisted Living Facility.

A civil lawsuit against two former employees of a veteran’s home, both already facing criminal misdemeanor charges, has been filed by the family of a resident allegedly victimized during a prank in July. The resident’s children filed the complaint this week on behalf of their father against former staff members of the facility. The suit claims that employees reportedly inserted “a suppository in the rectum of (the resident) for purposes of a practical joke” on the next shift.

For more than 25 years, Madge Lynn has visited residents of her local nursing homes and shared in their joy and in their sorrow. Ms. Lynn is an ombudsman with the non-profit Nursing Home Ombudsmen Agency of the Bluegrass, Inc., and, when asked why she says she believes that the ombudsman program empowers residents to resolve their own concerns.

Legislation introduced in one state this week would provide disabled children in nursing homes with a variety of new protections. The proposal includes stiffer penalties for poor care and tougher rules on when families must be notified of violations. The reform package, sparked by a Chicago Tribune investigative series last year, also calls for tighter restrictions on the use of psychotropic medications, bans on new admissions at troubled facilities and more oversight when deaths occur.

Police are investigating the theft of oxycodone pills from a facility that provides assisting living for patients. According to a search warrant, staff noticed someone had tampered with a pack of medication in late March. Investigators believe someone working at the facility removed oxycodone pills from at least five packs and replaced the pills with allergy medicine.

The state has found that allegations of neglect involving an assisted-living center resident who died after developing  MRSA were unsubstantiated. The Department of Aging and Disability Services investigated the facility after a complaint made in April but did not cite the facility for any violations of state or federal regulations.. An allegation that the patient’s rights were violated was also found to be unsubstantiated.