The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held hearings recently in which recommendations were made for major federal and state initiatives to protect patients from fraud and financial collapse at nursing homes owned and operated by…

A nursing home patient whose pressure ulcer deteriorated and resulted in an above-the-knee amputation two months later, whose family was not informed by the nursing home about the exitence of the pressure ulcer or the need for amputation until the day before surgery, who…

The International Expert Wound Care Advisory Panel, which is composed of physicians and nurses who specialize in pressure ulcer (bed sore, pressure sore, decubitus ulcer) prevention, recently published a consensus paper entitled “New Opportunities to Improve Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Treatment: Implications of the…

According to a recent report prepared by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), state nursing home inspectors routinely overlook or minimize care deficiencies that pose a serious, immediate threat to patients.  The GAO report notes widespread “understatement of deficiencies,” including malnutrition, severe pressure ulcers (bed…

A nursing home patient started a fire in the facility when he was allowed by facility staff to smoke near an oxygen tank while in bed.  The oxygen machine added fuel to the fire.  As a representative of the fire marshall’s office…

Since January 2006, 28 complaints have been filed against Ruxton Health of Williamsburg, according to a recent article that summarized the results of complaint investigation reports prepared by the state agency that licenses and inspects nursing homes in Virginia.  Those complaints included 22 allegations in which…