80 hospitals in Massachusetts are going public with information about the frequency with which their patients develop pressure ulcers (bed sores, pressure ulcers, decubitus ulcers) while hospitalized.  As part of a joint effort between the state’s hospital association and a consumer information group called Patients First, acute care,…

Investigators are exhuming bodies to determine if morphine overdoses contributed to the deaths of six elderly nursing home patients.  Hair and tissue samples were obtained and sent to a private laboratory for testing.  According to the patients’ death certificates, all died…

A new law in New Jersey called the “Safe Patient Handling Practices Act” requires nursing homes to establish safety procedures that will keep patients and staff safe during transfers.  The law requires nursing homes to develop plans to assess patients for transfer aids like mechanical lifts (Hoyer…

So many of the stories we hear and read about in the news are of neglect and abuse of the elderly in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.  This story is different.  This is the story of Morris Montes, a…

Agencies that provide temporary nurses and aides to nursing homes and assisted living facilities may lack sufficient oversight, a recent article noted.  Most state departments of health (including the Virginia Department of Health) do not regulate the agencies that provide temporary nurses.  Although…

An assisted living facility with a long history of medication errors and other care violations received a maximum fine recently from state inspectors.  The facility also faces possible loss of its license.  The fine was imposed following a state  investigation that revealed a patient of the facility was deprived…