News

An 85 year old nursing home patient certainly expected to be secure in her nursing home bedroom.  Undoubtedly her family never expected her to become a victim of one of the most violent and cruel crimes --- sexual assault --- while a patient at a nursing home.  Yet, this happens in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.  There have been prosecutions in Henrico County for raping nursing home patients. Nursing homes in Virginia are required to conduct criminal background checks of its employees. 

According to the Virginia Supreme Court, a nursing home that fails to provide reasonable security for its patients may be held accountable in a court of law.  On our website, you can learn more about a nursing home's legal responsibility for protecting its patients.  If you or a loved one has been a victim of abuse, neglect, or malpractice at a nursing home or assisted living facility you are invited to contact us to discuss your legal rights.  We represent victims of nursing home abuse and neglect throughout Virginia.

Please email us or call us at 804-288-1661.

Sincerely yours,

Josh Silverman

More Details
[Back to Top]

Starting in December 2008, the Nursing Home Compare website operated by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will give nursing homes a star rating, between 1-5 stars. 

The Nursing Home Compare website already provides consumers with information about past complaint investigations, surveys, and penalties issued against individual nursing homes.  However, the current system can be confusing for patients and their families.  The star rating system should provide a simpler means to assess the quality of care provided in a nursing home.

In addition to assisting nursing home patients and their families in choosing a nursing home, we hope the star rating system will lead nursing homes to improve the quality of care provided to patients.  Nursing homes know that consumers have choices and no one wants to put a family member in a one star nursing home. 

Click here to go to the Nursing Home Compare website.

[Back to Top]

Patients entering nursing homes typically must sign "admission agreements."  Deep inside these multiple page contracts are often hidden provisions that deny nursing home patients the right to sue for damages due to abuse and neglect.  Instead they are "agreeing" to waive their right to sue and to resolve their claim via arbitration.  In an arbitration, there is no jury and the case is decided by 1-3 persons who may be biased in favor of the nursing home industry.

The attached article from Fox News describes both perspectives on compelling nursing home patients to give up their Consitutional right to sue.  Currently pending before Congress is a bill to make these mandatory arbitration agreements unenforceable.  At Williamson & Lavecchia, L.C. we support this legislation and believe deeply in every person's Constitional right to have their claims vindicated in a court of law.

More Details
[Back to Top]

Despite strict regulations of nursing homes, residents continue to suffer serious injuries and die due to abuse and neglect.  Congress is investigating the effectiveness of the nursing home regulations.  A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that inspectors miss 15% of the most serious violations.  These are often life threatening violations like failing to provide adequate nutrition and hydrations (food and water) to residents. 

In addition to hunger and thirst that naturally comes from inadequate nutrition and hydration, patients are highly prone to deadly infections, pressure sores, falls, and other serious injuries.  There are over 16,000 nursing homes caring for 1.5 million Americans.  One-fifth of the nursing homes were cited for serious violations.  When you add in the number of violations that were missed, it becomes clear that we have a crisis in nursing home care. 

Senators Charles Grassley and Herbert Kohl have introduced legislation to raise the fines against nursing homes.  Currently, nursing homes can not be fined more than $10,000 regardless of the seriousness of the injury to the patient.  The proposed legislation will raise the maximum fine to $25,000 for serious violations and $100,000 for the death of a patient. Equally important, the legislation will increase the transparency of owners of the nursing home.  Shockingly, inspectors struggle to identify the owners of a nursing home whose identities are often hidden behind several shell corporations.  This legislation is expected to be voted upon in June 2008.  Please return to our website for further updates.

[Back to Top]

[Back to Top]

Williamson & Lavecchia, L.C. is pleased to announce that we have launched a Spanish language version of this website to better serve the Latino community.  The Spanish version of this website has detailed information about our practice areas, our experience, frequently asked questions about medical malpractice, defective products, nursing home abuse, and more.  Click here to visit our Spanish website.
[Back to Top]

On October 23, 2007, the New York Times published the results their indpeth investigation into private equity groups that are purchasing nursing home chains. Many argue they have returned the industry to profitability but at the expense of patient care.

These groups have set up elaborate corporate structures that enable the investors to receive a handsome return on their investments but leaving the nursing home underfunded and with limited resources to compensate victims of abuse and neglect.

The systems is relatively simple. The nursing home is set up as one corporation with minimal insurance coverage. The nursing home pays large fees to landlords, management companies, and other corporations. These corporations are in the black while the nursing home appears insolvent and judgment proof. Yet, when you dig into the ownership of the landlords and management companies, you often find that they share the same investors. The ultimate result is that the victims of abuse and neglect struggle to be compensated for their injuries.

There are strategies to hold all of these companies responsible. Lawyers call it "piercing the corporate veil." Please call us if you believe a loved one has been abused or neglected in a nursing home.
[Back to Top]

New studies have shown that nursing home abuse and neglect is grossly underreported. In an Israeli study only 6% of nursing home patients said they would report being abused or neglected. However, when the researchers studied hospital records of patients admitted from nursing homes, they found 21% exhibited signs of abuse including burns, dehydration, malnutrition, unexplained bruises, and poor hygiene.

In the United States, there are 2500 reported cases of nursing home residents being physically abused annually. That is certainly only a fraction of the number of unreported cases. New efforts are being made to identify victims of nursing home abuse and neglect. Hospital employees are being asked to look for signs of abuse and neglect much the way pediatricians screen for child abuse.

You can also be on the lookout for signs that a loved one is being abused or neglected by being observant and listening. Warning signs include pressure sores, bruises, weight loss, poor hygiene, anger, and behavioral problems. If you believe a loved one has been abused or neglected at a nursing home take action. You are invited to contact us for a free evaluation of your legal rights.
More Details
[Back to Top]

Maggots were found in the ear of 91 year old patient in a nursing home in Johnson City, Tennessee according to an Associated Press story. According to the AP, the nursing home records reveal that her hair had not been washed in weeks. The nursing home claims to have washed her hair yet failed to document it. The defense of "we were too busy providing good care to document it" is familiar to most nursing home attorneys. Many nurses and nursing home attorneys reject that theory as simply self-serving and lacking in any credibility.
More Details
[Back to Top]

For the second year in a row Carolyn Lavecchia has been recognized in the publication Virginia Super Lawyers for expertise in representing victims of medical malpractice. The magazine Virginia Super Lawyers 2007 mailed surveys to approximately 19,000 active Virginia attorneys and asked them to nominate the best attorneys they have seen in action. Only the top 5% were selected for publication in Virginia Super Lawyers 2007.

Carolyn has over 20 years of experience handling serious injury and death cases due to medical malpractice. Prior to becoming an attorney, Carolyn was a nurse practitioner on the faculty of the Medical College of Virginia. Combining her health care experience with her skills as a trial lawyer has earned Carolyn the admiration of her clients and the respect of her opponents. Carolyn leads the elder abuse section of Williamson & Lavecchia, L.C. representing victims of abuse at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. For more information about Carolyn, please view her profile or contact us for more information.
[Back to Top]

The Carriage Hill Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Spotsylvania County, Virginia has been decertified by Medicare and Medicaid after a series of incidents including the death of a man strangled by the cord to his call button according to the Fredericksburg Star.
[Back to Top]

The American Academy of Trial Counsel is a lawyer honorary comprised of experienced and effective litigators throughout the United States, and represents less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers. Fellowship in the Academy is limited and by invitation only. Academy Fellows are deemed to be among the best trial lawyers in the American bar, who have exhibited accomplishment in litigation and trial work, and have superior ethical reputations. The composition of the Academy is aggressively diverse, with recognition of excellence in litigation across all segments of the bar. In addition, the Academy is dedicated to promoting superior advocacy, professionalism and ethical standards among its Fellows and Members.
[Back to Top]

A 2006 report by Consumer Reports finds that two decades after Congress attempted to reform the nursing home industry "bad care persists and good homes are still hard to find." Twenty years ago Congress passed the Nursing Home Reform Act which required all nursing homes that accept Medicare and Medicaid funding to meet uniform national standards.

According to press reports, penalties often are not enforced against nursing homes and nursing homes that are out of compliance with federal regulations are permitted to continue treating Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between staffing levels and quality of care. Of course increased staffing increases costs and results in reduced profits for the nursing home.

Virginia attorney John Harris correctly points out that one way to make nursing homes improve the quality of care is to pursue civil lawsuits against nursing homes. In other words "make it more expensive to neglect patients."
More Details
[Back to Top]

Workers at a New Orleans Long Term Care Facility euthanised several patients during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Get the entire story in our document library.
More Details
[Back to Top]

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Virginia has investigated numerous nursing homes for fraud and substandard care. The investigations have led to settlements with nine Virginia nursing homes. The settlements require facilities to pay monetary penalties and invest in improving the quality of care for the patients.

These settlements may lead to improved care for current and future residents, however, they do little for people already victimized. If you believe that a loved one has been a victim of abuse and neglect at a Virginia nursing home or assisted living facility, we welcome you to contact us.
[Back to Top]

More Details
[Back to Top]

The Washington Post featured the story of an elderly resident who died due to a lack of heat at a Richmond assisted living facility. We filed suit on behalf of her sister. Through our investigation we learned that the facility was so cold that the employees were wearing coats and thermal underwear to work. The case settled shortly before trial. Read the Washington Post's series on the state of assisted living facilities in Virginia. The third article in the series depicts the tragic story of our client who suffered a broken back and almost lost his life due the dangerous condition of another Richmond assisted living facility.
More Details
[Back to Top]

The Virginia General Assembly has recently made a few small steps in the right direction to strengthen regulations for assisted living facilities, to improve funding, and to increase fines against assisted living facilities. The changes are merely a start. Under legislation passed last session, administrators of assisted living facilities must be licensed the Department of Health Professionals. Previously, there were no requirements for administrators to be licensed.

The state has modestly increased funding for subsidies for low income residents of assisted living facilities. Even with the increase in funding, the state will spend only about $31 per day per subsidized residents. That is less than many people spend to board a pet.

Perhaps most substantial, the legislation will increase fines from a maximum of $500 to $10,000. Unfortantely the legislation fails to address understaffing at assisted living facilities. Under current law, there are no minimum staffing levels with specified ratios of care workers to residents of assisted living facilities.
[Back to Top]