California abuse case: employees targeted rather than facility.In a possible precedent-setting case, 12 employees at a California nursing home charged with neglect of an elderly resident could be prosecuted under a law that typically applies only to facilities. The case could mean that anyone can be held responsible for actions in a facility, instead of just the facility or its owners, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. industry officials. The 12 CNAs and LVNs are charged with elder neglect, falsifying fal·si·fy v. fal·si·fied, fal·si·fy·ing, fal·si·fies v.tr. 1. To state untruthfully; misrepresent. 2. a. medical records and failure to follow nursing home state regulations and are being prosecuted under the state's Regulation and Licensing of Health Care Facilities law, according to Benjamin Gluck, a defense attorney with Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Drooks & Lincenberg in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . In October 2003, the Bureau of MediCal Fraud and Elder Care Abuse put a hidden camera in the room of Maria Mendoza, a then-80-year-old resident of SunBridge Care & Rehabilitation-East in Escondido, Calif. Six days of monitoring revealed that Mendoza was not receiving all her necessary treatment, including a failure by employees to turn her over at proper times and administer eye drops eye drops eye npl → gouttes fpl pour les yeux eye drops eye npl → Augentropfen pl when needed, according to court records. Following an indictment from a San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. County Grand Jury, the 12 employees were arrested in January 2004 on felony and misdemeanor abuse charges. Ten of the 12 were also charged with misdemeanor altering of medical records, according to court documents. Neither SunBridge Care nor its operator, Sun Healthcare Group, was charged. Sun Healthcare sold the facility to Palomar Heights Care Center LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control in late 2004, said Melissa Tommaso, Sun Healthcare's corporate communications officer. The felony charges eventually were dropped and other adjustments made. Those include the addition of two misdemeanor counts of violation of Health and Safety Code section 1290, which historically has applied only to facilities, according to Gluck. The case was finally cleared to go to trial in late April, at which point defense attorneys filed for an emergency review by an appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. . The case is now frozen pending that review, said Gluck. Officials at the Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Care Abuse in Sacramento, Calif., did not return calls for comment. 
What a shame it is when Corporate america manipulates the system in this manner -by turning on it's own employees. Sun Healthcare was cited for repeated violations of understaffing then allowed the gov't to charge their employees for not elder abuse by not doing "double work" when expected? For them to have 1 nurse care for 54 patients should be a crime -but it isn't.
DCalvert (Member): Sun Healthcare not cited for violating injunction in Newport Beach 7/6/2009 10:18 AM
While the Bureau of Medi-Cal fraud and Elder Abuse investigated employees here, in Newport Beach serious violations were happening that caused four deaths yet the Bureau turned a blind eye -why?<br>by Dr L Scott Stoney:<br>The infection incidence at Sunbridge Newport was monitored quarterly and it was noted over the national average during infection control meeting in the final quarter of the year 2003. As I was medical director for this facility I had request further evaluation by the staff to the etiology of this occurrence within the facility. Multiple families had complained about this problem. Unfortunately, the administration did not take due diligence in ameliorating this problem in 2003. Lack of sufficient ventilation contributes to pneumonia. This was a sentinel event; however the administration continued to give both patients families and the undersigned a variety of excuses why it was "taking some time" to fix this problem. Upon review of the medical record, it is medically probably that this patients recurrent pneumonia (especially MRSA) was related to the physical facility.<br>There is another incidence of concern. Blood pressure monitoring cuffs which were not working in Sunbridge Newport in 2003. This, again, was a sentinel event and of grave concern. As medical director, this was an extraordinary event which prompted my immediate reaction as Medical Director to request the administration immediately order new blood pressure equipment for the safety of the patients within the facility. I was subsequently directly in contact from my Newport Beach private practice office with Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse Special Agent Supervisor Joseph Fendrick to discuss this matter. Unfortunately this was too late for Mrs. Evelyn Calvert, she arrived 7/16/04 to the emergency room in again respiratory distress and she died. Due to the limited response of the administration to meet patient needs, I resigned from Sunbridge Newport Rehabilitation in March, 2004 and gave sixty day notice of my termination as Medical Director from the facility. It is my opinion, as a Board Certified physician ..... that this patients death is within medical probability aggravated or in causation by the failure of the ventilator system within Sunbridge Newport as well as the failure of the blood pressure monitoring devices within the facility."<br>end of quote.<br> <br>This isn't rocket science.<br> <br>Deborah Calvert daughter of the late Evelyn Calvert<br> and former assistant to Buzz Aldrin<br><br>
And not the management who's committed to the permanent injunction not to understaff and have broken equipment again? This sounds like political corruption to me.<br><br>Deborah Calvert<br> daughter of Evelyn Calvert<br> who died due to the fault of Sun Healthcare Group Inc. in a Newport Beach, Sunbridge facility while the DOJ was investigating these employees. <br> |
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