A former nursing home executive was indicted this week in connection with alleged healthcare fraud totaling more than $407 million. A federal grand jury in the Western District of Wisconsin returned an indictment yesterday charging Kevin Breslin, 56, of Hoboken, New Jersey, with a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid…
Elmiron, the brand-name for the drug pentosan polysulfate sodium, is used to treat interstitial cystitis, which is a painful chronic bladder condition. Unfortunately, researchers have now discovered a clear link between the use of Elmiron and a progressive eye disorder known as pigmentary maculopathy. Pigmentary maculopathy affects the eye’s…
A particularly disturbing story came out of Winston Salem, North Carolina last month. Three North Carolina assisted living employees were arrested for encouraging patients to get into fights for their own entertainment, according to a report from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services North Carolina authorities were…
A recent study, conducted jointly by Harvard and Vanderbilt medical schools, found understaffing in 75 percent of nursing facilities across the United States. The study published in the Journal of Health Affairs, obtained data from the Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) to analyze the staffing levels of more than 15,000…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, released a report this month, which concluded that many incidents of abuse and neglect at nursing homes are not always reported or investigated. The Inspector General determined that almost one out of five incidents in which a…
On March 28, 2019, a hearing was held before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) regarding the 3M Combat Arms Earplug lawsuits. The hearing took place in Washington, DC. The JPML is a panel comprised of federal judges, who decide where the cases will be consolidated for all pretrial litigation. …
Thousands of U.S. soldiers and veterans are believed to have suffered hearing loss because of defective earplugs sold by 3M Company to the U.S. government. 3M’s defective earplugs, known as the Dual-Ended Combat Arms Earplugs (version 2), did not function as 3M claimed they would function. The earplugs were not…
Earlier this month, a nursing home resident who had been in a vegetative state for eleven years gave birth inside Hacienda HealthCare, a nursing home in Phoenix, Arizona. Caregivers at the nursing home have told investigators they were shocked and had no idea the resident was pregnant. A frantic 911…
Nursing home facilities in Georgia, and around the country, are evaluated on a routine basis by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as well as state agencies that regulate nursing homes. The purpose of the evaluations is to determine whether nursing homes are ensuring resident safety by complying…
NBC News reported this week on the number of nursing home patients who are transferred to hospitals and subsequently die from sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. Sepsis often occurs when an infection is untreated or treated inadequately. Sepsis occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight…