Notable Cases
Nursing home report cards is a site that ranks states based on the quality of their nursing homes. It also provides specific letter grades for each state. It shows rankings and data from a few different years. The current states with the best nursing homes are:
- Arizona
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- North Dakota
- Delaware
- Rhode Island
- Utah
- Vermont
Just because these states have good homes does not mean that neglect and abuse do not exist in these states. And just because Connecticut didn’t rank in the top ten does not mean that all nursing homes in that state are bad. Nursing home abuse can happen anywhere and to anyone admitted to a nursing home homes.
Neglect and abuse are cruel and terrible acts sometimes committed against the elderly. Once family members discover their loved one’s mistreatment, they sometimes choose to take action. In this section, I discuss a few neglect and abuse cases as well as their outcomes.
Abuse Caught on Camera
In Queens during August of 2014, a nanny camera caught one home health aide abusing a stroke victim. What’s even more disturbing is the fact that the aide knew that he was being watched. The aide got caught on camera violently shaking the victim. He got caught grabbing the client’s arm, and even smacking his hand.
The aide got arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of an elderly person. The victim had Parkinson’s disease, suffered from a stroke, and only weighed 115 pounds. Although the aide got released on bail, the family is still suing him and the company he worked for.
Ana Carrasco Case
In Chicago in 2001, a 57-year-old woman named Ana Carrasco, a recent cancer survivor, got admitted to a nursing home. She was admitted for two weeks of rehabilitation, so that she could start using a tracheostomy tube. Beating cancer is a magnificent feat for anyone, but especially for elder adults. The last thing that the Carrasco family expected from the cancer-surviving Ana during these two weeks was death. But, that was ultimately the case because of the nursing home’s negligence.
Because of the cancer, scar tissue and mucus had built up in Ana’s throat. This caused her to go on medication and a tracheostomy tube. Proper care for the tube involved cleaning it out three times a day for the two weeks that she was in the nursing home. After only five days of staying at the home, the staff had only cleaned out the tube two out of fifteen times since she had been admitted.
They also failed to give Ana her medication. As a result, Ana struggled to breathe. Both Ana and her daughter Sheila voiced their concerns about the issue. Their concerns were ignored by the nursing home and nothing was done to help Ana’s breathing issues.
Sheila tried to remove her mother from the home, but the process could not be completed overnight. Just one day before she was scheduled to be released from the nursing home, Ana suffered from respiratory failure. She went into a coma, which then ended in her unfortunate death. Sheila and the rest of her family fought to bring charges against the nursing home. After over four years battling with the nursing home, justice finally prevailed. The family was awarded $2.9 million for the negligence of the nursing home, Manor Care.
Peter Mazza Case
A man just on the cusp of his 100th birthday passed away in June of 2014. He died from injuries suffered in April because of the neglect of his home health aide. After the death of his wife, Peter Mazza of Staten Island, wanted to live the rest of his life in his own house. He didn’t want to live in a nursing home. His family brought in a home health aide to assist Peter during the days they could not be there with him.
The family installed cameras in the home, but made the home health aides that they hired aware of that fact. There is footage of one aide throwing Peter on his bed and tying him up in a blanket. Another clip shows Mazza falling and yelling for help, only to see the aide say, “I am not picking you up.” Peter never fully recovered from the injuries from this fall. He had broken ribs and many other bones, and passed away only a few weeks later. The family of Peter Mazza filed a lawsuit against the visiting nurse service. A verdict has not been reached yet.