Elderly Resident Tied to Her Recliner With a Bedsheet by Two New Jersey Nursing Home Workers, says Attorney General

Two employees of a New Jersey nursing home have been named in a 10-count indictment accusing them of assaulting a 93-year-old woman they were meant to be caring for at the home, says a Patch.com article.

As announced by the state attorney general’s office in July, Maria Alcantara, 53, and Joseph Robles, 23, both workers at Alcoeur Gardens, a memory care facility in Toms River, are charged with tying the elderly resident to a recliner with a bed sheet in mid-January and then not checking on her, according to court documents. Beyond this charge of blatant nursing home malpractice, Alcantara and Robles are accused of creating false records saying they checked on her every 30 minutes when they neglected to do so, according to state investigators.

This sort of falsification of records is a lesser known type of nursing home malpractice called false charting. Nursing home workers engage in false charting for the purpose of concealing mistakes and hiding neglect. False charting unfortunately enables workers to engage in prolonged poor care, endangering the health and well-being of residents. This particular type of nursing home malpractice can have the following negative impact on vulnerable elderly residents:

• the neglect and worsening of illnesses
• nursing home falls and injuries
• in extreme cases, death, requiring the involvement of a wrongful death attorney

The nursing home malpractice charges against Alcantara and Robles were made following an investigation by the Office of Insurance Fraud Prevention’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. In total, the accused employees have been jointly charged with ten counts of nursing home malpractice, including:

• two counts of neglect
• two counts of criminal restraint
• two counts of assault on an institutionalized or elderly person
• two counts of endangering an elderly person
• one count each of destruction, falsification, or alteration of medical records

According to the article, both Alcantara and Robles have pleaded not guilty.

“When we place our loved ones in the care of others, we rightfully expect that they will be treated with compassion, respect, and dignity,” said Attorney General Matthew Platkin. “We have a duty to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and we will advocate for them and prosecute those who exploit and mistreat vulnerable members of our society.”

Fighting Against Elder Abuse, Substandard Care, and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy strives to uphold the safety and the rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and New Jersey nursing home residents. Your loved one living in a Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home should be protected from assault and from any dangerous circumstance caused by false charting or any sort of nursing home malpractice. As an experienced nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy holds accountable those Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for any sort of negligence and abuse. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today.

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New Jersey Nursing Home Worker Indicted for Assaulting Resident with Bleach Spray

New Jersey nursing home worker indicted by a grand jury for abuse of a patient after spraying an elderly resident with bleach, says a Patch.com article. According to the article, Simone Goldsboro, 34, a worker at Dwellside Care & Rehab in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, sprayed bleach on a female nursing home resident’s face and body, a shocking act of nursing home malpractice. Goldsboro furthermore “purposely or recklessly” caused bodily injury by pulling the resident’s hair and aggressively undressing her, said the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (OAG). Goldsboro was charged last August with aggravated assault for the incident of nursing home malpractice.

According to an affidavit referenced in the article, police received word that a Dwellside worker had reportedly been routinely assaulting a patient; they responded by meeting at the home with the aforementioned victim’s daughter, who claimed to have witnessed nursing home malpractice in the form of abuse against her mother. The daughter shared with the authorities a video recording she had made showing Goldsboro pulling her mother’s hair, yanking a shirt over her head and face, and using a spray bottle to spray a liquid—later determined to be bleach—directly onto the patient’s face and body.

This incident of nursing home malpractice illustrates classic physical nursing home abuse. Physical abuse occurs when a nursing home staff member (or even another nursing home resident) uses deliberate physical action against a nursing home resident. Common types of physical nursing home abuse involve hitting, shoving, kicking, hair pulling, and more. If your loved one lives in a nursing home, it is important to watch for signs of physical abuse, including unexplained bruises, burns, scratches, or bone fractures, or uncharacteristic displays of anger, depression, or violence. Unchecked nursing home abuse can lead to serious injury or even death, unfortunately requiring the intervention of a wrongful death attorney.

 Fighting Nursing Home Neglect, Elder Abuse, and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy is dedicated to ensuring negligent Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes be held responsible for incidents of nursing home malpractice. As an experienced nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy fights untiringly to uphold the rights and preserve the health and safety of Philadelphia/PA and NJ nursing home residents. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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Tougher Sanctions Are Needed against New Jersey Nursing Homes that Repeatedly Put Residents at Risk, Says New Report

New Jersey has failed at holding the worst nursing home operators accountable for repeatedly subjecting residents to nursing home malpractice, says NJ.com. The article cites a long-awaited report by the New Jersey Task Force on Long-Term Care Quality and Safety, which calls for a sweeping transformation of the nursing home system in New Jersey.

Released in late May, the 74-page report called for tougher sanctions against nursing homes that repeatedly neglect to meet staffing and safety standards that safeguard against nursing home malpractice. The task force was created in 2020 to investigate what factors contributed to the shocking number of nursing home deaths in New Jersey during the pandemic—over 16,250 people through March 2022. The study concluded in August of last year, meaning 10 months elapsed before its findings became public.

Among its recommendations for the state’s nursing home industry—such as making facilities less like hospitals and more home-like, and making it easier for elderly citizens to receive support while staying in their own homes—the task force gave particular attention to those New Jersey nursing home operators recurrently cited for violations amounting to nursing home malpractice.

“There is a group of chronically poor performing facilities that consistently fail to provide high-quality, safe care, in some cases for many years,” said the report, which called for more resources to be dedicated to oversight and intervention. For operators guilty of such incidences of nursing home malpractice as violating the state’s minimum staffing law and other health and safety codes, the report suggested taking such actions as halting admissions, appointing a monitor, and imposing substantial fines.

This report comes on the heels of the March independent report on New Jersey’s response to the pandemic, which called the state’s nursing home response to Department of Health directives “inconsistent and confused,” allowing COVID-19 to run rampant in its nursing homes.

According to the article, another suggestion put forth in the report includes holding the nursing home industry more accountable for how it spends its money, and insisting on more detailed, verifiable, and transparent information about any person or entity that owns any part of a nursing home.

When nursing homes repeatedly fail to meet standards for staffing, health, and safety, it is the vulnerable residents who pay the price. Conditions are established that can lead to a host of issues equating to nursing home malpractice, including nursing home illnesses, injuries, and even death. If you’re concerned nursing home malpractice is occurring in your loved one’s nursing home don’t wait to contact a nursing home malpractice or a wrongful death attorney.

Advocating for Your Loved One against Nursing Home Abuse, Neglect, and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy is dedicated to protecting the safety and preserving the rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home residents. Your loved one living in a nursing home should not fear that their home’s negligence will result in illness or wrongful death. Attorney Brian Murphy has years of experience fighting negligent nursing homes in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. As a seasoned nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, he holds accountable the Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for elder abuse, neglect, and other types of nursing home malpractice. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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Staff Requirements are Falling Short for Most Pennsylvania and New Jersey Nursing Homes, Says Analysis

In 2026, federal staffing minimums will be implemented in an effort to address staffing shortages that contribute to incidences of nursing home malpractice. Few facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are close to meeting these minimums, a new report finds.

The majority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey nursing homes don’t meet the staffing requirements drafted under a new rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a Philly Voice article says. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, under 20 percent of Pennsylvania nursing homes and only 15 percent of New Jersey nursing homes meet certain staffing requirements due to take effect in 2026.

Following the pandemic, during which over 167,000 nursing home residents died, a severe drop in nursing home staff occurred. Subsequent reports of neglect, abuse, and nursing home malpractice followed. The CMS rule, proposed last year and released in finalized form in April, seeks to help resolve the low staffing that results in nursing home malpractice as well as tragic deadly incidents that require the intervention of a wrongful death attorney.

The finalized CMS rule will require a total nurse staffing standard of 3.48 hours per resident day (HPRD), which needs to include 0.55 HPRD for registered nurses and 2.45 HPRD for nurse aides. According to the Philly Voice article, the KFF analysis shows the following data related to Pennsylvania and New Jersey nursing homes vis-à-vis the staffing requirements:

• Pennsylvania – Only 18 percent of nursing homes currently provide the 2.45 HPRD from nurse aids, while 56 percent of homes meet the total nursing standard and under 70 percent meet the 0.55 HPRD for RNs.
• New Jersey – In New Jersey, 19 percent of nursing homes meet the minimum 2.45 HPRD from nurse aides, while 55 percent meet the registered nurse staffing standards, and just over 50 percent meet the total nursing standard.

Low staffing in nursing homes interferes with workers’ and nurses’ ability to adequately perform tasks and give care to vulnerable nursing home residents, which equates to nursing home malpractice in the following forms:

• Malnutrition and dehydration from inadequate provision of food and water
• Poor nursing home hygiene and the development/deterioration of bed sores
• Increased nursing home falls  and medication errors
• Nursing home illnesses
• Nursing home infections
• Nursing home injuries
• Wrongful death, necessitating the involvement of a wrongful death attorney

If you are worried about staffing levels at your loved one’s nursing home, or if you suspect injuries, illnesses, or wrongful death has occurred as a result of poor nursing home staffing, don’t hesistate—contact a nursing home malpractice or wrongful death attorney right away.

Holding Nursing Homes Responsible for Poor Staffing Levels

Your loved one living in a Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing home should not need to tolerate circumstances of nursing home malpractice related to low staffing, especially those that compromise their health and safety or subject them to the possibility of wrongful death. As a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian P. Murphy is committed to fighting for the health and safety of Philadelphia/PA and NJ nursing home residents. With extensive experience as a wrongful death attorney fighting negligent nursing homes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Brian Murphy is committed to successfully resolving his clients’ nursing home malpractice cases. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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Plea Deal Rejected by Federal Judge for Infamous New Jersey Nursing Home Operator

After establishing Skyline Healthcare, Joseph Schwartz’s nursing home chain rapidly expanded; by 2017 the operator was running 95 facilities in 11 states from his office above a New Jersey pizzeria. But thanks to alleged fraud, mismanagement, and serious resident neglect amounting to nursing home malpractice, the empire swiftly crumbled, displacing hundreds of elderly residents and leaving state regulators across the country to pick up the pieces.

A federal judge has rejected the plea deal negotiated for a New Jersey nursing home operator who admitted he devised a $38 million tax scam to finance a massive nursing home chain that collapsed after rampant, unchecked growth, a NJ.com article reports.

Joseph Schwartz, 64, the former CEO of the now-defunct nursing home chain Skyline Healthcare, pleaded guilty in January to failing to pay employment taxes withheld from Skyline employees and also to failing to file annual financial reports related to his employees’ 401k plan with the Department of Labor. Under the terms of Schwartz’s plea deal, which was negotiated between defense counsel and federal prosecutors, he would serve a year and one day in prison and pay $5 million in restitution; however, on May 23, U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton threw out the plea agreement and said Schwartz has until June 21 to retract his guilty plea. If he does not, sentencing will go as scheduled on July 17.

According to the article, court filings claimed Skyline Healthcare used a number of shell companies that existed only nominally and for the sole purpose of avoiding accountability and liability.

Beyond its failure to pay vendors, utilities, landlords, or wages to its staff, Skyline’s nursing homes subjected residents to a range of undesirable conditions equating to nursing home malpractice, including food shortages, drastic cuts in resources, staffing issues and cuts, and alarming reports of serious neglect including the following instances of nursing home malpractice:

• In Arkansas Skyline facilities: heightened unnecessary falls, unbathed residents, and gross neglect. One serious incidence of nursing home malpractice involved a resident had maggots living in their medical equipment; another involved a resident who was ignored for 45 minutes after falling to the floor and injuring his face.
• In Massachusetts Skyline facilities: drastic staff reductions and the rationing of adult diapers, leaving residents sitting in their own urine and filth, a dangerous example of nursing home malpractice that can lead to bed sores and infection.
• In a Tennessee Skyline facility, a grave incident of nursing home practice involved a resident who’d undergone a leg amputation and was discovered lying in his own feces with maggots and gangrene in his leg. The man died two days later, a circumstance that merits the involvement of a wrongful death attorney.

If you’re concerned about low staffing or serious neglect in your loved one’s nursing home, it is important to reach out to a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney.

Your Advocate against Nursing Home Neglect and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy is dedicated to protecting the safety and preserving the rights of residents in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing homes. Your loved one should not fear that his or her nursing home will be understaffed or otherwise mismanaged by negligent operators, leading to such consequences of nursing home malpractice as bed sores, injuries, or especially wrongful death. Attorney Brian Murphy is experienced in taking to task negligent nursing homes in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. As a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, he holds Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes accountable for all types of nursing home malpractice. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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Evidence of Fraud and Nursing Home Malpractice Leads New Jersey to Suspend Two Nursing Homes from Medicaid:

In the wake of a New York lawsuit alleging their owners took millions in Medicare funds from their New York nursing homes to enrich themselves, New Jersey has planned to suspend two poor-performing New Jersey nursing homes from receiving Medicare.

New Jersey is planning to suspend two nursing homes from Medicaid in light of evidence of substantial Medicare fraud by their owners and as a result of poor care amounting to nursing home malpractice, says a Philadelphia Inquirer article. Both Deptford Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare and Hammonton Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare will be suspended from Medicaid by the New Jersey Comptroller’s Medicaid Fraud Unit as of May 25.

The owners of the Deptford and Hammonton facilities, Kenneth Rozenberg, Beth Rozenberg, and Daryl Hagler, have been sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James for allegedly using $83 million in Medicare funds from four of their New York nursing homes for their own personal enrichment. The lawsuit also accuses the owners of subjecting their residents to nursing home malpractice in the form of substandard care as a result of poor staffing. According to the lawsuit, the owners’ New York nursing home residents were victims of nursing home malpractice across the following forms as a consequence of the alleged fraud:

• Prolonged Neglect: Residents were left sitting in their own urine and feces for extended periods of time.
• Nursing home infections: Substandard wound care and neglect of bed sores led certain residents to develop serious infections and even sepsis, a frequently deadly condition that ultimately could require the involvement of a wrongful death attorney.
• Dehydration and malnutrition: As a result of neglect, residents experienced severe dehydration and malnutrition, both of which can be fatal for the vulnerable elderly, demanding the intervention of a wrongful death attorney.
• Nursing home falls: Some residents experienced severe injuries from falls; others died, says the lawsuit. Families whose loved ones suffer a fatal fall in a nursing home should contact a wrongful death attorney.

Like the New York homes, Deptford Center and Hammonton Center also have histories of substandard care equating to nursing home malpractice. As per the Inquirer article, both facilities have received numerous citations for health and safety violations. Both the Deptford and Hammonton facilities have been given one-star quality ratings on the federal Nursing Home Care Compare web site.

According to the Inquirer, New Jersey’s long-term care ombudsman Laurie Facciarossa Brewer called the suspension of the two nursing homes “richly deserved.” New Jersey State Comptroller Kevin Walsh defended the scheduled plan to suspend the homes in a press release.

“When there is evidence of fraud of this magnitude, and when a judge has acted to prevent further siphoning and self-dealing, we have a duty to act,” said Walsh. “To protect New Jersey Medicaid and the residents who rely on it, we must stop the flow of Medicaid funds to these individuals, and we must require them to step aside.”

Fighting Against Neglectful Care, Elder Abuse, and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy is dedicated to protecting the safety and preserving the rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home residents. As a seasoned nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy endeavors to hold accountable those Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for negligence and abuse and every kind of nursing home malpractice. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today.

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Resident-on-Resident Attacks on the Rise in New Jersey Nursing Homes: With the increased number of residents with dementia in New Jersey nursing homes corresponds a growth in occurrences of resident-on-resident nursing home abuse.

According to a NJ Advance Media article, resident-on-resident attacks in New Jersey nursing homes are trending upwards, particularly in dementia wards. In the article, New Jersey State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Laurie Facciarossa Brewer said that resident-on-resident assault incidents went up from 259 to 456 from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2022, and are already showing an uptick for 2023. As only a portion of incidents are reported to the state agency, the actual number for the state might be higher.

NJ Advance Media conducted an examination of abuse reports against New Jersey nursing homes that revealed a number of alleged incidents of violent, “out-of-control” resident-on-resident attacks initiated by residents with a history of verbal or physical aggression at the homes where they reside. According to the article, persons with dementia can experience confusion, agitation, and a tendency toward aggression, particularly late in the day and/or if the patient is coping with a urinary tract infection or taking multiple medications. Often, acts of aggression or violence are signs the person is not receiving proper supervision and care. Brewer said some cases revealed circumstances in which nursing homes had accepted individuals whose needs could not be met by the facility.

A violent incident involving two or more residents is known as resident-on-resident abuse. This type of nursing home abuse often occurs when nursing home staff neglects to provide adequate supervision and especially when staff fails to separate residents with violent tendencies from others. Failure to take the proper measure to avoid resident-on-resident abuse is an example of nursing home malpractice. Nursing home staff is required to have de-escalation training in order to diffuse potentially dangerous situations; moreover, nursing homes should take measures to separate aggressive residents from others to prevent injury, and document any incidents of aggression. Not doing these things indicates the kind of dangerous neglect that amounts to nursing home malpractice.

The article referenced the alleged assault and wrongful death of Clara Sutowski, who died in the hospital in January from blunt force trauma after being attacked by another resident at AristaCare at Cedar Oaks in South Plainfield. Sutowski’s death was ruled a homicide, and her alleged assailant has been charged with reckless manslaughter. AristaCare was cited with licensure violations related to Sutowski’s death. These citations of nursing home malpractice included the following failures of the facility:

• A failure to ensure residents were not subjected to physical abuse
• A failure to “supervise and monitor a resident who had prior aggressive behaviors”
• A failure to protect residents from experiencing physical resident-on-resident abuse

When resident-on-resident violence directly causes death—as in the case of Sutowski—and the facility where the resident resides has failed to take the necessary precautions to avert violence and injury, it is strongly possible that nursing home wrongful death has occurred. In these circumstances, or in any situation where the death of a resident appears to have resulted from nursing home malpractice, an experienced skilled wrongful death attorney should immediately be contacted.

Fighting Elder Abuse, Nursing Home Malpractice, and Wrongful Death

An experienced nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian P. Murphy diligently holds Philadelphia/PA and NJ nursing homes responsible for nursing home abuse and neglect. Residents of Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes should feel safe within the facilities in which they live, and should expect their rights guaranteed under federal law to be upheld.  Having practiced for years as a wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy fearlessly confronts negligent nursing homes and steadfastly pursues the successful resolution of his clients’ cases. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your

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Proposed Bill Seeks to Prevent New Jersey Nursing Homes from Financially Victimizing Residents:

New legislation has been introduced to prevent New Jersey nursing homes, or any entities associated with these homes, from managing residents’ financial affairs without a court order, says an article on nj.com. The legislation comes in the wake of two alleged events of nursing home malpractice in which vulnerable residents lost their assets when a financial agent affiliated with the nursing home industry acted as their power of attorney.

Both of the aforementioned alleged nursing home malpractice cases involved the Brooklyn-based financial company Future Care Consultants, and its CEO, Shmuel “Sam” Stern. Stern assumed total control over the assets of two nursing home residents, Suzanne Araneo and Peter Bonnano, when these residents signed power of attorney documents under questionable circumstances. In both cases the only witnesses of the signing were members of nursing home staff. Both nursing home residents were subsequently drained of their assets. The stories go as follows:

• Suzanne Araneo allegedly signed a power of attorney while under heavy medication at Anchor Care & Rehabilitation, giving over to Stern every power to sell, transfer or dispose of her assets. The notarization of Araneo’s signature on the power of attorney documents was by someone not present at the time of signing. Araneo later discovered that all of her possessions had been sold off or thrown away, including her car. Among the allegations of nursing home malpractice in the lawsuit filed against Anchor Care were the following accusations: false imprisonment, breach of contract, and violation of the rights of a nursing home resident.
• Peter Bonanno also signed away his assets to Stern while staying at Lakeland Health Care Center following a brief hospital stay, despite the fact that existing documentation showed his sister was in control of these assets.Stern allegedly liquidated several bank accounts jointly held by Bonanno and his sister, diverting nearly $60,000 to the nursing home. Lakeland then used these funds as a basis for billing Bonanno at the private pay rate, which is more profitable than the Medicaid rate, claimed Bonanno’s attorney.

The proposed bill, introduced by state Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex and co-sponsored by Sen. Robert Singer, R-Ocean, aims to prevent nursing homes and associates from managing the financial affairs of nursing home residents “except pursuant to an order of the Superior Court appointing that person as guardian.” The legislation moreover would ban nursing home owners or workers from acting under a power of attorney on behalf of residents.

In the cases of both Araneo and Bonanno, no guardianship and accompanying court review were involved in deciding whether or not someone ought to be handling these residents’ affairs or if signing powers of attorney were in their best interests. Vitale’s bill would establish extra protections for residents against this sort of nursing home malpractice by requiring guardian appointments.

Fighting against Elder Abuse, Nursing Home Malpractice, and Wrongful Death

As a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian P. Murphy is committed to fighting for the health and safety of Philadelphia/PA an NJ nursing home residents. Your loved one living in a Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing home, should feel safe and sufficiently cared for and not need to worry about being subjected to nursing home abuse/neglect.  Brian Murphy’s extensive experience working as a wrongful death attorney and fighting negligent nursing homes demonstrates his commitment to holding nursing homes responsible for nursing home malpractice. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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Two Dementia Patients Die Following Brutal Resident Assaults in New Jersey Nursing Home:

Investigations are underway at two nursing homes in Central Jersey where violent resident-on-resident attacks led to the deaths of two 91-year-olds in January, says an article on NJ1015.com. Set in neighboring counties and owned and operated by separate nursing home owners, AristaCare at Cedar Oaks in South Plainfield and Complete Care in Westfield were the sites of the deadly resident assaults; in both cases the victims were patients being treated for dementia.

According to the article, the details of the assaults leading the wrongful death of the two dementia patients, both nonagenarian, are as follows:

• Clara Sutkowski, a dementia patient at AristaCare, was assaulted on January 16 by an 81-year-old man with a history of combative behavior. Sutkowski’s assailant struck her in the head and knocked her to the floor, resulting in an untreatable brain bleed. Sutkowski died three days later at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where the county medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.
• Herman Walker, a resident with dementia at Complete Care, was reportedly attacked in his bed by a roommate, a 61-year-old man who also had dementia. After being hospitalized for about two weeks, Walker succumbed to his injuries, just a day after Sutkowski’s death.

With the investigations still underway for both incidents, no official charges of wrongful death or nursing home malpractice have been filed by attorneys at this time. Both the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating the respective incidents. The families of the victims are meanwhile waiting for explanations as to whether nursing home malpractice has played a role; Complete Care stated in a letter sent to families of residents that staff response to its incident was done “swiftly and responsibly” and that all “policies, procedures, and protocols to ensure resident safety” were followed.

A violent incident involving two or more residents is known as resident-on-resident abuse. This type of nursing home abuse often occurs when nursing home staff neglects to provide adequate supervision and especially when staff fails to separate residents with violent tendencies from others. Failure to take the proper measures to avoid resident-on-resident abuse is an example of nursing home malpractice.

When the violent actions of one resident directly causes the death of another—as was the circumstance in the homicide of Clara Sutkowski and appears to be the case with Herman Walker—and it is furthermore shown that the nursing home failed to take the necessary steps to avoid the violent actions, it is very likely that nursing home wrongful death has occurred. In such cases, or in any event where nursing home malpractice is suspected to have brought about the death of a nursing home resident, an experienced skilled wrongful death attorney should immediately be contacted.

Fighting Elder Abuse, Nursing Home Malpractice, and Wrongful Death

As a seasoned nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian P. Murphy has spent years holding Philadelphia/PA and NJ nursing homes responsible for nursing home abuse and neglect. Residents of Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes should feel secure in expecting their rights guaranteed under federal law will be upheld at the facilities in which they live.  Having practiced for years as a wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy fearlessly confronts negligent nursing homes and steadfastly pursues the successful resolution of his clients’ cases. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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Nursing Home Neglect Incites Plans for Federal Staffing Minimums: Decades of evidence shows that insufficient staffing leads to a higher occurrence of nursing home neglect, poor care, and other evidence of nursing home malpractice.

The Biden Administration is formulating plans for federal staffing minimum requirements for American nursing homes, says the Washington Post, as evidence continues to show that nursing homes with low levels of nurse staffing have more frequent occurrences of resident complications that demonstrate nursing home malpractice.

According to the National Institutes of Health, since the 1980s it has been “common knowledge” within the nursing home industry that inadequate nursing staff within a nursing home has a negative impact both on the quality of care residents receive and the quality of life residents can have—deficiencies that add up to a classic definition of nursing home malpractice. But even with the 2001 release of a study by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that found 4.1 hours of nursing care per resident per day (or one nurse per seven residents for day and evening shifts) was the minimum to avoid incidents of nursing home malpractice like allowing residents to fall or to develop bed sores, no requirement was implemented. And even with years of studies, inspections, and lawsuits since 2001 that have evidenced the link between low staffing and poor quality of care, a low percentage of American nursing homes—about 33 percent as of 2019, says the article—meet the 4.1 hours recommended by CMS.

The article included examples of enforcement actions and lawsuits filed against nursing homes to illustrate how insufficient staffing can result in incidents of nursing home malpractice. Among the cited examples of nursing home malpractice as a result of poor staffing included the following:

• A Washington state nursing home where there were four nurses for 110 residents; multiple residents received their insulin hours late, and others received insufficient wound care or were left untreated for pain.
• A Detroit nursing home where scheduled nurses called out for the weekend, leaving no nurses to distribute medications for pain, hypertension, blood clotting, and heart problems.
• A Chicago nursing home with between 2-4 caregivers for 72 residents, who often were left bedridden in their own urine and feces.
• The Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver, Pa., upon which Pennsylvania National Guard troops descended in the spring of 2020 during a COVID-19 outbreak that ranked among the worst in the nation. Allegations of staffing violations led to a subsequent federal investigation, resulting in criminal indictments against executives and administrators.

Nursing home neglect incites plans for federal staffing minimums, which are expected to come down in 2023. They will be formulated based on a new analysis of nursing home processes and will need to overcome nursing home lobbyists, who prevailed over a 2016 proposal for a national staffing minimum.

Defending Against Nursing Home Malpractice and Wrongful Death

As a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian P. Murphy tirelessly fights to uphold the health and safety of residents in Philadelphia/PA and NJ nursing homes. You should feel confident that your loved one living in a Pennsylvania or New Jersey nursing home will receive the proper amount and quality of care he or she deserves. Years of experience as a wrongful death attorney fighting negligent Philadelphia/PA and NJ nursing homes has equipped Brian Murphy to successfully resolve numerous nursing home malpractice cases. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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