Articles Posted in Nursing Home Abuse

Entertainment legend Mickey Rooney, age 90, testified before the U.S. Senate earlier this month that he had suffered abuse for years by family members and other caregivers. Rooney told the Senate that he had been abused in many ways, including emotional and financial abuse.

Rooney was among witnesses who testified before a Senate panel looking at what elder rights advocates describe as a “chronic problem” of senior citizens abused by caregivers at home and in nursing homes. Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) introduced legislation that would create an Office of Elder Justice within the Department of Justice to help coordinate law enforcement’s response to cases of elder abuse. Rooney believes that a law should be passed by Congress making elder abuse a specific crime.

A Baltimore County, Maryland nursing home abuse lawyer is familiar with laws and regulations that are supposed to protect senior citizens from abuse and neglect. Maryland nursing homes are entrusted with caring for our senior Americans who deserve to live their golden years in comfort and peace. Sadly, some seniors fall victim to abuse and neglect by family members, caregivers, and nursing home staff — suffering physical abuse and injuries that can lead to wrongful death in Maryland.

The Maryland Attorney General’s office issued a press release regarding sentencing in a recent case of nursing home abuse in Northern Maryland. While many nursing home abuse cases involve assault or neglect of a resident, this case involves something we hear less about, but is just as abusive — theft of pain medication from an elderly patient who needed it.

According to Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, a 34-year-old man from Hagerstown, Md., pled guilty to stealing a Fentanyl pain medication patch from a 94-year-old patient. The perpetrator was employed as a nursing assistant in a Washington County, Maryland nursing home.

Baltimore County nursing home abuse lawyers assist families who believe a loved one may be suffering from abuse or neglect at a Maryland nursing home.

A new report by the Alzheimer’s Association reveals that Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, is on the rise. Some daunting statistics:

• Alzheimer’s disease affects one in eight people over age 65 (a total of 5.1 million senior citizens).
• In addition, 200,000 younger people experience early onset of the disease, bringing the total number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease to 5.3 million.