This is beyond appalling. Beyond disgusting.

[cali]

Man Found With Maggots In Eye Dies
Cause Of Death Not Known

POSTED: 2:57 pm EST January 21, 2008
UPDATED: 4:12 pm EST January 21, 2008


DELTONA, Fla. -- A Volusia County nursing home resident who was found with maggots in one of his eyes, an infected breathing tube, a partially inserted cathater and bed sores has died, according to his family.

Anthony Digiannurio, of Deltona, was 82 years old when he was transported in November from the University Center West nursing home to Florida Hospital DeLand, where staff members discovered the ailments.

It is not known if the cause of death was related to the aforementioned conditions.

According to a DeLand police report released in November, a representative from University Center West said that the man had constant care from multiple hospice workers and two certified nursing aides at the nursing home.

<snip>

http://www.local6.com/health/15104379/detail.html

[lonestarnot]

1. OMG! shut those fuckers down! Dogs at the dog pound get better treatment!

[meegbear]

2. There are times I think it would be better if they died in the street ...

than in one of those places.

Horrible. :cry:

[roguevalley]

37. sweet jesus. My grandpa was in one and my mom and uncle went

twice a day after work. she fed the guy in the next bed when she was there because he'd had a stroke and couldn't swallow and the 'nurses' weren't helping him. He was SOOOSOSOOSOSOSO hungry. Mom called his family and they did their best but he died, poor man. This makes me sick. They say though that only about 5% of the people in America will ever be in a nursing home. I want to step in front of a bus before this ever becomes my fate.

[flashl]

3. The man had constant care?

Nursing homes are being bought by 'private equity' companies, I don't think they are in it to provide care.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. This happened in Florida?

Why am I not surprised...

[Angela Shelley]

5. and I thought that Florida is paradise for Senior Citizens?

[Cooley Hurd]

7. Only if you're a senior citizen with means to stay out of the State systems...

If you're poor, then you're at the mercy of the banana republic created by John Ellis Bush...

[knitter4democracy]

32. Hubby hates that state--he's lost patients there.

Snowbirds head to Florida from up here in Michigan for the winter, and he can't follow them. Then, they get really ill, and he doesn't even know. He's had patients die down there due to crappy care, and it pisses him off. One of my good friend's mom had a liver problem while visiting family in Florida and almost died. After a couple of days, my friend called Hubby in hysterics, and he did what he could over the phone to get the right testing and medication. He just kept getting stonewalled. Infuriating.

[xchrom]

6. ''It is not known if the cause of death was related to the aforementioned conditions. ''

well -- it didn't help!!! :eyes:

[shireen]

8. A sickening story and i hope that nursing home faces criminal charges. But I also wonder ...

where was this man's family? Or was he alone with no one to keep an eye on him? If he was alone and unable to make decisions for himself, why wasn't there a court-appointed guardian to look out for his interests?

Someone besides his so-called caregivers at the nursing home must have noticed something was wrong, perhaps a doctor, or someone visiting another patient, or someone in housekeeping. Why didn't SOMEONE call social services? Even if a nursing home staff member had reported it anonymously, that would have been something. There were witnesses to this man's plight and they did NOTHING.

There will be great outrage over it, politicians will placate the people with talk of reforms, and for a while, all nursing homes will be under scrutiny. After that, it will be back to business as usual.

When Obama talked about a "deficit of empathy" in his recent speech, this is exactly what he meant. But how do you fix callous disregard for another human being? I don't know.

[flashl]

11. Social services in Florida is a misnomer ...

Report: Florida still inept handling foster care rape cases

Florida's DCF is 'famous' for losing children in foster care, yet, its doors are still open.

[fed-up]

30. when my mom was in a SNIF post stroke-skilled nursing home-it took me/sis 4 tries to get a doctor

for her when she was having a gall bladder attack. She was aphasic and right hemi-plegic and at that point was capable of almost no speech. I said she was in pain, nurse came in and took her pulse said all was fine. When doctor finally came he listened to her bowel sounds and said she was fine. Sis and I persisted and finally they okayed a trip back to Kaiser for a CAT? scan. Yep, it was the gall bladder..

She also was given thin liquids (not supposed to have them as she couldn't swallow properly and could have gotten asperation pneumonia.

We had to run around to different floors to find diapers for her. We were the ones that changed her most of the time as the aides were too busy. We also gave sponge baths and took the 30 miutes to feed her and do her range of motion exercises and other therapies. I think each aide had sixteen patients to care for. That works out to less than 4 minutes an hour per patient, less really as they also had to do some paperwork.

She almost fell out of bed as they forgot to put up the railings, she was found halfway out. Who knows how long she had been like that.

They would leave her food/milk on her tray for at least 5 hours leaving her to drink/eat possibly spoiled items.

There is more, but that is all I can remember right now.

My sis and I spent two months driving 3 hours each way to share the week as caregivers/watchers.

I hate to think what would have happened it we weren't there...it was the only ursing home that had an opening that Kaiser would cover.

I was so glad when she recovered enough to go to the Rehab center and then come home where I took care of her for almost 3 years.

[shireen]

36. i'm so sorry to hear that,

and absolutely appalled to hear what you and sis had to go thru. Your mom was very fortunate to have you both.

[Iktomiwicasa]

9. It speaks

volumes about a culture who routinely toss their old people into those types of places to begin with.

[Vinca]

10. It makes me terrified of getting old in this country. nt

[EV_Ares]

12. If this is true, someone should be prosecuted for this; they had already

found 18 deficiencies since 06 and this now.

K&R.

[EV_Ares]

13. USA Today Article; Seniors Head South To Mexican Nursing Homes T

Seniors head south to Mexican nursing homes

By Chris Hawley, USA TODAY

AJIJIC, Mexico — After Jean Douglas turned 70, she realized she couldn't take care of herself anymore. Her knees were giving out, and winters in Bandon, Ore., were getting harder to bear alone.
Douglas was shocked by the high cost and impersonal care at assisted-living facilities near her home. After searching the Internet for other options, she joined a small but steadily growing number of Americans who are moving across the border to nursing homes in Mexico, where the sun is bright and the living is cheap.

For $1,300 a month — a quarter of what an average nursing home costs in Oregon — Douglas gets a studio apartment, three meals a day, laundry and cleaning service, and 24-hour care from an attentive staff, many of whom speak English. She wakes up every morning next to a glimmering mountain lake, and the average annual high temperature is a toasty 79 degrees.

"It is paradise," says Douglas, 74. "If you need help living or coping, this is the place to be. I don't know that there is such a thing back (in the USA), and certainly not for this amount of money."

As millions of baby boomers reach retirement age and U.S. health care costs soar, Mexican nursing home managers expect more American seniors to head south in coming years. Mexico's proximity to the USA, low labor costs and warm climate make it attractive, although residents caution that quality of care varies greatly in an industry that is just getting off the ground here.

An estimated 40,000 to 80,000 American retirees already live in Mexico, many of them in enclaves like San Miguel de Allende or the Chapala area, says David Warner, a University of Texas public affairs professor who has studied the phenomenon. There are no reliable data on how many are living in nursing homes, but at least five such facilities are on Lake Chapala alone.

entire article @ link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-15-mexnursinghome_N.htm

[Arkansas Granny]

18. More outsourcing. I had seen a report not too long ago on TV

about a family who had sent elderly parents to India for senior care. The only source I can find for this report is here:

Tuesday, July 31, 2007
OUTSOURCE YOUR PARENTS TO INDIA!
What do you do when your aging parents need responsive and attentive nursing home care but cannot afford it? How about outsourcing them to India!

Steve Herzfeld was exhausted and faced with spending his family's last resources to put his parents in an affordable Florida nursing home – so he decided to ship them to India. Today his 89-year-old mother, who suffers from advanced Parkinson's disease, gets daily massages, physical therapy and 24-hour help getting to the bathroom, all for about $15 a day. His father, 93, an Alzheimer's patient, has a full-time personal assistant and a cook who has won him over to a vegetarian diet healthy enough that he no longer needs his cholesterol medication.

Although the costs are lower and the care as good or better, it is a sad day when nursing homes in America cannot provide quality care at a reasonable expense.

http://legalmedicine.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2007-08-12T12%3A02%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=50

[EV_Ares]

22. Thanks for that article, hadn't seen that one. You know, with our laws and

everything, there is no common sense or ground for anything. I know a very small village not far from where I lived and there was a couple who had a large old home. As in many small towns, the population was aging, the young would go off to college and to the cities as myself. These people took in a couple of older people so they could stay in the community and around their friends, play cards, go to their church, etc. Well, that grew from a couple to some others who were not able to maintain their own homes. Everything was great, everyone was very happy, they all were around their lifelong friends, were able to walk down the street to the grocery store or just walk, everyone looked out for them, they were all able to help in the kitchen, cleaning and look after one another.

However, when the State found out about this, they came in, the people did not meet the codes and they were running a business, etc & as a result could not keep these people in their home. The people had to go to nursing homes around the area and got separated and had to leave a place they were all very happy in and the people were willing to help them stay in the community where they raised their families, spouses had died and were buried. To me that was very sad. That is about all I know of the details as my parents told me about it. I think they tried to do some things so they could stay but couldn't afford to do it to meet all the criteria or something.

[Le Taz Hot]

27. I actually talked to several American retirees in Chapala

several years ago. They pretty much told me the same thing. These people were actually renting houses around Lake Chapala as opposed to living in nursing homes but they said the cost of living was WAY cheaper than in the U.S. They were able to afford services such as housekeeping (local residents appreciated the jobs) that they never would have been able to afford in the U.S. They told me temperature around the lake didn't vary more than 15 degrees the entire year. Believe me, as you get older, these things become essential to quality of life.

[Waya]

14. Yea, ok - problem......

Certified Nurses Aides and Hospice workers can't do anything with a partially inserted catheter and/or an infected breathing tube. A Nurse and a Doctor will have to deal with that. Bedsores need treatment - again, Doctor and Nurse. Nurses Aides are glorified butt-wipers - I was one until I became a nurse, so I should know.

[Vektor]

17. Agreed, but the patients should be repositioned to prevent the pressure ulcers.

Chances are, this facility, like just about every hospital and care home in America is understaffed, and the staff they do have are not getting proper support or training from those in charge. They likely have way more patients than they can properly care for.

I'm in the same field you are - the hospitals are bad enough - the skilled nursing facilities are often horror shows.

[Waya]

24. Oh, I agree with you .......

Patients with bedsores should be turned every 2 hours at least - if not more often. However, it has been my experience that the care a patient receives in a facility reflects how much the 'higher ups'like the Administrator, the DON, the RNs, the LPNs and the doctors 'give a damn' about the standard of care. If their standards are lousy, chances are the Nurses Aides ain't gonna give a damn either. They are the ones who are lowest paid but saddled with the most work. I remember constantly working short - 15 patients per Aide on average, Nurses that couldn't be bothered with anything except pushing the med cart around looking important, Doctor's who came for 5 minutes, listened to the Nurse's report and writing prescriptions without ever seeing the patient in question. And when the standard of care slacked to an appalling level - it was the Nurses Aides who got blamed for it.

I did this for years - then I became an LPN and went into Home Care.

[Vektor]

26. Awful isn't it?

I wonder if anything can or will be done to fix our broken healthcare system - and how many tragedies like the one described in the OP are going to have to happen before society wakes up.

[flashl]

28. I grew up listening to my mother rant

and rail about level of 'care' in nursing home for more than 30 years. She was literally afraid to take a day off because she feared what would happen to the patients.

[TwilightGardener]

20. True--I started out as an aide before I became a nurse. However, it

is the aides' duty to report any problems, redness, signs of infection...maggots...to the nurse in charge of this patient's care. All should be fired, and there's certainly a case for a neglect suit here.

[Waya]

25. Sure, it is.......

But what if the Nurses don't give a damn? Had it happen. Reported a patient with a bad gash down her leg - she had paper thin skin. Nurse said it happens all the time, don't worry about it. What are ya supposed to do, then? I'm not defending the Nurses Aides in this facility, mind you, it's deplorable.....just saying, tho.....

[TwilightGardener]

31. That is a problem, if the professionals in charge are just shitty. The home

I worked in as an aide was part of a chain of Lutheran-run nursing homes, and it was very well-run, with caring and dutiful LPN's and RN's. Having been both an aide and an RN, I can't imagine an aide not notifying the LPN/RN of a problem, and I can't imagine the nurse not taking action--why risk your hard-earned license, your bread and butter, because you can't be bothered to spend 5 minutes assessing your patient and ensuring he or she is turned and keeping any red areas from breaking down and catheters patent and infection-free? It's all an easy fix--a nurse could have treated and charted on this guy and contacted an MD for AB's in minutes, no problem--his problems were just a question of maintenance and hygiene. Stunning and sad.

[Benhurst]

15. The miracle of the market place.

The Republicans have all the good ideas.

[Vektor]

16. Oh, my God. So damn sad... so few care homes have adequate staff...

... or are inspected often enough. Many times, with the shortage of qualified health care workers in this country, people are improperly trained, given way too many patients, and not enough training or support from senior staff members. This problem runs SO deep. Nurses, CNA's and other assistive medical personnel are underpaid for the amount of responsibility they have, and in an effort to "make a buck" hospitals and care homes are heaping more and more responsibility upon the workers, while refusing to hire more staff, or pay existing staff what they deserve. As a result, less and less people are entering the field, the nursing shortage is getting worse, but the aging population is getting bigger.

This is why nurse to patient ratios, fair pay, more staff, and proper training of health care workers as well as regular inspections of all health care facilities are so necessary and important.

My god, what a terrible situation.

We all know the current government doesn't care about the elderly and infirm, so we can't expect any help there. :cry:

This is only going to get worse before it gets better.

[roody]

19. Good thing he did not live in Communist Cuba

where people are treated badly!!!

[EV_Ares]

23. Communism and Socialism is very bad in comparison to our Christian Capitalist society where

we look after our children, the poor and the elderly.

[Virginia Dare]

21. This is the result of making profits from the sick and the infirm..

you're right, it's beyond disgusting.

[Highway61]

29. and the owners of the "nursing" home

are laughing all the way to the bank. The "caregivers" at these places are NOT nurses by any means. The "aides" are paid very little and do not give a rats ass about giving any care...worked at a few in my day and couldn't deal with the cutting corners. Been a nurse all my life and I know what the score is.
Healthcare in the good ole USA at it best. Disgusting.

[cali]

34. this is disgusting and all too common

but I just want to say that I had a very good experience with the facility where my father spent his last months. They provided wonderful, compassionate care in a comfortable and attractive setting.

Waveny is a model program. We feel lucky that he had that kind of care.

http://www.waveny.org/default.html

[Highway61]

35. Your very lucky Cali

don't get me wrong, there are a LOT of wonderful facilities. However, there are a too many "beautiful" nursing homes out there with deplorable conditions on the inside that most cannot see.

[Xenotime]

33. That's healthcare in america for you.

[dajoki]

38. From an earlier post...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1887251

Sickening story: Private investors purchasing nursing homes, making millions, patients are suffering
More Profit and Less Nursing at Many Homes
By CHARLES DUHIGG
Published: September 23, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/business/23nursing.ht...

<<snip>>

The investors and operators were soon earning millions of dollars a year from their 49 (nursing) homes.

Residents fared less well. Over three years, 15 at Habana died from what their families contend was negligent care in lawsuits filed in state court. Regulators repeatedly warned the home that staff levels were below mandatory minimums. When regulators visited, they found malfunctioning fire doors, unhygienic kitchens and a resident using a leg brace that was broken.

“They’ve created a hellhole,” said Vivian Hewitt, who sued Habana in 2004 when her mother died after a large bedsore became infected by feces.

<<snip>>

The typical nursing home acquired by a large investment company before 2006 scored worse than national rates in 12 of 14 indicators that regulators use to track ailments of long-term residents. Those ailments include bedsores and easily preventable infections, as well as the need to be restrained. Before they were acquired by private investors, many of those homes scored at or above national averages in similar measurements.

<<snip>>

The Byzantine structures established at homes owned by private investment firms also make it harder for regulators to know if one company is responsible for multiple centers. And the structures help managers bypass rules that require them to report when they, in effect, pay themselves from programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

<<snip>>

When Mrs. Hewitt sued Habana over her mother’s death, for example, she found that its owners and managers had spread control of Habana among 15 companies and five layers of firms.

Previous Articles in the Series:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/series/gold...