Healthcare Compliance Perspective:
Individual occurrences, in an of themselves, are compliance exposures, however repeated occurrences based on systemic issues may raise the potential for fraud allegations and potential compliance liability.
Alleging that a nursing home was responsible for elder abuse, negligent hiring and supervision and assault, a former resident has filed suit in Fresno County Superior Court. The former resident contends that he had to have his right eye surgically removed after being attacked by his roommate not once but twice. He further contends that after the first attack by his roommate, the nursing home staff did not intervene and prevent further attacks from occurring.
The nursing home claims that it “provides nothing short of stellar care and is a local leader in the industry.” The lawyer for the nursing home calls the lawsuit “another ‘shakedown’ type of lawsuit” due to what he termed “false advertisements” that the plaintiffs lawyer placed on social media as a way of getting additional clients to sue.
The lawsuit claims that the nursing home is understaffed, and its history supports the allegations in the suit. The nursing home has received 45 visits from the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) since 2013. These visits have included 12 Type A Citations and 16 Type B Citations. According to the CDSS, Type A Citations are issued for “the most serious type of violations in which there is an immediate risk to the health, safety or personal rights of those in care. Examples may include lack of care or supervision, access to open bodies of water, lack of a fire clearance for the building and access to dangerous chemicals. Citations for these violations will always be issued even if the violation is corrected on the spot.” A Type B citation is issued for “a violation that, if not corrected, may be an immediate risk to the health, safety or personal rights of clients. Examples include faulty medical record keeping and lack of adequate staff training.
The plaintiff’s attorney has been sent a letter requesting that the social media posts be removed and that the attorney stop running “improper ads” regarding the nursing home.
