Actual Cause of Death Alarms Family of Nursing Home Resident
The family of a 60-year-old man with Huntington’s Disease who recently died in a New York nursing home was alarmed when they received the resident’s death certificate. Huntington’s Disease gradually kills nerve cells in the brain resulting in death, but according to the certificate, the resident died as a result of septic shock related to an epidural abscess and osteomyelitis—a rare bone infection.
The resident’s son, who expected his father to live several more years, had previously been upset over what he termed abysmal conditions (old food and dirt on the floor) in the nursing home. Now, he has employed a law firm to investigate the nursing home related to his father’s death, and the fact that there had been a number of incidents involving conditions at the home. The law firm has represented several notable cases against the nursing home. One case involved a resident who died after she was beaten by another resident.
Although the nursing home is now under new management, an attorney at the retained law firm indicated that conditions in the nursing home have not improved, and that he has “seen this story before.”
Representatives of the new administration would not comment on specifics, citing patient privacy laws; however, they did indicate that they have been working to improve conditions at the nursing home, especially related to patient care.
FREEDOM FROM ABUSE, NEGLECT AND EXPLOITATION
Compliance Perspective
Providing residents with substandard quality of care related to abuse and neglect may result in the submission of false claims.
Please discuss this issue/alert at the department head meeting. If applicable, consider these actions:
- Review policies and procedures regarding quality of care.
- Train staff to recognize and respond to incidents of substandard quality of care related to abuse, neglect, or any other cause.
- Perform an audit by reviewing recent complaints and reported incidents about the nursing home’s quality of care and note whether effective corrections have been put into place.
