Saturday, October 1, 2011

Falsified Patient Records are Untold Story of California Nursing Home Care

Don Esco sought skilled nursing care at a Placerville facility for Johnnie, his wife of nearly 61 years, when she was recuperating from a bout with pneumonia. She died 13 days later. Esco sued, alleging that the medical charts lied about Johnnie's treatment.

A supervisor at a Carmichael nursing home admitted under oath that she was ordered to alter the medical records of a 92-year-old patient, who died after developing massive, rotting bedsores at the facility.

In Santa Monica, a nursing home was fined $2,500 by the state for falsifying a resident's medical chart, which claimed that the patient was given physical therapy five days a week. The catch? At least 28 of those sessions were documented by nurse assistants who were not at work on those days.

In Los Angeles, lawyers for a woman severely re-injured at a convalescent home discovered a string of false entries – several written by nonexistent nurses.

Phantom nurses. Suspicious entries in medical charts. Phony paperwork, hurriedly produced after an injury or death.

It is the untold story of nursing home care: falsification of patient records.

Full Article and Source:
Falsified Patient Records are Untold Story of California Nursing Home Care

5 comments:

Cindy said...

It happens everywhere - in all states.

Mike said...

Disgraceful.

Anonymous said...

It's a disgrace but it's true and everybody knows it's true. And yet when facilities come to court, their word is gold.

Thelma said...

Happens in hospitals, too. I've seen it.

Anonymous said...

Falsified patient records re: nursing home in our case too. Reading the records, one would think the 'victim' died peacefull in his sleep. The truth is the 'victim' was killed off, eliminated, he died because the facility followed the guardians order: no food and no water.

How many cases would compare?