Nursing Guilty in Nursing Home Killings Interviewed on CBS

In an interesting story by the Sacramento Bee, "serial killer" mercy nurse Charles Cullen was recently interviewed by 60 Minutes, a popular show on CBS.  In 2006, Mr. Cullen was sentenced with killing at least 29 nursing home and hospital patients in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  Originally, Cullen claimed that he was killing these patients for mercy deaths, i.e., to end their prolonged suffering.  He administered fatal drug overdoses to these patients, most of whom were old and/or seriously ill. 

In his 60 Minutes interview, Cullen was reminded that some of his victims were not close to death.  He then said that he sometimes felt overwhelmed and could not justify his actions.  He also said that he did not know if he would have stopped killing patients if he had not been caught.  Currently, he is serving multiple life sentences in prison.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving western and central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for older Pennsylvanians who have been abused or neglected.  For more information on his Altoona, PA area practice, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com.  Attorney Stoehr takes cases in Blair and the seven surrounding counties.

Ways to Lighten the Financial Load For Elderly Relatives

A recent article by Caring.com spoke about ways to keep loved ones out of nursing homes. Many families who would like to receive help for their relatives are financially strained and cannot afford a nursing home.  For these families, the care of a loved one can cause undue stress and tension.  Caring.com addressed this issue by offering many tips on creative financial ways to help take care of elderly relatives or friends. According to the article, some of the tips include:

• Moving in with someone else who can take care of your relative
• Split caregiving between family and a paid neighbor
• Moving to an area with a cheaper cost-of-living to be able to hire a caregiver
• Consider utilizing adult daycare or companion care
• Use community resources that provide in-home care, such as responsible students or church groups
• Look into potential programs that your relative might be eligible for, such as various Veteran's Affairs benefits
• Research assisted living facilities as well
• Look into Medicaid or PACE benefits

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving western and central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for older Pennsylvanians who have been abused or neglected.  For more information on his Altoona, PA area practice, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com.  Attorney Stoehr takes cases in Blair and the seven surrounding counties.

Ohio Nursing Home On Federal Watch List

Fox News recently ran a national news article highlighting a Cincinnati-area nursing home which was recently placed on a Federal Watch List.

As stated in the article, a Cincinnati nursing home has been placed on a watch list after inspections that found several issues, including an instance of sexual abuse of an older patient. Over 130 nursing homes in the country are being targeted because of problems that have occurred within their facilities.  Within the article, it is mentioned that "homes get on the list after a high number of deficiencies over an extended period".  In this particular case, a male patient had sexually abused a female patient; both parties were suffering from dementia. Allegedly, the man had found an access code to the women's section and sexually abused a female patient.  Other problems with the facility included a lack of RN on duty at all times, and a patient was not given the correct medication dosage.

The specific federal watch list this institution was placed on is called a Special Focus Facility List.  This list's goal is to motivate facilities to fix their problems or they may not be allowed to participate in Medicare/Medicaid programs.  Facilities on this list receive an increased number of inspections and attention.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving western and central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for older Pennsylvanians who have been abused or neglected.  For more information on his Altoona, PA area practice, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com.  Attorney Stoehr takes cases in Blair and the seven surrounding counties.

Freezing Nerves to Reduce Pain

Can freezing nerve endings reduce pain?  This new medical procedure may be an effective way to treat chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and other related pain disorders.  Healthline.com recently covered a story about a scientist who developed a technique to freeze the outer layer of nerves in painful areas.  This technique, which has been tested on 20 patients so far by a New York area physician, has been shown to relieve the symptoms of nerve-related pain for up to two months.  Although this treatment does not completely relieve pain, it reduces the pain by a significant amount.  Eventually the damaged nerves do grow back and the procedure has to be repeated every few months.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving Blair and the seven surrounding counties in central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for clients who are experiencing chronic pain as the result of an injury due to the fault of another.   He takes cases for clients in Blair county and the seven surrounding counties.  For more information on his Altoona, PA area firm, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com.

The Link Between Suicide and Chronic Pain

Recently, the Times Free Press covered an article focusing on chronic pain and suicidal tendencies.  Unfortunately, all too often, those with chronic pain tend to develop suicidal thoughts as they see no effective treatment or cure for their pain. 

According to the article, there have been several large-scale studies that show that at least 10% of suicides (with some studies reporting numbers as large as 70%) are correlated with an extended illness or chronic pain. Other research has shown that chronic pain is often linked to depression, so it should not come as a surprise that suicidal thoughts often follow a dual diagnosis of depression and chronic pain.

 Chronic pain is one of the most common and misunderstood medical issues in the world.  It is also extremely difficult to treat, especially in the long term. Some sufferers of chronic pain become shut-ins and do not interact with those in the outside world.  Often, chronic pain patients often deal with social stigma associated from people who do not fully understand the disorder or do not consider it a real medical problem.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving Blair and the seven surrounding counties in central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for clients who are experiencing chronic pain as the result of an injury due to the fault of another.   For more information on his Altoona, PA area firm, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com.

Local Nursing Home For Sale

The Altoona Mirror recently ran an article about the recent sale of Valley View Nursing Home to a Philadelphia-area company.  For more information, please read the Altoona Mirror's original article by clicking this link.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving western and central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for older Pennsylvanians who have been abused or neglected.  For more information on his Altoona, PA area practice, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com.  Attorney Stoehr takes cases in Blair and the seven surrounding counties.

You Can Be Responsible For Your Parent's Unpaid Nursing Home Bills

According to an article published in the The Mercury,  the State of Pennsylvania has recently declared that children of people in nursing homes can be stuck paying the bills if their parent is unable to do so.

The article stated that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld decisions by an earlier court ruling that stated that adult children can be sued by the state of Pennsylvania for the balance due on a parent's nursing home bill.  This interpretation of the law is based on "filial support" laws in the state. 

]The original court case surrounding this decision came from a dispute in which a woman who was in a nursing home for rehabilitation was dismissed and moved to Greece with her family.  She left about $100,000 in unpaid nursing home bills and which were transferred to her son. Her son was trying to get the bill disputed, but it was overruled by the state court.

As quoted from the article, "For an excellent summary of the implications of the Pittas’ decision, consider watching Penn State Dickinson School of Law Professor Katherine Pearson’s four-minute video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD-vLRK3vmc&feature=youtube. Professor Pearson is an authority on PA filial support laws."    

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving western and central Pennsylvania.  He takes claims for elderly people who have been abused or neglected in nursing homes or hospitals.  For more information on his Altoona, PA area practice, please call his firm at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com. 

What People With Chronic Pain Want You To Know

The Huffington Post recently covered an article focusing on the few things that people suffering from chronic pain would like others to know. Many people suffering from chronic pain not only deal with the physical pains of the disease, but also the emotional pains that come from having conflict with family and friends over the disease.  Sometimes, people with chronic pain find it difficult to do simple, everyday things that healthy people take for granted.  This can cause conflict when healthy family members or friends do not fully understand what their pain-enduring counterparts are dealing with.

According to the article, many sufferers of chronic pain feel that often, most people believe that they use their diagnosis as a crutch or excuse to get out of an activity.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  Additionally, chronic pain is called chronic for a reason.  This diagnosis means that most people feel some level of pain constantly and it can persist for months or years.  Just because the injury is old does not mean that it hurts any less.

Additionally, it often becomes tiresome and irritating when others mention common remedies for treating pain.  Chances are, the chronic pain patient has tried just about every avenue possible to relieve their pain and resume a normal, pain-free life.  Stemming from that idea, chronic pain can also make a person feel depressed and irritated.  Depression and chronic pain are often co-occurring diagnoses.  It also means that the disorder can affect the ability to sleep, leading to chronic fatigue and potential irritability. Taking all these things in mind, it is important to be sensitive and aware of what those suffering from chronic pain are dealing with.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving Blair and the seven surrounding counties in central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for clients who are experiencing chronic pain as the result of an injury due to the fault of another.   For more information on his Altoona, PA area firm, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com.

Antidepressants Might Effectively Treat Chronic Pain

Recent research highlighted in NewsMax Health shows that some antidepressants may help relieve chronic pain in cancer patients.  According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, an antidepressant drug helped relieve symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, chronic pain relating to nerve damage in the limbs, in cancer patients.  Out of over 100 patients who took the antidepressant for over a month, 59% experienced some level of pain relief, compared to 38% who were given a placebo.  

Antidepressants are sometimes used to treat other ailments, such as diabetic neuropathy, fibromyalgia, and arthritic chronic pain.  This information is especially important, considering that between 20-40% of cancer patients treated with certain drugs will most likely develop neuropathy.  All patients included in the recent study had persistent chronic pain that lasted over three months after their chemo treatments had stopped.  According to the article, "of the patients given [the antidepressant] first, the average pain score fell by a point on a scale of 0 to 10. That's considered to be a "clinically important" change."  These findings might also suggest that antidepressants might be an effective way to treat chronic pain from other injuries, such as musculoskeletal pain or from a spinal cord/brain injury.  

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving Blair and the seven surrounding counties in central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for clients who are experiencing chronic pain as the result of an injury due to the fault of another.   For more information on his Altoona, PA area firm, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com. 

Few New Nursing Homes Are Being Built in PA

Pennsylvania nursing homes have not significantly grown in number in recent years.  According to an article in the The Times-Tribune, a Scranton based news source, the state of Pennsylvania has only licensed one new Medicaid-accepting nursing home in Lackawanna County since the late 1990s.  Additionally, three nursing homes in the same county have closed their doors since the early 2000s. 

The Times-Tribune also spoke with Michael Kelly, the president of a long-term care company in Scranton that owns a personal-care facility and is in the process of building another one.  According to Kelly, it is very difficult to get a nursing home license and build a new facility in Pennsylvania (source: The Times-Tribune).  Since the state of Pennsylvania changed its licensing criteria in the late 1990s, it created more opportunities for home and community-centered care facilities to flourish for senior citizens.  Unfortunately, this same criteria made it difficult for seniors using Medicaid to access nursing homes.

Since the new regulations have been put into effect, it's become difficult to build new nursing homes for Medicaid clients unless the state designates that the facility is necessary to provide services to an affected area.  Considering 65% of nursing home users in the state use Medicaid, some suggest that this has created a large gap in care. There has been virtually no new nursing homes built in the state since 1998, and the average age of a nursing home in the state is about 50 years old.  Since many baby boomers are entering retirement, many are concerned about how the state will be able to serve their needs.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving western and central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for older Pennsylvanians who have been abused or neglected.  For more information on his Altoona, PA area practice, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com.  Attorney Stoehr takes cases in Blair and the seven surrounding counties.