(914) 220-1086
The estate of Helen Sieger, the former deceased owner of the 400-bed Kingsbridge Heights Rehabilitation and Care Center in the Bronx, New York reached a $2.5 million settlement in June 2013 with the Attorney General’s office for defrauding Medicaid. According to the settlement, $1.2 million will go towards reimbursing Medicaid, and $1.3 million will go […]
Blog
AG: Hidden Camera Investigation Led to the Arrest of 10 Nursing Home Employees Charged with Neglecting Double-Amputee
Ten employees of the Blossom North Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rochester, New York were arrested in March 2014 for allegedly failing to provide adequate care to an elderly resident who was a double-amputee. According to the New York Attorney General’s office, six nurses and four nursing assistants faced a variety of charges, including Falsifying […]
Nursing Aide Arrested for Incident that Resulted in Untreated Broken Leg of 95-Year-Old Patient
Aaliyah Weathers, 19, a certified nurse’s aide at the Heritage Health Care Center, an upstate New York nursing home, was arrested in March 2014 for an incident that resulted in the broken leg of a 95-year-old patient under her care. Weathers failed to report the incident, and the elderly resident suffered from an untreated broken […]
Former Manager of Home for the Disabled Pleads Guilty to Stealing over $1K from Residents
Samantha Cross, 31, a former assistant manager at Schoharie ARC, a New York home for the disabled, admitted in March 2014 to stealing $1,503 from the residents’ personal allowance funds. Cross, who appeared before Schoharie Town Court Justice Kenneth Knutsen, pled guilty to one count of falsifying business records, a misdemeanor. In addition, Cross admitted […]
NY Nursing Home Attorney Report: Fall Are the Leading Cause of Injuries Among Elderly Adults in NYC
According to a January 2014 report released by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, one in three elderly adults, ages 65 or older, falls in the U.S. each year. In New York City, falls were the leading cause of injuries among the elderly. In 2011, 291 deaths and 17,452 hospitalizations of […]
Syracuse Nursing home with Long History of Substandard Care to be Converted into Apartments
Rosewood Heights, a Syracuse nursing home that houses 242 beds in a six story building, is slated to be shut down and converted into an apartment building in 2014. In March 2012, the nursing home was placed on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) Special Focus Facility (SFF) list for providing poor care […]
Former NYC Employee Sentenced to Probation for Falsifying Crane Inspection Records
Justice Thomas Farber of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan sentenced former city employee Edward J. Marquette, 51, to five years probation in February 2013 for falsifying crane inspection records. In July 2012, Farber found Marquette guilty of filing a false instrument, falsifying business records and official misconduct. However, Marquette was found not guilty of […]
NJ Jury Awards Man $8 Million for Elevator Accident
A New Jersey jury awarded a Sussex County man in February 2014 $8 million for an elevator accident that occurred in Morristown in 2005. According to court documents, Richard Tufaro of Branchville, who was 48 at the time of the accident, was working as a carpenter on a remodeling project in the lobby of Headquarters […]
Registered Nurse Charged with Stealing Morphine Intended for Patients
Katherine Falzetta, 23, a Registered Nurse at the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Clinton, New York, was arrested in May 2013 for stealing morphine from patients not under her care. Falzetta appeared in Plattsburgh City Court before Judge Mark Rogers and was released on her own recognizance. She was charged with first-degree falsifying business records, […]
MTA Driver Killed, Three Injured, after Stolen Truck Collides with Bus in the City
William Pena, 49, a 17-year veteran of the MTA and a father of a 14-year-old daughter, was killed in February 2014 after a stolen box truck driven by Domonic Whilby, 22, crashed into the bus he was driving in Greenwich Village. According to police, Pena was thrown from the driver’s seat and landed under the […]
Investigators: New Hartford House Fire that Claimed Three Young Lives Caused by Failed Electrical Appliance
According to the New Hartford Fire Department and the New Hartford Police Department, a February 2014 house fire in upstate New York that claimed the lives of two brothers, ages three and seven, and a 21-year-old woman was caused by an electrical appliance that appears to have failed. The failed appliance was along the outside […]
Four Workers from Long Island Group Home Arrested for Forcing Developmentally Disabled Residents to Fight Each Other
Four workers from the Independent Group Home Living facility in Hampton Bays, New York were arrested in February 2014 for allegedly forcing and encouraging two developmentally disabled adults to fight each other. One of the workers recorded the incident with a cellphone, which shows the two disabled men fighting as workers encourage them and laugh […]
Former Health Aide at Long Island Retirement Facility Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Steal $10K from Elderly Patient
Stephanie Benodin, 26, pleaded guilty to Attempted Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree in February 2014 before Susan T. Kluewer in Nassau District Court. Benodin, a Queens resident, worked as a personal care assistant at The Tuttle Center, a long-term care retirement community that is part of The Amsterdam at Harborside in Port Washington, New […]
Brooklyn Fire Kills Teen in House that Lacked Smoke Detectors
An early morning house fire in Brooklyn, New York in December 2013 claimed the life of a 16-year-old girl and critically injured her two older sisters. Jasmine Guillaume, 16, was killed after a fire engulfed the second and third floors of her three story home at 293 East Eighth Street in Kensington. Her sisters, Jaima […]
Suffolk County Police Sergeant Arrested for Stealing from Latino Drivers During Traffic Stops
A 25-year veteran of the Suffolk County Police Department in Long Island, New York was arrested in January 2014 for stealing $100 from an undercover Latino police officer pulled over during a traffic stop. Suffolk County Police Sergeant Scott Greene, 50, was caught on a hidden surveillance camera planted in the undercover car stealing the […]
Feds: Employees of Financial Institutions Can Now Report Suspected Cases of Financial Elder Abuse
As the senior population in the United States continues to grow, financial fraud and abuse of the elderly is becoming an increasing problem. According to a report by MetLife, financial abuse of the elderly resulted in $2.9 billion in losses in 2010. In many cases, scammers will tell their elderly victims that they need thousands […]
Long Island Nursing Home Aides Charged with Photographing and Videotaping Eleven Residents at Three Facilities
Two certified nurse aides (CNAs) were arrested and charged in May 2013 for taking pictures and videos of eleven nursing home residents at three separate nursing homes. David Rover, 25, and Thomas Mocera, 23, are both charged with Unlawful Surveillance and face up to four years in prison if convicted. The two CNAs took photographs […]
Bronx Nurse’s Aide Allegedly Caught Abusing Alzheimer’s Patient on Hidden Camera
A nurse’s aide at the Gold Crest Care Center in the Bronx was arrested in February 2013 after a hidden camera allegedly caught her abusing an Alzheimer’s patient. Sandra Kerr, 55, was charged with Willful Violation of the Public Health Law and endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person. She faces up […]
Former Nurse Aide of Rochester Nursing Home Accused of Posting Video of Patient Being Abused on Facebook
A former nurse aid at the St. Anne’s Home in Rochester, New York was arrested and charged in July 2013 for allegedly posting a video on Facebook of a resident being harassed. If convicted, the former aide, Ericha Brown, 23, faces up to one year in prison. According to Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, Brown […]
Westchester Aide Faces 15 Years in Prison for Death of 86-Year-Old Disabled Nursing Home Patient
Fifty-four year old Maureen Flowers, a certified nurse aide at the Tarrytown Hall Care Center in Westchester, was arrested in July 2013 for allegedly causing the 2012 death of an 86-year-old disabled patient under her care. Flowers, charged with Manslaughter and Criminally Negligent Homicide, faces up to 15 years behind bars if convicted. On February […]
Tourist’s Foot Severed in Midtown Manhattan Car Accident
The NY Daily News reports that a cab struck a female tourist in midtown Tuesday, severing her foot in the process. A cyclist and another pedestrian were injured in the New York City car accident, which occurred near Rockefeller Center. The cyclist was flipped onto the hood of the taxi and carried for several yards. […]
Former LPN Indicted after Allegedly Assaulting Nursing Home Resident
A former LPN at Split Rock Nursing Home in the Bronx was indicted last week on charges of abuse at the nursing home. A video of the incident, which occurred in February 2012, allegedly shows the nurse, Lennox Seymour, pushing and punching a disabled resident of the Bronx nursing home. The video, which has not […]
First Department Reverses Summary Judgment in Medical Malpractice Action
In April, the Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department reversed the lower court’s ruling of summary judgment in favor of the defendant in a medical malpractice action. Originally, the Bronx Supreme Court granted summary judgment for doctor and hospital, finding that the defendants’ failure to diagnose cancer was not a proximate cause of the plaintiff’s […]
Brooklyn Senior Citizen Dies after Receiving Incorrect Blood Type
An investigation into the death of a Brooklyn woman at Coney Island Hospital in early June has revealed that hospital error led to the fatal consequences. Hospital staff reportedly misidentified the elderly patient’s blood type, leading to a fatal transfusion of the incorrect type of blood. For the immediate future, the Department of Health has […]
New York State Department of Health Releases Latest List of Enforcements
Recently the New York State Department of Health released its latest update of fines against New York nursing homes. Most of the more recent violations resulting in fines have been covered here in previous blog posts. Unfortunately, many of the original violation dates leading to the fines listed on the enforcement log pre-date the oldest […]
