The nursing home abuse attorneys at BISNAR | CHASE have been closely following the developments in a Bakersfield area nursing home neglect story where administrators allegedly gave psychotropic medications to their patients so they would remain quiet and easy to manage. According to a news report in the Kern Valley Sun, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. has charged Kern Valley Hospital administrator Pamela Ott with eight felony counts of elder abuse. Ott and others' actions allegedly resulted in the deaths of three nursing home residents.

Nursing Home Administrator Faces Charges

Brown says in a statement that Ott was "ultimately responsible for safeguarding the welfare of her patients." But instead, she did not take responsibility and allowed nursing home staff to forcibly sedate patients who questioned their care. Ott has pleaded not guilty to the eight felony counts. Others who have been charged in this nursing home abuse case include Gwen Hughes, former Director of Nursing; Debbi Hayes, former pharmacist; and Dr. Hoshang Prmir, a staff physician.

This is one of the most disturbing, appalling and serious cases of nursing home abuse I've heard about in recent times. Apparently, nursing home staff did not want to spend time answering questions from patients or face the combative behavior typical of mentally ill patients. So what did they do? They sedated the patients to make them easier to control. Two patients who resisted were held down and forcibly given injections. Nursing home administrators simply looked away or did nothing about such horrific abuse.

California Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney

I sincerely hope the families of the victims involved in this case get the justice they deserve. In such cases where the actions of nursing home administrators or staff have directly resulted in the death of a patient, families can file wrongful death claims against the negligent party – in this case, the nursing home. In my opinion, this was probably an understaffed facility that did not have the required number of nurses to provide quality care to patients. So they cut corners and saved time and probably a lot of money by "shutting up" their patients with drugs. There is no question that these negligent nursing home operators should be held civilly and criminally responsible for their actions. My heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones as a result of such horrible nursing home negligence and abuse.

If you or a loved one is a victim of similar elder abuse or nursing home abuse, please consult with an experienced California personal injury lawyer to find out more about your legal rights and options. If you would like to report elder abuse or Medi-Cal fraud, call the Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse hotline at 1-800-722-0432.

The BISNAR|CHASE personal injury law firm is not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our source for the facts is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, please contact us or another reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. Most of the best law firms will provide accident victims a free consultation.

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