It’s been just over a year since Beacon Shores Nursing and Rehabilitation Center landed on the “worst nursing homes list” generated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Beacon Shores, which is located on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), was one of the three nursing homes in the state to land on the infamous list.
The facilities listed did not provide proper care to their residents and numerous reports of negligence and even abuse were cited.
A common form of nursing home abuse our law firm has encountered is overmedication. This is when nursing home employees decide to gratuitously medicate a patient in order to prevent them from “causing trouble.” This is absolutely unacceptable and highly illegal.
There are even instances of physical abuse in nursing homes. Our firm has dealt with situations like this and it’s always infuriating. As a personal injury lawyer, I can’t stand it when nursing home employees physically harm citizens trying to enjoy their golden years.
According to the Virginia Department of Health Regulation (12 VAC 5-371-10) nursing home abuse is defined as the “willful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment with resulting physical harm, pain or mental anguish, or deprivation by an individual, including caretaker, of goods or services that are necessary to attain or maintain physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being to include verbal, sexual, physical or mental abuse.”
Nursing home neglect is defined as “a failure to provide timely and consistent services, treatment or care to a resident or residents’ health safety or comfort, or a failure to provide timely and consistent goods and services necessary to avoid physical harm, mental anguish or mental illness.”
If you, or a loved one, are in a nursing home, or looking into residing at a nursing home, take the time to properly research facilities. There are services which provide vital information about the facilities and service in nursing homes located throughout Virginia (VA) and other states. Be on the look out for these signs and more:
- Cuts, bruises, broken bones, sprains, or other physical signs that they are being hit or neglected.
- Poor hygiene – dirty hair or soiled sheets
- Dirty rooms
- Insect infestation
- Malnutrition or dehydration, or lack of proper amounts of food when you visit during meal times.
- Weight loss
If you feel abuse has taken place, or is currently taking place, seek legal counsel immediately.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm is based in Virginia (VA), near the NE North Carolina (NC) border and handles car,truck,railroad, and medical negligence cases and more. Our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service. Lawyers licensed in: VA, NC, SC, WV, DC, KY.
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Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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