KION News
Two California nursing homes are under fire after federal officials filed complaints against the owners and operators citing abuse and fraud, according to CBS News affiliate, KION Channel 5.
Two facilities in Watsonville, California, the Country Villa Watsonville East Nursing Center and the County Villa Watsonville West Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, are accused of abusing the elderly and Medicare fraud.
The nursing homes filed falsified claims to Medicare for “materially substandard or worthless services,” authorities allege, according to KION News. It also asserts the facilities were notorious for dangerously overmedicating residents the complaint called “vulnerable,” according to the news report.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spearheaded the investigation that led to the lawsuit, which highlights 16 instances the facilities were cited for poor care and overmedication, according to KION News.
The group in charge of overseeing nursing home management said the management employed at Country Villa over the time frame of the allegations has been fired, but that hasn’t stopped patients families from voicing their dissatisfaction.
“It’s really sad, disheartening, that another circumstance of elderly abuse is right here in our own family kind of thing,” Aaron Pol, whose 92-year-old mother is a resident, told KION News. “We’ve also seen how through her breakdown of what she’s getting and what’s goin on there, we’ve questioned some of that stuff ourselves.”
The Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm represents clients in cases involving catastrophic injury caused by nursing homes and other care facilities that fail to provide proper care, including medication abuse and errors. If you believe your loved one has been harmed due neglect or abuse in a nursing home, take action and contact the Kosieradzki • Smith Law Firm online or call us toll-free at (877) 552-2873 to set up a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
