Report finds nursing home abuse on the rise
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Elderly people were abused in nearly a third of the nation’s nursing homes in the past two years, many of them suffering serious injuries such as hip fractures, congressional investigators said Monday. Some 5,283 nursing homes were cited for abuse violations, according to a review of state inspection records requested by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. These homes were cited for nearly 9,000 abuse violations from January 1999 to January 2001. “We found examples of residents being punched, choked or kicked by staff members or other residents,” Waxman said. Waxman, the top Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees spending and other operations, said Congress should re-establish an abolished federal law that boosts nursing home spending. The Boren amendment would guarantee that the nation’s nearly 17,000 homes could do a better job of screening, training and counseling their staff. Roughly 1.5 million seniors live in nursing homes. More : usatoday.com |