http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/ The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, PLLC Blog en-us 2012 The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, PLLC, All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/ Sat, 19 May 2012 04:45:00 GMT http://www.pleasantlaw.com/images/logoprint.gif http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/ article does a good job summarizing the differences between investment advisors and securities brokers in terms of when each owes a fiduciary duty. Not everyone realizes that securities and stock brokers only have to put their customer's interests first in limited circumstances. Generally, securities brokers must do this as a certainty when they have a fully discretionary account and have the authority to make trades on a customer investor's behalf (without approval from the investor customer). When stock brokers lose money in their customer's account, the existence of a fiduciary duty can become an important issue in evaluating a securities arbitration claim to recover account losses. If you have lost money on investments, contact The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, PLLC for help.
]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/fiduciary%2Dduty%2Doverview%2Dbrokers%2Dv%2Dinvestment%2Dadvisors%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-72499 Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:00:00 GMT Medicare Special Focus Facilities
In December 2011, CMS released a list of "Special Focus Facilities" - nursing homes that have had particularly bad survey/inspection results. These nursing homes are or have been subject to increased scrutiny by Medicare regulators, and should be scrutinized by prospective nursing home residents or their families when decidiing whether to place a loved on into a nursing home. In my opinion, these facilities are much more likely to abuse or neglect their nursing home residents. Additionally, residents at these nursing homes are more likely to be the victims of wrongful death or medical malpractice. Here are the North Carolina nursing homes on the list:

NURSING HOMES THAT HAVE NOT IMPROVED:
Libertywood Nursing Center 1028 Blair Street Thomasville NC

NURSING HOMES THAT HAVE SHOWN IMPROVEMENT:
Brian Center Health & Rehabilitation Of Goldsboro (Goldsboro NC)
Britthaven Of Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill NC)
Carver Living Center (Durham NC)

NURSING HOMES THAT HAVE RECENTLY GRADUATED FROM THE SFF PROGRAM:
Chapel Hill Rehab And Healthcare (Chapel Hill NC) (This nursing facility is a Kindred Healthcare facility, and the name has apparently been changed to "Kindred Transitional Care and Rehab-Chapel Hill")
]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/cms%2Dspecial%2Dfocus%2Dnursing%2Dhomes%2Dincreased%2Drisk%2Dfor%2Dinjury%2Dor%2Ddeath%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-72358 Mon, 02 Jan 2012 08:00:00 GMT Wikinvest Nursing Homes site, you can find intersting information about the corporate/business side of the nursing home industry. Arguably, many wrongful death and injury claims arising from nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect are caused by corporate neglect. That is, decisions made at the "top" about budgets, etc. which only bear relation to the bottom line, and do not bear relation to the realities of patient care on the "front lines" in a nursing facility. This site does not really go into the legal aspects of nursing home abuse or neglect claims, but gives a taste of what big business the operation of nursing homes has become. It would appear that the number of claims arising from nursing home deaths and injuries will only increase as the number of nursing home residents increases with our aging population.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/wilinvest%2Dinteresting%2Dinfo%2Don%2Dnursing%2Dhomes%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-63014 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 08:00:00 GMT Irresponsibility Project is an interesting site by some former Liberty Mutual Insurance employees. The name of the site plays on the fairly recent Liberty Mutual advertising campaign based on "responsibilty." The site contains information about complaints against the insurance company, including complaints of unfair insurance claims denials and unfair or bad faith insurance claims practices. If your insurance claim has been denied by Liberty Mutual Insurance or any other insurance company such as State Farm, Allstate, Safeco, The Hartford, Progressive, or others, you might want to check this out just to see whether there's any helpful information. An insurance attorney can make the difference when insurance companies deny or delay peoples' claims. If you have a problem with your insurance company, consider contacting The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, PLLC.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/liberty%2Dmutual%2Dinsurance%2Dirresponsibility%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-63016 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 08:00:00 GMT Sunbridge Heatlhcare Website for Pembroke Care and Rehabilitation Center in Pembroke, NC  (a Pembroke, NC nursing home) says that this facility has had no deficiencies for two consecutive years. I hope that's accurate. Whether the state finds deficiencies, unfortunately, does not necessarily tell the whole story as to whether one might expect bad care from a nursing home. Some of the worst facilities, in my experience, do have bad "records" with the state; but many nursing homes that cause injury and wrongful death to its residents do not ever get "caught" by the state. If you think someone you know or love has been hurt or killed in a nursing home, you should contact a nursing home abuse or injury lawyer like Thomas Waitt Pleasant. You might have a claim. At a minimum  you will get some guidance as to whether a lawsuit is justified.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/pembroke%2Dcare%2Dand%2Drehabilitation%2Dcenter%2Dhas%2Dsunbridge%2Dturned%2Dthis%2Dfacility%2Daround%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-63020 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 08:00:00 GMT recent article on the "Dealmaker's Forum" (Levin Associates) website:

"Skilled nursing companies have always had a difficult time explaining themselves to investors.  Are they health care companies, or are they large real estate entities with an important health care business component?"

Herein, in my opinion, lies much of the problem with the way skilled nursing facilities are being run today, and the injury, death and neglect that sometimes follows as a result. The focus on the business side of nursing homes (particularly the happiness of investors) drives business decisions that should be driven more by concerns for patient care. A nursing home has to make money in order to survive; but catering to the big business of Wall Street seems pretty clearly to steer motives away from true quality care. The deal-making described in this article has to do directly with Sun Health (i.e., Sunbridge nursing homes) and the splitting off of it's nursing home real estate into a new REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust).]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/skilled%2Dnursing%2Dfacilities%2Dreal%2Destate%2Dor%2Dhealth%2Dcare%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-33148 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 08:00:00 GMT Health Services Research Educational Trust that looks into how the mandated nurse-to-patient ratios in California have affected care. The bottom line appears to be that increased staffing means better patient care in nursing homes. The study compares outcomes in California to other states without mandated staffing levels.  73% of the California nurses in the study say they have a reasonable workload compared to other states that come in at 59% and 61%.  58% of the study nurses say they have enough registered nurses on staff to provide quality care.  Other states that were in the study have low scores coming from the nurses.  An important part of this study is that 74% of California nurses say they get 30 minute breaks during the workday while other states reported 45% - 51%.  It seems to be important that nurses receive a break during their work day so they do not feel overwhelmed with the workload.  If a nurse has a large workload, this can cause them to miss changes in a patient’s condition.  Maybe all states’ nursing homes, including nursing homes in North Carolina, should refer to this study and mandate staffing levels as it can improve the quality of care from nurse to patient.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/nursetopatient%2Dratios%2Dhave%2Daffected%2Dcare%2Din%2Dnursing%2Dhomes%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-30556 Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:00:00 GMT REPORT about an Omega nursing home acquisition "spree" raises a question about the true profitability of the nursing home business. This report cites this nursing home chain's purchase of long term care facilities in 19 states (not sure about North Carolina)  at a cost of over $200 million. Why get into this business on this scale if the business is not profitable? And, if we assume the kind of profits Omega expects from this deal -- and the nursing home business generally -- then might we not assume that there is no excuse for the understaffing that so often leads to nursing home abuse and neglect claims?]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/omegas%2Dnursing%2Dhomelong%2Dterm%2Dcare%2Dacquisitions%2Dcan%2Dnursing%2Dhomes%2Dplead%2Dpoverty%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-30447 Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:00:00 GMT California Watch Article, certain nursing homes in California have received additional funding totaling $880 million, money meant to assist nursing homes hire more staff and increase wages. However, 232 of the recipient nursing homes did just the opposite, cutting nursing home staff and/or paying lower wages. These nursing homes let caregiver levels fall below a state required minimums, according to this investigation.  Understaffing causes much nursing home abuse, neglect, injury and wrongful death in North Carolina and other areas. Most of the harm I see done in nursing facilities in North Carolina arises from understaffing. This article may provide some insight into what some nursing homes are doing.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/nursing%2Dhome%2Dabuse%2Dneglect%2Dinjury%2Dand%2Dwrongful%2Ddeath%2Din%2Dnorth%2Dcarolina%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-30273 Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:00:00 GMT article in the Blog of LegalTimes discusses the proposed legislation banning mandatory arbitration clauses that prevent people from suing nursing homes in a real court. Nursing home chains often present the families of prospective nursing home residents with an arbitration agreement at the time the family is filing out the mountain of paperwork necessary to get their loved one into a nursing home. In my experience, the family never understands what signing one of these agreements will mean in the event that their loved one is hurt or killed in a nursing home. The nursing homes ask for these to be signed for the simple reason that it benefits the nursing home in the event that there is a nursing home abuse or nursing home neglect case filed later. Arbitration agreements limit what the plaintiff in a nursing home case can get from the nursing home (documents, etc.), and sometimes even limit what a nursing home abuse or neglect victim may recover. If you are considering placing your loved one into a nursing home in North Carolina or elsewhere, talk to a nursing home lawyer about nursing home arbitration agreements first.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/nursing%2Dhome%2Dabuse%2Din%2Dnorth%2Dcarolina%2Dunfair%2Dclauses%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-29683 Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:00:00 GMT By Thomas Waitt Pleasant, North Carolina Nursing Home Abuse, Neglect and Wrongful Death Attorney. This recent article in the Washington Post outlines the practice of "upcoding" in nursing homes, which means putting residents in ultra-high billing categories intended to be used for only 5% of residents needing highly specialized care and rehabilitation.  the numbers of residents in the ultra-high categories has quadrupled since the system was instituted over 10 years ago,  and the amount of waste and abuse could be in the  billions of dollars a year.  This billing program is specifically targeted in the new health care legislation changing 2 rules that experts said have been exploited by nursing homes to inflate bills.  One of the worst allegedly is North American Health Care (NAHC),  placing 64% of its residents in the highest category, despite that the national average is only 9%.  HCR ManorCare is another chain who allegedly abuses the system. I wonder whether the same could be happening in North Carolina nursing homes.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/upcoding%2Din%2Dnursing%2Dhomes%2Da%2Ddifferent%2Dkind%2Dof%2Dnursing%2Dhome%2Dabuse%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-29155 Mon, 29 Mar 2010 08:00:00 GMT here) against Assurance Insurance paints the picture of an all to familar problem with insurance companies. This practice is called "post-claim underwriting" and is used by insurance companies (apparently including Assurant, a health insurance company) to deny claims by pointing to "misrepresentations" on the insurance application, but only after a claim is made. Arguably, the insurance company doing this is happy to accept premium after premium from an insurance policyholder, but then digs in and looks for even the slightest innacuracy once a claim is made. This is clearly an unfair practice, and insurance companies should not be allowed to get away with it, as this jury's verdict makes clear. Seek help from an insurance lawyer if you are having problems with Assurant health insurance or any other insurance company. I am happy to help, and do free consultations in most insurance matters. Whether your problem is health insurance, life insurance, long-term disability insurance (companies like Unum Provident, John Hancock, CIGNA, The Hartford), credit disability insurance, propery or homeowner insurance (Allstate, State Farm, Nationwide), cancer insurance (American Heritage, Allstate Insurance), long term care insurance, or any other insurance policy, you can call me: Thomas W. Pleasant, North Carolina Insurance Attorney, 910.509.7106 / Toll Free: 888-435-7156.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/assurant%2Dinsurance%2Dformerly%2Dfortis%2Dinsurance%2Dpays%2Ddearly%2Dfor%2Dmisconduct%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-26011 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:00:00 GMT WSJ Article could be useful to people buying long term disability insurance or short term disability insurance, and perhaps other types of insurance. If you are shopping for insurance from Unum Insurance, John Hancock Insurance, Provident Life Insurance, The Hartford Insurance, or CIGNA Insurance, check this out first. If you are already having an insurance problem with a long term disability insurance policy claim, this article may be too late to help. If you are having an insurance claim problem, though, you should contact an attorney who handles insurance lawsuits. I generally offer free consultations to people having trouble with their insurance companies. The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, PLLC, 910.509.7106 or 888.435.7156 (Toll Free).]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/buying%2Ddisability%2Dinsurance%2Darticle%2Dmay%2Dhelp%2Davoid%2Dproblems%2Dwith%2Dunfair%2Ddisability%2Dinsurance%2Dcla%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-25393 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT By Thomas Pleasant, North Carolina Insurance Attorney. 910.509.7106. In November 2004 Unum entered into a regulatory settlement agreement with the U.S. Dept. of Labor. (Details of the Settlement Here). This settlement relates to this insurance company's widespread bad and unfair insurance claims practices. As part of this insurance claims practices settlement, Unum Insurance was required to obtain independent medical evaluations in "appropriate situations" and "fairly interpret" the results. The question is whether long term disability insurers like Unum Insurance, Provident Life and Accident Insurance, Paul Revere Insurance, John Hancock Insurance, The Hartford Insurance, CIGNA Insurance, and others are truly fairly interpreting medical examinations when its policyholders' disability benefits are being questioned. This article reports that Unum is in compliance.  If your disability benefits are being cut or denied, consider contacting an attorney with experience with Unum Insurance and other insurance companies.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/unum%2Dinsurance%2Dregulatory%2Dsettlement%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-25197 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT blog report on Golden Living Centers (the former Beverly Enterprises nursing home chain, I believe) focuses on the false claims act litigation filed in the state of MS. Golden Living Centers operates several nursing homes in North Carolina. I am not sure whether the MS litigation has anything to do with the North Carolina nursing homes, but chances are the same practices, if they exist at Golden Living in MS, exist/existed in North Carolina. If you or someone you love has been the victim of nursing home abuse, neglect, injury or wrongful death at any nursing home chain (Britthaven, Sunbridge, Golden Living, Laurel Health, etc.) you should contact an attorney for help. By Thomas Pleasant, 888.435.7156 / 910.509.7106.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/golden%2Dliving%2Dcenters%2Din%2Dnorth%2Dcarolina%2Dand%2Delsewhere%2Dare%2Dthe%2Dalleged%2Dproblems%2Din%2Dthis%2Dnursing%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-25198 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT Medical Malpractice Myth by Tom Baker debunks the myth that medical malpractice lawsuits are the cause of problems in health care. The book's thesis pertains to all kinds of medical malpractice: birth injury, labor and delivery problems, surgery injuries, and wrongful death from failures to diagnose health conditions. This is a must-read for anyone who wants the objective truth about what is going on in our healthcare system today. Tom Baker concludes, based on clearly objective evidence, that what we truly have is a medical malpractice crisis, not a medical malpractice lawsuit crisis.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/medical%2Dmalpractice%2Dmyth%2Dtom%2Dbakers%2Dbook%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-25203 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT Link  can sometimes be helpful in resolving insurance disputes. I don't know this particular company, but I have used independent adjusters on a couple of different cases where I was helping someone who was having a problem with an insurance claim, and I was quite pleased with the results. This is primarily something an insurance policyholder should consider when there is a property insurance claim denial, or an unfair offer to settle a property damage claim. If you have a homeowner's insurance claim problem with any insurance company (Nationwide Insurance, State Farm Insurance, Allstate Insurance, etc.), you could consider contacting such a "public adjuster." My personal opinion is that if you have an insurance claim problem, you should first contact an insurance attorney who helps people with insurance claims. A good lawyer will help you determine what the best course of action is from that point, and may or may not direct you to the services of a public insurance adjuster.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/independent%2Dinsurance%2Dadjusters%2Dhelp%2Dwith%2Dinsurance%2Dclaim%2Dproblems%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-24561 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:00:00 GMT Wikipedia article about insurance bad faith claims. People with insurance claims denied by an insurance company, and who are considering hiring a lawyer or taking legal action through an insurance attorney might find this article interesting as a starting point for understanding what insurance bad faith lawsuits and/or unfair insurance claims practices lawsuits are all about. Whether your problem is with Allstate Insurance, Nationwide Insurance, State Farm Insurance, Unum Insurance, Progressive Insurance, Farmers Insurance, GEICO Insurance, or any other insurance company, this article may help. I also do free consultations in most insurance cases. The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, Toll Free at 888.435.7156.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/insurance%2Dbad%2Dfaith%2Dclaims%2Don%2Dwikipedia%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-23910 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:00:00 GMT National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform Website Reports that a proposed law requiring more transparency from nursing homes and nursing home chains made it through the House of Representatives along with its recent vote to pass health care reform. This is a much needed law. It is routine for nursing home lawsuits to include many defendants due to the complex web of companies many nursing home chains use in order to attempt to avoid liability for injury and wrongful death to nursing home residents. This proposed law is designed to make it more clear who exactly is running the nursing home. Nursing home lawsuits are generally much more complicated than medical malpractice lawsuits in this regard (i.e., who to sue, who really is responsible, etc.). For the sake of nursing home abuse and neglect victims everywhere, let's hope this bill passes as part of any health care reform bill ultimately passed. For more information about lawsuits on behalf of people hurt in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, including in North Carolina, contact The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, Toll Free 888.435.7156 or 910.509.7106.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/nursing%2Dhome%2Dtransparency%2Dbill%2Dpasses%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-23911 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:00:00 GMT By Thomas W. Pleasant, North Carolina Insurance Attorney. 888.435.7156 | 910.509.7106. I had a call from a potential client the other day. This person had worked in healthcare for many years, and developed back problems. She subjected herself to orthopedic surgery in order to try to solve the problem so that she could keep working. The surgery made things worth (possibly due to medical malpractice, but that's another story). She made a legitimate claim on her Liberty Mutual disability insurance policy, provided through her employer. For the first two years (the period where the insurance benefit is paid regardless of whether you can do any other job -- as long as you cannot do the job you were doing at the time of your disability), Liberty Mutual paid, and held up its end of the bargain. As soon as the two years expired, the aggressive attempt to unfairly terminate this person's disability insurance started. Unfair evaluations by insurance company doctors, etc. Despite that this person spends 75% or more of the time unable to do anything, the insurance company has determined that this person can do "sedentary" type work. The claims handling in this case is almost certainly in bad faith and unfair, but the insurance policy is probably governed by ERISA (a federal statute) simply because it was provided through an employer. This means, effectively, that this person will have no remedy in state courts (i.e., inability to pursue state remedies for unfair claims practices/unfair and deceptive trade practices, bad faith, etc.). If most people understood what ERISA does to their rights as to their insurance companies and claims, they would be completely outraged. Every person to whom I have explained how ERISA guts their ability to get justice in cases like this is totally dumbfounded. There are some other stories of complaints against Liberty Mutual regarding disability insurance at this consumeraffairs.org website.]]> http://www.pleasantlaw.com/blog/long%2Dterm%2Ddisability%2Dinsurance%2Dbenefits%2Ddenied%2Dunjustly%2Ecfm www.pleasantlaw.com-23274 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 08:00:00 GMT