PALMDALE – A recently filed lawsuit is charging Palmdale Regional Medical Center with dependent adult abuse and negligence, despite the hospital’s stellar record for patient safety.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Eckard Nichols by the law firm of Garcia, Artigliere & Medby, alleges that Nichols developed a “baseball-size infected pressure sore on his coccyx” as a result of the hospital’s neglect and understaffing, the firm’s press release states. [View the complaint here.]
Attorney Stephen Garcia is claiming that the hospital attempted to cover up Nichols’ injuries in order to sustain its stream of income from MediCare.
“Had Palmdale upheld their legal obligation and filed reports of his injuries with the Department of Public Health, their MediCare funding as to Mr. Nichols would likely have been revoked,” Garcia said in a statement.
Garcia’s firm said that when Nichols was admitted to the medical center on March 21, his skin was free and clear of pressure sores, and that hospital staff was “well aware of the patient’s medical history and risk of developing pressure sores if not properly cared for.”
The complaint alleges that Nichols was left by staff to lay on a hard gurney – only being turned or repositioned once in a 24-hour period – a violation of the hospital’s policies and procedures.
“Mr. Nichols was constantly left unattended and unbathed, which led to the development of an open bleeding pressure sore,” Garcia’s firm stated, further noting that a wound care nurse examined the patient’s sore only to neglect any treatment.
Nichols was treated for pneumonia on April 5, and hospital staff continued to neglect him, the complaint charges. “As a result, his pressure sore worsened to a painful baseball-size infected sore that exposed his muscle and bone,” the law firm said.
In stark contrast to the firm’s claim of abuse, the regional hospital received a grade ‘A’ hospital score for patient safety in early May and was recognized by the national, nonprofit hospital safety watchdog, The Leapfrog Group, for protecting patients “from preventable medical errors, injuries and infections within the hospital,” according to a press statement on its website. [Read it here.]
Nawanna Chaidez, the hospital’s risk manager, responded to The AV Times’ request for a comment, saying the hospital cannot release any information on the pending litigation.
However, Chaidez did say that the hospital’s grade ‘A’ rating in patient safety far exceeds those ratings of other hospitals in the area.
Unmoved by hospital ratings, Garcia told The AV Times that the lawsuit reflects his firm’s mission to advocate for better care for the elderly and the disabled, who remain a particularly vulnerable segment of our society.
“Our work is important as a voice for those who no longer have the ability to speak for themselves, to fight for their respect and to protect their basic rights and privileges,” Garcia said.
A copy of the complaint can be viewed at: http://www.lawgarcia.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/stamped-complaint1.pdf
Located at 38600 Medical Center Drive in Palmdale, the Palmdale Regional Medical Center is a private hospital.
–
Sister of the Paitient says
To the nurse who talks about patients’ families lack of involvement/presence …. until these accusations and suits surface and asks ‘How many times have you as a family member changed, turned your family member?” MAYBE YOU SHOULD FIND OUT WHICH PATIENT THIS IS, WHICH FAMILY THIS IS – ASK AROUND – you won’t have to ask too much. After that, post something else about our family that is actually true. You made nursing your profession by choice just as I did not. Some people simply can not stomach some things – I am sure you have seen people heave and/or vomit in those instances. Years ago, one of my professors asked me why I chose the major that I did, why wasn’t I studying to be a brain surgeon. My answer – ‘I can’t stand the sight of flesh being cut, I can’t stand the sight of flowing blood, I can’t even watch a needle going into an arm.’ So I am not a doctor, or nurse, or respiratory therapist, or lab tech. As for families not being present, a lot of patients ask their families not to visit. I do – have you ever tried to rest when you are sick in the hospital. Every couple of hours – blood pressure, temperature, medicine, blood draws, go for this test/that test, we need a urine sample, on and on and on. I tell visitors to stay away so I can sleep and rest. It does not bother me that my family is not there. I am sure some people want visitors but don’t assume they all do.
I am sure not ALL the staff there is lacking. There were some wonderful nurses. But I have had people who work there express their disappointment with the hospital. When trying to find a way to word their feelings on what the hospital turned out to be more than one has said ‘…it’s a pretty building’. That is how they describe what they see going on on a daily basis. Some of these people are staff and some are others whose jobs take them to that hospital regularly: EMT’s, contract personnel, and such.
Also for the nurse who thinks that the “winnings” should be donated to a charity benefiting the “victim”. “…WINNINGS?? DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME!?! DO YOU THINK MY BROTHER IS PRETENDING TO HAVE A BED SORE? Maybe I should ask why are you really a nurse. Maybe I should ask why your brain can not conceive of a family using a settlement to get better care for the patient. But I won’t ask. You just stay on your horse and hold on tight… Especially when the truth of other side of the story about these “wild accusations” comes out. And what would make you call this ‘wild accusations’? Were you there – were you involved? Again, hang onto your horse, because it is going to throw you when it finds out the truth.
To the ones speaking against the law firm – There was no ambulance chasing. We called them. To all who accuse us of looking to ‘cash in’ on my brother’s pain – the pain that is on his face most of the day – pray that it does not happen to you. Yes you. Not a family member that you see suffering – but you, and you will know the pain my brother feels and the pain we feel for him. For all the compassion I feel for my brother I can not imagine what it is like to have to deal with a sore that is down to the bone. Think about how it feels to sit on a tack. Now think tack the size of your arm being there always. We have had medical personnel tell us ‘he will not heal’, ‘patients die from this’, … most wag their heads when I look for some optimism, as if I am some freak who is in total denial.
If you knew how many lawsuits my family hasn’t filed in the past you would probably go mute in retrospect. 25 years ago my young son was in a pediatric hospital and recovering. Then he died after having an allergic reaction to food they gave him. All they needed to do was give him epinephrine – but they didn’t. I didn’t run out and get a lawyer then to ‘get paid’ because money would not make the pain go away. The thought of it made the pain worse. I said it then and will say it now – keep all the money in the world, I’ll take my son alive and well. He died 10 days after his birthday which just past this month. I don’t know what comes after a trillion dollars or after that unending – but keep it. You know, maybe some people sue because those that do harm (or neglect) need to answer for what they did. Instead they just take this ‘oh well’ attitude and deny any wrong-doing. Too many people cause damage, harm, and even death – then want to berate the family if they sue. They don’t even say that they are sorry. They won’t admit they did harm. Maybe this will make them fix things so it won’t happen again. I sure would not want to go in a hospital and have this happen to me after it had already happened to someone else.
By the way – my late mother was a nurse, my niece is a nurse who specializes in the care of patients on vents, one of my sister-in-laws is very interested in being a nurse. She is ready to start studying. My nephew wants to be a doctor – he is going to start college this fall. And by the way – this story is about his father.
In closing I say – Yes, there is another side. I will be very glad when the REAL TRUTH of that side comes out. And I say real truth because there is this new thing nowadays about everyone having their own truth. No, there is only TRUTH.
Donna Redmayne says
My husband was brain injured and had NO language to complain about any issues with his care. He was at PRMC and they took the best of care of him, treated him like a king; were constantly going in an talking to him just so he wouldn’t feel neglected. He was turned every two hours and extremely well cared for. I can’t help but feel this is an “ambulance chaser” trying to find something he can build on for a few dollars, not for patient care.
Desiree says
How is your husband? I am so sorry you had to endure that :(
Marie says
Everyone in that hospital except a few nurses and staff in the ER, are INCOMPETENT. I have encountered many of them, and to be honest only the ER is semi-decent (seems to be night shift is better). I was in there with a friend in early 2014 and had a great nurse and the EMTs were helpful/not bad on the eyes. I still think it’s proabably better than AVH.
Ken Pickering says
All of you are making very good points. And everything is true that you are saying. But folks, it’s not the Nurse’s fault, it’s not the lawyer’s fault (although they do take advantage of the situation, can you say Tort reform?), it is the Hospital’s fault for trying to save money by only hiring who they need to be classified as a hospital. In order to do the job correctly without doing “harm”, PH needs to hire a lot more nurses, doctors, LVNs, CNAs, maintenance and it goes on and on. If you don’t believe this is true, ask any one of these folks working at PH and see if they have enough people to do their jobs correctly without allowing “harm”. I dare you. Nurses are in such short supply that they end up working hours that are very hard to keep up. Some of the nurses that are being invited to come to the US and work don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground and refuse to work like a nurse should. PH is a private hospital that is only interested in the bottom line. The people that work at PH REALLY care about their patients but don’t have enough time to do what needs to be done to/for every patient.
Tim Scott says
Every business I ever had I needed to hire more whatevers. In none of those businesses where the people I needed required to have anything like the level of training that doctors, nurses, therapy techs, etc are required to have. And I still had a very hard time finding the people I knew that I needed.
Maybe you have some inside knowledge that the hospital is just trying to scrimp by on minimum staffing, but I tend to think the people who run it are like everyone else…trying to do the best they can in a complex situation.
rooney says
My grown son was in there with pneumonia, very ill. He needed looking after and the nurses were just standing around the nursing station talking. Terrible treatment!
Desiree says
The majority love their family members and no one wants to see anyone (especially a family member suffer like that. We don’t even like to watch animals suffer, let alone humans. No human, young, or old, should have to endure such pain and or humiliation in any hospital. I am 48 and VERY active. I was hiking at the Horse Trail and a man holding his dog on a leash passed by me. As they passed, the dog turned an bit my arm, tearing my long sleeve shirt and punctured two holes in my arm which led to heavy bleeding. Luckily I have FULL insurance with Kaiser and I also had all the necessary shots to keep me from getting any infections so I never did pursue this guy. My complaint is not with this hospital but with Kaiser in Lancaster. I immediately went to Kaiser for treatment and the doctor came in and took only 40-60 seconds with me. He asked if I had had the TB shot (I did) He said an assistant would be right in to clean my arm up. When she came in, she handed me my prescription and walked out. I was shocked! My sister and I just laughed – I think we laughed until we both pee’d in our pants. They never cleaned my arm or bandaged it. I left the hospital with a bloody arm, bloody shirt, and NOT ONE SOUL said, “Hey, let me clean that before you leave”. Sadly, and not in all cases my any means, we live in times where no human wants to deal with another human. Everyone has their own battles in life and everyone is too stressed out to care about anyone anymore. People come to work to collect a paycheck and at 5:00 they just want to get home. Again, there are some great nurses but they are hard to find anymore.
Ty says
Desiree, let me begin by applauding you for not perusing with the dog owner! Sometime accidents are just accidents. Thank God nothing came of the opened wound. It’s bothersome how a LOT of people take small situations to an EXTREME
I too had an issue with Kaiser, I had to get electrical stimulates, and was asked when I could feel the stimulation (strong but comfortable) He turned the machine all the way up, and I never felt anything. He turned and realized it was not plugged in, HE PLUGGED IT IN, I was nearly “Zapped” off the table!!!!
desiree says
I feel that I am SO fortunate to have full insurance – it’s a blessing and nothing that is owed to me. So many people pressured me to go after the dog owner which we believe was a police dog, waljing with the police officer. I have photos of the dog and the guy who owns the dog. This attack happened at the Horse Trail on S. I think both the dog owner and myself were in shock. Do let me say, the owner was very aad and hurt for me. What will I gain by suing, money? Money can only take you so far but the life of a human or animal is more precious – I didn’t want to cause the dog or owner any psin. You hit it right on…accidents happen. Thankfully I have healed. This happened two months ago. Again, I am so grateful that I have full insurance which paid for my Dr. Visit
desiree says
My goodness – well it could have been worse – you could have been zapped out of the building
Ouch!
Jennifer RN says
I will be more impressed with law firms and families when the settlements from these suits start donating the winnings to a charity benefiting the “victim”. The wild accusations in this suit are reflective of a non-educated law firm and general public if you actually believe that nursing staff at any facility treat patients in this manner, irregardless of staffing levels. This is equivalent to me assuming a teacher beat my child because they returned from the school day with an injury.
Being a medical professional I understand the risk of skin breakdown when an elderly patient is hospitalized and recovering from a medical diagnosis such as pneumonia. Appetite levels go down, mobility becomes difficult for the patient, and perfusion of the tissues become an even greater barrier. I can continue educating you with the 6 years of education I had to undergo to learn how to care for your loved ones, in addition to the 11 years of direct care I have given without thought to your loved ones. I give up holidays, family time, birthdays, my children’s school activities to give unconditional care. Our bodies hurt administering care to others who cannot do for themselves, and we certainly don’t want to discuss the lack of family involvement/presence 11.5 of the 12 hours that we work….until these accusations and suits surface. How many times have you as a family member changed, turned your family member or entire bed…or do you “get the nurse”? Nurses do not work to fraud Medicare, we have no clue in regards to billing, we went to college to learn healthcare.
Nurses care even when family members cannot be present or do not exist. We do the work that others do not stay for or dare to do. Despite the complaints I am seeing here, what it comes down to, THE NURSE cleaned your loved one, your pee/poop, your bed, changed your wound or incision dressings, gave you pain medicine, watched you tests results to make sure we timely addressed warning signs before your body was harmed, adjusted you for comfort, among 100 other duties I could rattle off….IT WASN’T YOU OR YOUR HUSBAND. IT WASN’T THE GREAT NIECE. IT WASN’T THE DOCTOR!
Sometimes all your nurse can say is sorry for the delay, because we certainly know it wouldn’t benefit your healing to tell you that we just lost a patient next door and spend time hugging and crying with her family members.
Tim Scott says
Thank you for your efforts.
Desiree says
Thank you for your service to the people who are sick and injured. Thank you for helping us to live. And I mean this from my heart. Without your education, more lives would be lost.
desiree says
I read your post twice
I want to thank you for everything you do for the public. I felt so sad after reading it again and never gave thought that those in the medical profession give up so much but what hurt me the most is that you give up so much of your family time to help others live. Thank you.
Nursey Nurse says
Amen.
Thank you for saying everything I wanted to say!
Jennifer RN says
Just to clarify…I am in no way defending wrong. We are all humans and I do not pretend nurses are perfect. Even the worst attitudes I have seen in a select few nurses….I can honestly say have never been negligent…just burnout or “problems at home” such as death of their own loved ones or spousal issues….again we are all human. However when I read public accusations/statements from law firms using buzz words to get a public reaction, I feel the obligation to defend my profession. Many of the negative observations and reactions I read from the general public are truly emotional reactions and a true lack of understanding of what we do.
We nurses get it, we see you and your family members on possibly the worst day of your lives. What you perceive as the nurse “laughing and talking” is sometimes the only laugh or break we will get in the 12.5 hours we are scheduled. Sometimes this is the only “connection or uplift” we will experience because the rest of the shift is giving to alleviate pain and suffering. Remember the patient is not the ONLY patient. We all have spouses, children, and extended family hurting with us. I have endured so many urinary tract infections as a nurse, because there simply is not time to pee just yet….6 more hours go by.
I don’t regret my choice of profession, it is a calling that I will answer for many more years as long as my body lasts. Just know that nurses embrace complete strangers who are all vulnerable, we cannot consider race, class, ability to pay, gender, sexuality, or any of the other ways human tend to divide themselves against. We will hug your parents in a minute when they tell us they are scared to die, something they will never tell to another soul, least of all their family. We will do whatever our patients need within reason. Please do not judge and pick sides because a lawyer tells a one-sided story. After all we all have a job to do, I guess this would be the role of the attorney.
My job does not involve millions, I am happy with a paycheck.
FV, RN says
As a fellow RN, very well said! I love my job but people don’t understand what we go through each day at work. We sacrifice our health as well by as you mentioned potential UTIs because of not being able to take a bathroom break, we are exposed to many contact, droplet and airborne pathogens we are physically and mentally pushed daily we endure bad and mean attitudes from doctors, patients and family members. Heck sometimes I think waitresses get more respect then we do! (no disrespect to waiters) I once had a family member go off on me about how bad of a nurse I was because I was 30 minutes late for her mother’s blood pressure meds (BP was perfectly fine) when little did she know I was in the next room with my patient who’s oxygen level was low (80%). We are not with our feet up watching TV in the break room we are with our OTHER patients or speaking with doctors, or concerned family members, in between all the other nursing duties we have. No excuses for harm because there is negativity in every profession.
Concerned nana says
Jennifer Rn, your post brought tears to my eyes because I know how hard you and your coworkers work to help the patients that come to your facility for help. Your profession rarely gets acknowledged for all the hard work you do and I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for everything you do and the sacrifices you make in your own life. I had an opportunity to use your facility last year and I can tell everyone listening that I received excellent care while there and would definitely use that facility again if needed (hopefully not,though) Thank you again and please remember WHY you chose the profession you did and not listen to the ramblings of those who are not happy.
Jessica says
I’m glad someone’s doing something. When I was there in February 2012 I peed myself from getting sick In my hospital bed ( I was on the operation floor and had a reaction to the meds) they cleaned up the puke and said they’d be back to help clean me up. Even after me bugging they never helped clean me up. My husband had to come the next night after work and give me a sponge bath. They all didn’t say sorry or anything. We had to buy our bathing stuff. Not surprised they treated more people like this. I hope all affected get what they deserve
Rene says
Palmdale Regional is an absolute joke. It’s just an over priced urgent care filled with staff who don’t care this isn’t the first abuse story I’ve heard from there
Tim Scott says
How many times are Winburn and the AV Times going to shill for this “law firm” before they catch on?
There is a well known money maker in the legal profession.
You come up with a target group…in this case people with elderly to take care of. You put together a boilerplate filing that is pretty much a “fill in the blanks” that can be done by a secretary…in this case a standardized patient neglect lawsuit. Then you advertise with a “no fee until you win” theme.
People think that you are a strong law firm that will force whoever is being sued to settle rather than fight the frivolous lawsuit. They figure that since there is no fee unless they win they have nothing to lose, and sign on to get rich quick.
In fact, the targets of the frivolous suits have staff attorneys who can handle all the preliminary filings just in the normal course of their jobs, so unless there is a real high powered shyster like Rex backing the firm the frivolous lawsuit is not a threat, just a nuisance, and they aren’t going to settle.
What happens is that the law firm hires investigators on behalf of their client that the client has to pay for. The law firm, since they aren’t responsible for paying the investigators, pays them whatever they want. The investigation “firm” is of course in the same family as the law firm. Eventually, the investigation costs the client as much as they are willing or able to pay and the law firm can no longer convince them “we are almost there, the big settlement is coming” and the suit is dropped.
Dropped, not lost. The law firm continues to be able to honestly say “we never lose” and find the next sucker. Their only costs are advertising and secretaries, since the actual lawyer or lawyers involved haven’t done anything since they drafted up the boilerplate form for their lawsuits.
A real newspaper would not give them the time of day, but since the AV Times is basically a social networker playing at journalism by renaming her facebook page being called by a “real lawfirm” with “breaking news” is just so exciting that she can’t pass it up.
KayDee says
For all your bloviating, have you actually looked into this firm’s history? If so, then you would see they have won many multimillion verdicts and class action settlements from homes and hospitals that abuse the elderly. I did my research because I have a great aunt who suffered similar abuse and I am looking for justice. It’s a fact that our elderly are vulnerable to abuses like these, and there is nothing wrong with a firm that specializes in getting grieving family members their justice. These are real people’s lives we’re dealing with. Can you understand that? Obviously you can’t, otherwise you wouldn’t have the nerve to compare it to the ambulance chasing money grab that Rex Parris is doing in suing Palmdale and all those other cities based on an antiquated voting law. Smh.
Tim Scott says
If you think that this firm is your answer to your needs, good luck.
By the way, are you looking for “justice” for your great aunt, or an opportunity to cash in on her?
kd says
You’re a troll
Tim Scott says
LOL…why? Because I question the motives of the “devoted niece’ in search of a free ride lawyer?
Or because I make fun of the wannabe journalist that runs this “news source?.
If you want to impress anyone you’re going to have to do better than that. I was at least a little impressed with the word “bloviating,” even though your usage wasn’t really accurate, but “you’re a troll” is just cry baby blather.