negligence

A woman became the victim of a Chapel Hill wrongful death after she fell from her daughter’s dorm room bunk bed, according to newsobserver.com.

Officials at UNC Chapel Hill are discussing whether to require bunk bed railings since the Chapel Hill wrongful death.

The Chapel Hill wrongful death has lead to an increase in requests for safety bedrails.

Read more.

Do you think bunk bed railings should be required to prevent any possible Chapel Hill wrongful deaths?

If your loved one or the loved one of someone you know has been the victim of a Chapel Hill wrongful death, the Chapel Hill wrongful death lawyers at Henson Fuerst Attorneys can help.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University officials will look into the circumstances surrounding the Greensboro wrongful death of a student, according to news-record.com.

The student became victim of the Greensboro wrongful death after collapsing during tryouts for the track and field team. The 20-year-old was in a supervised voluntary open tryout before the Greensboro death.

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Do you think the weather had an effect on this Greensboro wrongful death? Do you think an undetected medical problem could have caused this Greensboro wrongful death?

If your loved one or the loved one of someone you care about has become the victim of a Greensboro wrongful death, the Greensboro wrongful death layers at Henson Fuerst can help.

A woman is facing trial as prosecutors accuse her of the Raleigh wrongful death of her 19-month old son, according to news14.com.

The woman is accused of the Raleigh wrongful death after prosecutors say she doused her son with bleach and hid his body in a plastic tub in her closet.

Prosecutors say the woman tried to claim it was an accident, but she didn’t call 911 following the possible Raleigh wrongful death.

Read more.

Do you think a Raleigh wrongful death of a child should have a harsher punishment than a Raleigh wrongful death of an adult?

If your loved one or the loved one of someone you know has been involved in a Raleigh wrongful death, the Raleigh wrongful death lawyers at HensonFuerst Attorneys can help.

In North Carolina, if a restaurant scores below a “C” grade for sanitary reasons during a health inspection, the business must close until it passes inspection.  If property owners allow their homes to fall into disrepair, the state can condemn the residence as unsafe, and in some cases, the building may be demolished.

But if a nursing home “fails” Medicare inspections…or if the facility has a history of unsafe practices, or of hiring workers who bring harm to the feeble and elderly residents, do you know what happens?

There’s a small fine. But that’s more than offset by the money Medicare will continue to pay into the nursing home on behalf of the patients living there.

Case in point: Britthaven of Chapel Hill.  This nursing home also has been rated by Medicare as one of the worst in the country. Britthaven of Chapel Hill has been called out as a “Special Focus Facility,” which means that they have a history of persistent poor quality of care. In February, six Britthaven patients were hospitalized from morphine overdose…one patient died of complications. A nurse has been charged with murder in that case.

And now, this article in Saturday’s News & Observer, and this article in today’s newspaper.

If you have legal questions about nursing home care, feel free to contact the attorneys of HensonFuerst. If you have questions, we have answers.

The city of Raleigh is looking to sue a local club for being a public nuisance, according to NewsObeserver.com.

Within the past month, the club lost its liquor license after a fight where two men were shot and injured in the club’s parking lot.

Raleigh police have responded to several stabbings, assaults, gunfire and weapons violations at the club, and a North Carolina man was shot to death in 2007 in the club’s parking lot.

Read more.

Do you think this Raleigh club is responsible for the death of this man? Do you feel safe in areas of Raleigh where there are clubs?

If your loved one or the loved one of someone you know has been involved in a Raleigh wrongful death accident, the Raleigh wrongful death lawyers at HensonFuerst Attorneys can help.

Today, June 15, is the 5th annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

Sponsored by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA), the first Awareness Day in 2006 involved several hundred organizations and governmental bodies throughout the world, on all seven continents. Their core message is this:  Never ignore elder abuse.

Throughout the world, abuse and neglect of older persons is largely under-recognized. It is an unspoken problem. Unfortunately, no community or country in the world is immune from this costly public health and human rights crisis.

Elder Abuse Facts

According to the World Health Organization, the elderly are especially at risk of abuse in institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, and other long- term care facilities. In a survey in the United States, for example, 36% of nursing home staff reported having witnessed at least one incident of physical abuse of an elderly patient in the previous year, 10% admitted having committed at least one act of physical abuse themselves, and 40% said that they had psychologically abused patients.

Abusive acts include physically restraining patients, depriving them of dignity and choice over daily affairs, and providing insufficient care (for example, allowing them to develop pressure sores).

Signs and symptoms of abuse include:

• delays between injuries or illness and seeking medical attention;
• implausible or vague explanations for injuries or ill-health, from either patient or caregiver;
• differing injury accounts or case histories from patient and caregiver;
• frequent visits to emergency departments because a chronic condition has worsened, despite a care plan;
• laboratory findings that are inconsistent with reported treatment.

The HensonFuerst nursing home abuse team has seen first-hand the abuses that can be heaped on the elderly. Just a few months ago, six residents of the Britthaven of Chapel Hill nursing home were given overdoses of morphine, and one resident died. They were all in the Alzheimer’s unit, which means that they were helpless to know what was going on… helpless to fight back.

Stories like that are what keep HensonFuerst fighting against elder abuse every day of the year.

A woman is dead after a North Carolina boating accident, which could lead to a North Carolina wrongful death claim.

According to GazetteVirginian.com, the North Carolina boating accident occurred on Mayo Lake in Person County. A 39-year-old woman was thrown from her pontoon boat when it was struck from behind by a ski boat.

The woman’s body was taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Chapel Hill to determine the cause of her death.

Read more.

Do you think North Carolina law enforcement officials do enough to keep the North Carolina lakes safe? What do you think should be done to keep them safer to prevent a possible North Carolina wrongful death claim?

If your loved one or the loved one of someone you know has been involved in a Chapel Hill wrongful death accident, the North Carolina wrongful death lawyers at HensonFuerst Attorneys can help.

Attorney Carma Henson, partner with North Carolina-based HensonFuerst law firm, told reporters today that the HensonFuerst nursing home abuse team is conducting its own investigation into the the morphine overdose of nine Alzheimer’s patients being treated at Britthaven of Chapel Hill nursing home.

In February, six patients were admitted to the hospital after they tested positive for morphine, even though the pain killer hadn’t been prescribed. One of the patients, 84-year-old Rachel Holliday, died. At the time of her death, she also had high levels of morphine in her blood. On Monday, registered nurse Angela Almore was arrested and indicted on one count of second-degree murder and six counts of felony patient abuse. In a report from WRAL, Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said that the state believes Almore acted alone, and that he doesn’t expect any more arrests or charges in the case.

In a news report on WRAL-TV today, Carma Henson said that HensonFuerst is continuing its investigation on behalf of families concerned about how this type of abuse could have happened to their loved ones. The firm is not limiting its research to Almore’s actions; there is also the question of how drugs are administered throughout the facility. According to Carma Henson, a nurse is not supposed to be able to get access to morphine and administer it to patients if it has not been prescribed for those patients.

“This can’t be just a rogue nurse gone bad,” says Ms. Henson. Her hope is that the HensonFuerst investigation gets a look at the bigger picture of how this and other nursing homes are run, so changes can be made to bring about some good. There are still a lot of people in nursing homes who need help… HensonFuerst is determined to make a difference.

(Watch the WRAL video and read their complete story here: HensonFuerst continues investigation.)

WRAL.com reports that registered nurse Angela Almore was indicted on a charge of second-degree murder for the death of an Alzheimer’s patient at Britthaven of Chapel Hill nursing home. Almore is also charged with six counts of felony patient abuse, and is being held in the Orange County jail under a $500,000 bond.

In February, nine Alzheimer’s patients tested positive for powerful opiate medicines, the kind used to control pain. Six of the patients were hospitalized, and one patient–Rachel Holliday–died.  At the time of her death, Ms. Holliday had a blood morphine level of 50,000 ng/ml… even though she had not been prescribed morphine.

HensonFuerst is relieved to know that the investigation into patient abuse at this nursing home will continue, and that an arrest has been made. Our nursing home abuse lawyers are continuing their own investigation of this incident. There are many more questions to be answered….

To read the full WRAL story, click here: Murder Charge at Britthaven of Chapel Hill. And if you have questions about what you can do about suspected cases of nursing home abuse, contact our Nursing Home Abuse team–if you have questions, HensonFuerst has answers.

A woman is dead after a Raleigh hit-and-run boating accident, according to Charlotte News 14.

Witnesses said it looked like a boat ran into a pontoon boat, and the boat driver took off. Three others were in the pontoon boat at the time and one suffered minor injuries.

Read more.

Do you think officials do enough to enforce Raleigh safety laws? What more do you think could be done in Raleigh?

If you or someone you know has been involved in a Raleigh wrongful death accident, the Raleigh wrongful death lawyers at HensonFuerst Attorneys can help.