ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Annuities are frequently sold to elders and seniors. Annuities are contracts between an insurance company and the buyer. They are designed to provide scheduled payments to the policy holder, after retirement. Seniors have increasingly been targeted to purchase annuities, because they tend to have accumulated a portion of […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER There is great concern about increased antipsychotic use on the elderly in nursing homes. Elders who are prescribed these drugs are placed at an increased risk of heart failure, autoimmune diseases, and even death. However, between 10 to 30 percent of long-stay residents in U.S. nursing homes are […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER It has become widely popular for elders and seniors to receive care in the comfort of their own homes. The State of California supports this trend by paying relatives and others to provide care for roughly half a million low-come individuals. This program is called the In-Home Supportive […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The federal government received a settlement of $16.65 billion dollars from Bank of America in a recent whistleblower qui tam case that was brought by four whistleblowers under the Federal False Claims Act. Whistleblowers have been awarded a generous percentage of the Bank of America settlement by the […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER During the 2014 fiscal year, the government’s whistleblower program has been the most successful yet. According to the New York Times, the Justice Department recovered $5.69 billion for false claims per the False Claims Act in 2014. The two biggest settlements included recovery for faulty mortgages and Medicare […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Stark Law prevents doctors from receiving kickbacks by referring Medicare and Medicaid patients for designated health services (DHS.) Referrals for DHS include physical therapy, occupational therapy, radiology, computerized axial tomography scans, ultrasounds, radiation services, and such. This law however, contains exceptions. Doctors may refer patients for physician […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER A report released by the Financial Conduct Authority in February 2014, said that the annuities market is messy and that customers are not getting the deals they deserve. In response, the government has put a cap on the sale of annuities. This cut to the annuities market has […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER There is great concern about increased antipsychotic use on the elderly, in nursing homes. These powerful drugs were originally developed to treat major psychoses such as schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder, and are now FDA approved for the treatment of mild anxiety and insomnia. Elders who are prescribed […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Recently, an 82-year-old woman died in a hospital after developing severe dehydration, malnutrition, bruising, and cuts, all of which could have been avoided, had the staff been more attentive and better trained. Understaffing and undertraining is not just a problem for hospitals. Nursing homes suffer the same problem. […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER 2 million and counting elders suffer from elder abuse every year in the United States. However, with elder abuse on the rise, and the fact that elder abuse are often not reported, the actual number can exceed 2 million. Only one in 24 victims of elder abuse will […]