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Author Archives: Adam Peck

 About Adam Peck

Adam J. Peck, ESQ is a principal with Peck Law Group, APC. In 2008, Mr. Adam Peck received his Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School where he graduated Cum Laude. His practice is primarily dedicated to representing Elders, Dependent Adults, along with their loved ones and family members, who have suffered horrific personal injuries.
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The Best Way to Deal With Pressure Ulcers is to Prevent Them Before They Start

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Maintaining or improving the ability to move around is one of the most effective ways to minimize the risk of developing bed sores, pressure ulcers also known as decubitus ulcers.

People who are not confined to bed should be encouraged to move from bed to chair and to stand and walk. Attention to posture, balance, and weight distribution (eg, shifting weight every 15 minutes) can help people when sitting. People who are bedbound can still benefit from various exercises that put their joints through a range of motion.

Bedbound people should be repositioned frequently to relieve pressure over bony areas. How often someone should be repositioned depends on the person’s health and the quality of the supporting surface (e.g., some beds are designed to decrease the pressure on bony areas of the body). Older adults at risk of developing pressure ulcers should be repositioned at least every 2 hours.

People who are likely to develop pressure ulcers should be repositioned often, changing from the back to their right side and then to their left side, keeping the back at a 30° angle to the bed surface. This avoids direct pressure on the bony areas of the lower back, hips, heels, and ankles – the sites where 80% of all pressure ulcers develop.

– from Steven Peck, Senior Attorney at Peck Law Group

Nursing Home Neglect Causes Unwarranted Litigation For Wrongful Death

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Nursing Homes routinely place patients who weren’t incontinent in adult diapers, a practice that is not only humiliating, but can also lead to sores, infection, and incontinence. Here is what transpired in a California nursing home which is currently in litigation:

  • Pressure sores developed and went untreated, leading to infection, bone damage and sometimes amputation.
  • Medication errors were prevalent.
  • Patients suffered from dehydration and malnutrition.
  • For one patient during a period of slightly less than eight months, there were 188 days in which no nursing notes were entered to chart his care.
  • Another patient received only four showers in 43 days.

Former residents or their family members have filed at least three lawsuits alleging the residents failed to receive proper care, a failing that in some instances led to death.

Elder Abuse Standard Of Proof To Be Lowered in California Indicates San Francisco Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer Steven Peck

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SB 558 (Simitian) helps prevent physical abuse of elderly and dependent adults by providing stricter civil enforcement of the Elder and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (the Elder Abuse Act), which protects the rights of seniors and dependent adults living in nursing homes, other short and long-term care facilities or private homes. SB 558 strengthens enforcement of the Elder Abuse Act, but lowering the burden of proof from “clear and convincing evidence” to “preponderance of evidence.”

It is estimated that over 132,000 elders in California are abused every year. However, for every abuse reported, research has found that at least 5 others go unreported, making the actual number of abused people much higher than the reported rate. Studies also show that neglect and abuse of nursing home residents have reached epidemic proportions. Yet many residents who suffer neglect and abuse find it virtually impossible to seek justice in court. The U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) published a report in March 2002 Entitled “Nursing Homes: More Can Be Done to Protect Residents from Abuse.” The report cited the lack of protections afforded to abused nursing home residents.SB 558’s ” preponderance of the evidence standard” is consistent with financial abuse cases and most other civil causes of action, such as negligence and normal tort cases. The “clear and convincing evidence” standard is nearly impossible to meet, particularly in facilities where few witnesses to the abuse exist, and where the victim is also old, sick or disabled. The Elder Abuse Act has good intentions, but has a very difficult burden of proof for abuse occurring in a nursing homes.

Elder Financial abuse and negligence cases use the “preponderance of evidence”
standard proposed by SB 558.

Nursing home residents need protection from physical abuse already, and the
need will grow as more residents are in nursing homes and watchdog agencies’
funding decrease.

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