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Host 1: Welcome back to InSight with Dave Farnbaugh who has been kind enough to join us again. We are talking about nursing home care and it's such an important topic. President Obama was reelected yesterday and that obviously will raise some issues because that's going to mean that Obama Care is not being repealed. So what does that mean for nursing home care? Dave Farnbaugh: Well, it's a practical matter, I think what it's going to mean is that most people are saying that when it is really fully phased in - the reimbursements to nursing homes and other providers is going to be scaled back. As a practical matter, if reimbursements are going to be scaled back, in my mind, what that's going to result in is probably nursing homes trying to accomplish their staffing needs with fewer people. There is sort of an old adage in our business that no matter what type of an injury occurs in a nursing home, whether that be pressure sores, falls, dehydration, or whatever harm occurs in a nursing home - usually relates from under-staffing. If you had adequate staff to take care of the residents based on their needs and their what we call acuity then most injuries in nursing homes wouldn't occur. But if you don't have enough staff, people have a lot of needs and you don't have enough people to cover the various wings and halls in a nursing home. That's where most of the injuries occur. Host 2: Is that what you're seeing? As the Sweeney Law Firm is handling all these cases against nursing homes, is that the trend you see is that it's under-staffing? Dave Farnbaugh: I think that's a big part of it. It's under-staffing. One of the ways you can reduce your overhead cost if you own a nursing home is reduce staff. The other thing that we see is unfortunately less resources and time to train people. The people that are employed to work in nursing homes are going into it, caring and compassionate people, that's why they're in a nursing home. Everybody's motivation is good who runs a nursing home. Nobody wants to see somebody get hurt in a nursing home, but these are people that have a lot of needs and these people that work there, nurse's aids and nurses, they require a lot of training for the specific needs of the elderly. So we see often times when we sue nursing homes that the training is inadequate and that results to injuries. That's one of the trends we're seeing. One of the more disturbing trends that we're seeing nowadays in cases against nursing homes is the notion now that some nursing homes are not carrying liability insurance. It's hard to believe. In Indiana, if you drive a car, you have to have insurance. In the state of Indiana, it's pretty remarkable, if you own a nursing home, you don't have to carry liability insurance. I tell people that and they're stunned. Another trend that we're seeing is a lot of nursing homes are asking families when they're doing their admission paper work to sign an agreement that says you're going to give up your right to make a legal claim against a nursing home. It's called forced arbitration, where you agree that if you have some sort of dispute with a nursing home or someone's injured in connection with nursing home care, you have to sign an arbitration agreement that calls for your case to be decided by someone that's an arbitrary for the nursing home industry. That's not exactly the fairest way to handle a dispute. Those are some of the things we see. What we've done at our office is put a lot of information on our website. If you go to our website, you're going to find a section on nursing homes that contains a lot of helpful information for consumers about what to look for in placing their loved one in a nursing home, what are some of the things to look for, questions to ask, and those sorts of things. We really think that we've really developed a fountain of information for all things related to nursing home and nursing home care. Host 2: Well that's a great place for people to go, we're all in some situation where we need to be aware or know what we would do if we need a nursing home for ourselves or a loved one. Check that out at SweeneyLawFirm.com. If you think that you may have a case of need advice, you can give them a call at 420-3137

Indiana Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer David Farnbauch from the Sweeney law firm discusses pressure ulcers and the types of problems they cause for older people in nursining homes. If you have a loved one in a nursing home that is bed bound, you want to make sure to check their skin to see if they are developing any kind of pressure ulcers.  Pressure ulcers can cause serious pain and problems for people in nursing homes. If you or a loved one has been a victim of elder abuse or neglect, contact The Sweeney law firm today for a free consultation. 1-866-793-6339 (Toll Free) 1-260-420-3137 (Local) 1-260-969-0321 (Fax)

LEE KELSO: With an ever aging population more and more people are going to require long term care in a nursing home facility. Despite the compassionate and dedicated care provided by the vast majority of nurses and CNAs who take care of the nursing homes, there are some alarming statistics about the numbers of injuries and deaths that occur in nursing homes. Recent studies show that a significant number of nursing homes do not have enough staff to provide adequate care for residents. Particularly in the for profit nursing homes. Joining us today about nursing home care in Indiana is attorney David Farnbauch, a trial lawyer with the Sweeney Law Firm in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Thanks for spending some time with us today David. It's an important topic that affects a lot of people. DAVID FARNBAUCH: It's a pleasure to be here today. LEE KELSO: David it is my understanding looking at your biography, that your law firm has a particular interest in representing nursing home residents and their families. Can you tell us how it is you began representing nursing home residents in legal cases? DAVID FARNBAUCH: My career as a nursing home lawyer began about fifteen years ago when I handled my first against a nursing home that involved a very severe pressure sore or pressure ulcer in an elderly nursing home resident. At that time I had no idea what a pressure ulcer was. I was really horrified at the debilitating nature of that injury in this elderly nursing home resident. I began doing some research on the incidents of pressure sores, injuries, and abuse to people in nursing homes. I was really astounded by how many people every year suffer injuries and neglect as a result of being in a nursing home. LEE KELSO: You told a little bit about nursing home residents developing serious pressures in nursing homes. Can you tell us about some of the other types of injuries that can occur when there is under-staffing? DAVID FARNBAUCH: Well I think some of the more common injuries that we see in nursing homes are injuries from falls. Often elderly residents are not given proper fault, precautions and they suffer injuries from falls, fractured hips, broken necks, serious fractures from falls in nursing homes. They also suffer serious episodes of dehydration where they don't receive proper fluids and they become dehydrated and their internal organs start to shut down from dehydration and they have to be sent to the hospital and often these episode of dehydration lead to subsystem deaths. We see many, many different types of injuries in nursing homes. LEE KELSO: You know I have heard that nursing home industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the U.S. Tell you viewers about the government regulations in place to protect nursing home residents DAVID FARNBAUCH: Nursing homes are heavily regulated. Most people who end up in a nursing home, there care is at least partially funded by medicare payments. Medicare has an activist, a very extensive series of regulations known as over regulations that govern every aspect of nursing home care. LEE KELSO: With all of the federal and state regulations in place to protect nursing home residents I'm curious as to why we're seeing this big increase in the number of residents suffering injuries in nursing homes. DAVID FARNBAUCH: I think the biggest reason that we are seeing an increase in the number of injuries in nursing homes relates to the inadequate staffing that we see in many for-profit nursing homes. I've said many times over the course of my career handling nursing home cases that almost every case stems from inadequate staff. A nursing home has to have enough nurses and nurses aides to provide care to these elderly residents. When they need to be turned and repositioned, their in bed, or need some assistance in going to the bathroom to prevent falls, if you don't have adequate staff there to help people get to the bathroom or be turned and reposition there's going to be injuries, so I think that all these cases really stemmed from inadequate staffing. LEE KELSO: What advice can you pass along to the family that is faced with having to out a loved on into a nursing home to reduce the risk that they would suffer farm in that nursing home's care? DAVID FARNBAUCH: I think the most important thing that any family should do to try to reduce the risk that something will happen to their loved one is to do a thorough investigation on the nursing home. There's a variety of websites that are available to review to look at the track record of the nursing home to see if they have been sited by the state department of health and see if they have had claims and lawsuits against a facility and see what they're ratings are. The other thing that families can do is simply do a thorough investigation of the facility. Go there, take a through look around. See what it is like. See how the residents are treated. Do a comprehensive search in your area. Take a look at multiple homes in your area to see is the residents that are there and if the families are satisfied with the care. I think that the biggest thing that you can do to protect your loved ones is to really check out the background of the nursing home. LEE KELSO: In the event that one of our viewers has a family member who does suffer serious injury as a result of neglect of neglect in a nursing home and wants to investigate whether there is a potential legal claim against the nursing home, what's the first step? DAVE FARNBAUCH: I think the first step if you were contemplating a claim against a nursing home is to contact a lawyer or a law firm that specializes in handling nursing home cases. These cases are a lot more complex than the typical personal injury case. I think any lawyer that handles these cases has to have extensive knowledge of the over regulations that govern nursing homes. They have to be familiar with the nursing standard of care. They have to be familiar with experts that testify in these types of cases. I would encourage anybody that is pursuing one of these cases to get in touch with a law firm that has some special expertise in handling these cases. LEE KELSO: I'm sure that viewers must be wondering how much it costs to hire a firm like the Sweeney Law Firm to investigate or hire a nursing home expert to investigate and review the nursing home records. how much does an investigation like that cost? DAVID FARNBAUCH: It actually does not cost the client anything to have our office investigate a nursing home case. When we meet with a family, if we determine that there appears to be a meritorious nursing home case we will pay for expert witnesses to review the records and determine whether there has been a breach of the nursing standards of care and our law firm advances those expenses. If there is a successful recovery than those expenses have to be reimbursed to the firm, but it does not cost the client anything to retain our law firm to have us investigate the case. LEE KELSO: David we appreciate you sharing your insight on nursing homes. You've given viewers some valuable information and probably it's going to affect all of us at some point in our lives, so thanks a lot. DAVID FARNBAUCH: It was great to be here today.

CHARITY FREEMAN: We are here today to talk about a public health problem that does not receive a lot of attention or press coverage, but it's a serious health problem that's affecting millions of people every year. I am talking about injuries from falls and the statistics are sobering. Among those aged sixty-five and older falls are the leading cause of injury. In 2007 over eighteen-thousand older adults died from falls. Falls are the most common form of hospital admissions for trauma. In the year 2000 alone direct medical costs of falls total a little over nineteen-billion dollars. Our guest today is David Farnbauch attorney with the Sweeney Law Firm who has over 25 years of experience handling cases involving falls. David thanks do much for being here today. DAVID FARNBAUCH: Great to be here today. CHARITY FREEMAN: David can you give us some examples of cases where a home owner or a business owner might be legally responsible if someone falls and is injured on their property. DAVID FARNBAUCH: I can give you a couple examples that I think are fairly common. First example that I will give you is a fall on a premises involving snow or ice on a sidewalk. In Indiana a premises owner, say the owner of a store or a shopping mall has a duty to exercise reasonable care, for example sidewalks should be in a reasonably safe condition. So if there is snow and ice that accumulates on a sidewalk and the business owner does not take any measures in shoveling the snow off or spreading some salt. If someone falls on an icy sidewalk there is a potentially legal liability. CHARITY FREEMAN: There seems to be a lot of misconceptions on whose responsible if someone falls. I have run into a lot of people who believe that a business is always reliable if someone falls on their property and I have run into people who believe that the person who fell is responsible because they were not being as careful as they should have been. Can you explain how the law works when it comes to people falling on someone else's property? DAVID FARNBAUCH: I think that there are a lot of misconceptions about legal liabilities stemming from a fall. Oftentimes people will come into our office after a fall and they mistakenly believe that if they fall on a business premises, the business is automatically legally responsible for their injuries and that is simply not the case. A business owner has a duty to exercise reasonable care and what is reasonable depends on the situation. It depends on what type of a fall it was and what the business owner did to cause the fall or prevent the fall that will determine whether there is liability. The other thing that is important to remember about a fall case is a person who is walking on a sidewalk or on a premises they have a duty to exercise reasonable care for their own safety. So if there are hazardous conditions or things that they should have observed to try to watch out for their own safety, they have a duty to exercise care for their own safety. CHARITY FREEMAN: Now if our viewers has fallen or had a loved one who has been seriously injured in a fall and they believe that it is the fault of the property owner what advice would you give them? DAVID FARNBAUCH: One of the biggest problems with fall cases in general is the absence of documentation or photographs right after the fall. One of the most important things I think after a fall is to have a family member or a close friend go to the scene where the fall occurred and obtain photographs of the scene right after the accident. It's very important to try to document or preserve what the scene looks like immediately after a fall. That is the first step. I think the second bit of advice that I would give to somebody who has been involved in a fall is oftentimes you will be contacted by an investigator or an adjuster for the owner of the premises. I would refrain from giving any sort of a recorded statement until you have had an opportunity to talk to a lawyer and get some legal advice. The other thing that i would say is that if you've suffered from a serious fall and you think that there was something that should not have been there or there was negligence on the part of the property owner that caused the fall. I think that it is important to contact an attorney early after the fall and get legal advice. CHARITY FREEMAN: Our viewers may be concerned about the cost involved in this kind of case. Does it cost a lot of money to investigate a fall or to file a lawsuit against a business owner? DAVID FARNBAUCH: Most law firms that handle these cases handle them on a contingent fee basis which means they will charge a client a percentage of the recovery and they will advance the expenses of these cases, so it really does not cost the consumer anything to investigate a slip and fall case on the premises. CHARITY FREEMAN: David this has been very informative and given our viewers a lot of information about the legal aspects of a fall injury. We appreciate you taking the time to be with us today. DAVID FARNBAUCH: It was a pleasure to be here today.

CHARITY FREEMAN: Every year hundreds of Indiana consumers are injured by products that are dangerous or defective, despite the fact that there is a federal agency, the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk or death from consumer products. There is still a lot of dangerous product out there. Here today to talk to us about the legal claims that arise from dangerous or defective products is David Farnbauch, personal injury lawyer from the Sweeney Law Firm in Fort Wayne, Indiana. David thanks for joining us today. DAVID FARNBAUCH: It's great to be here. CHARITY FREEMAN: From your perspective why are so many adults and children harmed by defective consumer products every year? DAVID FARNBAUCH: I think that one of the reasons why we see so many injuries from defective products is that oftentimes these products are put on to the marketplace with very little testing, before they are put on store shelves. CHARITY FREEMAN: What role do government agencies like the Consumer Product Safety Commission play in keeping these dangerous and defective products off the market? DAVID FARNBAUCH: Well the Consumer Product Safety Commission is a governmental agency that really serves as a watchdog and keeps statistics information on harmful products. They have a website that consumers can visit to check on whether there has been complaints or issues related to a particular product. CHARITY FREEMAN: Under what circumstances can the manufacturer of the product be held liable if the person using their product is injured? DAVID FARNBAUCH: Well, a product liability case involves a product that is unreasonably dangerous to consumers. So, if a product does not perform as it's expected to perform or if it malfunctions or does something that causes an injury that should not be expected with the use of that product, there's potentially a legal case flowing from that injury. CHARITY FREEMAN: Are there many lawyers or law firms that can handle product liability cases or is it a specialized area? DAVID FARNBAUCH: I would say that there are very few law firms that do handle product liability cases and the primary reason for that is that any type of a product reliability claim you are going to be going up against a manufacturer that is normally going to be very well insured and have a lot of sophistication with the funding of these types of cases. So, it takes a significant amount of financial resources to handle a product reliability claim, so therefore very few law firms handle these cases. CHARITY FREEMAN: David what if one of our viewers is injured by a product that was defective or did not perform as it was supposed to. What is the first step they would take in pursuing a legal claim? DAVID FARNBAUCH: Well I think the first step with any type of product reliability case, this sounds simple, but it's important to retain the evidence. Oftentimes in product reliability cases something happens to the machine or the part or whatever that malfunctions, so it is very important to maintain the evidence. The other important advice that I can give is for viewers if you are involved in a product reliability claim, oftentimes there will be investigators or insurance adjusters that are dispatched to the person's home to obtain a statement, I would counsel someone not to give a statement unless you have spoken with an attorney first. Then the other advice that I would give is that if you were injured as a result of a product that malfunctioned I would contact the law firm with experience in handling product reliability claims. CHARITY FREEMAN: Mr. Farnbauch thank you so much we appreciate the information that you shared with us today about product reliability cases. DAVID FARNBAUCH: I was great to be here.

CHARITY FREEMAN: It seems like it is almost a weekly occurance on the news we hear of an industrial accident or construction related accident that result in serious injury or even death. Despite advances in workplace safety there is still significant risk to workers when they are on the job. Today we are here to talk about the legal liabilities that stem from workplace accidents with personal injury lawyer David Farnbauch from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Welcome David. DAVID FARNBAUCH: Great to be here. CHARITY FREEMAN: David correct me if I am wrong, aren't there government agencies and regulations that serve as a watchdog for workers who are involved in the construction trades in factories. DAVID FARNBAUCH: In fact there are governmental entities that are charged with overseeing the safety of workplace accidents. Specifically OSHA, the Occupational Safety Health Administration. They are in charge of monitoring safety at work sites. CHARITY FREEMAN: Can you give our viewers some examples of cases that arise due to injuries in the workplace. DAVID FARNBAUCH: Well one of the most common examples of injury that occurs in the workplace is a fall from, for instance, a scaffold or a ladder or there is some kind of opening in a roof or a worker will fall through a roof to the ground and suffers severa injuries. CHARITY FREEMAN: David I heard that if a worker is injured on the job he or she is limited to worker compensation benefit. Is that true? DAVID FARNBAUCH: No that's not true. In many instances if someone is injured at work. If the fault is as a result of a fellow employee one will be limited to workman's compensation benefits. However there are many instances where an injury on the worksite will give the injured worker the right to sue another party or another corporation as a result of those worksite injuries. CHARITY FREEMAN: You have been handling workplace and construction related accidents for the last twenty-five years. It would seem to me those cases are more involved and more complex than a regular personal injury case like an auto accident is that true? DAVID FARNBAUCH: That is the case. These types of injuries are complex because you are normally suing a number of contractors and subcontractors of different entities. So most lawyers do not handle workplace or construction accident cases. CHARITY FREEMAN: What advice would you give someone who has been injured in a workplace or construction related accident? DAVID FARNBAUCH: I actually have two pieces of advice to give an injured worker who was injured in a workplace accident. The first bit of advice that I would give is to not give a recorded statement to an investigator or insurance adjuster who's investigating an accident unitl you consult a lawyer. The other piece of advice that I would give is to hire a lawyer that has experience in handling workplace accidents. Because as I said these cases are difficult. They require some specialized knowledge and it makes sense to get someone who has handled these types of cases before. CHARITY FREEMAN: Mr. Farnbauch thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to help us and provide some information about these types of cases. DAVID FARNBAUCH: You're welcome.

CHARITY FREEMAN: Traumatic brain injury or TBI is a serious problem in the United States. Every year nearly 1.7 million people suffer from a traumatic brain injury from an accident or trauma. Traumatic brain injury is one of the leading causes of permanent disabilities in our country. If you, a family member, or a loved one has suffered a brain injury that was caused by the fault of someone else then you may need a lawyer with experience in handling head injury cases. With us is attorney David Farnbauch personal injury lawyer from the Sweeney Law Firm in Fort Wayne, Indiana. David is going to share with us. What is special about head injury cases and why do you need someone with expertise on that? David thanks for joining us. DAVID FARNBAUCH: It's good to be here. CHARITY FREEMAN: David I am sure most of us have heard about cases where someone is in a head-on collision and are in a coma for a long time, but are there cases where people suffer brain injury and have long-term effects where they have only lost consciousness for a short period of time? DAVID FARNBAUCH: I think that one of the big misconceptions about brain injuries is the notion that you have to have some sort of severe head trauma with a brain bleed or you have to go into a coma in order to have permanent brain damage and that certainly is not the case. We see frequently in our practice situations where one suffers a relatively modest blow to the head and they do not have any sort of a brain bleed or hemorrhages showing up on an image study and yet they can have a permanent brain injury. So you can have permanent brain injury without the loss of consciousness or without any sort of a brain hemorrhage. CHARITY FREEMAN: In those cases where someone doesn't have a brain bleed or subdural hematoma that is picked up on an x-ray or an MRI, how can a brain injury be diagnosed? DAVID FARNBAUCH: Actually most brain injuries are not diagnosed through conventional imaging studies like x-rays and MRIs. The most common way that a brain injury is diagnosed is through referral of the patient to a neural psychologist who conducts a battery of tests usually lasting about a day known as neuropsychological tests. They are designed to pick up or diagnose brain injuries. CHARITY FREEMAN: What are some symptoms that someone could have if they have had a mild to moderate traumatic brain injury? DAVID FARNBAUCH: Well there are a number of symptoms that a patient will experience if they have had a brain injury. One of the most common symptoms is what we call post traumatic amnesia where they will have little or no memory of a traumatic event. Other common symptoms include difficulty with concentration, difficulty with memory, agitation or personality changes. So there is any number of symptoms that a patient may experience after a brain injury. CHARITY FREEMAN: Are there specific brain injury treatment programs and support groups for people who have had a traumatic injury? DAVID FARNBAUCH: There are specific brain treatment centers located throughout the United States. In Indiana we have a brain injury association that is a support group and an information source for families who have suffered a brain injury locally. There are support groups in the Fort Wayne area that work with families that have suffered from a brain injury. CHARITY FREEMAN: Your law firm has handled a number of these cases over the years. What are some of the challenges when you are presenting these cases to an insurance company or jury? DAVID FARNBAUCH: Well, I think one of the most significant challenges with brain injury cases is what we have discussed before which is normally in these cases there won't be any kind of an obvious subdural hematoma that shows up on an x-ray or MRI, so if you do not see any kind of a brain bleed on an MRI then what you have to rely on is neuropsychological testing to prove that someone has suffered a brain injury. The other thing that we have to rely on to prove a brain injury is testimony from a person's family members or their co-workers who present testimony on how the person, their personality and their mental functioning has been altered after an accident or a brain injury. CHARITY FREEMAN: David what advice can you offer someone who has suffered a traumatic brain injury because of someone else or at the fault of someone else? DAVID FARNBAUCH: Well I think that the best advice that I can give a family who has a family member that suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident that is contemplating a legal case is to find an attorney who has specialized knowledge and training in brain injuries. These are cases that involve calling a number of doctors to testify and involves some pretty specialized knowledge regarding brain injury, so if you get an attorney that has not handled a brain injury case before. It's going to be difficult for that attorney to present the case properly. CHARITY FREEMAN: David thank you. That's really helpful information. We appreciate you taking the time to discuss traumatic brain injuries. DAVID FARNBAUCH: It was a pleasure to be here today.

“There was a recent study that came out in the Indianapolis Star. They did a pretty comprehensive study of the nursing homes in the state of Indiana and they found out that Indiana ranks 51st out of the 50 states. You might say, “Well how did we get to 51st?” They also counted the District of Columbia. But Indiana ranks 51st lowest in the quality of nursing homes in the United States. So obviously this was a very troubling study for the legislators and the nursing regulators in Indianapolis when they learned that we ranked dead last in the quality of nursing homes. They studies a lot of factors particularly the amount of man hours that were spent on each patient by CNAs and Nursing Assistants. They found once again that we rank dead last in the United States. They found that the for profit nursing homes were lower in quality than the not for profits as well so that was another result of the study. What I thought that I would suggest today are some things that our viewers can do if you find yourself in a situation with a loved one who you don’t feel is receiving appropriate care. There are some things that you can do, most notably there is an Ombudsman program in the state of Indiana where you can contact a person in our area that is responsible for responding to complaints in nursing homes and if you want to contact once again my office through the website, I will give you all that information for the Ombudsman. The other thing that your gonna wanna do if you have a loved one that’s about to go in a nursing home, I think you’re really gonna wanna do some research to the term “What is the best nursing home to place your loved one in” and there are some really good websites out there right now, most notably there’s a website called “Nursing Home Compare” that will give you great information comparing one nursing home, the quality factors of one nursing home versus another. Also, the Medicare website has some good information where it now gives nursing homes an actual grade, A-B-C-D and so on. So if you’re gonna put your loved one in a nursing home, and you’re about to make that decision, your really need to do your home work and do your research before you select a facility.”