According to a study by ProPublica, there have been 35 cases since 2012 in which employees of nursing homes or assisted living facilities have posted violating photos or videos of elderly residents on social media, some of whom were even partially or entirely naked. Sixteen of these cases involved “Snapchat,” an app which makes photos and videos disappear immediately after they are viewed. Twenty-three cases occurred in the past two years, and twelve in the preceding two years.
Some of these incidents have resulted in criminal charges, such as a case against a California nursing assistant last December. Sharing such photos of patients without their permission generally violates the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which can carry both civil and criminal penalties.
Another case out of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, is against two nursing home employees who used Snapchat to send numerous videos of residents. “Something hasn’t happened now unless there’s a selfie or Facebook posting about it,” says Marian Ryan, the D.A. of Middlesex County. “The use of social media is just pervasive across every aspect of society.”
However, social media has also brought evidence of crime to light, both directly and indirectly. Nursing home abuse is not a new problem, but sharing explicit photos and videos is a new kind of mistreatment altogether, and one which can often leave a digital trail. Also, according to ProPublica’s findings from court cases, media reports, and government inspection reports, nursing homes rarely identified these problems themselves; they were usually notified by others, such as a friend or acquaintance of a nursing home employee who saw this material and then contacted the facility and/or authorities.
This type of abuse remains in a sort of grey area in a legal sense, as have many other social media-related problems which are hardly a decade old in our society. While individual nursing home employees have been targeted in legal claims and individual facilities have been cited by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, no nursing homes have yet been penalized by the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health and
Human Services, and no recommendations on the topic have been issued to health providers. Raising awareness is an important part of combating this problem regardless of social media, and any suspicious activity or signs of abuse should be reported to the nursing home and/or law enforcement as soon as possible.
If you or a loved one has suffered abuse in a nursing home or similar medical facility, contact 844 See Mike for a free consultation. We are a Chicago-based injury law firm representing individuals (and their families) who have suffered an injury in an accident. We will handle your case quickly and advise you every step of the way, and we will not hesitate to go to trial for you.
Lastly, 844 See Mike is not paid attorneys’ fees unless we win your case. Our no-fee promise is that simple. You have nothing to risk when you hire us – only the opportunity to seek justice.
