Serious nursing home violations rise

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Serious reprimands for dangerous conditions at U.S. nursing homes increased by 22 percent from 2000 to 2006, a USA Today analysis revealed.

"It's not that the quality of care has gone down but we are being more rigorous in our enforcement," Jeffrey Hammond of the New York health department told USA Today.

Records from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates nursing homes, showed citations for putting patients in immediate jeopardy rose 22 percent from 2000 to 2006, the newspaper said. Many states stepped up inspections of nursing homes during those years.

Last year, inspectors issued 2,000 such citations at 850 of the nation's 16,000 nursing homes.

Such citations often result from cases of physical or sexual abuse of patients, or when they don't receive necessary medication and can result in fines or being banned from receiving Medicaid funds for new patients, USA Today said.