Mark Tassone, Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

07/17/2025

27 beats per minute. 27 minutes without care.

I'm very proud to be representing the caring family who lost their loved one in this terrible event. With the full support of Santen & Hughes and joined by Lindsay Lawrence and Rittgers Rittgers & Nakajima, I hope to guide this wonderful family through this difficult time and provide them with the justice and closure they deserve.

A patient died after Bethesda North failed to respond to his heart rate drop, feds say See link below ⬇️ bit.ly/4eUo56x

05/21/2025

This might be one of the most disturbing things I've read yet. There has long been an issue in the nursing home litigation world of nursing homes holding off on sending someone to the hospital because it affects their Medicare star rating. But when an insurance company steps in to say--from the outside--who is allowed emergent care and who isn't, the situation is scary beyond imagination.

Watch your loved ones in nursing homes. If you feel they need to go to the hospital, demand they be sent. If the nursing home won't send them, call 911 yourself.

A Guardian investigation finds insurer quietly paid facilities that helped it gain Medicare enrollees and reduce hospitalizations. Whistleblowers allege harm to residents

05/06/2025

There have been a number of questions about purchasing a copy of my new book, Litigating the Nursing Home Case, Third Edition, published by ABA Book Publishing. There are a number of options, including the ABA website and Amazon.

This has been a labor of love for the last two years. In the midst of writing, my co-author, James T. O'Reilly, unfortunately passed away. This edition marks his 56th text. It was truly an honor and privilege to collaborate with him on his final work.

American Bar Association: https://lnkd.in/g5gBgFFE
Amazon: https://a.co/d/7wRCLuX

We offer easy, convenient returns with at least one free return option: no shipping charges. All returns must comply with our returns policy.

05/02/2025

I got an unexpected package in the mail today. This book has been years in the making. Very excited to see so much hard work finally come to fruition!

09/27/2024

I am very proud to have been selected as a Top 40 Under 40 for Civil Plaintiffs by the National Trial Lawyers. Representing plaintiffs is not easy. Lawyers expose themselves and their firms to significant risks. There is not a multi-billion dollar insurance company or a multi-trillion dollar insurance industry backing these cases. Instead, it's the opposite. This same industry lobbies legislators to pass laws that hurt plaintiffs.

It's always an uphill battle. But, despite the hurdles, I've always recognized the difference between right and wrong. And, when it comes to choosing to represent David or Goliath, I choose David. hashtag

The National Trial Lawyers is a professional organization composed of the premier trial lawyers from across the country who exemplify superior qualifications as civil plaintiff or criminal defense trial lawyers. This national organization provides networking opportunities, advocacy training, and the...

04/23/2024

"[F]acilities must meet the minimum 3.48 total nurse staffing, 0.55 RN, and 2.45 NA HPRD standards regardless of the individual facility’s resident case-mix, as they are the minimum standard of staffing. If the acuity needs of residents in a facility require a higher level of care, as the acuity needs in many facilities will, a higher total, RN, and NA staffing level will likely be required."

This is a monumental shift for Ohio nursing home residents.

Did you know that Ohio currently requires only 2.5 hours of direct care per day for nursing home residents? O.A.C. 3701-17-08(C). This calculation can include nurses performing administrative/supervisory duties in an office. There is no division between nurse aide hours and licensed nurse hours.

There are many loopholes to avoid implementation of the federal minimum staffing rule. It is impossible to predict how residents in Ohio will truly be impacted by the new rule. But I am hopeful that it will be for the better.

01/10/2024

Elopement is a real concern at nursing homes, particularly those with staffing problems. This poor gentleman was missing for 3 weeks. But, luckily, he survived the experience. Not everyone is so lucky. Residents--generally with cognitive issues such as dementia or schizophrenia--are at risk of any number of dangers: walking into on-coming traffic or suffering from exposure to the elements, to name a few.

But let's dive deeper. Medicare compare rates this facility as a 1-star out of 5 overall with 1-star in staffing. Under staffing, we can see that the facility averages 168.9 residents. More than twice the national and state averages. That's a lot of people. By contrast, the total number of nurse staff hours are 2 hours BELOW the national average. Nowhere under staffing does this facility meet the national or state averages. See for yourself: https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/details/nursing-home/265524?city=St.%20Louis&state=MO&zipcode=

Removing another layer of the onion makes the situation even worse. Back in February, 2023, the facility was cited for another resident who eloped in December, 2022. The resident--a known elopement risk--was witnessed walking down the street by a staff member coming in to work. Feel free to read the many failures of this facility for yourself: https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/inspections/pdf/nursing-home/265524/health/complaint?date=2023-02-01

We should not view elopements like this as an accident. It's a pattern of conduct. Hopefully, this facility is able to be re-opened under better management.

A 61-year-old man with schizophrenia has been found, after going missing for more three weeks when the St. Louis nursing home where he lived suddenly closed on Dec. 15.

09/01/2023

A 3 hour requirement (0.55 RN hours; 2.45 aide hours) is over an hour below CMS's recommendation from over twenty years ago. Will this change anything? It's hard to say.

One important take away: the real standard is "sufficient staffing" to meet the care needs of the individual residents. Some residents will need help during the other 21 hours of the day.

US nursing homes would have at least three years to provide a minimum of 0.55 hours of care by a registered nurse and 2.45 hours by a nurse aide per resident day under a first-ever proposed federal staffing mandate, according to published reports early Friday. The long-awaited standard is expected t...

07/19/2023

Hot off the presses: my new webpage is here!

Mark is an associate attorney at Santen & Hughes who focuses his practice on general civil litigation. Mark serves clients in a variety of areas of litigation, including nursing home abuse and neglect, personal injury, medical malpractice, commercial and business litigation, construction and real es...

05/12/2023

Fall-related deaths are on the rise, especially among the elderly. I wish the numbers were more surprising. But I've seen too much to be surprised.

A few common threads tend to permeate these falls: 1) Staff not responding to residents in need of help, so residents attempt to provide their own care and fall in the process; 2) Residents, over-drugged on chemical restraints (like anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, and opioids) fall from sedation while walking, sitting, or lying in bed.

Sometimes the events are even more egregious. I've seen staff directly cause resident falls and not report it, leaving the resident to suffer through their injuries. I've seen residents pulled from their beds by other residents, suffering injuries that went untreated for many hours.

I've seen broken ribs, broken femurs, broken hips, broken necks, broken backs, and fractured skulls. Far too many people die from preventable injuries.

Deaths caused by falls increased in number and rates between 1999 and 2020 for seniors overall and for all subgroups, a new analysis of U.S. data reveals.

03/30/2023

I often see families approach assisted living facilities as an alternative to a nursing home.

But the two aren't the same. Assisted living is designed more for people with minor care needs, if any at all. Skilled nursing is designed for people with significant care needs.

Unfortunately, when a person's needs advance to a stage that they require skilled nursing, assisted living facilities are not overly anxious for the person (and the income from that bed being filled) to go to another facility.

Enter hospice. Assisted living facilities often use hospice as a "supplement" to the care that they cannot provide. But, be warned. Hospice is still no substitute for skilled nursing. Hospice services are often only present a few days per week. They aren't generally present at night. So the relative increase is not necessarily what people may think it is.

It's important to know what you're buying and how that compares with your loved-one's needs. Don't be pressured. Do your research. And make an informed decision.