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Articles published by The Sacramento Bee

Ed Dudensing speaks with The Sacramento Bee about newly filed lawsuit against Oakland nursing home, alleging drugging by staff led to death of 64-year-old resident

July 12, 2024
Originally published by

Alando Williams died at Windsor Healthcare Center of Oakland after allegedly being overmedicated to prevent wandering. Dudensing Law represents Mr. Williams’ daughter Kyomi in a lawsuit against the facility. Despite arriving with a treatment plan, the nursing home reportedly failed to follow necessary safety measures, opting instead to administer unauthorized doses of sedatives and opioids. Ed Dudensing spoke with The Sacramento Bee regarding the facility’s neglect and mistreatment of Williams’ father, who was known in the Berkeley community for his gentle demeanor.

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Jury Awards $30 Million in Nursing Home Suit

January 24, 2023
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On January 24th, a Sacramento jury returned verdicts totaling in excess of $30 million against the owners of Pine Creek Care Center and their various corporate entities. The Superior Court jury returned a verdict of $5.9 million in compensatory damages, and a $25 million verdict for punitive damages. Elder abuse attorney Ed Dudensing argued that the facility and its owners prioritized profits over patient care, implementing staff cuts that made the nursing home unsafe for residents.

“We hope and pray that both the nursing home and the private equity industries will receive the message sent by the jury that it is simply wrong to prioritize profits over patient care,” Dudensing said.

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$29 million verdict upheld against Rocklin nursing home firm

July 14, 2010
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In a strongly worded ruling, a Sacramento Superior Court judge has upheld a $29 million verdict against a Rocklin nursing home company in the 2005 death of an elderly patient.

Judge Roland Candee on Tuesday rejected Horizon West Healthcare’s arguments for a new trial or significantly reduced damages in the case involving Stockton native Frances Tanner.

Candee said “overwhelming” and “devastatingly powerful” evidence in the trial in May supported the jury’s verdict and damage awards against Horizon, which owns 33 nursing homes mostly in Northern California.

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Jury orders Auburn nursing home company to pay $28 million in death

May 14, 2010
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Make them feel it, attorney Ed Dudensing urged Sacramento Superior Court jurors who were weighing whether to financially punish a Rocklin nursing home company they had earlier found guilty of elder abuse.

Dudensing told the panel Thursday to hit Horizon West Healthcare hard so company leaders would think twice about understaffing facilities and providing substandard care.

The jury listened. In an award believed to be the largest of its kind in Sacramento County history, the panel awarded $28 million in punitive damages in the death of 79-year-old Stockton native Frances Tanner.

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Auburn nursing home again under scrutiny in civil trial over death

May 12, 2010
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For the fourth time in recent years, an Auburn nursing home is on the hot seat in the death of an elderly patient.

In a civil case playing out in Sacramento Superior Court, Colonial Healthcare is fighting accusations that it put profits before good care in the death of Stockton native and longtime civil servant Frances Tanner.

Tanner was a spirited 79-year-old woman who suffered from mild dementia when she moved into the home in March 2005, according to testimony before Judge Roland Candee. Seven months later, after a fall that resulted in a broken hip, she was dead from an infected bedsore.

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Feds grade nursing homes; New Rating System Called One Tool In Selecting A Facility

December 19, 2008
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More than a quarter of nursing homes in the capital area fared poorly in a five-star rating system introduced by the federal government on Thursday.

Only four facilities in Sacramento County garnered the top rating — five stars — while 11 were deemed as “much below average” by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Agency.

Ratings are no longer just the domain of restaurant and movie critics or travel guides. The government hopes its rating system — available online at www.medicare.gov/nhcompare — will give consumers a snapshot of whether nursing homes have stellar or not-so-stellar performance based on state inspection records, staffing and other measures of quality.

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Feds grade nursing homes

December 19, 2008
Originally published by

“Part of the problem with the information that has been previously available is that it hasn’t always been useful, because it hasn’t always been accessible. It was hard to do a comparison,” said Ed Dudensing, a Sacramento elder abuse attorney who specializes in nursing home cases.

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CPS investigation: Despite changes, abused kids still die in Sacramento County system

June 22, 2008
Originally published by

They had names and faces once. Now they have coroner’s numbers.

Social workers call them their “worst outcomes.”

Adrian Conway was 3 when he became Sacramento’s Worst Outcome No. 96-00441, a little boy who was beaten, burned, bruised, bound, tortured and starved to death by his angry, drug-abusing mom.

Others have followed: Christopher Cejas, 12, No. 02-03984. Alexia and Akira Noel, 3-month-old twins, Nos. 04-03525 and 03526. Keith Carl “K.C.” Balbuena, 3, No. 05-05953.

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