WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley is asking three social media companies to outline any steps they have taken to prevent the misuse of their platforms to exploit nursing home residents. Grassley wrote to Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram, the companies identified in a news media-compiled database as having had users post photos and videos of nursing home residents in vulnerable positions.
“As technology and social media expand, we owe it to our nation’s elderly population to ensure quality nursing home care, which debasement of patients does not fulfill,” Grassley wrote. “Therefore, I would like to know more about what (the company) is doing to protect the elderly in nursing homes from those that utilize its (website and) app to perpetuate abuse.”
Grassley asked the companies to address what steps they have taken to prevent users from abusing their platforms to exploit the elderly in light of the apparent increase in the use of social media and electronic devices to record elderly residents in compromising situations, to advise on any actions they take when their website or application is used for abusive or criminal acts, and whether they have a plan in place to detect and combat the instances of elder abuse using their products.
The investigative news outlet ProPublica has documented the social media problem and specific cases around the country.
Earlier, Grassley wrote to the Justice Department, asking the agency to advise on anything it is doing to address the problem. The Justice Department says a response is forthcoming. He sought an update from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, which responded that it alerted all State Medicaid Fraud Control Units to be on the lookout for the problem. Grassley also wrote to and heard from the nursing home industry association, which said it will put out guidance to its members on preventing social media abuse by June 15.
Grassley is a long-time advocate for nursing home residents, including his work as then-chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and later, as chairman of the Finance Committee. He points out that much nursing home care in the United States is paid for through Medicaid, a federal-state program. The nursing home inspection process also is a federal-state program. In accepting public money, nursing homes must adhere to state and federal health and safety standards. HHS is responsible for enforcing federal nursing home standards.
Grassley’s letters to Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram are available here, here and here. His letter to the Justice Department is available here. His letter to the HHS OIG and the OIG’s response are available here and here. His letter to the nursing home industry association and its response are available here and here.
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