March 18, 2010

Punitive Damages Awarded In Nursing Home Case

A Philadelphia jury issued a $5 million punitive damage claim against Jeanes Hospital and a Wyncote nursing home in the death of a man who suffered from fatal bedsores. According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, this is only the second time a jury awarded punitive damages in a nursing home case in Philadelphia. Compensatory damages in nursing home cases are expected; punitive damages are awarded only when a jury finds that a facility had engaged in "outrageous and reckless conduct.” In this case, the plaintiff went to the nursing home after suffering weakness and confusion. The doctors failed to identify that he was suffering from a urinary tract infection. As a result, the infection worsened and left him susceptible to bedsores that ultimately killed him. Furthermore, workers at the nursing home and hospital allowed the bedsores to fester and the patient to go malnourished to the point that he lost 28 pounds. This verdict will help the nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti spread the message that this type of care is deplorable and will not be allowed.

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Posted In: Abuse, Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Negligence, Verdicts and Settlements

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March 13, 2010

Nursing Home Residents Are Entitled to Enjoy Their Life

In a recent New York Times article, Dr. Marc Agronin draws our attention to society’s misguided perception of aging. He comments that we too often “imagine the pains of late-life ailments but not the joys of new pursuits; we recoil at the losses and loneliness and fail to embrace the wisdom and meaning that only age can bring.” The author who has worked in a nursing home for fifteen years recounts his imagined sadness upon meeting a 93 year old woman who entered the nursing home upon losing her husband of 73 years. The doctor asked the woman how she was coping, and, to his surprise, she responded that she was in “heaven” after enduring decades in an unhappy marriage with a verbally abusive man. The author also recounts the story of a woman who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease who had fallen in love with another nursing home resident and how they enjoy a “newfound innocence that perhaps only their memory loss restored.” These nursing home residents were enjoying her life in the nursing home, trying new activities and experiencing new relationships. Too often we envision life ending upon entering the nursing home with nursing home residents experiencing a loveless and lonely life with death hovering close by. After representing thousands of nursing home residents over the years, the Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti are well aware of this misperception and constantly strive to make sure that residents at nursing homes receive the care they deserve and enjoy the life they are entitled to, free of nursing abuse and neglect, as they enter a nursing home.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Attorneys, Nursing Home Negligence

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March 11, 2010

Both Chicago and Illinois Move to Improve Nursing Home Safety

Illinois and Chicago officials are looking towards new legislative proposals to improve nursing home safety. 48th Ward Alderman Mary Ann Smith has introduced ordinance amendments which will hopefully strengthen the current city of Chicago inspections of nursing facilities. Additionally, the nursing home legislation will increase enforcement and penalties of incidents of nursing home abuse. Under the new legislation nursing homes will be required to make the details of their financial and safety records more accessible to the public.

While this new city legislation is being debated, Governor Quinn’s office is planning to introduce legislation that will implement the recommendations of the recently formed Nursing Home Safety Task Force. This task force was formed immediately after the Chicago Tribune reported the grave conditions that take place at area Chicago nursing homes. These incidents included rapes, attacks and murders in those facilities that house the elderly with the mentally ill. The task force has recommended tightening criminal background checks on new residents, increasing nursing staffing and bolstering sanctions against facilities whom chronically breach safety regulations.

The Chicago nursing home lawyers of Levin and Perconti support the recent efforts to improve nursing home safety. They recognize that legislative action may decrease the cases of nursing home abuse throughout the state of Illinois. Many other organizations are supporting the legislation such as the AARP, Illinois Citizens for Better Care and the trial lawyers association. The crafters of the bill believe that the great amount of support they are receiving will help the nursing home bill pass through the legislative channels. To learn more about the recent proposals, check out the Chicago Tribune article.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Chicago Nursing Homes, Compromised Care: Tribune Investigation, Legislation, Nursing Home Abuse

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March 1, 2010

Nursing Home Arbitration Clauses Disadvantage Residents and Contribute to Substandard Care

According to the Arizona Daily Star, for-profit nursing homes have less staffing, cut costs and are typically lower quality than their non-profit counterparts. One study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that for-profit nursing homes are 46.5 times more likely to have deficiencies than non-profit homes. Perhaps, most troubling, is that to cut costs on legal expenses, these nursing homes ask residents and their families to sign agreements which shelter the nursing homes from lawsuits. These agreements are part of the paperwork that residents and their families must fill out at the time they are entering the nursing home facility. Entering a nursing home is often an emotional and stressful time for families and yet the nursing homes are asking these families to sign away their right to sue the facility should the nursing home mistreat their loved one. The arbitration agreements provide for binding “alternative dispute resolution” (ADR) which takes disputes into a private rather than the public legal system, forces residents and their families to give up their right to a jury trial decided by their peers, and gives nursing homes alone the right to pick the person who will judge the substandard care given to its residents. Furthermore, these agreements prevent any of the nursing home's violations, no matter how egregious, from becoming public information. When families unknowingly sign away their right to sue the facility, they likely have no concept of the degree of harm a nursing home can cause their loved ones due to nursing home abuse or neglect. Federal legislation has been proposed to invalidate these unjust and detrimental arbitration clauses. The Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys at Levin and Perconti support the proposed federal legislation and are working hard to make sure that substandard care at Illinois nursing homes will not be tolerated.

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Posted In: Legislation, Mandatory Binding Arbitration, Nursing Home Abuse

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January 28, 2010

Federal Officials Finally Investigate Abuse at Chicago Nursing Home

Federal investigators are looking at a troubled home which appears to be guilty of Chicago nursing home abuse. Somerset Place is a Chicago nursing home in the area of Uptown that specializes in mentally ill adults and has a history of citations for patient safety violations. Between April 2008 and July 2009, Chicago police have investigated over 15 alleged assaults or batteries in Somerset Place. They have also investigated five reports of sexual assault. Additionally, A Chicago Reporter analysis of nursing home violations from 2005-2009 found that this Chicago nursing home has been fined $100,000 for three separate incidents during that period. Two years ago a Somerset Place nursing home resident was murdered less than a half a mile from the home. However, two years later the home has still not been investigated. It is time that nursing homes alert the police of the abuse that is occurring between residents. To learn more about the nursing home abuse, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Chicago Nursing Homes, Nursing Home Abuse, Somerset Place

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January 15, 2010

Illinois Governor Panel Proposes Sweeping Nursing Home Reform

An Illinois nursing home panel appointed by the Governor proposed an array of reforms that are designed to end the chronic violence and nursing home abuse that plagues the elderly. The panel is also trying to foster better treatment for better treatment for people with serious mental illness living in nursing homes. New proposals range from tightened background checks of new nursing home residents to stronger sanctions and enforcement of facilities with chronic safety breaches. The safety task force also recommended that state police begin searching residents for outstanding warrants. He also wants to increase minimum staffing requirements of the facilities to bring them up to federal government studies in nursing home care. Illinois must pull itself from last place and learn to become a leader in nursing home care. The task force is focused on outlining a broad plan to expand housing and treatment options and divert mentally ill people from nursing homes. The task force was formed in response to the Chicago Tribune reports on assaults, rapes and murders in Illinois’ nursing homes. The most important issue is whether the state should have separate facilities for those with violent backgrounds. Many people that you should not mix dangerous and vulnerable residents. To learn more about the task panel, please click the link.

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Posted In: Chicago Nursing Home Abuse, Chicago Nursing Homes, Compromised Care: Tribune Investigation, Nursing Home Abuse

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January 14, 2010

Chicago Lawyers Levin & Perconti File Nursing Home Negligence Lawsuit against The Renaissance at 87th

Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys Steven Levin and Margaret Battersby of Levin & Perconti filed a nursing home negligence lawsuit against the Renaissance at 87th nursing home in Chicago. The nursing home lawsuit alleges that the 92-year-old African-American woman died because the nursing home failed to properly care for her gastric tube. In December 2007, the woman received a gastric tube to receive food and medications and it malfunctioned. In May 2009, the resident’s g-tube fell out and the nursing home staff had to insert a Foley catheter to replace the tube.

The resident’s daughter then noticed changes in her mother’s condition and behavior. When the daughter brought this to the nursing home staff’s attention they ignored her complaint. On June 1, the Director of Nursing immediately recognized her urgent medical care. She was transferred to the hospital and died on June 2. The Illinois Department of Public Health launched an investigation and cited the Renaissance at 87th. Nursing home neglect lawyer Steven Levin stated that The Renaissance at 87th violated the Nursing Home Care Act by failing to provide the proper care to prevent the g-tube from malfunctioning. He added that as a nursing home lawyer, he oftentimes sees nursing home owners put profits before their resident’s needs. The resident’s daughter visited her mother daily and found that the staff had not bathed her or changed her undergarments. Many family members could not communicate their disapproval for the nursing care and had no advocates to speak on behalf of them. The Renaissance at 87th is among the many homes in Illinois that have a one star rating, the lowest possible, from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Nursing Home Compare Website.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Residents and Family Members, Chicago Nursing Homes, Levin & Perconti in the News, Nursing Home Abuse, Selecting a home, Wrongful Death

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January 10, 2010

Chicago Nursing Home Lawyers Reach Record Settlement Against Coles County Home

The Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti recently reached the largest nursing home settlement in a case against a nursing home in Coles, County IL. The Prairie View Center in Charleston, IL and a doctor agreed to pay $700,000 to the family of a 43-year-old victim who died from injuries he suffered while he was a resident a the nursing home. The victim was admitted to Prairie View Care Center on March 19, 2002. He suffered from severe cognitive impairments and was dependent on the nursing home staff for all of is daily activities. His impairments also made him unable to communicate his needs to the nursing home staff. In the two months he spent in the nursing home before he was discharged he developed a massive infected stage IV bedsore on his sacrum. The pressure wound was so deep that his sacral bone was visible. This caused his overall condition to deteriorate and he was hospitalized. Six months later he died after his inability to bounce back from the pressure wound. Nursing home lawyer Michael Bonamarte stated the nursing home failed to prevent the progression of the victim’s sacral pressure sore, and he eventually died from complications related to his injury. In 2006, Prairie View Care Center was bought by new owners who changed the name of the nursing home. Chicago attorney Steven Levin stated that it is common for nursing home owners to own multiple nursing homes, many of which are far from where they are located. Without oversight nursing homes administrators are not in touch with the day-to-day happenings in the nursing home. This causes nursing home abuse to go unnoticed.

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Posted In: Client Tell Extras, Illinois Nursing Homes, Incidents, Levin & Perconti in the News, Nursing Home Abuse, Pressure Ulcers

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January 9, 2010

Chicago Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers Reach Settlement for Bedrail Entrapment Death

Levin and Perconti has reached a settlement with a south suburban nursing home after a victim died when her neck became entrapped between her bedrail and mattress at the nursing home. Attorneys Steven Levin and Michael Bonamarte represented the family and reached a $570,000 settlement for the adult grandchildren of a 99-year-old resident. The client’s grandmother was admitted to the facility on December 6, 2007, after being hospitalized with seizers. According to the nursing home lawyers, bedrails were placed on her bed upon admittance. On January 27, 2008 a nurse was making her nightly rounds and discovered the client’s grandmother on the floor next to her bed with her head entrapped between the bedrail and mattress. While healthcare professionals tried to revive her, her injuries were too severe and she died hours later. The autopsy confirmed that the client’s grandmother died from compressional asphyxia when her neck became entrapped between the bedrail and mattress. The compression from the entrapment was so severe that in addition to cutting off her oxygen supply, it fractured a bone in her neck. The coroner stated that her death was similar to strangulation or hanging. The nursing home lawyers argued that the nursing home placed her in danger of serious harm by using bedrails. Nursing home lawyer Michael Bonamarte stated that it was a terrifying way to die and noted that this could easily be avoided. Chicago lawyer Steven Levin added that the nursing home failed to consult the decedent’s family members regarding the use of bedrails. After the wrongful death, the Illinois Department of Public Health cited the facility for improper nursing care and resident injury, fining them $10,000.

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Posted In: Client Tell Extras, Illinois Nursing Homes, Bedrails, Incidents, Levin & Perconti in the News, Nursing Home Abuse

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January 3, 2010

La Salle County Nursing Home may Fire Administrator

La Salle County is nearing a decision on hiring a full-time administrator for its nursing home. A group of county officials have implemented a new hiring practice for appointed positions during the search for a new nursing home administrator. The board chairman said he expects to announce a new nursing home administrator in the coming weeks and have that person working soon. The top three administrators at the facility after the alleged sexual abuse of 10 residents by another nursing home resident surfaced. The nursing home abuse was documented by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Currently two nursing home abuse lawsuits are pending against the county in connection with the alleged sexual molestations. Currently the nursing home has been under scrutiny for the past couple of years for failure to recognize that two staff members abused a resident when they held down the woman and forced a medical treatment. This Illinois nursing home has been suspected of all types of nursing home abuse. To learn more about the LaSalle County Nursing Home incidents, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, LaSalle County Nursing Home, Nursing Home Abuse

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December 8, 2009

Illinois Nursing Home Blamed for Resident’s Sepsis

A woman wrongfully died after employees at an Illinois nursing home allowed her pressure sores to deteriorate, which caused sepsis to flow throughout her blood. Her relatives have now filed a nursing home lawsuit in St. Clair County Court against Caseyville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Caseyville Property. At the time of the victim’s admission, she had three stage II pressure sores on her buttocks and one pressure sore on each of her heels. However, by the time of her discharge from the rehabilitation center she had three stage IV pressure sores on her buttocks and multiple pressure sores on her heels. She sustained personal injures which led to the development and deterioration of her pressure sores on her buttocks and bilateral heels which led to the sepsis throughout her bloodstream. She wrongfully died due to sepsis and acute respiratory failure. The nursing home negligence lawsuit claims that before her death she experienced severe pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress and loss of dignity. To read more about the Illinois nursing home lawsuit, check out the story.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Nursing Home Abuse, Pressure Ulcers

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November 13, 2009

Ex-Caregiver Gets 4 Years for Stealing

The former caretaker for a 93-year-old retired Springfield, Illinois pathologist has been sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution for stealing thousands of dollars from her employer. The 65-year-old criminal was convicted by a jury in September of financial exploitation of the elderly and financial exploitation of a person with a disability. While the caretaker worked for the woman she received “gifts” of thousands of dollars for herself and relatives, used the victim’s money for car repairs and used the money to buy a $43,000 van. She had already obtained the doctor’s power of attorney both for finances and for health care. The judge called the employee the “worst nightmare” for family members who have to depend on someone else to care for an elderly loved one. Financial abuse has become the most common form of elderly abuse. To read more about the Illinois elderly abuse, please click the link.

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Posted In: Financial Exploitation, Financial abuse and exploitation, Nursing Home Abuse

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November 12, 2009

Dr. Reinstein Received Nearly $500,000 from Antipsychotic Drug’s Manufacturer

Recently the Chicago Tribune wrote a story about a Dr. Reinstein and his overuse of psychotropic drugs in nursing homes. It was further reported that he was working in conjunction with the pharmaceutical giant AstraZenca. The company paid the nursing home doctor $490,000 over a decade to travel the nation promoting its best-selling antipsychotic drug Seroquel. The doctor used the drug on thousands of mentally ill residents in Chicago-area nursing homes. He faced accusations that he overmedicated patients and committed nursing home abuse frequently. However, he continued to promote the drug and produced favorable research for AstraZenca. The doctor found that he could also promote the very serious drug as a weight loss medication. Now the FDA states that the drug is linked to diabetes and weight gain. It is obvious that Dr. Reinstein was committing nursing home abuse for his own personal gain. To read more about the nursing home abuse, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Chicago Nursing Homes, Compromised Care: Tribune Investigation, Nursing Home Abuse

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November 11, 2009

Second Sexual Abuse Nursing Home Lawsuit Filed Against LaSalle County Nursing Home

The second nursing home abuse lawsuit to arise from reported sexual abuse at the LaSalle County Nursing Home was filed in LaSalle County Circuit Court in Illinois. This nursing home lawsuit seeks at least $100,000 from the nursing home. The suit alleges that the nursing home allowed a sexually active male resident to have contact with a female resident between Jan. 17 and May 26. The Illinois Department of Public Health said that the male resident molested a number of female residents and was later moved to a psychiatric facility. Another sexual abuse lawsuit has already been filed against LaSalle County Nursing Home. State and federal authorities have fined the county $20,000 stating that the staff at the home did not take steps to prevent the molestations. The staff at a nursing home must be attentive in order to ensure that sexual abuse does not occur within the facility. To read more about the nursing home abuse, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Incidents, LaSalle County Nursing Home, Nursing Home Abuse

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November 4, 2009

Advocates for Mentally Ill Urge Overhaul of Nursing Home Operations

Advocates for the mentally ill continued to push for a major overhaul of how Illinois’ nursing homes handle psychiatric patients. They argued that the state should end its reliance on nursing homes to house dangerous people cheaply. The mix of felons, mentally ill people and seniors in Illinois facilities serves none of these populations. Due to this dangerous mix, some residents have been assaulted, raped and even murdered. Several speakers urged the Task Force to expand the subsidized housing for people with mental illness. One woman had to move her 39-year-old son to Minnesota to find supported housing for people with schizophrenia. The task force stated that they are at work to address all the issues raised and to decrease nursing home abuse. This has already been the third hearing by the task force to address nursing home abuse. To read more about the nursing home abuse, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Compromised Care: Tribune Investigation, Nursing Home Abuse, Sex offenders and parolees in nursing homes

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November 2, 2009

Illinois Nursing Home Sued for Alleged Sex Abuse

An Ottawa, Illinois man has sued the La Salle County Nursing Home on behalf of a female relative, who he alleges was sexually abused by a former resident at the nursing home. The man filed the seven-count lawsuit in La Salle County Circuit Court seeking at least $250,000 from the nursing home for allegedly failing to protect the woman. The nursing home lawsuit alleges that the victim suffered a fractured pelvic or public bone during the act. The lawsuit also states that the nursing home staff dropped the woman, causing her to break her leg. Sexual abuse at the hands of other residents has become quite common in nursing homes. Nursing homes must monitor all residents carefully and do thorough background checks to ensure that this type of elderly abuse does not occur. To read more about the sexual abuse, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, LaSalle County Nursing Home, Nursing Home Abuse, Sex offenders and parolees in nursing homes

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October 30, 2009

Westmont Nursing and Rehab Center Faces Allegations of Abuse

CBS has reported that there have been allegations of nursing home neglect and unexplained injuries to residents at Westmont Nursing Home & Rehab Center. Additionally, a former nursing home worker has stated that these allegations are true. This employee was fired despite her good work record. She believes that she was complaining about the great amount of nursing home negligence. One woman is worried that that her mother and other residents are not being properly taken care of. She has witnessed residents in wheelchairs while their alarms were being sounded and saw no employees coming to their aid. Another resident took pictures of bruises that he found on his 90-year-old mother. The bruises were up and down her arms, and on her shoulders and legs. When he questioned the staff they simply replied that they didn’t know what happened. Some residents are having trouble eating and enduring cold showers. Currently the Illinois State Department of Public Health has investigated 31 allegations against the Westmont Nursing Home & Rehab Center. To read more about the nursing home negligence, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Incidents, Nursing Home Abuse

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October 23, 2009

Trial Date Set in Elder Neglect Case

A woman who has been accused of elder neglect in the death of her mother briefly appeared in Illinois court. The 53-year-old woman was charged with criminal neglect of an elderly person. The 89-year-old victim died with bedsores and other health problems. Her autopsy revealed that she had nor received proper care and was a victim of elder neglect. To read more about the elder neglect case, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Nursing Home Abuse

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October 20, 2009

Man Files Lawsuit against Burnham Healthcare Properties

A man has sued a Burnham nursing home for allegedly failing to treat his injuries after he was physically kicked out of his wheelchair by another resident. The nursing home abuse lawsuit claims that the man was “kicked by another resident and knocked out of his wheelchair,” which caused him to fracture his leg. The lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court and states that Burnham Healthcare Properties is liable for supervising its residents and failing to treat Gales’ injuries from the incident in a timely manner. The nursing home lawsuit alleges the nursing home knew of the violent tendencies of the resident and that he had a history of violence with other residents.

To visit the Illinois Department of Health’s overview of Burnham, please click the link.

To read more about the nursing home abuse lawsuit, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Incidents, Nursing Home Abuse

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October 10, 2009

State Officials Meet on Nursing Home Deficiencies

Top officials from seven state agencies met for nearly two hours to discuss safety breakdowns at nursing homes that accept high numbers of mentally ill criminals. They have laid out a blueprint for solving what they have described as a very serious problem in terms of nursing home abuse. The task force met in response to the Chicago Tribune’s series that detailed instances when elderly and disabled nursing home residents were allegedly assaulted, raped and even murdered by mentally ill criminals who lived in the facilities. The task force will meet at least a half dozen times over the next several months to discuss combating nursing home abuse. They are set to complete a report by January 31 with recommendations to the governor on how to better the situation. The task force is set to conduct unannounced site visits to various nursing facilities to seek public input about the best ways to assure safety for residents. Task force members are calling on better training for public health inspectors. They also suggested a thorough review of the criminal background screenings of the roughly 3,000 mentally ill offenders now living in the nursing homes. Illinois should consider licensing separate facilities for mentally ill residents with criminal backgrounds or violent histories to resolve problems created by the volatile mix of elderly and psychiatric patients. To read more about the Illinois task force, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Chicago Nursing Homes, Incidents, Legislation, Nursing Home Abuse, Sex offenders and parolees in nursing homes

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The purpose of this blog is to deliver news and information that is relevant to our areas of practice. The news and information reported on this blog represent the legal actions of attorneys throughout the United States. Our firm does not claim to represent plaintiffs in all of the lawsuits, settlements, and jury verdicts reported, only those noted as Levin & Perconti cases.

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