Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

A nursing home in Canton, Ohio has lost its federal funding for having too many violations. According to inspectors, each time they went to the facility there was another problem. Unlike large corporate facilities, many smaller homes survive on Medicare and Medicaid to supplement what individual residents can pay to live in the home. This facility had a troubling list of violations including a patient not getting blood thinning medication until five days after the doctor prescribed it, a resident reported an instance of patient on patient rape and the doctor was not notified until 11 hours afterwards, a patient had severely matted and soiled hair resulting from his hair only being washed two or three times in six months at the facility, and old, used syringes lying around in patient rooms.

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A nursing home employee has been arrested and charged with theft of medications from nursing home residents. The employee apparently switched prescription pain relievers with over the counter pain relievers and then gave the wrong medication to the nursing home residents. This case shows another example of how medication mixing, giving the wrong medication, and prescription drug theft are more and more common in nursing homes. Family and patient advocates should be sure to check with their loved ones in nursing homes to make sure the resident feels like their medication is working and should also watch how medication is administered.

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Levin & Perconti have filed a nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuit against Summit Assisted Living Naperville North for the wrongful death of an 87-year old woman under the Illinois Assisted Living Act. The woman entered the Summit Assisted Living center in 2005 with a condition called Meniere’s disease which disrupts a person’s normal balance in the inner ear, making her more susceptible than a normal resident to falls and losing her balance. However, the assisted living facility did not accommodate for her disorder and she fell 7 times in a 5 month period, leading to a fractured hip, multiple lacerations, and injuries to her right knee and back. This is an assisted living wrongful death action because the woman’s injuries – her fractured hip, damaged knee, lacerations and back injuries – precipitated her death.

A mental health nursing home has made the news for two colossal problems: frequent resident suicide and unsanitary conditions. Multiple residents in the past year have attempted suicide and the state inspectors believe mental health nursing home abuse and neglect may be the culprit. For instance, two residents jumped from a window and were severely injured in the mental health nursing home and one resident died in the nursing home and was not noticed for 36 hours. These incidents are clearly signs that something has gone terribly wrong. Another resident was found living in a room with a dirt floor, covered with earthworms. The state has opened a major investigation into the home.

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Assisted living facility residents are increasingly in danger as incidents of assisted living facility abuse and misconduct by their fellow residents are more common. Recently, an assisted living facility saw two residents arrested in the same day. One resident was arrested for sexual abuse of an assisted living facility resident and the other was arrested for conspiring to sell drugs at the assisted living facility. Both residents have been removed from the facility, but neighbors and the town manager knew of multiple prior problems including failure to supervise residents and wandering.

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Investigators have asked the state to examine whether the professional licenses should be suspended or revoked for two former nurses at an Illinois nursing home charged with Illinois nursing home neglect after a string of suspicious deaths. The family of a 78 year-old resident, represented by Levin & Perconti’s Steve Levin, announced plans to file an Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuit.

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Elder abuse in Illinois has increased by 53% since 1993 according to the Illinois Department on Aging. In 2007, 9,489 complaints of elder abuse were reported. Unfortunately, the department estimates that upwards of 90,000 cases of elder and nursing home abuse go unreported each year. As the population of Illinoisans over 60 is expected to rise above 3.7 million by 2030, this means that a staggering number of elder abuse cases could go unreported in the near future.

The new law will encourage individual counties to create task forces on elder abuse and will allow investigators to share sensitive patient information with team members, helping to shed light on often unreported cases of abuse. The new Illinois task forces will involve collaboration between medical examiners’ offices, state’s attorneys’ offices, county sheriffs, and the Illinois Department of Public Health and Department of Aging.

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A man who has been accused of running an illegal nursing home facility now faces up to six years in prison and $12,000 in criminal fines. The man is accused of abusing an elderly man in his care at the illegal nursing home facility. The reports of abuse included a tennis ball sized ulcer resulting from a bed sore, extreme weight loss and malnourishment, dehydration, withholding medication, and canceling doctor appointments. During this abuse, the nursing home operator charged the victim’s family $4,000 a month. This story highlights the importance of family members being involved and informed: family members should be sure to stay current with trends in the nursing home industry and learn how to spot signs of elder abuse.

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Steven Levin of Levin & Perconti will represent Virginia Cole’s surviving family members in a nursing home abuse and wrongful death lawsuit. Virginia Cole was one of the victims at Woodstock Residences, the Chicago-area nursing home at the center of a pending criminal trial.

Two former nursing home employees of Woodstock Residences were charged in McHenry County with causing the deaths of four residents at the nursing home. The charges include criminal neglect of the nursing home residents and overmedicating patients with morphine.

At a press conference on Monday with the victim’s son in law, Steven Levin commented on the role of nurse Marty Himebaugh at Woodstock Residences: “The director of nurses at the facility -- and this is a quote from the indictment -- was encouraging Marty Himebaugh to act in a role of angel of death.” Mr. Levin will file suit in the Circuit Court of Cook County shortly.

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An ex-nursing home employee from Illinois has been charged with neglect and unlawful distribution of morphine in connection with the deaths of six residents. This follows after investigators suspected morphine was involved in the death of six residents in the past three years. The nurse was put on administrative leave in October 2006. Prosecutors declined to comment on any links between the investigation and the deaths. However, this case does illustrate the potential for abuse and neglect in nursing homes.

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Steven M. Levin and Michael F. Bonamarte of the Chicago law firm Levin & Perconti recently filed a nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuit against Lincoln Home in Belleville, Illinois in the Circuit Court of Cook County on behalf of a man who was neglected at the nursing home. Lincoln Home assessed the 72-year-old resident upon his admittance to the facility and noted in his Plan of Care that he was at risk for falls and wandering.

Based on the nursing home staff's negligence and lack of supervision, the resident was allowed to wander off from the facility on multiple occasions and also sustain a fall that broke his hip and required surgery. Hospital staff noticed that the resident had developed two bed sores: one on his coccyx and one on his heel. The pressure sores developed because the nursing home staff failed to change the resident's clothes allowing him to lay in his own waste for long periods of time. The resident lost 30 pounds while at the facility, but after being moved to a different nursing home he regained his strength and positive outlook. Unfortunately, he has been unable to fully recover from his fall and is living out his remaining days in Hospice care.

Chicago area nursing home Evergreen Park has suspended an employee who has been accused of the sexual abuse of a 53-year-old resident of the facility. Chicago police arrived at the nursing home after being alerted that the nursing home assistant was found kissing a disabled patient on the cheek, as discovered by a fellow nurse. Police arrested the man and he has been charged with misdemeanor battery.

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Suspicions at Woodstock Residence, a McHenry County, Illinois nursing home, have spurred an investigation of whether morphine overdoses contributed to the deaths of six elderly residents of the facility. Whether the claim of nursing home abuse is founded is yet to be seen, as tests are still being performed on the exhumed bodies of three of the victims and the investigation by the Illinois State Police continues. Witnesses have been questioned, but not indicted, by a grand jury in this claim of a very serious medication error. If the results of the testing are not conclusive, the grand jury could call for a deeper investigation into the case. The causes of death listed for the three dead residents are pneumonia, coronary disease and heart disease. The other three possible victims were cremated and their bodies cannot be used in the investigation.

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After reports of nursing home abuse and neglect, the nursing home East Peoria Gardens Health Care Center has been heavily fined by the Illinois Department of Public Health and its director's administrator's license has been suspended by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The director left her job when the IDPH investigations began after the deaths of two patients caused by the nursing home's negligence, the admittance of patients with criminal pasts, and complaints of an atmosphere that caused fear among staff and residents. Attorney Steven M. Levin of Chicago law firm Levin & Perconti filed a lawsuit against the home on behalf of the family of a resident who fell at the home last spring, sustaining a serious head injury ultimately leading to death. Another resident choked and died as a result of the nursing home's negligence. These cases of nursing home abuse and neglect resulted in a $100,000 fine by the IDPH and other severe penalties. Its investigation found 23 nursing home code violations

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A caregiver in Sugar Grove, Illinois has recently been charged with financial exploitation of an elderly person and is currently in the Kane County Jail. He was found stealing from his elderly client, an 83-year-old man, after cashing 12 checks at a bank in Sugar Grove. Financial abuse is the most commonly reported form of elder abuse and neglect.

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There are many different forms of elder abuse and neglect and it is important to watch for signs of abuse in order to protect loved ones. Anyone over age 60 can be a victim of elder abuse. Elder abuse and neglect comes in many forms:

-Physical abuse
-Emotional abuse includes verbal assaults, threats, intimidation and harassment
-Confinement is restricting an elderly person without their consent. Many believe that restraining seniors with Alzheimer's or other illnesses should be restrained in order to prevent wandering off. This is illegal and there are better alternatives
-Passive neglect is when a loved one, caregiver, nursing home or assisted living facility is unable to provide a senior with the care they need. This can include failing to provide medication at appropriate times, causing malnutrition or dehydration by forgetting meals, allowing falls due to lack of supervision, allowing bed sores to develop as a result of neglect, failing to monitor the hygiene of the elderly person and more.
-Financial exploitation is the misuse of a senior's money, accounts, insurance, etc. It is the most commonly reported form of elder abuse. Many different types of people can exploit elders financially including family members, caregivers and employees of nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
-Sexual abuse is any type of sexual act or conduct performed against the elderly person's will.

If you are aware of elder abuse or suspect that a senior is being abused, call the Illinois elder abuse hotline at (866) 800-1409. It is available 24 hours a day.

Heritage Manor Nursing Home in Colfax, Illinois lost a legal battle in a lawsuit where a former employee was awarded $17,000 after reporting sexual assault of an older resident. The whistleblower claims that she was fired after she reported suspicions that sexual abuse of an elderly resident of Heritage Manor was being ignored. The former employee, and widowed mother of nine, was awarded $10,000 in pain and suffering. Heritage Manor, a company based in Bloomington, has been sued in other nursing home abuse and neglect cases.

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