Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

A class action lawsuit against Beverly Enterprises was filed in Arkansas on May 1, encompassing all residents of the facility from Sept. 13, 2000 through June 30, 2004.

Circuit Judge John Norman Harkey has ordered the Batesville Nursing and Rehab post a $25 million bond the judge considers necessary in order to provide proper security.

The lawsuit alleges malpractice and ordinary negligence and was supported by testimony from a doctor who has practiced medicine in Batesville, Arkansas for about 40 years. The doctor testified that there was a pervasive smell of urine and feces at the facility and the underlying problem appears to be the uncleanliness of the facility and inadequate patient cleaning.

For the full article.

The following are organizations dedicated to improving the quality of living in long term care facilities.

Continue reading "Important Organizations" »

An electronic guide: "Your Medicare Rights and Protections," outlines rights of beneficiaries of Medicare Health plans and the Medicare Drug plans.

The guide may be useful for beneficiaries and advocates who wish to file a complaint or appeal.

For the guide:
Download file

The average age of registered nurses in the United States is 47 and climbing. The shortage of RNs stems from the woman’s liberation movement. In the past, women who wanted to work were forced to choose between the low paying options of nursing and teaching. Now, women are moving to higher paying professions leaving the nursing and teaching fields with a chronic shortage of qualified employees.

The solution: increase government spending on nursing education, increase salaries, and improve conditions in our nation’s hospital.

For the full article:
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Service Employees International Union

The National Clearinghouse on the Direct Care Workforce - a national on-line library for people in search of solutions to the direct-care staffing crisis in long-term care.

The Not-So-Golden Years: caregiving, the frail edlerly, and the long-term care establishment, by Laura Katz Olson.

Available for purchase. The book discusses the history of the policies in the elderly care industry and how the issues affecting the industry have emerged as a nationwide concern.

Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons - an association of people to promote the welfare of senior citizens
www.aarp.org

Administration on Aging - The federal focal point and advocate agency for older persons and their concerns
http://www.aoa.gov

Consumer Justice Group - Nursing Home abuse and neglect information along with other useful information for consumers
http://www.consumerjusticegroup.com/nursinghomeabuse/index.html

False Claims Act website
http://www.taf.org/

I care – long term care ombudsmen program
http://www.icare.ws/

Illinois Center for Justice and Democracy – dedicated to stopping laws that restrict victims’ rights to pursue claims in court.
http://centerjd.org/Illinois.htm

Illinois Department on Aging
http://www.state.il.us/aging/

National Center on Elder Care Abuse
http://www.elderabusecenter.org/default.cfm?p=nursinghomeabuse.cfm

National Citizen's Coalition for Nursing Home Reform
http://www.nccnhr.org/

National Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center
http://www.ltcombudsman.org/default.cfm

National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) - Helping older people to live in dignity
http://www.nsclc.org/

Nursing homes in Illinois – run by the Illinois Department of Public Health
http://www.idph.state.il.us/healthca/nursinghometestjava.htm

OWL - Grassroots organization that focuses on women’s issues as they age.
http://www.owl-national.org/index.htm

Tender Loving Care in Long-Term Care
http://www.tlcinltc.org/

Since the 1960s, where over half of patients who died in hospitals were autopsied, autopsies performed in hospitals have decreased to 12-15% of patient deaths in academic medical centers and to about 2% in private hospitals.

The benefits of performing an autopsy are numerous, and include improved care for the living, peace of mind for family members, preventative family medical history information, and less costly litigation of malpractice claims. Thus, private companies such as San Francisco based 1-800-Autopsy are expanding to cover the gap left by hospitals, who in an attempt to save costs avoid performing autopsies where possible.

Another reason for the decrease is that fewer patients are dying in hospitals and more in long term care facilities such as nursing homes, and under hospice care.

For the full article.

A survey conducted by the Pacific Research Institute indicates that the most recent tort reform in Texas has tipped the scales in favor of large corporations, leaving children and the elderly remediless in the face of abuse and neglect.

The current tort reforms in Texas cap economic damages at $250,000 making it too expensive for many injured persons to go to trial against a large corporation who can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars defending lawsuits.

For the full article.

Colorado attorney Jay Reinan made a career out of defending nursing homes. He switched sides mid-career and now represents those patients abused and neglected by the very homes he used to defend.

For the full article.

During a recent deposition investigating negligent care at ManorCare Oak Lawn East, in Illinois, a nurse testified as to the negligent nursing care patients were receiving. The case concerned pressure ulcers and the nurse testified that the dressings on these ulcers were consistently not changed.

In one example, this particular nurse did her own "in house" test where she changed a bandage on an ulcer. She then placed a $5 bill over the bandage and another layer of dressing. When she arrived the next day, after the bandage had allegedly been changed; the $5 bill was still there. This confirmed to the nurse that the bandage had been left unchanged overnight, violating the care orders for the patient.

There is a shortage of RNs willing to work in hospitals in the Denver area. There are more than 3,600 vacancies for RNs, and the crisis threatens to continue if conditions don’t improve. A report from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) recommends increased staffing and higher pay.

For the full article.

Despite the increased involvement of long-term care ombudsmen in the resident survey process, many of the goals of the enforcement system remain the same today as they were 10 years ago, an NCCNHR report shows. Many residents complain that their level of care increases around "survey" time, only to decrease after the results have been tabulated. Criticisms of the system are numerous with emphasis on the predictability of the surveys (timing and measures alike). The NCCNHR provides a list of recommendations including the increased involvement of family members, ombudsmen and resident advocates in the process, changes in the complaint process to ensure timely response, and funding from state and federal regulatory agencies.

For the full report:
Download file

A report released by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that not all states have similar disclosure requirements with regard to sex offenders and parolees in nursing homes. Further, many long-term care facilities do not impose stricter supervisory requirements on those with prior convictions because they are either unaware of a prior conviction, or they base these supervisory decisions on residents' behaviors. Thus, many sex offenders or parolees may be monitored poorly until an incident results; at which time, it may be too late.

For the highlights of the report:
Download file

For the full report:
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The role that lawsuits play in consumer advocacy is threefold:
» To ensure living residents continue to receive the proper care they are entitled to, being compensated where wrongdoing has occurred.
» To provide deceased residents and their families with retribution after harm has been wrongly inflicted upon them.
» To send a message to the wrongdoers and deter future culpable conduct.

Metron settled a lawsuit today stemming from the death of a resident who died when her oxygen tank ran out. As a result, the Attorney Generals office found Metron in violation of accepting Medicare funds while not meeting standard care which is the basis of the state's settlement with Metron.

Metron must pay $78,000 for the cost of the AG investigation as well as hire an independent monitor to supervise Metron's nine nursing home facilities for the next 2 years.

The nursing home provider also faces fines and possible criminal charges if they fail to comply. They will also need state approval for any sale or purchase of a Metron owned facility.

For the full article.

Two employees of a Michigan nursing home chain, Metron Integrated Health Systems filed confidential complaints in April alleging understaffing at the nursing home which lead to inadequate care. The nurses alleged that short staffing lead to patients who did not receive medications on time, nurses performing procedures for which they were unqualified, and falsified medical records.

When the employees’ supervisors failed to correct the problems, the employees filed complaints with the state Department of Community Health. The chain’s newly hired Chief of Operations said he did not know why the employees were fired, although another Metron employee said they were considered to be troublemakers for filing the complaints with the state.

For the full article.

For a related article - “States given incentives to pass False Claims Acts with Whistleblower provisions”

A study presented at the 2006 National Conference on Urban Entomology (NCUE) concluded that termite and fire ant problems lead to costly lawsuits, particularly in nursing homes where the problems often impact residents most seriously. The study suggests several factors that make these pest control problems more likely and ways to cure defects in facilities plagued by these problems.

For the full article.

"The Medical Malpractice Myth" by Professor Tom Baker debunks the most common myths about medical malpractice, including:

Myth No. 1: "Lawyers, not doctors, cause malpractice"

Myth No. 2: "Lawsuits make health care unaffordable"

Myth No. 3: "Lawsuits deny access to care"

Myth No. 4: "Lawsuits cause doctors to practice wasteful defensive medicine"

Myth No. 5: "Most lawsuits are frivolous"

To purchase.

A report published by Public Citizen profiles the top 50 lobbyist contributors to members of Congress since 1998.

For the report:
Download file