Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

American nursing homes are expensive, understaffed and prone to abuse and neglect. Many families are becoming increasingly frustrated with the high costs and poor quality of the nursing homes they are forced to submit loved ones to. Sending a family member to a nursing home is a hard decision, especially families that are aware of the dangers and negligence running rampant in U.S. homes. Many complain to government agencies, try to care for loved ones themselves or have to live with a decision to put a loved one in a home. Steve Herzfeld, 56, said, "I've seen nursing homes, and it's a hell of a way to end your life. I wouldn't want someone to do that to me."

That is why Steve began to consider other options for his aging, deteriorating parents. Ultimately he decided to "outsource his parents to India." For $2,000 a month, the family is provided with food, housing, utilities, medications, cable and a 24-hour six person staff. His parents actually pocket $1,000 of their Social Security payments each month. His mother receives daily massages and physical therapy while getting assistance from a 24-hour nurse and aid and a full time cook. Steve's father also receives similar services.

When Americans think of India, they typically picture an underdeveloped, largely impoverished country. They also believe that America is strong and successful and a stable place to live. For the elderly, however, it is extremely difficult to find satisfactory long term care solutions. Nursing homes are unpleasant places. Even the most expensive homes have serious problems with staffing, training, administering medication and more. By putting a loved one in a home, the family still has to dedicate a large portion of time to make sure that they are being treated in the appropriate way. Nursing homes are supposed to take care of our elderly, not just exist as somewhere for our loved ones to sleep while we still continue to care for them. It is unfortunate that even a tiny portion of our elderly population feel that living in a country like India is a better alternative to what is available in America.

Click here for the Chicago Tribune article

Tulsa World, an Oklahoma newspaper, recently did a report on the state of nursing homes in the nearby area. The study found that more than half of the assisted living homes inspected in Oklahoma last year were cited for medication problems, violating patient rights or housing patients whose needs exceed the level of care the homes are licensed to provide. Oftentimes, the homes have flashy brochures that portray a very different style of life than what is actually experienced by the residents who live there. Elder abuse lawsuits can arise out of mistreatment to the residents of these homes.

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Approximately 7 out of every 10 employees at nursing homes throughout the United States are paraprofessionals. These paraprofessionals take the form of Certified Nurse Aides, home health aides, and personal care attendants. At least eight out of every ten hours of paid services provided to an elder in non-acute settings is administered not by a doctor, nor a nurse, but by a paraprofessional worker.

A presentation was recently given by Steven L. Dawson, President of Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, addressing poor job quality, compensation, and lack of proper training for paraprofessionals in long-term care institutions. Thousands of Americans entrust their loved ones to these paraprofessionals each year. It is vital that these paraprofessionals are trained well, and are fairly compensated so that our elderly are treated properly.

Click here for the full presentation

The family of a California nursing home resident has recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home that failed to respond when the nursing home resident was choking. The man was a known choking risk, and the Casitas Care Center Nursing Home in Granada Hills knew of this risk. Yet, they failed to properly monitor the resident as he was eating dinner. The Casitas Care Center’s failure to properly monitor caused the resident to choke for nearly 30 minutes before paramedics were called.

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The family of a 76-year old Alzheimer’s patient continues to search for their companion, father and grandfather, Hayes Robinson who wandered from Sacred Heart Hospital, in Chicago, IL, on Sunday. According to the family, Mr. Robinson had tried to walk out of the hospital on a previous visit. The patient is currently without his Alzheimer’s and blood pressure medications.

Mr. Robinson’s companion, Hettie May Knox, reports that the hospital staff told her “he signed himself out about an hour ago.” The facility claims that the patient told them, “I live right around the corner,” when in fact, a mere check of his hospital records would have revealed he in fact lived more than 4 miles away. Mr. Robinson’s grandchildren continue to look for him on their bikes throughout the neighborhood.

The question remains: How was Mr. Robinson, a known Alzheimer’s patient allowed to leave the facility? The facility should not have let an Alzheimer’s patient check himself out of the hospital without verifying that he was going to be cared for and that his home was close. With the 90-degrees plus temperatures expected this week and Mr. Robinson’s whereabouts still unknown, finding him quickly is of the utmost importance. Anyone with information is asked to call Area 5 SVU police at 312-746-8365.

Levin & Perconti successfully prosecuted and settled a case against Manorcare this summer for $825,000 when a severely demented patient was allowed to wander from the facility in January 2004 and died from overexposure to the sub-zero temperatures.

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Steven M. Levin of the Chicago-based law firm Levin & Perconti filed a nursing home negligence lawsuit today in Lake County, Illinois on behalf of 65-year old Barbara Clapman against Manorcare at Libertyville, alleging neglect and mistreatment. The facility has also been cited by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) for neglect and improper nursing care.

During her stay at the Manorcare Nursing Home, Ms. Clapman was neglected so badly that she developed severely infected pressure ulcers. One of the pressure sores, located in the sacrum area, became so deep that it caused osteomyelitis, an infection in the bone.

Click here for the press release

Rock Island County officials have announced that, despite a lawsuit brought on by private nursing homes, they will continue to build the new Rock Island Care Center in East Moline, Illinois. The new nursing home is intended to replace Oak Glen Home in Coal Valley, Illinois. The new home will have better access to public transportation and will be easier for doctors and dentists to reach. It will also have 75 more beds. The private nursing homes complain that the new home will oversaturate the market, but the benefit of public homes is that they are required by the state to take in recipients of Medicaid or Medicare. Private nursing homes also accommodate public aid patients, but often have limits.

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The family of a woman who died while residing at Charleston, South Carolina nursing home has filed a personal injury and wrongful death lawsuit. The woman was admitted to the nursing home with dementia, but was not given appropriate supervision to prevent her from leaving the facility and falling over an embankment. As a result of this fall, the woman suffered a brain hemorrhage, a fractured wrist, and a fractured hip. She died less than four weeks after her fall.

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After an agency inspection found “squalid conditions” resulting in “grossly inadequate medical care,” the Texas court has appointed a trustee to take over operations at the Amberwood Care Center on Ohio Street in Celina, Texas. Hoping to rectify a nursing home that has suffered a “complete breakdown” and conditions that were “pretty horrific,” the trustee will be put in charge of the care for or transfer of Amberwood Care Center’s 42 residents. Among some of the inspections findings were multiple patients suffering from pressure ulcers, a trach tube “coated with crust,” and ventilators set at “dangerously high oxygen flow pressures.” The owner of the nursing home, James W. Jewel, was not available for comment.

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The family of a woman who died after residing in a Manor Care facility recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the national nursing home management corporation. The woman was only 53 years old when she became a patient at the Manor Care facility in Springfield, Missouri and was first admitted to the ManorCare facility for rehabilitation with a decubitus ulcer on her right buttock. However, during the course of her stay at ManorCare, this decubitus ulcer grew larger, worsened, and ultimately became infected. Sadly, this story is a common one for ManorCare facilities across the nation, and this case, like the ones that came before it, also alleges that ManorCare provided inadequate and negligent care.

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Click here for ongoing coverage of ManorCare Health Services

A nursing assistant at a Washington nursing home was sentenced to nine months in jail due to the abuse and neglect of a 73-year-old woman, resulting in her death. Two other nurses remain charged with manslaughter and criminal mistreatment. The emergency room doctor said that the causes of the woman's death were dehydration, starvation, and lack of medication resulting in a coma, kidney failure, and ultimately death. The nurse who was sentenced to jail time pled guilty and admitted that she was "reckless" and withheld the basic necessities of life. The owner of the home was aware that the resident had behavioral problems but assured the family that the nursing home was equipped to provide adequate care. The family of the victim reached a $400,000 settlement in a wrongful death civil lawsuit.

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Recent reports indicate that minorities are statistically less likely to use hospice care, and experts believe that cultural factors play a large part in this statistic. The offer for hospice care is not always seen as a way to receive medical care in the comfort of one’s home, but rather, it may be perceived as an effort to deny medical care on the basis of race. According to Jon Radulovic, VP of Communications for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, “Some people think that if a doctor wants them to stay home and not come into the hospital, that the medical system isn’t truly concerned about them.” However, recent efforts have focused on educating minority groups on the benefits and comforts that hospice care can provide. Hospices have begun providing informational materials in various languages as well as reaching out to religious leaders in the minority communities. In addition, hospices are also trying to hire more minority employees to make themselves more multicultural.

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It is important for families of nursing home residents to be aware of an important issue: signing nursing home agreements can wind up ultimately costing you large sums of money. The Elder Law Minute brings to discussion the fact that unfortunately, many nursing home admittances occur after a rushed discharge from a hospital, resulting in family members being forced to hurriedly sign mounds of paperwork. In some instances, family members signing papers as the "responsible party" guarantees that the resident's fees must be paid in full- if not from the resident, then from the responsible party. In the Nursing Home Care Act, a nursing home that participates in the Medicare or Medicaid program must not require a third party to guarantee payment. This is why it is important to make sure that paperwork is reviewed by an elder law attorney.

An 82-year-old woman recently died at a Lemont nursing home due to abuse and neglect. Steven Levin of Levin & Perconti is bringing a lawsuit against the Lemont facility. The suit alleges that the facility failed to properly administer care and supervision to the 82-year-old high risk fall victim. The Chicago Sun-Times recently published the story, please Click here to view the full article.

In response to two recent Chicago Tribune articles regarding horrific abuse and neglect in an East Peoria, Illinois nursing home and the lawsuit brought against the home by Levin & Perconti for the serious neglect of one patient, Jason Held, Staff Director of the
Center for Justice & Democracy in Illinois raised an important, but overlooked point. He stated that the East Peoria abuse and neglect is just one example of a serious, statewide problem but that state agencies are unable to sufficiently deter carelessness, neglect and abuse or fairly compensate victims due to a lack of resources. Regardless of the state's inability to punish nursing homes and compensate victims, operators of the facilities are allowed to operate without carrying liability insurance. Mr. Held recommends that we demand that the Illinois legislature require nursing home operators to carry liability insurance in order to deter wrongful action and hold the homes responsible for their actions, or lack thereof.

The Center for Justice & Democracy is a non-profit, tax-exempt group, founded by consumer advocates to protect the civil justice system. Click here to visit Center for Justice & Democracy website.

Click here to read Jason Heid's full opinion

A new study has revealed that an often neglected and understudied area of nursing home abuse is peer to peer abuse in long term care facilities. While it is widely recognized that staff harming residents is unfortunately too common in nursing homes, new research suggests that residents may be suffering from physical abuse at the hands of other residents. There has been little research in this area, but it is clearly necessary to be aware of this danger. Residents, commonly suffering from dementia, have been shown to be triggered by competition over a seat in front of the TV, unwanted touching or resident's wandering into each other's rooms. The abuse is rarely malicious and is caused by confusion and the absence of staff supervision. A neglectful staff that allows unsupervised contact between residents with dementia, specifically, can be held responsible for this type of abuse.

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The Illinois Department on Aging recently awarded Judy Ellet of the Shawnee Alliance for Seniors and Kate Donovan of Rockford 2007 Outstanding Long Term Care Ombudsmen Awards. Long Term Ombudsmen have an important role in Illinois elder rights as they work to protect, defend and advocate for the rights of nursing home and long term care residents and their families. They help with resolving complaints of abuse and neglect, providing information to families and residents and advocate for good individualized care among other important services.

Elder abuse often goes unnoticed, but research indicates that about 4 to 5 percent of people aged 60 years and older are subjected to some form of mistreatment. In Illinois, over 50 percent of elder abuse reports allege financial exploitation; 25 percent allege physical abuse; 45 percent allege active or passive neglect; and 45 percent allege emotional abuse. However, only about one in 13 cases are reported to Illinois's Elder Abuse and Neglect Program.

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Levin & Perconti has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Chicago area hospital, Swedish Covenant Hospital, and Chicago area nursing home, Glencrest Nursing and Rehab. The lawsuit alleges that both Swedish Covenant Hospital and Glencrest Nursing and Rehab were negligent in their care for the nursing home resident. The man developed severe pressure ulcers while in the care of Swedish Covenant Hospital and Glencrest Nursing and Rehab, and the pain from these severe pressure ulcers caused such disability, disfigurement, and pain and suffering that the man requested to stop dialysis which caused, or contributed to the cause of, his death.