Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

Levin & Perconti has filed a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of Reverend Clarence Ballenger’s family for his death as a result of nursing home abuse and neglect and common law negligence at Pavilion at Forest Park nursing home. The Reverend is survived by ten children and thirty-five grandchildren. Levin & Perconti filed the suit on July 15, 2008. Reverend Ballenger was a resident at the Pavilion at Forest Park, 8200 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park, Illinois and was under the medical care of several doctors.

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Levin & Perconti has filed a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of Theresa Alexander’s surviving family members. Theresa was a resident at Glenshire from February 2006 to February 2007. Theresa entered Glenshire at 22660 South Cicero Avenue in Richton Park, Illinois without any pressure ulcers. While at Glenshire, Theresa was noted to be at risk for falls and for decubitus ulcers, commonly known as bed sores. Despite these known risks, the nursing home did not care for her properly.

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Levin & Perconti has filed a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of Reverend Clarence Ballenger’s family for his death as a result of nursing home abuse and neglect and common law negligence at Pavilion at Forest Park nursing home. The Reverend is survived by ten children and thirty-five grandchildren. Levin & Perconti filed the suit on July 15, 2008. Reverend Ballenger was a resident at the Pavilion at Forest Park, 8200 W. Roosevelt Road, Forest Park, Illinois and was under the medical care of several doctors.

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A woman claiming to have been jailed as retaliation for complaining about the care her mother was receiving at a nursing home has now sued both the home and the city. Maxine Veatch and her sister sued Bartels Retirement Community where their elderly mother has lived since 2004. She alleges false imprisonment and malicious prosecution against the city, but also nursing home neglect against the long term care facility. At issue in the nursing home negligence claim are medication errors and a lack of cleanliness. After raising their complaints with managers of the home, the sisters allege that the administrators of the nursing home put together a book with accusations against the sisters. The nursing has already been cited by the state for 11 violations since 2004 and last year those inspecting alleged a high rate of medication errors and staffing problems regarding nursing services. Veatch’s arrest stemmed from an incident at the home where her she states that her mother collapsed in her arms, causing Veatch to swing her into a nearby wheelchair. Staff at the nursing home reported that Veatch had shoved her mother into a wheelchair, and Veatch was issued a citation for assault and jailed for 23 hours, then barred from the nursing home for over a year, her sister barred for 8 months. While Veatch was acquitted of the assault charge, she was classified by the Department of Human Services in her state as an abuser, but she won an appeal where an administrative judge found that she had actually aided her mother.

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Levin & Perconti has filed a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of Theresa Alexander’s surviving family members. Theresa was a resident at Glenshire from February 2006 to February 2007. Theresa entered Glenshire at 22660 South Cicero Avenue in Richton Park, Illinois without any pressure ulcers. While at Glenshire, Theresa was noted to be at risk for falls and for decubitus ulcers, commonly known as bed sores. Despite these known risks, the nursing home did not care for her properly.

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A recent article on a Santa Barbara man provides an excellent example for Illinois families with loved ones in nursing homes. The man’s wife is confined to a nursing home facility because her MS is advanced. Her husband has become her most important advocate and lifeline, maintaining constant contact with the nursing home facility, providing oversight of the staff’s care, and often butting heads with the nursing home’s management to prevent nursing home abuse and neglect.

This story highlights how difficult family roles become when a loved one requires constant care. In this case, the man’s role changed quickly from being his wife’s primary advocate to assisting with her daily care, to taking on the nursing home management to fight for his wife’s rights to be free from nursing home abuse and neglect. Families should remember that they are not alone: Illinois has a nursing home ombudsmen program designed to help advocate for nursing home residents. Nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers can often achieve results that families may not be able to, especially when their loved one has suffered nursing home abuse and neglect.

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A Midwestern woman recently faced a decision that nobody hopes to ever face: which nursing home should I put my mother in?” Nursing homes are under increased scrutiny after several heart-wrenching nursing home abuse and neglect incidents. This daughter recommends visiting nursing homes and spending time with staff, residents, and other visitors.

For the full article.

At the North Shore Senior Center in Northfield, Illinois, Steve Levin spoke to a group of senior citizens on the dangers of Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect. Addressing the Men's Club at the Center, Steve advised the seniors to take care in choosing the right nursing home. Specifically, Steve recommends investigating whether the home is frequently cited by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), visiting the home to see what is actually going on there, and inquiring of the home whether they have any liability insurance.

Steve also recommended reporting nursing home abuse and neglect to the IDPH and contacting a nursing home lawyer if you suspect a loved one is being abused and neglected.

Knowing which nursing homes are bad can be valuable information for a family seeking long-term care for an elderly loved one but concerned about issues like nursing home abuse and neglect. Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the names of 54 nursing homes that had ranked as one of the worst in their state. Proper administration of medication to patients, appropriate assistance with activities of daily life and concern for the prevention of malnutrition and dehydration are examples of what inspectors look for in nursing homes. Inspectors also look for signs of nursing home abuse and neglect such as failure to maintain resident safety and prevent accidents, such as falls, infections, bed sores and other problems elderly people are susceptible to.

The list published by CMS containing the names of 54 nursing homes is actually a sample of 128 "special focus facilities", or homes that were identified as in need of more oversight. CMS says that the rest of the facilities were not identified because during the six months after being titled a "focus facility" they showed improvement. Democratic legislators, however, are demanding that all of the names be released in order to protect nursing home residents. Most nursing homes have around 6-7 deficiencies identified during inspection, but the ones on the list had twice as many or more. Unfortunately, no national standard has been set for the investigations so each state has its own parameters. An Illinois nursing home can be considered in terrible condition, but would not qualify in another state. A bill was recently introduced in the legislature to make it mandatory for CMS to publish all of the names, but the issue of discrepancies between states' standards is an issue that should be addressed by congress.

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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.

A 68-year-old man with dementia and mental illness is being rejected by nursing homes all over the state of Illinois due to frequent violent outbursts and cannot find a permanent home. The man was arrested at a Veteran's facility after hitting a nurse, and is temporarily hospitalized until further arrangements can be made. While state officials try to find a facility that is able and willing to accept the patient, the hospital is charging the family and Medicare $1400 per day. State officials told the patient's guardian, his brother, that a Downstate Illinois nursing home was considering admitting the patient, but his brother expressed frustration that a better option cannot be found in such a metropolitan area. The patient has been admitted to 18 facilities within the last four years, but none were able to care for him as he cannot control his actions due to Lewy body dementia, a disease that causes violent acts such as biting, hitting, or even choking others.

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Steven M. Levin of Chicago law firm Levin & Perconti has filed another lawsuit against an Alden care center, Alden Long Grove Rehabilitation & Health Care Center, alleging that Alden failed to obey the Nursing Home Care Act and that the negligence of the staff at the facility resulted in the plaintiff's wrongful death. The family of the patient, a man who experienced severe weight loss at the facility, had taken action in alerting Alden staff and filing a complaint with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The IDPH investigation detected an inadequacy; the facility failed to implement a plan of care for the man's rapid weight loss. The patient lost an astounding 23 pounds between May and July of 2006.

In 2007, Alden Long Grove has been investigated 7 times by the IDPH. Alden care centers all over the Chicago-land area have been investigated 40 times. Levin & Perconti has filed numerous nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuits against multiple Alden care centers around Illinois.

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Among the many forms of nursing home abuse and neglect, there is one common offense that is being habitually overlooked. Unfortunately, it has become a regular practice in nursing homes or long-term care facilities to sedate patients with medication instead of using them for their intended purposes. Staff often gives patients medication to make their job easier. If they are understaffed, which is by no means uncommon, or if patients are displaying a degree of behavioral issues, medication can be used to lighten the workload. Unnecessary use of psychoactive drugs can cause serious side effects. Psychiatrists may not even be prescribing many of these medications. Instead, regular doctors can write prescriptions "as needed" and leave the distribution up to the nursing home staff. Nursing homes have been fighting medical malpractice lawsuits due to the abuse of the drugs, but the percentages of patients being administered antidepressants and antipsychotics is astounding. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) calculated that 27% of patients in nursing home nationwide are being administered antipsychotics, and a shocking 52% are being administered antidepressants. In Illinois, 33.2% of patients are given antipsychotics, over 5% above the national average. 47% are given antidepressants. These figures are well above what should be a proportional amount of patients receiving medication. If you have a loved one in a nursing home, it is vital to carefully monitor the medication they may be receiving.

Susan L. Novosad of Chicago-based law firm Levin & Perconti has recently filed a lawsuit against Manor Care of Oak Lawn on behalf of the family of an abused and neglected resident. The resident, a 75-year-old woman, entered the nursing home for rehabilitation after a hip fracture. She also suffered from Alzheimer's disease. The woman was a patient at Manor Care for only four weeks. During those few weeks, the patient developed severe pressure sores; one of the sores developed into a Stage IV pressure ulcer. The woman was eventually taken to the hospital for wrist pain, but during that visit she was diagnosed with pneumonia, dehydration, severe malnutrition and sepsis (an infection in her blood), in addition to the bed sores. The malnutrition and dehydration caused the patient to lose 13 pounds during those four weeks. As a result of these injuries, the woman ultimately died.

Family members had complained to the facility, but a nurse replied that she was too busy to take constant care of the patient. The nursing home is also accused of negligently allowing the patient to lie in her own waste for prolonged periods of time and failing to follow the orders of the patient's doctor, allowing for mistakes in the administration of medication and treatment. Novosad discovered that the woman's chart revealed that sixteen days had passed without any notes by a nurse. In regards to Manor Care's promise to sufficiently care for patients and meet their needs Novosad stated, "families really trust them. It's heartbreaking."

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In response to the recent New York Times article blasting the quality of care given at nursing homes owned by private equity companies, senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa have asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate nursing homes owned by private equity companies.

Specifically, the senators are requesting an investigation into whether nursing homes owned by private equity companies are providing bad care. Some of the largest chains in the nation have been purchased by private equity companies recently including Manor Care Inc, the largest U.S. nursing home owner, and Beverly Enterprises.

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A lawsuit was recently brought against the state of Illinois by five nursing home residents in Cook County who claim that Illinois is violating federal law by failing to provide enough resources for nursing home patients to live in their communities instead. The Americans with Disabilities Act includes a responsibility to provide care in an integrated setting. The state of Illinois, however, allocates more money to long-term care facilities than home and community care. Elders receive poor treatment in nursing homes and can be subjected to abuse and neglect. Some of these elders are capable and independent enough to receive only home or community care but are forced to remain in long-term facilities because of the state's allocation of funds.

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