Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

Levin & Perconti has filed a nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuit and wrongful death lawsuit against Care Center and Helia Healthcare for the death of a nursing home resident due to osteomyelitis. The resident developed osteomyelitis, which is a bacterial infection of the bones, while in the nursing home’s care because her pressure ulcers and nutrition were not properly supervised. Malnutrition and pressure sores are a dangerous combination: malnutrition impedes a person’s ability to heal when afflicted with a pressure ulcer. Worsening pressure ulcers can spread bacterial infections to the body like osteomyelitis in this case. In this case, the pressure ulcers eventually required surgical intervention. The decedent is survived by four daughters and three sons.

Levin & Perconti has filed a nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuit and wrongful death lawsuit against South Shore Nursing Home for the death of a nursing home resident due to sepsis. The resident developed a sacral ulcer while in the nursing home’s care that was not properly treated and became septic. In addition to the nursing home failing to treat the septic sacral ulcer properly, the resident suffered from weight loss and malnutrition while at the nursing home. Malnutrition, dehydration and weight loss can seriously impede a person’s ability to heal when afflicted with a pressure ulcer and infection. Malnutrition also promotes the development of new sores. The nursing home also did not properly inform the family members of their mother’s care and status of her pressure sore and infection. The decedent is survived by 3 sons and 2 daughters who were all continually involved with their mother’s care.

A recent article highlights the dangers of residing in and placing family members in uninsured nursing homes. Uninsured nursing homes are extremely dangerous for residents because there is no way that residents can get fair and reasonable compensation for their injuries and families can recoup fair and reasonable compensation for their loved one’s wrongful death in a nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuit. The article highlights three tragic cases where a woman suffered severe pressure sores because nurses did not maintain her cast, another woman suffered when she was left on a bedpan for too long, and one resident died from dehydration in a nursing home. Unfortunately, none of these residents nor their families could fair and reasonable compensation for their injuries. Currently, the Illinois House is considering HB 5213 which would require at least $1 million in insurance coverage for Illinois nursing homes to protect residents who may be victims of nursing home abuse and neglect.

Read more about the dangers of uninsured nursing homes here.

Steven Levin of Levin and Perconti has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a Chicago nursing home for the death of a patient who developed pressure sores while under their care. The family chose the facility believing a promise that the staff would provide the best care for the deceased after he had just undergone extensive hip surgery, consequently requiring assistance from the nursing staff with all the tasks of daily living. His limited mobility placed him at risk for the development of pressure sores, and so his recovery depended on staff turning and repositioning him often and making sure that he had adequate nutrition and hydration.

Unfortunately, the care he was given proved to be completely inadequate. On many occasions, he was found in soiled clothing and bedding, was constantly thirsty but his requests for water were ignored. After voicing these concerns to the staff, the man’s wife was told the facility was simply understaffed. Only two weeks into his stay at the facility, he developed pressure sores. Again, when his wife complained to the staff, nothing was done, even though the staff assured her that he would be turned frequently and that he would get a special mattress to keep the pressure off the wound.

Four weeks into his stay, the man’s wife was informed her husband was being taken to a hospital because he was running a high fever. Doctors diagnosed him with a large, deep, and severely infected Stage IV pressure sore on his sacrum and a Stage II pressure sore on his left him and both heels. He was also suffering from sepsis caused by the pressure sores, dehydration, a urinary tract infection and malnutrition. He was never able to recover from these injuries.

Full article

New research suggests that the fight against pressure ulcers, commonly known as bed sores, will be most effective where facilities take a team approach to prevention. Estimates suggest that two million Americans suffer from pressure ulcers every year, many of which occur in nursing homes and similar facilities.

Preventing pressure ulcers is a round-the-clock job that requires a high level of monitoring by caretakers. Unfortunately, many nursing homes do not have the proper procedures in place to reduce the risk of pressure ulcers. A physician studying the impacts of collaborative efforts to reduce pressure ulcers suggests that facilities could achieve better results if nursing homes improved their documentation so that all relevant information about a resident would be readily available to any caretaker. Such documentation would also provide key reminders to nurses and staff members about the best practices for a particular resident. However, many facilities have no standardized procedures, and thus, it seems that these facilities are not providing the best care available for their residents. Institutional change and work-flow redesign could provide a solution to the widespread problem of inadequate nursing home care, especially with regards to pressure ulcers.

Full article:

A wrongful death lawsuit was recently filed against a nursing home where a 76 year-old’s pressure ulcers were left untreated until it ultimately caused his death. The family of the nursing home abuse and neglect victim said that the nursing home stopped giving her father physical therapy, which would have prevented the bedsore. Then, the bedsore went untreated for months.

For the full article.

Nursing home abuse and neglect has been consistently on the rise, and the rapidly aging population in the United States only makes this serious problem more worrisome. A recent study has found that from 2000-2006, there was a 22% rise in the serious reprimands nursing homes received for dangerous conditions such as medication errors, physical and sexual abuse, financial exploitation, and allowing patients to sustain injuries by falling or developing pressure sores; these are only a few examples.

The chance of this problem ceasing any time soon has been greatly decreased by the recent trend of private investment firms acquiring nursing home chains. The nursing home industry has been a sought after one as demands for long term care increase along with the aging population. Homes owned by private investment firms have proven to have conditions worse than other nursing homes. In 12 out of the 14 areas used by regulators to track ailments prevalent in nursing homes, homes owned by private investment firms scored worse than the national rates. According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the residents at nursing homes and facilities owned by private equity are shown to suffer more from depression, loss of mobility, and inability to bathe and dress themselves. These homes also have more citations for things like inappropriately restraining residents and serving unsuitable or moldy food.

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.

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 Louisiana jury recently awarded the family of a 84 year-old man $1 million in damages stemming from a nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuit . Shortly after entering his nursing home, the 84 year-old had to be taken to a hospital because of infected pressure sores, weight loss, malnutrition, and dehydration. The 84 year-old died six days later from the infected pressure sore, one of which was so advanced that it went to the bone.

For the full article.

A $1 million verdict was reached recently on behalf of the family of an 84-year-old man who died of infected pressure sores as a result of nursing home abuse and neglect. The man, who had lived at his daughter's home without complications up until his stay at the nursing home, developed stage IV pressure ulcers, weight loss, dehydration and malnutrition after only 26 days at the facility. The man was admitted to the hospital and died 6 days later as a result of those symptoms including a pressure sore so infected that it went to the bone and was infected with his own feces. The plaintiff was awarded $250,000 in survival damages, $500,000 in wrongful death damages, and an additional $250,000 for the nursing home's medical malpractice and neglect.

The family of a deceased Chicago nursing home resident has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Villa Scalabrini Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for failing to provide care. The man was first admitted to the nursing home after a stroke. Over the next year, the man lost 43 pounds and developed multiple pressure ulcers over the lower part of his body.

Also named in the nursing home neglect lawsuit is Westlake Community Hospital in Melrose Park for its failure to ensure that hospital staff made sure that the man received the nutrition and water he needed. Westlake Community Hospital, as well as the Villa Scalabrini nursing home, is a part of the Resurrection Health Care system, which is named in this suit. The family has hired the law firm Levin & Perconti to handle their case.

Click here for the full article.

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."

Click here for the full article

In a recent wrongful death case, an Arkansas jury has returned a nursing home neglect verdict against national nursing home chain, Beverly Health Care. The case was filed by the family of an elderly man who was moved into the Beverly Healthcare of Camden nursing home after a shoulder injury. The man, who was independent and otherwise healthy before his injury, died of pressure ulcers, malnutrition, and other symptoms of nursing home abuse and neglect.

Continue reading "Arkansas jury returns $2.2 million verdict against Nursing Home chain" »

A nursing home neglect lawsuit was filed today for the family of a 75-year old woman who was neglected in a Manorcare nursing home in Oaklawn, IL. Susan L. Novosad, of Chicago nursing home law firm Levin & Perconti, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the family. The lawsuit alleged that during her four week stay in the Manorcare facility, the woman developed a severely infected Stage IV pressure ulcer. The resident also was allowed to become malnourished and dehydrated, suffering a 13 pound weight loss in only 4 weeks.

Eventually, the resident was hospitalized for sepsis and pneumonia, conditions the lawsuit alleges were caused by the mistreatment and neglect she suffered as a resident of Manorcare.

Attorney Susan Novosad said, “Nursing facilities like Manorcare promise families that
they can provide for the complex medical care of their loved ones. They promise to provide dignified care in a home-like setting. Helen depended on ManorCcre to meet all of her needs because she was unable to care for herself. Instead, she was allowed to suffer needlessly. ”

Click here for the Press Release

The family of a 46-year old disabled woman will received a $600,000 settlement from the nursing home that caused her death. Chicago law firm Levin & Perconti represented the mother of the 46-year-old disabled woman who died as a result of the neglectful treatment she received while in the care of Alden Wentworth Rehabilitation and Health Care Center.

The woman was admitted to the facility in Fall 2000. In only five weeks in the facility, the woman developed severely infected bedsores and became malnourished and dehydrated. She was hospitalized for sepsis before her death. The family’s attorneys alleged that the nursing home abused and neglected the woman, failing to provide the care and treatment necessary to prevent the development of bedsores and failing to treat the bedsores once they developed.

Specifically, Alden failed to keep the woman from developing pressure ulcers by not performing daily skin checks or turning and repositioning her. Her nutritional status
was also allowed to decline which caused her wounds to worsen.

Click here for the Press Release