Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog

A nurse’s assistant admitted Friday she abused a patient in her care at a nursing home. The woman pled guilty to one count of misdemeanor abuse of a vulnerable adult. The nursing assistant had physically abused a patient by striking their buttocks. The patient was bruised and “visibly shaken by the event” but “wasn’t seriously injured physically.” The nursing home had dismissed the employee once the report of elderly abuse was entered. The assistant’s name will put her on a registry prohibiting her from working at any care facility accepting Medicaid for at least five years. Nursing home abuse can occur everywhere, including Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the physical abuse, please click the link.

The families of alleged elder abuse victims are reaching out on social networking websites to spread the message of reform in long-term care facilities across the country. The families, who have formed under a group called Families Against Nursing Home Abuse, have pages on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. At these sites, people can read reactions to elder abuse and get to know the alleged victims in words and photos. Victims are trying to get the community involved, and the attention of local people. They are committed to providing information and resources for the continuum of long-term care. Elder abuse can happen everywhere, even in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the elder abuse, please click the link.

A man who was once entrusted with the care of the elderly is now behind bars after being accused of sexually assaulting three female patients at an assisted living facility. The man is charged with three counts of sexual assault in the third degree. According to court documents he pinched three women’s bare breasts. He laughed while he sexually abused women in their late 80’s or early 90’s who all had dementia and cannot recall the incidents. Sexual abuse is all too common in nursing homes. If you or a loved one has experienced elderly abuse, please find an Illinois lawyer. To read more about the sexual abuse, please click the link.

An 84-year-old nursing home visitor was arrested for first degree sexual assault after he inappropriately touched an 87-year-old patient. Police say that a nurse saw the man pushing the victim down the hall into her room, then noticed he never came out. The witness says the curtain was pulled closed and when she opened it, the suspect was sexually abusing the victim. The man is a registered sex offender for the rape of a 13-year-old. He claims he was visiting his wife at the nursing home. The nursing home states that they took the correct steps regarding the sexual abuse. Nursing home employees must ensure that elderly negligence does not occur at the hands of visitors. If you or someone who love has been affected by nursing home negligence, find an Illinois lawyer. To read more about the sexual abuse, please click the link.

A nursing home has been hit with a severe citation and the maximum fine of $100,000 in connection with a patient who wrongfully died from a preventable fall. The patient was recovering from hip surgery when she wrongfully died. He had been admitted for physical therapy and he fell twice within 24 hours. After the first fall the staff put an alarm on the patient’s gown. Despite the alarm, no staff member responded when the patient got out of bed and walked into the hallway. The man was stumbling out of bed and he pulled a mechanical device on his head. The device hit the man in the head and he died from blunt-force trauma. The facility’s decision to store a large peace of equipment that is easy to be overturned posed a hazard to the patients. After the nursing home negligence, the home was fined. It was also fined because it failed to closely monitor a patient who wandered away from the facility three times within nine hours. To read more about the elderly negligence, please click the link.

Police arrested a 24-year-old certified nursing assistant at a nursing home in connection with the sexual assaults of three elderly female patients over a one-month period. The man was arrested on suspicion of five counts of third-degree sexual assault. Two of the women are 92 years old and one is 89. They were all patients at the 60-bed nursing facility, which is a combination independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing facility. The sexual abuse was discovered after an internal investigation was launched. The man was fired immediately after the discovered elderly abuse. Sexual abuse happens in nursing homes throughout the country, including in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the sexual abuse, please click the link.

The police have charged an attendant who works at the nursing center with two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a patient who lives at the nursing home. The man will be held without a bail until a bail hearing in 10 days after the nursing home abuse. The police were alerted when the director of the nursing home called to report that the patient told her that day that she had been raped that prior evening. The 56-year-old patient had a medical condition that has incapacitated her. The patient was able to identify the man who sexually assaulted her as an attendant who works at the nursing home. If you have a loved one that has been a victim of sexual abuse, please find an Illinois lawyer. To read more about the nursing home abuse, click the link.

A former employee of a nursing home has been arrested on charges that she abused a disabled resident of the facility. The woman was arrested after receiving information from the state’s department of children and families. Witnesses observed the employee grab the victim by his feet and pulled him off the facility’s van, causing him to strike his head on the floor of the van, the running board and the pavement. Eyewitnesses were shocked by the elderly abuse that she had observed. The employee was immediately suspended after the physical abuse and soon quit working at the facility. She is charged with one count of abuse of a disabled person. Employees must have background checks in order to avoid nursing home abuse. To read more about the elderly abuse, please click the link.

A jury has determined that a woman suffered elderly abuse and neglect in 2006 at an elder-care facility and awarded her more than $1.3 million for past medical bills and damages. In October 2006, the woman was placed at the six-bed facility by her husband. The woman suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and was recovering from hip surgery. According to the nursing home negligence suit the victim fell at the facility and suffered a head contusion, broken ribs and a punctured lung. Caregivers at the facility placed her in bed but did not immediately call her doctor or family. The next morning, her husband found her nonresponsive and the victim was taken to the hospital. According to the trial, there was an inability to monitor, care for or even understand the needs of the elderly. Nursing home negligence often occurs when the staff is not prepared to deal with Alzheimer’s disease. To read more about the elderly abuse, please click the link.

Jurors returned a nursing home abuse guilty verdict in the trial of a former nurse assistant at a nursing home who was accused of striking a disabled resident in the groin and forcing water down his nose into his lungs through his oxygen tubing. The man was convicted of second-degree elder abuse in a single day trial. The victim was a brain-injured resident of the home in his mid-30s who was confined to a wheelchair, on oxygen much of the time and unable to care for himself. The nurse’s aide grabbed the water canister that was hooked up to the victim’s oxygen concentrator and held it up so that the water was forced down the tubing, up the resident’s nose and into his lungs. Elder abuse such as this is despicable and may occur throughout the country. If you or a loved one has experienced nursing home abuse, contact an Illinois lawyer. To read more about the elder abuse, please click the link.

A daughter was horrified when she walked into an emergency room and saw dark bruises on her 88-year-old mother’s face. The daughter demanded to know what had caused these elderly injuries, but she has received no answers. That is because her mother is unable to talk, due to her advancing dementia. She has also been unable to walk or even roll over. Thus, it seems quite difficult that she could have given herself the bruises. While the daughter suspects nursing home abuse, she is unable to verify this. All the employees deny that any elder abuse occurred. This incident highlights how difficult it is to label elderly abuse when the victims are unable to speak. If you suspect that a loved one is a victim of elder abuse, find an Illinois lawyer. To read more about the physical abuse, please click the link.

The guardians of a comatose woman have filed a nursing home negligence lawsuit against the nursing home where their loved one was sexually assaulted by a male nurse. The nursing home abuse lawsuit claims that the center should have known that the male employee’s conduct would violate the woman’s privacy and dignity. The man pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery after the elderly abuse. He was sentenced last week to six months in prison for the sexual abuse. Nursing Homes must ensure that they hire employees who are not prone to commit sexual abuse. If you or a loved one has experienced elderly sexual abuse, find a Chicago lawyer. To read more about the elderly victim, please click the link.

Two women are set to stand trial on unrelated charges that they abused elderly patients in their care. One 27-year-old woman is set to go on trial for the elderly abuse of a 98-year-old woman in her care at the nursing home. The other 21-year-old woman is charged with elderly abuse after attacking a 76-year-old woman. They face up to five years in prison if they are convicted. One victim had bruises, a bite mark on her hand, scratches on her forehead and two bruised eyes. Both women passed background checks before being hired. It is important for all nursing homes to do sufficient background checks and all employees. This will help decrease the physical abuse seen in these two cases. To read more about the elderly abuse, please click the link.

A former nursing assistant was arrested and charged with felony elder abuse. The woman allegedly kicked a 76-year-old woman in the back and slapped her in the face. The elder abuser and two other employees were helping the elderly woman get up from a fall in the bathroom. Struggling to help the woman, the nursing assistant kicked her in the lower back while she was still down and then slapped her in the face when she was lifted to her feet. This physical abuse happens too often to nursing home residents. The woman faces one charge of battery on the elderly and one charge of elderly abuse, which are both felonies. If you believe that nursing home abuse has happened to one of our loved ones, find a Chicago lawyer. To read more about the elderly abuse, please click the link.

A state is asking their nursing homes to limit employees’ use of cell phones to prevent improper use of the devices in incidents involving residents. This comes after an investigation that revealed that staff members attached sexually explicit lyrics to photos of residents and sent them as text messages to other employees. Documents also revealed that employees recorded patients screaming or asking to use the bathroom and then played a guessing game to see which resident was involved. This included photos of resident’s that were not fully clothed. One employee did not view this incident as elderly abuse, but rather fun. In an incident of nursing home abuse, an employee took a photo of a resident entering the bathroom. The photo showed the resident’s exposed back, legs and incontinence brief, which additionally was wet. This staff member than attached the lyrics of a song entitled “Stanky Leggs” to the photo and sent it to a nursing assistant. The nursing home has fired all those involved in the abuse incident. Illinois should consider enacting a law limiting cell phone use in nursing homes. To read more about the nursing home abuse, please click the link.

Criminal charges have been lodged against a former nursing home worker for physically abusing an 88-year-old wheelchair-bound resident in the nursing home that resulted in a broken clavicle and other injuries. The complaint stated that he man admitted that he struck, grabbed and pushed an 88-year-old bedridden woman who was suffering form dementia and impaired vision. Nursing home staff noticed that the resident’s extensive injuries and notified their superiors. In addition to suffering from facial bruising, the complaint alleges that the resident sustained a fractured right clavicle. Elderly abuse occurs at nursing home throughout the country, including here in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the physical abuse, please click the link.

A health-care worker is charged with physically abusing an 88-year-old bed-ridden resident at the medical center’s nursing home. The man, a former-nurse aide, is accused of hitting, grabbing and punching the visually and dementia-impaired woman. This elderly abuse left her with a broken collarbone and facial bruising. The nursing home staff noticed the woman’s severe injuries the next morning and notified administrators and her family. The man has been charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person, endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and willful violation of health laws. The victim of the physical abuse continues to reside at the nursing home. Nothing in his background indicated past instances of abuse. If you have experienced elderly abuse, find a Chicago lawyer. To read more about the physical abuse, please click the link.

A woman believes her mother died after nursing home negligence. The woman has filed a elderly negligence lawsuit against the nursing home. She also claims that her mother had a $400 ring stolen from her while she was in the nursing home. The victim was also being given medicines she did not order like insulin, potassium, antibiotics and Cumadin. In addition to filing a written complaint, the woman also said she made a complaint to the adult protective services division. Unfortunately, this type of nursing home negligence occurs everywhere, including Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the elderly negligence, please click the link.

A 72-year-old man was arrested and charged with molesting a 53-year-old woman with the mental capacity of a 5-year-old at their nursing home. The man was charged with lewd and lascivious battery on a disabled person. The man was seen touching the woman’s breast. He had been warned several times to not have contact with her or engage in inappropriate conduct with her. Sexual abuse can oftentimes occur with residents, including here in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the sexual abuse, please click the link.

A man who pled guilty to sexually assaulting an elderly woman at a retirement home will spend close to 12 years in prison. Investigators say the man was already a registered sex offender when he broke in the nursing home and fondled an 85-year-old woman. He had additionally asked an 85-year-old man for sex. The man pled guilty to aggravated burglary, aggravated sexual battery and attempted aggravated criminal sodomy. Sexual assault can happen at many nursing homes, including ones here in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the sexual assault, please click the link.

A man is currently behind bars after the embezzlement and elderly neglect of his own mother. The victim was diabetic, deaf in one ear and blind in one eye. The man is charged with one count of embezzlement of a vulnerable adult, which is felony. Additionally, once inside the victim’s home investigators say they found trash, clothing and dirty dishes strewn about the house. There was no running water and no heat. There was obvious elderly neglect with the victim being found on a urine-soaked, maggot-infested sofa. When the investigators lifted up the couch a pool of urine ran down the sides. The man was taking the money she got in assistance and using it for himself. This is an example of both financial exploitation and elderly abuse. To read more about the elderly neglect case, please click the link.

A former nursing home aide has pled guilty to three counts of disorderly conduct against vulnerable adults. The 25 year old aide pled guilty to three of the six original elder abuse counts against her. Two of the victims of her elder abuse are dead and some others have dementia. The aide admitted wrongdoing against three residents of the nursing home. Among other allegations, the complaint alleged sexual humiliation of one elderly man, laughing and screaming at residents and hurting a resident by poking into a cancerous wound. This despicable behavior is seen at nursing homes across the country, including here in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the elderly abuse, please click the link.

A woman was convicted of elderly abuse nearly three years after the 76-year-old man’s body was found in his home. The woman faces up to 13 years in prison when she is sentenced. She was convicted of elder abuse with a “strike” for a previous robbery conviction and an enhancement for great bodily injury. The manslaughter charge was dropped after pathologist concluded that blunt force trauma did not cause the heart attack that ended the elderly man’s life. The man’s body was found after his caretaker called 911. Elderly abuse occurs everywhere, including Chicago, Illinois. To read more about elderly abuse, please click the link.

Police have arrested a woman suspected in a nursing home abuse case. The arrest affidavit states that the suspect is wanted for abusing an 80-year-old woman. One of the nursing home staff noticed the victim’s closed door and the fact that her help light was activated. The employee went to check on the victim and saw the suspect striking the resident on her left hand. The worker than saw blood and the bed and reported it to the home. Other staff then noticed bruising beginning to develop on both of the victim’s hands and arms. The suspect, a certified nurse aid, admitted to “popping the victim” and holding her hands down and trying to fight with her. Physical elderly abuse can occur everywhere, including in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the elderly abuse, please click the link.

In a nursing home cradled in mountains, workers say a predator stalked the elderly in its halls. Authorities say that for nearly a decade, he fondled, groped and may have even sodomized patients. These were patients who may have not been able to walk, speak or see. The man was identified as a nurses’ aide and despite complaints from fellow employees, managers allowed him to stay in the position. His first complaint of sexual abuse was in 2000 of an elderly woman with early dementia. Despite numerous complaints there was never an investigation of the incident, despite state law requiring investigations of elderly abuse. The man finally resigned in 2007, several months after a police investigation of the home. To read more about the elderly abuse, please click the link.

There are a growing number of lawsuits alleging assisted living nursing home abuse and neglect in the fast-growing industry. One such lawsuit resulted in an $11 million verdict after a jury determined that an assisted living facility was responsible for a man’s wrongful death. The autopsy of the man revealed a number of foreign objects such as plastic bags, catsup packets and candy wrappers in the man’s stomach. Since 1998, the number of assisted living facilities in the US has grown to 38,000 and 1 million seniors live in some sort of facility. Since these are not designated as medical care facilities, assisted living communities are not as regulated as the nursing home industry. The lack of regulation in this community has opened the door to elder abuse and neglect. Attorney Steven Levin of Levin & Perconti was quoted in the article stating that his firm reached a $2.5 million settlement with an assisted living facility in Chicago last year after a resident suffered from 20 pressure sores. He said, “[o]ftentimes, assisted living facilities are keeping residents that they don’t have the capacity to care for, but the family goes along because they prey upon families.” Assisted living centers have the same responsibility as nursing homes to take care of their residents. To read more about the assisted living home crisis, please click the link.

Several residents of a local nursing home suffered repeated physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their fellow residents. State officials state that the nursing home management failed to stem or report any of this alleged abuse. Victims included both male and female residents at the nursing home which is on the federal government’s list of the nation’s most troubled nursing homes. Some residents targeted their neighbors still live in the 140-bed nursing home. Allegedly, nursing home employees didn’t prevent aggressive patients from striking time and again. The nursing home was also cited for problems with patient confidentiality, incomplete medication records, improper care for bedsores and not preventing residents from falling. The nursing home is own by the Milwaukee-based Extendicare Health Services Inc. Assault between nursing home residents happens all too often, including here in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the failing nursing home, please click the link.

Charges have been filed against three employees at a state’s social service department after an investigation into the well-being of an 85-year-old city man. They were chargd with elderly abuse and neglect of an incapacitated adult. Police checked on the 85-year-old man and found that the man was a victim of elderly neglect. Additionally, the man’s daughter was charged with felony abuse and neglect of an incapacitated adult. To read more about the elderly neglect charges, please click the link.

Authorities believe that an 87-year-old woman with dementia may have been sexually assaulted at her nursing home. The woman is currently being treated for pneumonia where she is in serious condition. Nurses found evidence during the examination that she may have been molested at the nursing home. The woman’s daughter believes that pictures show that her mother was sexually assaulted. The woman also asked that a rape kit test will be done on him. Although no previous incidents of sexual assault have been reported, eight complaints have been filed since 2006. Investigators have been unable to interview the elderly sexual assault victim because of her condition. To read more about the sexual abuse, please click the link.

A nursing home is claiming it took extraordinary measures to protect residents when it feared that three women with Alzheimer’s disease had been sexually assaulted last fall. A police investigation and medical exams of the three women were inconclusive. The nursing home had guards at its doors to register and escort visitors, sent eight male employees home with pay and called in national experts to examine all male and female residents in the 117-bed facility. The facility also retrained staff on how to spot sexual abuse and for more than a month used a “buddy system” to ensure that no resident was alone with an employee or visitor. Despite their efforts, the Department of Health cited the nursing home twice during its investigation for inadequate measures. The “immediate jeopardy” citations were given because the nursing home failed to adequately protect residents and failed to take immediate corrective action. These changes were implemented because there is a growing public awareness that residents with dementia are particularly vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse. To read more about the elderly abuse, please click the link.

Two Senators last week introduced a bill to establish a nationwide system of background checks to prevent people with criminal histories from working in nursing homes. Thre bill is called the Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act, which expands on a three-year pilot program helped to prevent applicants with a criminal record from working in long-term care. Often times, nursing home abuse occurs when nursing homes fail to properly screen their employees who work with some of the most vulnerable people.

To read the full article on the nursing home bill.

Police have arrested a man accused of stealing money from elderly women. The man was a traveling gypsy who preys upon elderly women. He would pull his truck over and set fire to the trunk. Then the scammers would allegedly convince the seniors that their cars needed immediate repair for their own safety. The police stated that the seniors were duped out of more than $15,000 of their savings. The gypsies have left a trial of police reports in several states and have access to many women’s driver’s licenses. The men specifically preyed on many elderly women to commit financial exploitation. This kind of financial abuse happens all over, including Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the financial elderly abuse, click the link.

A wrongful death lawsuit was recently filed against a nursing home alleging nursing home neglect. The nursing home abuse lawsuit alleges that the care center violated the Nursing Home Act in that the resident suffered malnutrition, dehydration, decubitis ulcers, and sepsis prior to her death.

To read more about the wrongful death lawsuit.

The family of an 87 year-old woman who was struck and killed in a car accident plans to file a nursing home neglect lawsuit. The family alleges that the nursing home was negligent when their 87 year-old mother, who was in the beginning stages of dementia and had a history of running away, escaped from the nursing home. She was struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run later that evening.

To read more about the nursing home neglect lawsuit.

A state agency has begun a nursing home abuse investigation into a rehabilitation center where a nurse injected Xanax into a 78 year-old Alzheimer’s patient. If the investigation finds severe nursing home abuse, the facility could face possible sanctions such as fines or license revocation.

A nurse at the facility is charged with battery of a senior citizen. According to a police report, the nurse broke up a 2mg Xanax pill and dissolved it with a saline solution.

To read more about the nursing home abuse investigation.

A nursing home neglect lawsuit has been filed against a nursing home, contending that the doctors found maggots crawling in a 95 year-old woman’s bedsore. In addition to this nursing home abuse lawsuit, the facility has faced multiple state and federal sanctions. This nursing home lawsuit alleges that the victim suffered poor hygiene, bedsores with maggot infestation, malnutrition, weight loss and dehydration.

To read more about the nursing home neglect lawsuit.

Sexual abuse allegations at an elderly home have family members concerned as hospital officials believe there are more victims. The suspect is a male nursing assistant who’s since been fired. The family members of the alleged victims claim that the nursing home tried to cover up the elderly abuse. One of the staff called the family and told them they needed to talk to them. She then informed the family member that a male certified nursing assistant had been molesting the elderly woman. Although the nursing home had filed an elderly abuse report, no one had ever informed the family of the abuse. The family believes that the nursing home tried to cover up the elderly sexual abuse. To read more about the sexual abuse, please click the link.

Police have arrested a former health care worker in connection with the 2007 homicide of a patient with cerebral palsy. The case of nursing home abuse almost ended with no investigation into the victim’s wrongful death and his burial days later in pauper’s grave. The nursing home aide is charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of the disabled man. The wrongful death occurred at the home when the employee worked as a certified nursing assistant. Last summer the body was exhumed and the autopsy indicted that the man died of a blunt force trauma to the head. There was no initial autopsy performed because the nursing home representatives told him that the victim had fallen and fractured his skull as a result of a seizure. The family believes that the nursing home and the state’s department of human services were in collusion to hide the death and burial of the victim. Additionally, there was little done to inform the victim’s family of his death. The nursing home fired the certified nursing home assistant soon after the wrongful death. To read more about the elderly manslaughter, please click the link.

The family of a 54-year-old man who wrongfully died after a six-day stay in a nursing home is suing the facility. The family’s attorney said nurses failed to assess and monitor the man’s respiratory condition or to suction him. The nursing home has faced several federal sanctions in the past two years. In January, the facility was threatened with the loss of Medicare and Medicaid funding before the state found it in compliance. To read more about the nursing home lawsuit, click here.

A jury started hearing arguments in a wrongful death lawsuit in which the family of a 90-year-old woman claims the nursing home where she lived was negligent in her care and caused her death. They contend that she received inadequate care during her stay at the nursing home. The woman died from injuries she sustained in her falls. The woman’s attorney told jurors that workers at the nursing home falsified records, violated internal policies and were generally negligent in how they watched over the woman. The woman continued rehabilitation from a broken pelvis she suffered in a fall her home. The family is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from the nursing home and it’s management home. To read more about the nursing home abuse, please click here.

A recently filed nursing home negligence lawsuit claims a 91-year-old woman died after she received substandard care at her nursing home. The woman died of pneumonia and other problems. The lawsuit also alleges that the unwarranted and unlawful kidnapping of the 91-year-old was to secure payment for her inpatient care. The elderly abuse lawsuit said that the woman’s mother contacted the home health agency to help care for her mother but instead the nursing home immediately began pressuring her to place her mother in 24-hour-care. The nursing home then supposedly made up a story that they found the woman with dried feces on herself because of inadequate care at home. A judge then involuntarily committed the woman to the nursing home. The elderly neglect lawsuit alleges the woman developed pneumonia, was repeatedly given aspirin and medication she was allergic to, and otherwise was poorly cared for and not properly fed. To read more about the elderly abuse lawsuit, please click here.

A family is forgiving a nursing home after their 80-year-old father was abused at a nursing home, saying that it was a couple of bad apples in a good crop. The family also believes that the lack of nursing home supervision accounted for the elderly abuse. The nursing home faces $129,000 in fines. Additionally, two residents have reported physical abuse. A report shows that the nursing home failed to protect the privacy of an 80-year-old man with dementia when an aide used a cell phone to video him naked from the chest up in a bathroom. The recording shows another aide spraying water into the man’s face while he yells. The elderly abuse left the man with a scab on his nose and “increased anxiety.” The nursing home acted promptly and fired all those involved in the alleged abuse. To read more about the physical abuse, click the link.

A man was accused of sexually molesting an elderly female patient in late August. Prosecutors have now charged him with first-degree criminal sexual act and first-degree sexual abuse. The man is accused of elderly abuse against an 89-year-old victim who was a resident of the nursing home. The woman testified in front of the grand jury as to her sexual abuse. To read more about this sexual abuse, please click the link.

Some investigators are describing a recent elder abuse case as the most outrageous that has even been seen. According to authorities three top managers at a nursing home have been arrested in the deaths of three residents who allegedly were given needless doses of psychotropic medications. The attorney general’s office contended in a criminal complaint that more than 20 residents at the nursing center were drugged for “staff convenience.” Many of them experienced side effects that included dramatic weight loss, slurred speech, tremors, loss of cognition and even psychosis. All three employees have been charged with elder abuse. Two employees that administered shots by force and without consent have also been charged with assault with a deadly weapon. The complaint states that the nursing director failed to examine patients and were either willfully or naively ignorant of his proper role. To read more about the nursing home restraint, click here.

Three elderly Alzheimer’s patients are believed to have died after being injected with psychotropic drugs by nursing home staff trying to keep them quiet. The state’s attorney general revealed the deaths after announcing the arrests of a nurse, a physician and a pharmacist from a nursing facility. The attorney general was quoted as saying, “[t]hese people maliciously violated the trust of their patients, by holding them down and forcibly administering psychotropic medications if they dared to question their care.” The director of nursing at the facility ordered that Alzheimer’s and other dementia patients be given high doses of psychotropic medications to make them easier to control. She held down and forcibly gave injections to patients who argued with her or were noisy and disruptive. Several of the patients involved were alleged to have suffered medical complications from the injections including three wrongful deaths and one personal injury.

After an ombudsman reported that a patient had been forcibly injected a subsequent investigation was conducted. This investigation determined that 22 patients had been given high doses of psychotropic drugs to control and quiet them for the convenience of staff members. The three arrested nursing home workers are facing charges that range from elder abuse to assault with a deadly weapon. All three workers face up to 11 years in prison if eventually convicted. This outrageous elderly abuse case highlights the importance of the work of ombudsmen. To read more about these wrongful deaths, please click here.

A former worker at a nursing home has been charged with sexually molesting a patient while another patient slept in that same room. Prosecutors said that the 46-year-old worker sexually assaulted the 62-year-old woman who had recently suffered a stroke at the nursing home. The man had worked there since August, but has subsequently been fired. The elderly assault was discovered when another aide noticed the victim acting strange towards the victim. The man is currently out of custody on bond. Elderly sexual assault has become an all too common phenomenon and occurs here in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the elderly abuse, please click on the link.

Three former employees at a nursing home will stand trial on charges that they abused an elderly Alzheimer’s patient. Authorities say the three women all physically abused one elderly patient at the nursing home. The alleged elderly abuse included punching the victim in the face and stamping on her feet over a six-month period. The nursing supervisor has also been charged with elderly abuse. Physical elderly abuse in nursing homes is common throughout the country, including here in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the nursing home assault, please click here.

Police are currently looking for a woman who they believe has committed elderly neglect. The woman is facing seven felony charges for her lack of care and economic exploitation of the man. According to investigators, the man lived at a nursing home where the woman worked. The man’s family then consented to moving him from the nursing home to the worker’s home and was placed in her care. The nursing home employee became the representative for the man, and collected his month Social Security Check. Last year, the police received a call that the neglected elderly man had been left alone. At the home, police found the man by himself inside the dirty house with no electricity and dog feces on the floor. Later, the man was admitted to the hospital for bedsores. The man was removed from the woman’s care after they found him on a hospital bed with no sheets, debris and piles of food on the floor. An investigation found that the money she was collecting was not used for his care. To read more about the elderly abuse, click here.

After surveying adult tending to relatives with dementia concluded that elder abuse should be viewed as a “spectrum of behaviors rather than all-or-nothing phenomenon.” Also, the survey exposes an old myth that is untrue – that abuse of elders happens at the hands of paid caregivers and not family members. The study found that more than half of the family caregivers reported having engaged in some elderly abusive behavior. This includes screaming, insulting or cursing directed at the person in their care. More than a quarter of the respondents had “at least sometimes” screamed or yelled at their cognitively impaired relatives. Even 1.4 percent admitted that they had engaged in significant physical abuse. A professor stated that any strategy for protecting this helpless group “must be directed toward families who provide a majority of care for older people, rather than exclusively paid caregivers. To read more about elderly abuse, click here.

A nursing home care taker has been taken into custody and charged with stealing from an elderly couple at the home. The care taker defrauded the couple by using their debit cards at several businesses. She removed the card from the elderly couple’s room and went to three different locations. The woman is currently in jail facing six felony charges including elderly abuse. Financial abuse is one of the many types of nursing home abuse that occurs. To read more about fraud against the elderly, click here.

A man with severe autism received second and third-degree burns while in the care of a group home. The 27-year-old was personally injured while staying with the group home. After a long investigation, the staff director of the group home admitted that she had burned the man with hot water in a nursing home abuse incident. The 31-year-old was arrested on suspicion of felony injury of a disabled person causing severe bodily injury. Regulators state that the group home has not received any disciplinary action in the past. Physical abuse is all too common in group homes that care for both disabled people and elderly people. To read more about physical abuse in homes, click here.

Two nursing home assistants were charged with elder abuse in separate incidents. One worker is accused of physical abusing an 88-year-old resident in his ribs while she worked as a certified nurse aid at a nursing home. The other nursing home aide is accused of using a 76-year-old resident’s nightgown to tie his neck and neck and legs leaving him unable to move. Both women have been terminated from their positions and have been charged with endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and willful violation of the health laws. Physical nursing home abuse has become all too commonplace and employees need to be held to a higher accountability. To read the full story, click here.

The relatives of a 72-year-old woman whose wrongful death seems to be linked to the widespread peanut butter salmonella outbreak are looking for answers. The complaint states that the woman had been temporarily staying in a nursing home died after being infected by a salmonella strain linked to the nationwide outbreak. Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections especially in the elderly with weakened immune systems. The woman had been in the nursing home trying to recuperate from cancer treatments and other ailments. Nursing homes should pull all peanut butter from their centers or they will be facing elderly neglect charges. To read more about nursing home negligence, click here.

A certified nursing assistant is facing felony trial after she allegedly punched a 94-year-old nursing home resident in the mouth. The woman is charged with felony battery resulting in bodily injury to a woman who was an endangered adult at the time of the incident. The nursing assistant allegedly physically abused the elderly woman after she supposedly spit at her. When the woman’s daughter came to visit her at the nursing home her mother’s face was red and she was apparently drugged. An employee at the nursing home told her that they needed to send her mother to the hospital because she was hit by the nursing assistant. There were rumors that other employees say the nursing assistant slug and slap the elderly woman in the face two or three times, which resulted in a black eye and two other facial bruises. A civil elderly abuse lawsuit has also been filed in this case. The nursing assistant has been removed from her position after the alleged elderly abuse. To read the full story, click here.

A family has filed a wrongful death suit against a nursing home claiming $10 million in punitive damages and $3 million in compensatory damages. Three daughters of a nursing home patient have filed the suit alleging instances of elderly negligence that they believed contributed to the woman’s death. They came that their 84-year-old mother did not get proper nutritional care and was severely malnourished and dehydrated when she died. The elderly abuse lawsuit also alleges that two unskilled student employees dropped their mother which resulted in a broken femur that went untreated. The suit alleges that the nursing home’s failure to properly monitor and prescribe medication which causes the elderly woman to have severe internal bleeding. To read the full story, click here.

A nursing home employee who was charged with elder abuse pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and will serve 30 days in jail. She was charged with elder abuse after she was accused of hitting the 74 year-old woman with a clipboard and an incontinence pad, as well as pulling her hair and slapping her. Elder abuse by nursing home employees whom the family have trusted to provide care is always devastating.

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Last year a jury faulted a nursing home for the wrongful death of a 94-year old woman and awarded the family $400,000 in damages. During the trial, one of the woman’s sons testified that his mother had been so badly neglected that it started to “smell like an animal had died” inside his mother’s room during her stay at the nursing home. While in the nursing home the woman developed gangrene on both heels and had to be hospitalized. Additional she had decubitus ulcers to her heels and her left leg continued to deteriorate and her legs needed to be amputated below her knees. The family argued that under the care of the nursing home she suffered gross abuse, extensive neglect and undue pain. The appellate court affirmed the nursing home abuse verdict and the family was awarded the four hundred thousand dollar verdict. To read the full story, click here.

A former night shift nursing home nurse was sentenced to 12 ½ years in prison after entering a plea of guilty to four count of sexual battery and one count of gross sexual imposition. The 50-year-old man was videotaped telling authorities that he abused about 100 patients at various nursing homes since the 1980s. The victim’s families were relieved after the man pled guilty and called him an “ancient evil spirit of torment.” To read the full story, click here.

A support group for elderly people who have suffered abuse and neglect at nursing homes will start holding meetings. The group is called Families Against Nursing Home Abuse and it is coming together not only for emotional support, but to utilize the opportunity to turn a bad situation into a good outcome. The group was formed after the horrific elder abuse that occurred at a nursing home by teenage employees. The group hopes to ensure abuse and neglect situations are avoided and to make changes to national policies for elder care. To read the full story, click here.

A man suffering from dementia was starved to death by his nursing home staff. Since the 72-year-old man suffered from dementia, he required round the clock full-time professional nursing care. He had only been a resident for 21 days when his kidneys and brain shut down. The family has filed a suit claiming nursing home abuse and neglect was the cause of his wrongful death. In the elderly abuse lawsuit the family alleges the nursing home staff’s abuse and neglect caused him to lose 20 pounds and 10 liters of water resulting in his death from extreme dehydration. Both the family and medical experts claim that the man starved to death. To read the full story, click here.

The daughters of an elderly woman found dead outside of a nursing home are demanding answers from the nursing home staff. The daughters said that the elderly woman suffered from Alzheimer’s and had wandered out of the facility only two days before. The family wonders whether the nursing home staff was negligent in not preventing the elderly woman from leaving the facility again.

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An elderly abuse lawsuit claims that 61-year-old woman with dementia refused to eat and was prone to crying after a nursing home aide found her in the bed, naked from the waist down, while another resident was sexually abusing her. The elderly abuse lawsuit states that the director of nursing and an employee at the nursing home saw the woman half-naked with the same man next to her earlier that day. The staff separated the two, but no one called her family or the police. The only action they took was to put her pants back on. A $2 million elderly abuse lawsuit alleges the home failed to protect one of its most vulnerable residents. To read the full story, click here.

A woman is suing a nursing home for elderly abuse, claiming that the employees dropped her 65-year-old aunt onto the floor and this caused her to be wheelchair bound for life. The niece filed the eldery negligence suit on behalf of her mentally retarded aunt. The lawsuit claims that the woman underwent surgery for a total replacement of her right hip and then was transferred to a nursing home for rehabilitation of the hip. The suit alleges that the nursing home employees were transferring the woman to the bathroom and dropped her, causing injury to her right elbow, the right side of her forehead, to her cervical spine and fracturing her newly replaced right hip. X-rays revealed that the hip was broken in three places and alleges that the nursing home failed to meet their obligation to care for woman. It continues to state that because of poor staffing levels, the nursing staff could not provide even the minimum standard of care to the vulnerable residents. To read the full story, click here.

A family filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against a nursing home for the death of their loved one. The man was admitted to the nursing home and within 20 days had lost more than 20 pounds and became agitated and combative. The man died in the hospital of dehydration, kidney failure and pneumonia. An investigation by the state found that the home was negligent in the man’s care for not preventing his dehydration, not maintaining his weight and not notifying his doctor of the weight loss. While his wife continuously asked about how he was eating, the nursing home staff told her he was doing fine. However, the staff noted that the man often refused to eat or take medications, and ate nothing at 15 or 25 meals at that time. Despite the nursing home’s dietary manager’s recommendation that the man be given a nutritional supplement every day, the nursing home never followed the orders. The also did not inform the man’s doctor that he had such a drastic weight loss. The nursing home has been cited for elderly abuse in the past. To read the full story, click here.

A former nursing home’s aide at a nursing home that is being investigated by state officials has been arrested and charged with wanton neglect. The nursing home aide was arrested and charged in connection with the alleged neglect of a former resident. Officials began investigating the nursing home earlier this year after the granddaughter of the resident set up a surveillance camera that allegedly recorded abuse incidents. To read the full story, click here.

A nursing home abuse investigation is alleging that an elderly man in a nursing home was so neglected that he had mold growing out of his mouth. The 65 year-old nursing home neglect victim lives at a nursing home. He cannot speak, but staff at a nearby medical center spoke up and complained about what they saw during a wellness examination and called the authorities.

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The father of one of the teenagers charged with sexually abusing and humiliating numerous vulnerable nursing homes residents believes that the allegations against his daughter are not as distorted as they appear. The comments are the first made by anyone connected to the eight teenage girls who worked a the Good Samaritan Society nursing home, where the elderly abuse is alleged to have happened for several months early this year. Two of the girls were charged as adults and were charged with the maltreatment of elderly residents. Four others were charged as juveniles with failure to report maltreatment. According to the criminal complaint, one resident employee admitted that she inserted her finger into a resident’s rectum. She said she was trying to trigger a bowel movement but did acknowledge that this was not part of her training. The girl also admitted that she got into bed with a resident and made a humping motion and patted the buttocks of one resident. The employee emotionally abused a resident by trying to get them mad and then laughed at them. To read the full story, click here.

Prosecutors have filed a range of criminal charges against six teens accused of abusing elderly residents at a nursing home. The department of health released a report that showed that 15 elderly residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia disorders were physically abused at the nursing home earlier this year. The investigation detailed multiple incidents of physical, sexual and emotional abuse of the elderly residents in the teen’s care. Two of the teens, who are being charged as adults, are being charged with assault of a caregiver to a vulnerable adult and criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult. The four other teens are being charged as juveniles with failing to report the incidents. To read the full story, click here.

State investigators recently concluded that dangerous conditions at a county-run nursing home have put residents’ health and safety in immediate jeopardy. The report focused on the large closets found in each resident’s room, which tipped over when minimal force was applied. The report came after a resident died this past August when the 200 lb closet in her room came crashing down on her head and fractured her skull. The resident's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the home alleging it was grossly reckless and negligent in keeping the facility safe. The investigation required all closets be bolted to the wall. The nursing home was also required to post news of the fatal accident and inspection notice, but failed to notify residents or their families of the state’s investigation or the resident’s wrongful death. The nursing home has a history of numerous patient care complaints and little accountability when complaints are made. Nursing homes must be held accountable for each complaint filed. For the full story, click here.

State health inspectors will increase their oversight and an independent review of the home for the disabled will be conducted in the wake of 11 deaths since January. The nursing home has been fined more than $37,000 by state inspectors including a fine that is tied to the death that was allegedly caused by nursing home negligence. The most recent incident was reported after a 26-year-old patient was found unresponsive in his room and later died. His mother claims that the nursing home employees failed to take her son to the nursing home’s infirmary for observation after a brief hospitalization triggered by a seizure. Although the state used to only investigate deaths not attributable to natural causes, they are changing their policy to investigate all deaths reported to them by the nursing home. The state’s governor stated there will be an independent review to determine whether the nursing home patients receive appropriate care and treatment. A federal investigation created by Congress to monitor health care serves for the disabled has said that the number of deaths at the nursing home over the past 14 months appears unusually high. One of the problems includes the nursing home’s staff’s failure to assess residents’ needs upon their return from a hospital. To read the full story, click here.

A nursing home was fined after state authorities began investigating a case of elderly abuse. Additionally, state authorities will not allow any new patients to be admitted to the home after the elderly abuse case surfaced. The story surrounds a nursing assistant who committed elderly abuse against a blind patient. The employee has been charged by police with willful and physical abuse. A resident was hit with a clipboard and incontinence pad and the information was reported to the senior person on duty where there was a delay in investigating the matter. Additionally, the patient was also slapped and had her hair pulled. The patient has now been fired after the elderly abuse incident. Since the nursing home gets federal funding for Medicare, Medicaid and VA Patents the federal authorities are part of the elderly abuse investigation. The department of health has fined the nursing home $1,500 and ordered them to complete a plan of correction while not permitting any new patients. The nursing home also faces civil fines that are stacking up by $3,500 a day. To read the full story, click here.

A former caretaker committed serious elder abuse and received a criminal sentence for it. He was found guilty of raping and sodomizing a mentally disabled woman when she was 70 years old. He was sentenced to 400 months in prison. The elderly woman had suffered brain injuries in her twenties from a car accident that killed her husband.

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After a news investigation a family is now demanding an investigation to see whether or not the nun’s death was an accident. The 90-year-old nun was killed when a closet fell on her. The family was lead to believe that it was a freak accident however prior to the nun’s death; two other people were injured at the home by falling closets. Family members believe that the nursing home was trying to cover up the previous accidents, since they never neither reported them to the health department nor told the family about them. They claim that these actions went beyond negligence; it was more of a callous disregard of the safety of the most vulnerable among us, the elderly and the infirmed. After the first two closet doors fell, the nursing home still neglected to bolt the other 298 closets to the wall. Although no disciplinary action has been taken at the nursing home, the home was found to be in immediate jeopardy to resident health and safety. The home was fined $17,000. To read the full story, click here.

A former nursing home worker was charged with patient abuse for allegedly slapping an 85-year-old hospice patient only 10 days before she died at her nursing home. The 23-year-old employee allegedly slapped the Alzheimer’s patient. He had only worked there for approximately two months before he was fired two days after the allegedly physical abuse. The woman died ten days after the physical abuse. The complaint states that another worker at the nursing home heard the employee yell at the woman telling her to be quiet before seeing him slap her with an open hand. The complaint states that the woman appeared to be stunned by the slap. The state department stated that the employee admitted striking the woman out of frustration but said he only tapped her face. Physical abuse in nursing homes happens all too often and cannot be tolerated. To read the full story, click here.

A former certified nurse’s aide was placed on probation for breaking an elderly woman’s hand and spraying foam into her mouth. The 22-year old nurse was sentenced to five years’ probation and will also be placed on 90 days electronic home monitoring. The woman also recently surrendered her state nursing license. In September the nurse pleaded guilty to second-degree endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person, which is a felony. She was accused of pulling the hair and spraying foam into the mouth and eyes of an 82 year old woman while she was in the care of a nursing home. The nurse also fractured the elderly woman’s right hand while squeezing it tightly in 2007. The elderly woman recently passed away. The judge said her anger issues definitely weren’t compatible around elderly home patients that need specialized care and a lot of patience. This story highlights the number of physical abuse cases that occur in nursing homes across the country. To read the full story, click here.

Cammy Nye, a certified nursing assistant, was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 700 hours of community service, and three years of probation after an Oregon jury found her guilty of contributing to the death of nursing home patient Linda Ober.

Suzanne Ruddell, the nursing supervisor, was also found guilty but her sentencing has been delayed after her lawyer requested a pre-sentencing investigation.

Ober, a patient at Gateway Care and Rehab Center in Portland, was dropped to the floor while being transferred from a wheelchair to her bed, breaking both of her legs. She was then allowed to suffer for 5 days, despite screaming in pain, before finally being taken to the hospital, where she died following complications from surgery.

The jury found Nye guilty of misdemeanor reckless endangerment for precariously placing Ober in a sling, causing her to drop to the floor during the transfer. Rudell was found guilty of two counts of felony criminal mistreatment for refusing to have Ober taken to the hospital. A third defendant, Verna Colleen Heide, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal mistreatment before the trial and testified against Ruddell and Nye. Heide was sentenced last month to three years of probation and 160 hours of community service.

A lawsuit has been filed against the nursing home by Ober’s daughter demanding $3.5 million for her wrongful death.

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Closing Arguments are set in the case against two former nursing home workers accused of failing to get medical help for a patient who was dropped and suffered two broken legs. The patient, a 60-year old woman, was injured while getting transferred from a wheelchair to a bed. She died less than a week after the fall. A wrongful death suit filed by the victim’s daughter against Gateway Care and Retirement Center claims workers ignored the woman’s pleas for help and tried to persuade her that the fall was just “a bad dream” Former employees have been charged with felony criminal mistreatment, and were indicted, more than a year after the wrongful death suit was filed. The two woman have been fired from the nursing home. The victim was taken to the hospital five days after the fall, and she died the following day. To read the full story, click here.

An Oregon jury returned guilty verdicts Monday in a criminal case against two nursing home employees involved in the dropping and subsequent death of a nursing home resident. Linda Ober, a 60-year-old resident at Gateway nursing home in Portland, Oregon, was dropped to the floor while being transferred from a wheelchair to her bed, breaking both of her legs. She was then allowed to lie in her bed and suffer for five days, despite staff reports that she was screaming in pain, before being taken to the hospital. Suzanne Kay Ruddell, the director of nurses, ordered staff members to stop filling out an incident report and to not call Ober’s family after the injury. For five days, Ruddell refused to have Ober x-rayed. Finally, after learning of an abnormal bone protrusion under Ober’s skin, Ruddell ordered an x-ray and left for the beach. Ober died in the hospital the following day.

Ruddell was found guilty of two counts of felony criminal mistreatment. Cammy Elaine Nye, the certified nursing assistant in charge of the transfer, was found guilty of misdemeanor reckless endangerment for precariously placing Ober in a sling, causing her to drop to the floor during the transfer.

A third defendant, Verna Colleen Heide, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal mistreatment in August and testified against Ruddell and Nye at the trial. Heide was sentenced last month to three years probation and 160 hours of community service.

Ober’s daughter has filed a $3.5 million lawsuit against Gateway Care and Rehabilitation Center.

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A resident of a nursing home died suddenly, at the end of last year. The wife of the victim did not suspect any foul play, until she received a call from the mother of an employee of the nursing home informing her that her husband had died after repeated physical abuse. The caller said that her daughter was an employee and could no longer keep quiet about the abuse that she knew occurred at the nursing home. After exhuming the body, it was found that the victim did suffer from repeated physical abuse. Four of the nursing home employees were arrested and the nursing home has spent $500,000 to retrain the staff about elder abuse. There is no word as to whether the wife of the victim will be filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home. For the full story click here.

Police have charged a man with raping a dying 70-year-old