February 4, 2010

Madison County Illinois: Elder Abuse and Neglect is Too Common

An Illinois county has enacted a new team to review cases of alleged or suspected elderly abuse, neglect or exploitation. This team was organized by the county’s coroner in coordination with the Illinois Department of Aging. They are looking to have several people investigate cases of elderly abuse. Also the team hopes to gather information that will enable them to discover gaps in the nursing home system and the services provided to the elderly. The team leader believes that the elderly are a group that is very vulnerable to nursing home abuse. This type of team should be present in every county throughout the state in order to combat Illinois elderly abuse. To read more about the elderly abuse team, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Government Reports, Elder Caregivers

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January 31, 2010

1 in 5 Nursing Homes Get Low Stars

The USA Today has released a report stating that one in five of the country’s 15,700 nursing homes were found on the lower end of the five-star scale. It seems that almost all of the nursing home receiving one or two stars are owned by-for-profit corporations. The stars reflect inspections performed in the nursing homes as well as complaint investigations. Most owners must take responsibility for the consequences of the poorly performing nursing homes. The lowest-rated facilities have averaged about 14 deficiencies per site. These deficiencies include nursing home abuse and safety violations. You may visit the nursing home compare website by clicking on the link. Many Chicago nursing homes only have one star. These include: Alden Princeton; Avenue Care Center; Belhaven Nursing & Rehab Center; Kenwood Healthcare Center; and Waterfront Terrace. The nursing home negligence attorneys at Levin & Perconti have filed numerous lawsuits against one-star nursing homes in Chicago. They have also noticed that many of these homes have not improved their ratings and continue to commit Chicago nursing home abuse.

To read the story concerning the low star nursing homes, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, National Nursing Homes, Government Reports, Chicago Nursing Homes, How to choose a home

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January 3, 2010

New Illinois Nursing Home Report Expected in January

Authorities saw mentally ill residents in Chicago nursing homes crowded three and four to a room, observed residents wandering hallways and saw very little therapy. This prompted member of an Illinois task force to turn away surprised and dismayed. It was especially true when it came to homes that housed the mentally ill. The Illinois task force was formed in response to a series of assaults in nursing homes. Under federal law, nursing homes are barred from admitting a mentally ill patient unless the state has determined the person needs the high level of care a nursing home can provide. The nursing homes should not admit mentally ill patients if their primary diagnosis is mental illness, however many admit residents with other diagnoses and health complications. In some instances, older nursing home residents have been assaulted by younger, stronger mentally ill patients. These instances of nursing home abuse have led to nursing home reports examining how violent convicted felons living in nursing homes put frail elderly residents at risk. To read more about the Illinois nursing home report, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Government Reports, Incidents

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December 14, 2009

Government Accountability Office Releases Special Focus List

If the GAO succeeds the number of nursing facilities on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Special Focus Facility (SFF) list from 135 to 580. The GAO enhanced the list by altering the methodology used by the CMS to make SFF designations. The changes include the use of a national rather than a state-based comparison and incorporating CMS Five Star Quality Rating scoring into the calculation. The GAO explained that its expanded list differs substantially from the CMS list. The list will contain the names and addresses of the facilities, which are identified as “the most poorly performing.” Hopefully this new list will help deter residents from choosing nursing homes guilty of elderly abuse. To take a look at the old nursing home list, please click the link.

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Posted In: Government Reports

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November 22, 2009

Lack of Social Engagement Becomes a Risk Factor for Older Adults

A study by Rush University Medical Center found that seniors who neglect themselves tend to be individuals with limited social networks and little social engagement. The study is the largest epidemiological study to date examining a wide range of sociodemographic, health-related and psychosocial characteristics associated with elder self-neglect. This is extremely important because reports of self-neglect to social service agencies are rising. Elder self-neglect is defined by the National Centers on Elder Abuse as “the behavior of an elderly person that threatens his/her own health and safety.” Twice as many women as men and more than seven times the number of African Americans as whites were reported for self-neglect. Professionals who work with the elderly need to be mindful not just of their patients’ health profile, but also of their social well-being, a factor that may put them at risk of self-neglect. To learn how to detect self-neglect, please click the link.

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Posted In: Government Reports

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November 6, 2009

One Nursing Home Patient Received 67 Different Drugs

A scary result of the Omincare drug kickback case is how vulnerable elderly people in nursing homes are to schemes in which drug companies allegedly induce pharmacies to prescribe drugs they otherwise would not. One patient cited by the government’s complaint received 67 different drugs under Omnicare’s reign. The drugs include Cipro, Neurotin, Hearin, Pepcid, Oxycodone and Seroqueol. Omnicare, the country’s largest nursing home pharmacy chain, pain $98 million to settle the case. Also the Wall Street Journal noticed that the government accused Johnson and Johnson of paying kickbacks as well. One single patient received 67 drugs from Omnicare’s pharmacies. It appears that the patients are being “cycled’ through various drug categories. Medication errors are a common form of nursing home abuse. To read more about the pharmacy kickbacks, please click the link.

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Posted In: Government Reports

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October 11, 2009

Study Shows Poorly Performing Nursing Homes

According to the Government Accountability Office almost 4 percent of the nation’s 16,000 nursing homes could be considered “the most poorly performing” of standards of nursing homes. The most poorly performing home’s tended to be chain-affiliated, for-profit and have more beds and residents. To identify the worst homes in the nation, GAO applied CMS’s Special Focus Facilities methodology on a nationwide basis and made refinements to the methodology that “strengthened” GAO’s estimate. The most poorly performing nursing homes had notably more deficiencies. The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care has identified that four Illinois nursing homes are Special Focus Facilities that include:

Pekin Manor in Pekin, Illinois
Shawnee Rose Care Center in Harrisburg, Illinois
Embassy Health Care Centre in Wilmington, Illinois
International Village in Chicago, Illinois

To read more about the nursing home study, please visit the NCCNHR’s website.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Government Reports, Chicago Nursing Homes, Selecting a home

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October 10, 2009

Illinois Ranks High on Bad Nursing Report

A new federal report shows that Illinois has the nation’s second-highest number of nursing homes that have been flagged as having poor quality. Forty-seven Illinois nursing homes are among facilities that perform “most poorly” on quality-of-care measures, according a study released by the General Accounting Office. The report rated homes on staffing levels, procedures to prevent bed sores, measures to prevent elderly abuse and neglect and other factors. The study recommends vastly expanding a federal program that closely monitors U.S. nursing homes with the worst quality ratings. The report also highlights shortcomings in the way that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are administered. Homes in Illinois, whose nursing homes perform worse than others, should have closer inspections. The Health Care Council of Illinois stated that they have not had the chance to review the report. Homes rated as poorly performing tend to be larger, for profit agencies and have an average of nearly 24% fewer registered nurses relative to the number of patients. Illinois has recently created a task force to combat allegations of nursing home abuse that occurs at the hands of mentally ill patients. To read more about the nursing home study, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Government Reports, Incidents

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August 13, 2009

Nursing Homes still not Protected during Disasters

A report released by the National Council on Disability claims that the federal government still has a long way to go to insure that disabled Americans are protected during major disasters. The report states that emergency agencies should be able to talk to disabled people and their representatives for guidance in formulating disaster plans. Oftentimes the disabled and the elderly are left out of planning activities in emergency situations. These activities include assessing the hazards, risks, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery needs. FEMA has added a senior adviser on disability issues. This comes after thirty-five patients wrongfully died in a nursing home during Hurricane Katrina. Its owners were acquitted of negligent homicide charges. Nursing home negligence can oftentimes occur if there is no comprehensive emergency plan. Emergency plans are greatly needed in Chicago nursing homes. To read more about the emergency plans, please click the link.

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Posted In: National Nursing Homes, Government Reports

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July 16, 2009

Illinois Agencies Shed Light on Elder Abuse

According to the estimates by the Illinois Department on Aging, as many as 80,000 people are victims of elderly abuse each year. Due to these staggering numbers, the Department has declared July to be Elder Abuse Awareness Month. Along with them, McHenry County state’s attorney Louis Bianchi has been working with the elderly on a local level through presentations and distributing information packets. The two groups point out that elder abuse, defined as neglect, physical injury, mental, sexual or financial abuse, often goes unreported because the elderly are too embarrassed or unsure of what to do. One of the biggest forms of abuse fails in financial exploitation, especially due to the faltering economy. To read more about ways to prevent elderly abuse, please click the link.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Government Reports

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July 5, 2009

Study Shows that More Mentally Ill are Admitted to Nursing Homes than Those with Dementia

A recent nursing home population analysis found that the number of first-time nursing home residents admitted with mental illness has far surpassed the number of those with dementia and Alzheimer’s. The number of nursing home residents admitted with a mental illness rose from 168,721 to 187,478. That is more than 50% more than those admitted dementia only, which considers many mental illnesses. Unfortunately, many patients fall victims to elderly abuse at the hands of other mentally ill patients. This type of nursing home abuse occurs throughout the country, including here in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the nursing home study, please click the link.

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Posted In: Government Reports

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Study Warns of Hazards for Elderly Using Walking Aids

A study shows that about 47,000 elderly Americans are treated in emergency rooms each year from falls associated with walkers and canes. An epidemiologist at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated that walking aids can be a hazard if not used properly. The study found that 87 percent of fall injuries involved walkers and 12 percent involved canes. A statistical analysis estimates that there are 47,312 falls a year that involve a cane or walker. Sixteen percent of the falls involving walkers occurred at nursing homes. Doctors should consider taking more time to show patients how to use walkers properly and that additional research could lead to design improvements for walking aids. To read more about the fall study, please click the link.

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Posted In: Government Reports

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July 2, 2009

NCCNHR Examines the Role of Nurses in Nursing Home “Culture Change”

The National Citizen’s Coalition for Nursing Home Reform has joined with Geriatric Nursing Centers in order to develop quality care for Nursing Homes. The important and complex role of nursing in culture change is examined in the newly released issue paper entitled Nurses’ Involvement in Nursing Home Culture Change: Overcoming Barriers, Advancing Opportunities. The paper discusses the idea that in nursing homes, the movement away from institutional provider-driven models of care to more humane consumer-driven models of care that embrace flexibility and resident self-determination has come to be known as culture change. The NCCHNR is striving hard to adhere to the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 which states that each resident must provide the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being, in accordance with the comprehensive assessment and plan of care. To read more about the nursing home study, please click the link.

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Posted In: Government Reports, Nursing Home Care Act (NHCA), Useful publications

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April 13, 2009

Study Shows that Hispanics Receive Poorer Nursing Home Care

A Brown University study shows that nursing home facilities with a primarily Hispanic resident population generally provide lower quality care than facilities primarily servicing whites. Investigators examined Minimum Data Set and federal OSCAR data to reach their conclusions. This comes after a study released two years ago that blacks were more likely than whites to reside in underperforming nursing homes. The study subjects were 65 and older and living in nursing homes in the west. Discrimination in nursing homes can happen anywhere, including in Chicago, Illinois. To read more about the nursing home study, please click the link.

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Posted In: Government Reports

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April 1, 2009

CMS Unveils Pilot Incentive Program to Enhance Nursing Care

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to test a pay-for performance program to improve the quality of care in nursing homes. In Medicare-certified nursing homes based in Arizona, Mississippi, New York and Wisconsin all homes will be invited to join the Nursing Home Value-Based Purchasing demonstration project, which will run for three years. The program starts in July and expects to enroll at least 100 homes from each state. The program will have participating institutions being awarded on the basis of staffing measures, avoidable hospitalizations, resident outcomes, and deficiencies identified during inspections. The homes which score the highest and that show the greatest improvements over time will receive payments. CMS is expecting to pay for the program with money saved by reducing avoidable hospitalizations through improved performance. The funds will be placed into state pools from which incentive payments will be drawn. If this program is successful it will hopefully come to Illinois. To read more about the nursing home program, please click the link.

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Posted In: National Nursing Homes, Government Reports

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March 27, 2009

Maggots are no Longer Cure for Festering Wounds

Putting flesh-eating maggots into open wounds has not been found to be helpful. The maggots do clean wounds more quickly than normal treatment, yet this does not lead to faster healing. A study shows that this “so-called” larval therapy more painful. Maggots do have a long history in medicine. Recently they have been used to prevent dangerous infections like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas (MRSA). The study recruited 267 patients with venuous leg ulcers and treated them either with maggots or hydrogel and found no significant difference in outcomes or cost. Maggots may seem to have advantages in some specialized areas, such as preparing patients for skin grafts, where faster wound cleaning means patients can be moved into surgery more swiftly. Larval therapy works because maggots eat only dead and rotting tissue, leaving a clean wound. These maggots do not burrow into healthy flesh, presumed to eat each other when they run out of food. This study will have an impact on the treatment of elderly patients. To read more about the study, please click the link.

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Posted In: Government Reports, Medical Conditions

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March 8, 2009

Nursing Home Firm Charged with $300 Million Fraud

Recent reports show that a national nursing home management firm, Sunwest Management as been accused of defrauding investors out of roughly $300 million in a Ponzi scheme. The Securities and Exchange Commission leveled charges against the company, and its founder. According to the SEC, Sunwest raised $300 million from 1,300 investors between 2006 and 2008. Investors believed that they were purchasing partial ownership of one of the Sunwest’s facilities, and had been guaranteed an annual return of 10%. Sunwest then allegedly placed the money in one fund that it used to pay operating expenses, investor returns and other costs. The investors were never informed that the places they had invested in were actually losing money. While Sunwest Management had overseen more than 320 assisted living facilities in 2007, more than 100 facilities have been foreclosed upon, placed in receivership or declared bankrupt. To read more about the nursing home Ponzi scheme, please click the link.

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Posted In: National Nursing Homes, Government Reports

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February 28, 2009

One in Ten Nursing Home Residents Had Pressure Sores

In a February 2009 report from the Department of Health and Human Resource’s center, it was revealed that one in ten residents in nursing homes in 2004 suffered from pressure sores. The report stated that residents aged 64 years and under were more likely than older residents to have pressure ulcers, which is a reflection of nursing home negligence. Additionally, residents of nursing homes for a year or less were more likely to have bed sores than those with longer stays. The nursing homes are also not doing a good job at caring for those pressure sores. The report found that only 35 percent of nursing home residents with stage 2 or higher (more severe) pressure ulcers received special wound care services in 2004. The report reflects that unnecessary pressure sores are occurring in younger people who are there for short periods but also that the nursing homes are not aggressively treating them. To read more about this nursing home report, click here.

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Posted In: Government Reports, Pressure Ulcers

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February 26, 2009

Nursing Home Watchdogs were muted by Bush Regulation

The Bush administration shut off a source of information last fall about elderly abuse and neglect that people suing nursing homes consider crucial to their cases. The change that affects the nursing home industry occurred with no public notice or attention, perhaps because of the array of last-minute rules that President Bush’s appointees rushed out before leaving. The rule designated state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as federal employees. Federal employees are usually shielded from providing evidence for either side in private litigation. The practical effect is to force litigants to go to great lengths when suing nursing homes, including seeking court orders, to get inspection reports or depositions for cases they are pursuing or defending. The new rule generally prohibits state health departments and contractors that do auditing and other services for the government from participating in private lawsuits involving facilities that are in the federal assistance program without the approval by the head of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department. Lawyers are currently approaching the Obama administration to get rid of the rule that hinders so many elderly abuse lawsuits. To read more about this legislation, click here.

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Posted In: National Nursing Homes, Government Reports, Legislation

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February 6, 2009

Illinois Nursing Home Changes Look

Sunny Hill Nursing Home in Joliet, Illinois is changing its facility to allow their residents more independence. Schedules that once were set in stone are now more flexible and accommodating. The residents can decide when to wake up, when to bathe, when to exercise and what to eat. Usually nursing homes run like hospitals, where residents had cemented routines, were sometimes heavily medicated or physically restrained to avoid disruption, and had few choices about how to live out their years. The transformation under way is part of a national reshaping of nursing homes to make needs and preferences of residents central to operations. Legions of health-care advocates have pushed for more nursing homes to adapt these practices. A study released show that a third of the country’s 16,000 nursing homes have adopted cultural-change practices and another quarter of the homes are moving in that direction. The federal government is also urging a change in the way nursing homes are run. To read more about the Illinois change, click here.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Government Reports, Selecting a home

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The purpose of this blog is to deliver news and information that is relevant to our areas of practice. The news and information reported on this blog represent the legal actions of attorneys throughout the United States. Our firm does not claim to represent plaintiffs in all of the lawsuits, settlements, and jury verdicts reported, only those noted as Levin & Perconti cases.

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