January 7, 2011

Nursing Homes Being Filled With Younger Residents

CBS News reported today on the details surrounding new data which shows that more and more people under 65 years old are living in our nation’s nursing homes.

About in on in seven nursing home residents in the U.S. is now under the age of 65 according to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The younger residents often face unique health challenges and quality of life concerns.

For example, one 26 year old resident interviewed for the story has been living in a nursing home since last year after a gun accident left him paralyzed. The young resident explained that it was very lonely at the facility where the vast majority of residents are elderly retirees. The nursing home presents the lone option for the young man to get care. His father is on the road as a truck driver and his mother is sick with lupus. Medicare payments are the only way he is currently able to survive.

Some facilities that have a larger population of younger residents are able to make improvements that help raise their quality of life. Replacing bingo night with poker games, allowing younger residents to share rooms, and similar changes often have a big impact of resident happiness.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Attorneys

September 29, 2010

Drug Companies In Lawsuit For Illegally Deceiving Nursing Home Residents

Lawsuits and Settlements recently discussed troubling allegations levied at the mammoth drug-making company Johnson &Johnson. Specifically, the company is charged with going too far to push certain medications onto senior citizens.

The newly filed nursing home lawsuit alleges that the company worked with pharmaceutical giant Omnicare to push Johnson & Johnson drugs onto vulnerable nursing home residents. According to the lawsuit, Johnson & Johnson paid Omnicare to label its drugs “preferred”—a designation that was intended to indicate medications rated highly for clinical effectiveness in the geriatric community.

One of those drugs is Levaquin, an antibiotic treatment for certain bacterial infections. Other named medications involved in the operation include Floxin, Risperdal, Ultram, Duragesic, Procit, and Aciphex.

Consumer affairs reports that this type of conspiracy is strictly prohibited by Medicare laws. As a result of these activities, consumers were ultimately charged more for the medications than they otherwise would have been required. Specifically, many nursing home residents already had other medications being administered to them, only to have that switched unnecessarily to Johnson & Johnson products.

Omnicare is a company that has been reported on frequently on this blog. In the most recent case, the company was involved in highly questionable local dealings with Chicago nursing home owners charged with illegal medication contract commitments being tied into the purchase of several local nursing homes.

Our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti understand that many nursing home residents are up against very large, influential organizations when they struggle to receive the care they deserve. Our attorneys continue to work every day to fight for the fair treatment for these vulnerable seniors against the influential businesses that too often place profits over care.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Attorneys

August 22, 2010

Financial Expert Explains Nursing Home Finance Planning

The Record Searchlight posted an insightful article this week discussing some financial ins and outs regarding nursing home care. The discussion begins by explaining that many Americans often overlook the financial component of skilled nursing home stays.

Nearly one out of every three Americans will spend at least some time in a skilled nursing facility. The reasons for the stay vary widely, but one of the most common is to recuperate following extended surgery. Interestingly, men average much shorter stays at these facilities than women. The typical male skilled nursing home resident will stay at the facility for nine months, while the average female resident has a three year stay.

One reason for the difference is that men typically die earlier than woman. As men age, their wives are often still around to care for them at home. The surviving wives often do not have a spouse to provide skilled care, necessitating longer times in nursing facilities.

Considering the high use of skilled nursing facilities, it is important for all elderly individuals to consider the possible financial costs of residing in one of these homes. On average, the stay will cost around $75,000 a year. As the article mentions, a combination of Medicare and Medicare supplement insurance (Medigap) typically covers the first 100 days of care at a nursing facility following three-day stays at a hospital. After that initial 100 days, however, the financial dynamics change.

Individual long-term care insurance would cover the additional expense, but that must have been acquired well-ahead of the time the resident actually needs to reside in the facility. Without that, residents much either pay the costs themselves or hope to qualify for government Medicaid programs. The government system is based entirely on financial need, calculated according to a combination of factors.

Our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti understand the perilous financial situation faced by many elderly individuals in need of long-term nursing home care. We encourage all those seniors and their families to plan ahead for the possible financial implications of these decisions. Be sure to consult experts in the nursing home laws of your state to ensure that you are on proper legal footing with all of your decisions.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Attorneys

June 16, 2010

White House Recognizes World Elder Abuse Day

On June 15, 2010, we honored the 5th Annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. In 2006, The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse allied with groups around the world to advance the public’s knowledge of the perils that face our older population.

According to the White House Blog, elder abuse, neglect, or self-neglect is a problem that affects between 700,000 to 3.5 million Americans every year. Those mistreated elders are 300% more likely to experience premature death than those who are not harmed. In addition to abuse by relatives and friends, nursing home abuse and neglect accounts for a large portion of these injuries. A disproportionate amount of victims are females. Many forms of elder abuse are recognized as types of domestic violence. In 2006, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) apportioned funds to help these victims. However, only 1% of the VAWA funds are dedicated to older women.

Research has shown that elder abuse, neglect or exploitation is significantly under-reported and under-identified. As little as 1 in 6 cases are reported to authorities. Due to the high number of victims, it is crucial that this problem is highlighted for people to understand the extent of the problem. There were global observations of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, including here in Chicago, Illinois.

The National Center for State Courts has created a new website, Centers for Elders and the Courts, to focus attention on this topic. The website educates and provides resources for anyone wanting to know more about state laws, guardianship, aging issues and elder abuse.

Although World Elder Abuse Day has passed, we believe it is important to raise awareness surrounding elder abuse year round and encourage every person to acknowledge this issue. If you suspect that someone you know has been a victim of elder abuse at the hands of a nursing home, assisted living facility or home health provider, contact a Chicago elder abuse lawyer to discuss the possible case.

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Posted In: Abuse, Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Attorneys

March 13, 2010

Nursing Home Residents Are Entitled to Enjoy Their Life

In a recent New York Times article, Dr. Marc Agronin draws our attention to society’s misguided perception of aging. He comments that we too often “imagine the pains of late-life ailments but not the joys of new pursuits; we recoil at the losses and loneliness and fail to embrace the wisdom and meaning that only age can bring.” The author who has worked in a nursing home for fifteen years recounts his imagined sadness upon meeting a 93 year old woman who entered the nursing home upon losing her husband of 73 years. The doctor asked the woman how she was coping, and, to his surprise, she responded that she was in “heaven” after enduring decades in an unhappy marriage with a verbally abusive man. The author also recounts the story of a woman who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease who had fallen in love with another nursing home resident and how they enjoy a “newfound innocence that perhaps only their memory loss restored.” These nursing home residents were enjoying her life in the nursing home, trying new activities and experiencing new relationships. Too often we envision life ending upon entering the nursing home with nursing home residents experiencing a loveless and lonely life with death hovering close by. After representing thousands of nursing home residents over the years, the Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti are well aware of this misperception and constantly strive to make sure that residents at nursing homes receive the care they deserve and enjoy the life they are entitled to, free of nursing abuse and neglect, as they enter a nursing home.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Attorneys, Nursing Home Negligence

October 13, 2009

Cook County Jury Awards $1 Million Verdict in Nursing Home Negligence Case

A $1 million jury verdict was entered in a nursing home negligence case against Lee Manor Nursing Home in Des Plaines, Illinois. The case involved the death of a nursing home resident who exited a window of the nursing home and died soon after from fall-related injuries. The wife and son of the decedent were represented by nursing home neglect attorneys Bryan Waldman and Patricia Gifford of Levin & Perconti.

The victim entered Lee Manor on July 23, 2003. Years before his admission to the nursing home, he was diagnosed as suffering from chronic paranoid schizophrenia and is severely blind. The victim required ongoing supervision and monitoring by nursing home staff. He was placed on a secured floor where the doors were alarmed and the elevators were keyed. However, the nursing home allowed the windows to open 8 and 1/8th inches, providing the victim an avenue to exit. On April 21, 2004, less than one year after he entered, the man fell from a window in his room on the fifth floor of the nursing home and died as a result of his injuries. The jury found nursing home negligence when the nursing home failed to prevent the victim from falling out of the window.

The Chicago nursing home abuse lawyers of Levin & Perconti are committed to protecting and vindicating the rights of nursing home negligence victims. Please contact the firm at (312) 332-2872 or click here to consult an Illinois lawyer.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Cook County Nursing Home, Levin & Perconti in the News, Nursing Home Attorneys, Nursing Home Negligence, Verdicts and Settlements, Wrongful Death

September 29, 2009

Nursing Home Neglect Attorney Steven Levin Discusses Nursing Home Negligence

There was a short period when nursing home care was improving. However, LawyersandSettlements.com reports that bad behavior is returning to the nursing home business. Chicago nursing home abuse lawyer Steven Levin was quoted on the website stating that, “Unfortunately, conditions for nursing residents are once again on the decline.” He stated that there is an epidemic of nursing homes with untrained, insufficient staff and transient staff. Attorney Levin, whose firm handles hundreds of cases of nursing home neglect, stated that profits are being made at the expense of patient care. “Nursing homes are simply unable to care for residents and nursing homes are knowingly admitting residents they know they can’t look after,” Levin adds. "Sometimes doctors or lawyers are negligent and make mistakes, but what nursing home operators are doing is institutionalized neglect.” Levin & Perconti has recently filed a nursing home negligence lawsuit against Alden Northmoor Rehabilitation Care Center in Chicago on behalf of a 77-year-old woman with dementia, knowingly propensity to wander and swallow unusual objects. While at Alden Northmoor, the victim swallowed a rubber glove twice and had to undergo bowel surgery to have the glove removed. Attorney Levin stated that it is amazing that the staff would allow something like this to happen twice. Levin & Perconti has filed suit under the Illinois Nursing Home Act, which states that every resident of a nursing home has the right to be free of neglect. Levin believes that nursing homes have corporately structured themselves so as to be essentially “judgment” proof. He believes that since many nursing homes carry no liability insurance they solicit residents without knowing how to care for them. Levin hopes that a new law will require nursing homes to carry $1 million in liability insurance. To read more about nursing home negligence, please click the link.

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Posted In: Alden Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect, Chicago Nursing Homes, Levin & Perconti in the News, Nursing Home Attorneys

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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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