August 2, 2011

Chicago Nursing Home Resident Dies After Smoking Accident

Our Chicago nursing home neglect attorneys know that placing a loved one in a nursing home is a hard thing to do. The hard choice is typically weighed against the peace of mind that comes with knowing that the nursing home will provide your loved one with the support and care that you as an individual or family may not be able to provide given daily time constraints and lack of facilities.

Many Illinois long-term care facilities are free of violations and have a proven record of providing sufficient care to residents. These homes operate above minimum staffing levels and properly train staff to care for residents. However, unfortunately, not all nursing home facilities are as prudent about their care as others. Many put profits before people and operate at minimum staffing levels to save money. When there are not enough employees to properly care or monitor residents, accidents can occur.

The Chicago Tribune reported today on a 62-year-old man in a Northside Rogers Park Chicago nursing home who suffered severe burns while smoking. The resident was in a wheelchair, and, after being left on an outside patio, lit up a cigarette and placed his lighter in his pocket. The 62-year old continued to smoke his cigarette when his clothes, unexplainably, lit on fire. The man in his wheelchair and another resident tried to suffocate the fire to no avail. The fire was finally put out with the use of a fire extinguisher, but not before the man had suffered first and second degree burns. The man was rushed to nearby hospitals where he was pronounced dead from his injuries.

Although the circumstances surrounding this nursing home death have not been revealed, we know that many times preventable deaths occur when residents are not properly supervised. Our Illinois nursing home neglect lawyers have helped many families following nursing home burn cases like this one. For example, we reached a $1.5 million settlement against one nursing facility after it violated the Nursing Home Care Reform Act and did not monitor a monitor a mentally impaired resident who burnt himself while smoking. In another case we helped a family reach a $900,000 settlement against a facility who did not monitor one resident’s unauthorized smoking, resulting in his death.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Nursing Home Negligence

July 14, 2011

Study Reveals Black Nursing Home Residents More Likely to Develop Bed Sores

Our Chicago nursing home neglect attorneys were not surprised to learn of a study by researchers at the University of Iowa, reported on by Reuters, which found that black residents of long-term care facilities are more likely to suffer from pressure sores. The difference in care is not a result of nursing homes providing better quality care for white residents, but rather that residents were more likely to develop pressure sores in nursing homes where a majority of the residents are black. Like many types of nursing home abuse or neglect, this could be a result of understaffing or fewer resources.

The study also found that residents in predominantly black nursing homes were at least 30 percent more likely to suffer from bed sores that those in facilities with a small population of black residents. These disparities echo an investigation by the Chicago Reporter from 2009 that revealed that Chicago nursing homes where the majority of the population was African-American had much lower CMS quality ratings than facilities where the majority of residents are white. Their investigation also revealed that Illinois had the most poorly-rated African-American nursing homes in the country.

Our Chicago nursing home lawyers are all too familiar with this epidemic, having represented hundreds of families in lawsuits involving bed sores caused by nursing home negligence. Nursing home residents have a high risk for these wounds because many of them are elderly, and often wheelchair bound or bed ridden. Bed sores develop when pressure builds in an area of the body and restricts blood flow, leading to necrosis. This can be aggravated by body moisture from sweating or incontinence. Common areas for pressure sores include a person’s heels, tailbone, elbows, and shoulders. In order to prevent pressure sores from forming, nursing homes need to employ sufficient staff who can spend time examining each resident’s skin condition and also turning and repositioning residents to redistribute weight. Other preventative measures include pressure relieving mattresses, wheelchair pads and heel protectors.

Pressure sores are much easier to prevent than heal, so in order to reduce the number of nursing home deaths caused by bed sores, it is important for all facilities in Illinois-predominantly black AND white- to increase staffing and resources devoted to the prevention of pressure sores. Facilities must stress the importance of bed sore prevention and educate their staff accordingly. It is also important to try to close this gap in the quality of care between nursing homes with predominantly white and black populations.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Negligence, Pressure Ulcers, Staffing Issues

July 13, 2011

Illinois Family Obtains $500,000 Settlement Against ManorCare at Palos Heights Nursing Home

Today our Chicago nursing home negligence lawyers Michael F. Bonamarte, IV and Margaret P. Battersby helped a family obtain fairness when the judge approved and ordered a $500,000 nursing home negligence settlement. Our client had suffered a stroke and was hospitalized for a brief period of time. After hospitalization, she was admitted to the nursing home for rehabilitation. After fourteen days of rehabilitation, she returned home.

When our client was admitted to the ManorCare at Palos Heights East, she had a Stage I pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers are injuries to the skin and tissue that are caused by prolonged pressure on the body. Pressure ulcers are categorized into four different stages, with Stage I indicating an area of redness and Stage IV indicating damage to the muscle and bone.

Although the nursing home knew that our client was at risk for pressure ulcers, they did not develop a plan of care for her pressure ulcer until the eleventh day of her fourteen day stay. The nursing home did not treat her condition with pressure reliving techniques such as repositioning, turning, or a pressure reduction mattress. Instead, the nursing home allowed our client’s Stage I pressure ulcer to progress into a Stage IV pressure ulcer. As her pressure ulcer worsened, her skin broke and exposed the wound to contaminants. Unfortunately for our client the nursing home neglected to protect the wound, causing the wound to become infected and necrotic.

Suspecting that the nursing home neglected our client, her family called the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). IDPH investigated ManorCare at Palos Heights and found that the nursing home failed to provide appropriate care and treatment of our client’s pressure ulcer. Furthermore, the IDPH cited the nursing home for failing to provide our client timely medical treatment.

As a result of the nursing home’s neglect, our client’s pressure ulcer was never able to heal. She suffered from the painful pressure ulcer until her death about ten months after she left the nursing home. Although the pressure ulcer lawsuit settlement can never make-up for our client’s family’s loss, it will help to cover the extensive financial burden of medical and funeral expenses.

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Posted In: Manorcare Abuse and Neglect, Nursing Home Negligence, Verdicts and Settlements

July 10, 2011

What The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act Means for You and Your Loved Ones’ Rights

The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act protects the rights of residents in long term care facilities relating to privacy, freedom from neglect and abuse, and self-determination. Under the Act, a long term care facility is any place that provides personal care, sheltered care or nursing for three or more persons not related to the facility owner by blood or marriage. These facilities are required to comply with the Act and are responsible for preventing nursing home resident abuse and neglect.

Some of the major residents’ rights protected under the Act include:

• The right to wear your own clothing and have a safe, secure storage place for your personal property
• The right to privacy of your bedroom space, including not sharing a room with someone of the opposite sex unless the person is your spouse
• The right to choose your own doctor and make decisions about your medical care
• The right to be free from restraint or confinement without consent
• The right to communicate through phone and mail and receive visitors
• The right to manage your own financial affairs
• The right to be free from abuse and neglect
• The right to discharge or transfer to a different facility at your request
• All of your rights as a U.S. citizen, including freedom of speech, religion, and the right to vote

The Illinois Department of Public Health (“IDPH”) enforces the Act throughout Illinois. If a facility has violated any of your protected rights, your options include 1) filing a complaint with the Long-Term Care Ombudsman; 2) filing a complaint with the IDPH; or 3) consulting an Illinois nursing home abuse attorney about filing a private lawsuit. The Long-Term Care Ombudsman is required to investigate your complaint and can ask the facility to voluntarily comply with the Act’s requirements. If the facility fails to address the violation, the IDPH can investigate and impose fines and other penalties for any violation it finds, up to and including revoking the facility’s license to operate.

In addition to submitting a complaint to the Ombudsman or IDPH, you can also pursue a private nursing home lawsuit. The Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys at Levin & Perconti have handled hundreds of complex nursing home cases involving injuries arising out of Illinois Nursing Home Care Act violations. These cases include securing a record $2.9 million jury verdict against a suburban Homewood nursing home for the family of a deceased resident who suffocated due to the home’s negligent care of her tracheostomy tube.

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Posted In: Illinois Nursing Homes, Knowing your rights, Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Care Act (NHCA), Nursing Home Negligence

July 7, 2011

Multiple Lawsuits Filed Against Negligent Nursing Home

According to recent reports, a Kentucky nursing home is currently under legal scrutiny as a result of the untimely death of two of its residents. In two separate lawsuits, both parties allege that the nursing home failed to provide proper care for the victims. In the first case, filed May 11, the plaintiff claims that the nursing home neglected to properly care for the infection in her husband’s foot which ultimately resulted in the amputation of his leg and subsequent death.

In the second lawsuit against the nursing home, filed June 16, the plaintiff claims that the nursing home failed to provide the “minimum standard of care” for his mother which eventually caused her physical state to rapidly weaken. The complaint filed with the court details the extensive list of medical issues the woman sustained as a result of the nursing home’s negligence. Those medical issues included: improper medication, various falls, fluid imbalance, weight loss, multiple infections, in addition to, poor hygiene. The plaintiffs in both cases allege that the nursing home failed to maintain enough staff members nor took the proper precautions to avoid or eliminate the issue.

The issue of nursing home neglect is one that is rarely talked about yet frequently occurs. It is important that residents, as well as, their family members are aware of their rights. The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act protects the rights of nursing home residents, such as: freedom to choose one’s own doctor, ability to receive up to date information regarding one’s diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, and the ability to contribute in the planning of one’s medical care. In addition, a nursing home is prohibited from using restraints on a resident unless granted explicit consent or in case of an emergency, nor can a nursing home require its residents to perform work.

Our Illinois nursing home lawyers at Levin and Perconti have worked diligently to seek justice for those who have been improperly treated by nursing homes. Devastating cases of nursing home abuse or neglect such as this one have become so frequent that we believe it is important to continue to raise awareness in order to prevent the repeat of these awful occurrences. In addition to holding wrongdoers accountable, nursing home lawsuits, such as the above mentioned, send a message to negligent owners and staff members that poor care and abuse will never be tolerated.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home Negligence

January 21, 2011

Nursing Home Lawsuit Settles for $3.5 Million

It is often very difficult for a family to make the decision to place their elder loved one in a nursing home. However, that challenge is often made unbearable when it is discovered that the nursing home has been failing to provide reasonable care.

Herald Net News shared the story of horrific treatment by one nursing home, sparking a lawsuit that was recently settled out of court. Everett nursing home was sued by the family of a 97-year old resident who died because of the woefully inadequate care provided by the facility. The victim developed penile cancer while at the Everett. As a result of the medical problem, the man’s genitals began disintegrating. However, the care at the facility was so poor that the staff members didn’t notify anyone of the problem—not family members, not doctors.

A staff member had discovered a wound on the man’s penis, but her manager forgot about it. It wasn’t until four months later that the victim was rushed to the emergency room for a different reason that ER doctors discovered that the man’s genitals had disintegrated.

A nursing home lawsuit was filed which was recently settled by the facility for $3.5 million.

Understaffing is the likely culprit say those involved in the case. The operators of the facility cut back on nursing assistants, who are usually responsible for changing diapers and cleaning residents.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Negligence

January 17, 2011

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Illinois Nursing Home

An Illinois nursing home was responsible for the untimely death of a nursing home resident according to allegations in a new lawsuit filed last week.

My Suburban Life recently reported on the circumstances surrounding the nursing home lawsuit. The family of a former resident of the Maple Ridge Care Centre sued the facility following the death of their 63-year old wife, mother, and grandmother. According to the lawsuit, staff members at the facility failed to properly monitor the care of the victim, leading to her death from deep-vein thrombosis.

According to filing, the nursing home staff waited 16 hours before taking action on the symptoms which revealed the medical problem. That failure led to the amputation of the victim’s left leg, spurring her eventual death. The victim had been in the facility to recover from complications incurred during a recent surgery; she was expected to recover and return home.

These are not the first concerns about the care provided at Maple Ridge. The facility was also fined by the state earlier this year for the death of a 32-year old resident. That victim, a spina bifida sufferer, died after staff members failed to revive her with cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The resident had clear instructions that the step was to be taken by her caregivers, but they did not follow the command.

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December 31, 2010

Nursing Home Lawsuit Leads To Increase in Nursing Care

The final installment of the detailed examination of the Skilled Healthcare lawsuit was recently published by the Contra Costa Times. The series included an examination of the record-breaking nursing home lawsuit involving the company which ran 22 nursing homes and was accused of violating state law in providing inadequate nursing care to the thousands of residents at those facilities. The negligent care reportedly continued over a 7 year period.

The law required the facility to provide at least 3.2 nursing hours per patient per day—the failure to do so being the centerpieces of the lawsuit. Even then, many observers admit that the standard of 3.2 hours is laughably low. Many other states have requirements just below 5 hours per patient per day.

Industry experts explain how many of the largest nursing home chains do everything in their power to keep the minimum requirements low as a way to maximize profits. In many cases these chains are willing to pay the minimal nursing home fines instead of the much higher costs of proper staffing levels. As a result, the residents at these facilities continue to suffer.

As a result of the settlement in the Skilled Healthcare case, an injunction will soon go into effect requiring them to comply with the law—a change that will cost at least $12.8 million annually. The local district attorney involved in seeking the injunction explained, “At the end of the day, all we are interested in is making sure these people are safe and we want them to have a remedy for the harm they suffered.”

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Posted In: Nursing Home Negligence

December 29, 2010

Nursing Home Victims Forced to Settle Following Massive Jury Verdict

The Contra Costa Times recently continued their in-depth examination of one of the largest nursing home trials in history involving Skilled Healthcare. As explained earlier, the nursing home chain was sued in a class action lawsuit for years of inadequate nursing treatment at 22 of its facilities. Over 42,000 residents were represented in the lawsuit, all of whom suffered to varying degrees from the illegal activities of the nursing home chain.

Following a lengthy litigation process, including a highly publicized trial, the jury reached a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, awarding them $677 million for their losses. However, the financial reality of the Skilled Healthcare made a settlement a virtual requirement for both parties even after the verdict.

For one thing, the company already had over $450 million in debt owed to others. The company was likely unable to pay for the entire verdict, meaning that if nothing changed the entire company would dissolve because of the lost lawsuit. If that happened, the victims represented in the suit would simply become one of many other creditors fighting for the pieces of whatever value the defunct company possessed.

However, the company did maintain a credit line through which a settlement award could be reached and paid to the victims. Eventually the parties agreed to that at a figure around $63 million. In that way, the victims are assured of getting some money and getting it much sooner than they would otherwise. A refusal to reach settlement would have risked the victims receiving anything and would have assuredly delayed the pay-out.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Negligence

December 27, 2010

Family Files Nursing Home Lawsuit After Deadly Care

Earlier this month the Seattle PI posted a story on a new nursing home lawsuit that was filed against a state Department of Social and Health Services for their inadequate oversight of a nursing facility that they say lead to death of their mother. Specifically, the family of the victim alleges that the state should have shut the nursing home down long before it did. If that would have happened, their mother would still be alive.

The elderly victim was known as a proud, smart woman who was in good physical health before entering the Houghton Lakeview Adult Family Home. She did begin suffering from Alzheimer’s which necessitated the move into the facility for closer care as her mental problems began.

What her family didn’t know was that the care at the facility would be so poor that their loved one would suffer through a slow, painful death. The caregivers at the facility simply let the victim slowly fend for herself, providing little to none of the close care needed to keep her healthy. The Alzheimer’s made it impossible for the victim to speak—forcing her to endure the agony in silence. By the end of her stay there, the woman weighed only 68 pounds and was infected over her entire body with bed sores. One of the sores was extremely deep, exposing her hipbone.

The resident’s son explains, “It was grizzly and ghastly, an extremely painful kind of horrific death.”

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December 15, 2010

Neglect Causes Resident's Foot to Become Maggot-Infested

Regular readers of the blog are aware that negligence at nursing homes takes many forms and causes a variety of problems for residents. On one hand there are troubling conditions at certain facilities that pose problems to everyone—like inadequate heating, insufficient hot water, and lacking security protocols. On the other hand, there is negligence related to certain individuals. Many residents enter a home for a very specific recovery program following health problems. Those residents are especially vulnerable when nursing home employees fail to take into account their individualized care needs.

One egregious example of individualized neglect from a few years ago was reported in the Sun Sentinel. The article explains the story of a 72-year old woman who visited the Lake Park nursing home for a short stay after suffering from foot problems. She had a wound on her foot that needed to be cleaned and changed regularly.

However, even that basic task was never performed by the staff members who were paid to provide her care. In only 18 days at the facility her foot condition went from healing to unsalvageable. The employees failed to properly clean the wound; instead they just kept wrapping more bandages around it.

As a result, maggots began infesting her foot. When a doctor finally examined her injury to check on its progress, he found hundreds of live maggots jumping around her bandages. Eventually the victim’s foot had to be amputated.

The resident sued the negligent facility for their conduct a jury ruled in her favor, providing a $1.3 million verdict for the nursing home negligence.

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December 9, 2010

Benedictine Living Community Nursing Home Named In Wrongful Death Lawsuit

The death of a 91-year-old nursing home resident at a nursing home in St. Peter has led to the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit by the family of the victim.

According to the Mankato Free Press, the final accident occurred in October of 2007, but the residents’ three daughters claim their mother was the victim of repeated neglect. The family noticed deterioration in the health of their loved one shortly after she entered the home. The victim used to walk on her own without a problem but became dependant on a wheelchair not long after getting to the facility.

The resident also complained of being treated harshly while at St. Benedictine Living Community. One night the woman was brought to the hospital following an accident at the nursing home. Her children saw her screaming in pain at the ER and asked what happened. The victim explained that she was dropped by nursing home staff members again. Her family wanted to take her away from the facility at that point, but the hospital insisted on taking her back to the nursing home.

However, her family watched on while nursing home employees dropped their mother while transporting her back into her nursing room bed from the hospital gurney. The resident slipped through the caregiver’s hands and onto a wheelchair where she immediately passed out. She never regained consciousness and died three days later.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Negligence

October 4, 2010

Resident Rights Week Kick-Off: Dining In the Nursing Home

The first full week of October is set aside annually to remember all of those living in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities across the country. The designated comes from the Consumer Voice—the nation’s premier advocacy group for nursing home residents. The goal of the week is to honor all those seniors and other residents, raising awareness of the need to ensure that their dignity is respected. Our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti honor this time of the year, as our work every day is geared toward preserving the rights of those vulnerable seniors who have fallen victim to nursing home abuse and neglect.

It is important for everyone to take a moment to consider the quality of life of those friends and family members who currently reside in these facilities. For example, one often overlooked aspect of elder care involves dining and nutrition. Those of us who do not live in one of these facilities often take for granted the freedom we have in crafting our own meal plan according to health and taste. Many residents in nursing homes do not have the luxury.

In many cases, neglected residents have no choice about what they eat, when they eat, how much they eat, or where they eat. This inflexibility can actually have devastating effects on the residents’ health and well-being. Many seniors are forced to eat when they are not hungry, or forced to skip meals; this often leads to malnutrition in nursing homes. Of course ill-prepared food also incentivizes skipped meals which can have serious consequences for elder residents who need proper nutrition to improve health and strengthen their bodies.

Mealtimes should be natural socializing moments. Residents should also be free to eat together in common dining rooms and in a friendly atmosphere. There is no reason why living in a nursing home should necessitate sacrifices in the quality of nutrition and community building.

Please take time this week to consider the quality of the environment at nursing homes nearby.

Click Here to learn more about Residents Rights Week 2010.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Negligence

September 30, 2010

Nursing Home Receives Maximum Fine After Patient Dies From Fall

The Los Angeles Times reported this week on tragic events surrounding the death of a local nursing home resident. A 60-year old female resident at the Eskaton Care Center died following complications of a fall that should have been prevented.

The resident had a heart condition, muscle wasting disease, and diabetes. The ailments forced her into a wheelchair and necessitated that she get help when entering and leaving her bed. However a recent state investigation into the death of the woman discovered that the negligent nursing home should have prevent the death.

Specifically, the investigation revealed that nursing home staff members failed to use the necessary mechanical lift when moving the women into her bed. Instead, a single female nurse was holding the woman and using a sling to make the move from wheelchair to bed. The sling broke during the transfer, sending the female resident crashing down, hitting her head twice on a nearby door. This particularly sling had not been checked for stability in five years, even though law required it be examined every month.

Following the fall the resident was rushed to the emergency room. She suffered from bleeding on the brain and soon after suffered a stroke. The resident ultimately passed away four days later.

The facility has been fined $100,000 following the preventable nursing home fall.

Our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti continue to be amazed by the steps that many facilities continue to avoid taking, even though it is clear that lives will be saved. Time and again facilities continue to make risky decisions on behalf of the vulnerable residents in their care. It is important for the victims of these mistakes to continue to press for their rights so that future nursing home residents are spared the pain of these errors.

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September 24, 2010

Nursing Home Accused of Wrongful Death

Northern Virginia Daily reported yesterday on a new nursing home lawsuit filed by the family of an elderly victim. The new suit filed against Evergreen Health and Rehabilitation Center accuses health care workers of negligent actions leading to the death of Mary Ellen Hillyard, a resident of the facility.

Two years ago in mid-June, Mary Ellen suffered a massive hemorrhage while she was at the nursing home. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was temporarily stabilized. However, she never fully recovered from that medical problem and passed away three months later.

When trying to piece together the actual cause of Mary Ellen’s death, it was discovered that nurses and assistants at the Evergreen nursing home had engaged in very questionable and, in fact, outright dangerous medication treatments with their elderly resident. Specifically, the medical employees gave Mary Ellen a troubling mix of medications at the same time---including anticoagulants that were duplicative and contraindicated. In other words, the medication had value when taken alone but became potentially lethal when given to one patient at the same time. The medications included aspirin, Coumadin, and Plavix.

The combination of the medications ultimately led to Mary Ellen suffering the hemorrhage from which she never recovered.

Evergreen nursing home failed in its duty to provide, competent, safe medical care to the residents who resided at the facility. Our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti have witness similar abuse all across our city and its suburbs. As in this case, employees at these facilities often provide care that falls below the required standards. Medication is administered haphazardly, wounds are allowed to fester, residents are permitted to wander in dangerous locations, and countless other acts of negligence harm seniors on a daily basis. The unfortunate fact remains that our loved ones are never as safe as we expect they should be when under the care of professionals at a nursing home. That’s why it is imperative to pay close attention to all injuries suffered by our elderly friends and family, and seek nursing home legal advice when we suspect that the deaths or injuries could have been prevented.

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September 17, 2010

Nursing Home's Negligence Leads to Deadly Resident Fall

The Madison-St. Clair Record recently reported on negligent conduct at an Illinois nursing home. James Mang filed a lawsuit last month against the Stearns Nursing and Rehabilitation Center following the tragic death of his father, Bernard.

Bernard first became a resident at the facility in late May last year. However, the nursing home staff was unable to provide proper care to the vulnerable elderly resident almost immediately. Within hours of arriving at the facility, Bernard was allowed to fall on several occasions. The suit estimates that within 24 hours of walking through the doors of the nursing home, the vulnerable resident literally fell three to four times. The staff members simply failed to adequately supervise Bernard or take any steps to eliminate the risk of falling.

As should be expected with elderly residents whose bodies are often weak and in need of special care, the falls caused severe damage for Bernard. Ultimately, the nursing home resident broke his neck. He experienced extreme pain and relentless suffering following the accident. Only three days later, Bernard passed away.

It shocks the senses when the inadequate care at a nursing home is so vividly on display. Bernard Mang suffered the consequences of improper care nursing home care within hours of arriving at the facility. Our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti sympathize with the suffering of Bernard’s friends and family following these tragic events. Unfortunately, these cases occur across the state with alarming regularity. Every day residents suffer injuries that shorten their lives because the care provided to them falls below that which any reasonable resident should expect.

Allowing resident falls, for example, is one of the most common ways that nursing home employees fail to provide the service that the law requires. It is common knowledge that nursing home resident must be carefully monitored at all times to protect against these preventable accidents. With fragile health, even a single fall can have deadly consequences. As soon as a resident enters one of these facilities, steps must be taken to ensure that these nursing home falls do not occur. Even one day of bad care can cause death, as the Mang family unfortunately discovered.

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September 11, 2010

Illinois Nursing Home, Galesburg Terrace, Faces Fines For Negligence

Earlier this week we posted a story on the troubling negligence at the Galesburg Terrace involving mold found in several patients’ rooms. Now, the Galesburg Register-Mail is confirming that the Illinois nursing home faces mounting fines for its problems keeping the facility safe for residents.

An inspection of the nursing home found that dangerous black mold was growing inside several patient rooms as well as a communal bathroom facility. The black mold posed a real heath threat to the residents exposed to it. The condition was particularly egregious considering that most residents are in the facility specifically because their health is especially fragile and at risk for complications.

Specifically, the Illinois Department of Health explains that the facility may be fined $200 per day for their unhealthy conditions, beginning in April 30th and continuing up to the day the problem is fully corrected. The fines would be levied by the federal authorities at Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Unfortunately, finding problems at nursing homes are not uncommon when inspectors examine these facilities to ensure they are safe and healthy for residents. A nursing home receives a “tag” for each violation found. One Galesburg Terrace employee explained that, “Nursing homes in Illinois, you will see ours in not out of the norm. The average survey produces 7 to 9 tags.”

The problems that continue to plague so many facilities in Illinois are why our Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti continue to represent victims of nursing home negligence and abuse. Please contact a nursing home lawyer any time you discover problematic care of one of these Illinois facilities.

Please Click Here to learn more about the unfolding issues at this negligent nursing home.

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September 10, 2010

Aide's Failure To Supervise Resident Leads To Deadly Fall

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune recently discussed the tragic death of a 91 year old nursing home resident. In April of this year, Jeanette Rittenhouse, a resident at the Samaritan Bethany Home on Eighth, asked for an aide to help her get to the bathroom. Common procedure requires that those residents who need assistance get the help of an aide as well as the use of a walker and a gait belt. All of these are required to ensure the maximum safety while the resident is moved.

While being taken to the bathroom in that manner, Jeanette’s roommate rolled in front of the bathroom door in a wheelchair. Instead of moving her back to the bed or calling for assistance, the aide left Jeanette standing alone and went to move her roommate. Jeannette was not at all able to stay up on her own—that is why she asked for assistance in the first place. As soon as she was left there, she fell backwards in a freefall leading to severe injuries. She was bed-ridden for several weeks after before eventually passing away.

The nurse’s aide explains that she “panicked” in the situation, causing her to make the deadly mistake. She was suspended, and the rest of staff members are being trained again on the way to handle the process of moving residents.

Nursing home falls caused by failure to properly supervise residents is a common example of negligence at these facilities. Thousands of deaths occur at Illinois nursing homes each year because of falls. Our Chicago nursing home lawyers at Levin & Perconti have represented many families who lost loved ones because they were left unattended at critical moments. Because it happens so frequently all nursing home staff members should be well-aware of the dangers posed by leaving vulnerable residents alone. There is no excuse for making these mistakes—not when lives hang in the balance.

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September 9, 2010

Skilled Healthcare Agrees To Settle Nursing Home Lawsuit for $50 Million

One of the most high-profile (and high cost) nursing home lawsuits of all-time involved the class action lawsuit against Skilled Healthcare Group. The legal matter stemmed from the nursing home chain’s failure to properly staff its facilities as required by law. The state required that nursing homes maintain 3.2 hours of nursing care per patient, per day. The group was falling far below that amount.

Following the trial in that case, a jury awarded the victims a staggering $670 million for the losses they suffered as a result of the nursing homes' failure to comply with the staffing law. However, according to the Los Angeles Times, before an appeal on that jury verdict could be heard, the plaintiffs and the company agreed to a $50 million settlement instead. If approved by the court, the money would be set aside in an escrow account to be paid to the victims.

Reaching a settlement like this is common following a staggering jury verdict. In practical terms, the company would likely have been unable to use its credit, insurance, and cash reserves to pay anything close to the $670 million award. In contrast, the settlement, though a much lower amount, allows victims more assurance that they will actually receive the award and will get it in a much timelier manner.

In addition, the settlement also requires Skilled HealthCare facilities to have an outside group monitor its nursing staff levels to ensure that the law is complied with in the future.

Our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti have watched with interest as the legal issues unfolded in the California case. Illinois has a similar required minimum amount of nursing hours per day per patient at all nursing homes. Our attorneys remain vigilant watchdogs of these facilities to ensure that all applicable nursing home laws are followed. Failure to abide by the legislative requirements is both legally wrong and also dangerous for residents who often suffer injury and death due to the negligence caused by the lawbreaking.

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Posted In: Nursing Home Negligence

September 5, 2010

Workers Ignore Nursing Home Alarm Leading To Death

A nursing home lawsuit was recently filed following the heartbreaking death of 87-year old Sylvia Ploszay in February, reports the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Clement Manor is a nursing home that also has some assisted-living apartments within it. Sylvia was living in one of the apartments when the accident occurred. She suffered a cut in a varicose vein and began to bleed. She needed quick emergency care. To get it, Sylvia pulled an emergency cord that was located in her unit to specifically help in situations like the one she faced. It was shortly at midnight when Sylvia summoned help. Unfortunately, it would not arrive quickly.

A nurse’s aide was supposed to be on duty to handle these emergencies. However, she ignored the alarm. When another resident heard the alarm and called the aide to ask if she was going to help, the aide replied that she was watching TV but would handle it. It seems that the nursing home staff member simply hung up after that call and returned to the TV. It wasn’t until 4:30 am, 4 hours later, that nursing staff members made it to Sylvia’s room. They found her in her bathroom—she had bled to death.

Besides the reckless disregarding of Sylvia need for emergency help, the lawsuit also alleges that the facility was short-staffed that night. With inadequate assistants available to help in situations where care was desperately needed, negligence by one aide was enough to lead to Sylvia’s death.

Our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti are saddened but not surprised by the lack of care exhibited by Clement Manor that led to Sylvia’s death. Our decades of legal experience have repeatedly exposed us to nursing homes that fail to provide the very basic emergency care that made residents chose to live in their facilities in the first place. If nursing home staff members are not responding to most important types of care—emergency pleas—than they are likely failing in other areas as well. This extreme negligence can never be tolerated, especially when vulnerable lives are on the line. Please contact a nursing home lawyer if you suspect any similar failings at a nursing home near you.

Posted by Levin & Perconti | | Email This Post

Posted In: Nursing Home Negligence

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