Surveillance Law

Video Evidence Can Prove Nursing Home Abuse

Published on: April 3, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home abuse attorneys

Illinois Lawmaker Says Families Should Be Able to Observe Nursing Home Care Provided to Loved Ones with Dementia Through Video Monitoring

Senate Bill 109, a plan sponsored by Illinois Senator Terry Link (D-Indian Creek), passed the state’s Senate in late March in response to multiple complaints received by the Illinois Department of Public Health about abuse, neglect and theft against nursing home residents. The bill was designed to help families of individuals battling dementia and would allow the installation of video and audio monitoring devices in their loved one’s room to deter or detect signs of abuse and neglect. The legislation language specifically speaks to the use of electronic monitoring in patient rooms in a building or care area solely dedicated to dementia residents.

The bill is now on the way to the Illinois House for further debate. It supports a 2015 law that allowed for video and audio monitoring equipment in facilities for individuals with developmental disabilities or those living in long-term care facilities.

Patient Rights Violated on Social Media

Published on: October 30, 2018 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home abuse lawyers

Inappropriate Social Media Posts Involving Nursing Home Residents

Over the last decade, as the popularity of social media platforms increased, so have incidents which workers at nursing homes and assisted-living centers shared inappropriate, abusive, degrading or embarrassing photos and videos that may also sexually exploit residents. For the workers who have been caught, they admit initiating or participating in these acts to being stressed and overworked. Whatever the disgusting motive may be, it violates the residents’ rights, and may be actionable in civil court.

As most states wait for The Office for Civil Rights within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to enforce the federal patient privacy law known as HIPAA related to social media exposure, a simple checklist was developed by the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) for nursing homes to follow. This checklist should be reviewed by all nursing home employees often so residents’ rights to privacy (at-the-least) are upheld. Family members should start asking to review this list upon entering a new partnership with a home on behalf of their loved one.

Video Surveillance Is Allowed in Illinois Nursing Homes

Published on: June 15, 2018 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home surveillance

With Elder Abuse on The Rise, Wisconsin Looks at New Way to Prosecute Offenders

Horrific. Demonic. These are the words some nursing home residents (and their family members) are using to describe their abusers. And if the thought of having your loved one beaten, left without food or resting in dirty linens, being overmedicated, sexually abused, robbed, or neglected is painful to think about, the process to prosecute a guilty party without any physical evidence can be even more gut-wrenching. Because most investigators have only the victim’s statements to go on, police struggle to build cases on just accusations. More so, the most vulnerable nursing home residents, those with cognitive issues or memory diseases, may not be able to speak up or even be aware of the abuse.

As these cases increase every year across the nation, it’s simple to see that getting away with elder abuse is just too easy. Cases remain unresolved because of the lack of evidence needed to prosecute nursing home mistreatment or crime and the trends continue. Illinois, including Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Washington, and Maryland have already passed laws allowing some form of surveillance in nursing homes. In addition, Wisconsin’s Attorney General Brad Schimel recently decided enough-is-enough after county data reported 7,019 complaints in 2016, up 21 percent from just three years earlier. The state has announced a move to stop abuse by gathering reliable evidence for prosecutions via state loaned surveillance cameras to family members, free of charge for 30 days, so they can secretly record staff suspected of abusing their loved ones. This move, which is only the second video surveillance loaner program of its kind in the U.S., the other in New Jersey, has ignited protests by the elderly care industry, providers and privacy advocates.