wrongful death

Veteran Dies In Ant Infested VA Home

Published on: September 16, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home abuse

Air Force Veteran Dies in Nursing Home, Covered in Ant Bites

Our team of nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys is again frustrated to hear of another veteran left in immediate danger in a Veterans Affairs (VA) nursing home regulated by the Federal government and Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Joel Marrable, a Vietnam War veteran, had taken up residence at the Eagles’ Nest Community Living Center and was dependent on the Atlanta, Georgia VA Medical Center for his daily living and ongoing medical needs. The 74-year-old veteran of the Air Force had been battling cancer before he recently died in the VA nursing home – covered in ant bites.

Marrable’s daughter, Laquna Ross told WSB-TV, “His room had ants, the ceiling, the walls, the beds. They were everywhere. The staff member says to me, ‘When we walked in here, we thought Mr. Marrable was dead. We thought he wasn’t even alive because the ants were all over him.'”

Large Pills Linked To Nursing Home Choking Injuries

Published on: September 11, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home negligence

New Report Suggests Nursing Home Providers Should Help Reduce Choking Hazards Present with Popular Dietary Supplements

A new Federal Drug Administration (FDA) report published in the August issue of Annals of Internal Medicine says adults aged 65 years and older are more likely to choke on dietary supplements than are younger adults. The group most impacted by the hazard includes those living in nursing homes or assisted living centers. The research shows multivitamins and calcium tablets, and pills larger than 17 mm in length, can create the highest related adverse choking injuries to elderly residents.

Because there is no oversight for the sizing of dietary supplements, the FDA report continued to suggest that eldercare providers help “residents avoid taking several pills at once, avoid extra-large pills or capsules, and swallow supplements with plenty of water or other fluid.”

What Are The Worst Nursing Homes In Illinois?

Published on: June 13, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home abuse and neglect

CMS Will Publicly Post All Names of Most Concerning Care Facilities

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is reacting to the highly publicized release of U.S. Senators Bob Casey’s (D-PA) and Pat Toomey’s (R-PA) report titled, Families’ and Residents’ Rights to Know: Uncovering Poor Care in America’s Nursing Homes, by announcing it will soon disclose all of the names of care facility candidates in the agency’s Special Focus Facility (SFF) program. SFFs have a “persistent record of poor care” and were previously not available for the public to review. Some lawmakers and resident advocates even called the list a “scary secret” kept from the public to protect nursing home owners and their reputations.

The Pennsylvania lawmakers list included only 400+ facilities, 22 of which are located throughout Illinois, but there are almost 3,000 nursing homes that have a one-star rating on their health inspections, the worst ranking possible. With only 88 SFF program slots funded that likely leaves so many additional poor performing candidates for the program to publicly acknowledge.

Smoking Safety In Long-Term Care Facilities

Published on: May 3, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home neglect

Long-Term Care Resident Left Unattended Dies While Smoking Near Oxygen Tank

Ohio police in Oakwood Village are investigating the death of a resident from Grande Oaks Nursing Home. The man had caught on fire while smoking a cigarette in his wheelchair outside of the facility. Reports show he was allegedly smoking outside while using an oxygen tank when his wheelchair caught fire. Because staff allegedly were not aware, they did not respond. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until someone driving by noticed the fire and smoke and immediately contacted 911. Local police say they arrived to a smoldering wheelchair parked in front of the building with a male laying on the ground, face down. The man had already stopped breathing and CPR was administered. He later died from his burn-related injuries at a nearby hospital.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) policies show, “Oxygen use is prohibited in smoking areas for the safety of residents (NFPA 101, 2000 ed., 19.7.4). Facilities should ensure resident safety by such efforts as informing visitors of smoking policies and hazards to prevent smoking-related incidents and/or injuries.”

Diabetic Patient Died From Nursing Home’s Mistakes

Published on: May 2, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home wrongful death

Diabetic Patient Dies After Given Too Much Medication at California Care Facility

A diabetic patient has died at Bella Vista transitional care facility located in San Luis Obispo County in California, and the home is now facing a wrongful death lawsuit. The civil lawsuit states care staff gave an 85-year-old female patient too much medication to manage her diabetes when they dispensed four doses of medicine in less than four hours.

According to the complaint, the woman also had dementia, hypertension, hyperlipidemia in addition to her diabetes while a patient at Bella Vista the last eight months. She relied on facility staff for help with nearly all of her daily living activities and depended on them to manage her conditions and medications. As outlined in local news reports, the troubling events leading up to the woman’s death began in the early morning hours.

Hospital Transparency Needed During Super Fungus Outbreak

Published on: April 28, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

Dangerous Fungus Infection Takes Life of Northwestern Memorial Patient

A suburban Chicago woman receiving treatment at Northwestern Memorial for Lupus related issues has died from the drug-resistant Candida auris fungus. The most recent outbreak of the super fungus is responsible for the 158 known cases across Illinois since 2016. The family of the patient believe she became infected through a standard intravenous procedure during an intensive care stay. Once a routine blood test detected the infection, the woman was not able to move forward with her Lupus treatments, triggering the fatal outcome.

The family was not aware that Candida auris had also infected other patients at Northwestern during this time and they have since spoken out. Although the medical staff was very supportive, they stated that perhaps if knowledge of the dangerous fungus risk factors had been present through better transparency between the hospital and family members, additional prevention measures could have been taken to prevent her untimely death.

Nursing Home Responsible For Choking Death Sues Family

Published on: April 28, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

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Nursing Home Countersues Although Liability Accepted for Man’s Choking Death

In 2013, an 82-year-old man died from a preventable choking incident at Woodhaven Care Center in New York. The nursing home accepted liability for the man’s death, and a jury awarded $1 million to the man’s family highlighting the issues with understaffing. The wrongful death lawsuit stated that inattentive nursing home staff failed to provide the man with his dentures and fed him food that was not a part of his dietary plan. The man was then left unsupervised, choked on the meal and died within moments after a nurse’s station video camera caught the incident. Staff also waited nearly 20 minutes before calling for help and dialing 911.

Today, Woodhaven has outrageously presented a countersuit against the family of the deceased for alleged money yet owed for his stay. Our nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys plan to follow this story as mediation in the case will be scheduled in the future.

When Nursing Homes Turn Deadly

Published on: April 22, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

wrongful death attorneys

Nursing Home Associated with Large, For-Profit Network Sued After Woman Suffered and Died

News of a recent lawsuit against Three Mile Curve Operations LLC, dba Logan Center, Genesis Healthcare LLC a nursing home in Logan Center, West Virginia alleges that poor care provided at the facility caused a woman who required rehabilitative services and assistance with day-to-day tasks to suffer from neglect related injuries and eventually die.

According to a March 25^th report in the West Virginia Record, an incident took place on April 12, 2018, which triggered the untimely death of Ms. Lilian Messer soon after being admitted to the facility.

Concerns For Nursing Home Residents Who Are Sedentary

Published on: April 16, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home patients

Majority of Nursing Home Residents Spend Their Time Inactive, Increasing Chances for Chronic Diseases and Injuries

Too many individuals who reside in nursing home facilities are spending their days – sitting. A typical daily schedule for residents will only include light to moderate intensity activities 20 percent of the time and they will remain sedentary the other 80 percent, according to a February 16, 2019 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. An extremely sedentary lifestyle, especially for those who are already battling health issues, only creates a stronger connection to the development or progression of chronic diseases and disabling conditions such as:

Anxiety

Why Is Candida Auris Deadly?

Published on: April 10, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home fungus infection

Chicago-Area Attorney Steve Levin Comments on Deadly Fungus Outbreak Occurring in Illinois

Both The New York Times and Chicago Tribune recently reported a drug resistant super fungus called Candida auris, is plaguing 50 percent of Chicago-area nursing homes. This is a germ the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has deemed an urgent threat and is tricky to kill even with hospital grade disinfectants. The fungus, which is a yeast, is most noticeably found throughout patient rooms, on the skin of patients, and on daily medical devices such as blood pressure cuffs and medication containers. The most serious cases of infection from the fungus often occur in skilled nursing facilities that care for ventilated patients, or in long-term acute care settings.

“This is unacceptable,” says attorney Steve Levin, founder and senior partner of Levin & Perconti in Chicago. “We don’t know which nursing homes have been impacted yet – and, given the lengths that long-term care facilities’ corporate owners will go to in order to keep secret the dangerous conditions and poor care behind their closed doors – we might never know.”