wrongful death

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.”

Illinois Failed To Address Legionnaires’ Outbreak

Published on: March 28, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home abuse

Illinois Auditor General Report on 2015 Quincy Legionnaires’ Outbreak Reveals Procedures Not Followed and Possible “Cover Up”

On Monday, March 25 the Illinois Auditor General released the state report related to the deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at an Illinois veterans’ home located in Quincy that began on August 21, 2015. The infectious disease crisis carried along for several years and impacted 66 residents and 8 others who tested positive for legionella and resulted in 13 resident deaths which likely could have been prevented. The report contradicted the state’s former administration’s solutions to the outbreak and showed recommendations led by federal authorities to remedy the crisis were not actually followed.

Our legal team has highlighted these key themes found within the state audit report:

What Are the 6 Different Types of Strokes?

Published on: March 11, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

types of strokes

Nursing Homes Are Not Always Equipped to Recover Stroke Patients

2016 recommendations from the American Stroke Association (ASA) still stand true in 2019. If someone living in a nursing home has a stroke, they should be treated in an inpatient rehabilitation facility, rather than remain in the home. The resident may need intensive, multidisciplinary treatment and initial rehabilitation should take place in a specialized care facility equipped with the appropriate care staff. The ASA recommendations go on further to say that the “patient should participate in at least three hours of rehabilitation a day from physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists.” Since nurses are continuously available and doctors visit more often than at nursing homes, any form of recovery will be faster than if the patient remains under previous nursing home care.

6 Types of Stroke

Opioid Dangers Present In America’s Nursing Homes

Published on: February 8, 2019 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home drug dangers

Elder Justice Coalition Links Nursing Home Abuse and Opioid Abuse

With an opioid epidemic in our country that is beyond alerting, it remains evident that the 2017 guidelines The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) set forth for managing chronic pain with caution against opioid use are not being followed. The CDC continues to warn that the benefits for improving pain and function through dangerous opioids must outweigh the risks when prescribing and administering the drugs. One group of Americans persistently impacted by the mismanagement of opioids is the nursing home population.

The nonpartisan Elder Justice Coalition (EJC) recently met with the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Health and Senior Advisor for Opioid Policy, Admiral Brett Giroir in response to the opioid crisis. Assistant Secretary for Aging and Administrator of the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Lance Robertson and leadership of the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) were also present. EJC National Coordinator Bob Blancato released this statement recapping the meeting in a January 23, 2019 EJC press release.

Levin and Perconti Helps Family of Vietnam Vet Win $7 Million Jury Award

Published on: December 19, 2018 | Levin & Perconti

Vietnam Veteran’s Wrongful Death Awarded $7 Million Verdict

A Cook County Circuit Court jury recently awarded $7 million to the family of Patrick Stein, a two-tour Vietnam veteran, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), after nurses and paramedics failed to keep him safe in an ambulance transfer from St. James-Olympia Fields hospital to the Edward Hines Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital for psychiatric treatment. The 64-year-old Army veteran died in July 2014, after his PTSD confusion resettled and prompted him to exit an ambulance while it was traveling 30 to 35 miles per hours and sustain fatal injuries to his head and body. Prior to his transfer, his concerned family had brought him to the St. James-Olympia Fields emergency room after finding him outside his daughter’s home with a butcher knife clutched to his abdomen. Once Mr. Stein arrived at the hospital though, he did not remember the episode with the knife and continued to present dangerous confusion, prompting his fatal ambulance ride to the VA hospital. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that PTSD afflicts almost 31 percent of Vietnam veterans.

Levin & Perconti attorneys Michael Bonamarte, Margaret Battersby Black and Cari Silverman brought the suit on behalf of Mr. Stein’s family. The attorneys argued that Mr. Stein, given his medical history, should have been carefully monitored by medical staff to protect and prevent him from injuring himself during the transfer. Hospital nurses were also faulted for failing to relay information to the paramedics about his mental state. The clinical impressions of the medical staff at St. James indicated Mr. Stein to exhibit:

The Cost of Nursing Home Care

Published on: September 17, 2018 | Levin & Perconti

Skilled Care Falls Short While Nursing Home Costs Continue to Rise

While there has been a general slowing of individuals dependent on nursing home care from nearly 86 percent in 2012 to less than 82 percent in 2017, as life expectancy continues to increase in the U.S. and seniors account for a higher proportion of the population, demand for the services provided by nursing facilities will increase and no doubtingly, costs will follow suit. But supported and efficient services have failed to align and it’s our nation’s most vulnerable people and their families, as well as care staff, who pay the real price. So, who is to blame?

Third-party payors and private entities who haphazardly increase the costs of healthcare services without providing quality care of professional and skilled nurses and staff look guilty. Employing staff and pushing up labor costs only leads to widespread budget increases and less fattening of private facility pockets, but shortages can ironically do the same. Meanwhile, nursing home administrators blame behind the market reimbursement rates of patients on ‘traditional” Fee-for-Service (FFS) Medicare patients to Medicare Advantage (MA) patients to cause the industry to suffer and negatively profit, demanding them to raise general daily costs to residents and families or cut short in areas such as infrastructure and staffing quality workers.

Nursing Home Sepsis Dangers

Published on: September 11, 2018 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home infections

Painful Infections Remain Untreated When Chicago’s Nursing Homes are Understaffed

The Chicago Tribune recently published a scathing article on the inadequate measures taken by a Chicago nursing home to prevent a resident’s bedsores from turning into deadly infections. The story featured the negligence and wrongful death claims of an 85-year-old resident at Lakeview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on the city’s North Side. Family members of the resident told reporters that the facility’s staff never spoke of the “seriousness of the pressure sore, which led to sepsis, a severe infection that can quickly turn deadly if not cared for properly.”

Complications related to pressure sores often require intravenous antibiotics and sensitive care treatments to treat bloodstream infections and can result in painful surgeries to cut away dead skin around the wound. According to health officials, there are four types of infections that are often linked with sepsis including: lungs (pneumonia), kidney (urinary tract infection), skin (pressure wounds and bedsores) and gut. Out of the 6,000 Illinois nursing home residents who are hospitalized with sepsis each year, 1 in 5 won’t survive.

Is Your Loved One’s Nursing Home Prepared for a Natural Disaster?

Published on: September 11, 2018 | Levin & Perconti

nursing home disaster plan

Healthcare Facilities Should Be Prepared for Natural Disasters

Although new Medicare and Medicaid guidelines were set in place after the tragic deaths of over 100 nursing home residents during Hurricane Katrina, cases of patients left behind due to natural disasters such as wildfires, tornadoes, or floods are reported each year. These occurrences are starting to prompt health care officials to raise concern over the need for better public policy support, emergency planning resources, funding, and protections for vulnerable long-term care residents in the event of an emergency prompted by catastrophic events and conditions that threaten their well-being such as no internet and no electricity.

A recent federal review of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) records found that: