Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Long-term nursing company Extendicare and 10 of its nursing homes have been named as defendants in a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a woman named Laura Bernstein and all residents that lived in an Extendicare home in Minnesota between October 29, 2002 and October 29, 2008.

The complaint accuses Extendicare of engaging in consumer fraud with its use of false or misleading advertising to convince sick and elderly persons that they would receive the care that they needed at an Extendicare nursing home. The plaintiffs’ attorney alleges that Extendicare is guilty not only of misrepresenting itself to potential residents, but of cheating its current residents. The lawsuit points out that Extendicare uses promotional materials which claim that its nursing homes provide experienced, quality nursing care when, in fact, the company’s homes have been cited for breaking nursing home regulations, violating resident rights, and providing substandard care.

The lawsuit cites Extendicare’s “24/7 Extendicare Admission Policy” and “Green Flag Policy” as examples of how the company prioritizes profits before people. The complaint claims that the admission policies give preference to anyone that has a serious medical condition regardless of whether or not the nursing home can meet the sick person’s needs in addition to the needs of current residents.

The lawsuit also contends that Extendicare’s admissions contract, which residents have to sign before they can be admitted into a nursing home, violates state law. By signing the contract, the resident is agreeing that Extendicare’s liability will be limited in the event that loss of personal property or personal injuries arises. Minnesota law makes it illegal to include such a waiver in a nursing home admission contract.

Extendicare nursing homes in other states have also been cited for violations. 20 of its 26 nursing facilities in Wisconsin have been cited for serious care violations in the last three years. Extendicare also settled a wrongful death case involving a resident for $2.3 million. The nursing home company has been slapped with another class action lawsuit in Washington.

If you believe that your loved one is a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, it is important that you take steps to remove the resident from the Illinois nursing home immediately.

10 Minnesota Nursing Homes Named in Class Action Lawsuit Against Extendicare, Marketwatch, October 30, 2008

Extendicare REIT Acknowledges Washington Class Action Lawsuit, Biz.Yahoo.com, August 22, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Extendicare

A nursing home that cares for adult and child residents has agreed to place a “monitor” at its children’s nursing station following allegations that a 12-year-old disabled foster child sustained burn injuries because she was the victim of nursing home negligence. Workers at the nursing home deny hurting the girl.

The girl has cerebral palsy. While Department of Children & Families administrator Alan Abramowitz has said that the child was a victim of neglect at the Florida Club Care Center, an investigator for the Agency for Health Care Administration says that she found no evidence showing that the girl had burns.

Dr. Michael Strong, a pediatrician with the Child Protection Team, has criticized the investigator for her “lack of due diligence” when investigating the incident. He believes that the girl got burned because she was neglected.

The team reportedly examined the girl and verified that her thigh and hand had second-degree burns. Strong expressed worry that other residents could be in danger unless action was taken to prevent further negligence. Police are investigating the case.

This is not the first time that the Florida Club Care Center has come under fire for alleged abuse or neglect. There have been eight previous reports of nursing home neglect or abuse involving young residents. None of these reports were ever verified. However, allegations included physical injury, inadequate supervision, and failure to provide medical care.

The home has been reported 66 times for alleged nursing home negligence or abuse of adults. Only four allegations could be confirmed. Investigations into other allegations found some signs of neglect or abuse, but there was not enough evidence to confirm that the incidents happened.

Recently, however, the Florida Club Care Center which houses 35 special needs children, has received high ratings for quality of life and care.

Three agencies probe child's burns, MIami Herald, October 3, 2008

Second-Degree Burns, Penn State

Related Web Resource:

Nursing Homes for Kids, ABC News

Continue reading " Child Welfare Authorities Investigate Whether Nursing Home Neglect Was Cause of 12-Year-Old Resident’s Burn Injuries " »

The decision to place your elderly or sick loved one in the care of a nursing home is one that can be fraught with anxiety, as well as relief that the person you care about is going to get the proper care that he or she needs. The city of Chicago and the other cities of Illinois have many nursing homes for you to choose from. However, not every nursing home will be the right fit for your family member.

Here are a number of suggestions to consider when evaluating nursing homes (AARP Magazine):

• Visit the nursing home and tour the facilities.
• You may even want to visit the home unannounced.
• Check to see if the rooms and bathrooms are clean.
• Make sure that there is sufficient hot water, which is a common complaint about nursing homes.
• Ask for a copy of the staff schedule to find out when shift changes occur and how many nurses are working during each shift.
• Watch the interactions between nurses and residents—do you see nurses dressing residents or walking them to the bathroom? Are restraints a common device used at the home?
• Evaluate the nursing home kitchen for cleanliness.
• Inquire whether the home has a licensed dietician.
• Ask about the accessibility of drinking water.
• Check the refrigerator to view the quality of food.
• Obtain the facility’s latest state inspection survey records to find out if the home has any recent violations.
• Inquire about communications between nursing home staffers and family members.
• If there is a support group for family members, ask to sit in.

Unfortunately, nursing home abuse and neglect are common problems in many Illinois facilities. It is not your fault if your loved one becomes a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, but carefully evaluating a nursing home before having the facility admit your loved one can be an important step toward protecting him or her from living in an environment where abuse or neglect is likely.

If you believe that your loved one is a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, it is important that you take steps to remove your relative from the facility right away.

Related Web Resources:

Choosing a Nursing Home, AARP

Nursing Homes in Illinois

Continue reading " Choosing An Illinois Nursing Home for Your Loved One " »

A woman who went missing after she walked off the premises of an assisted living facility in Missouri on Saturday was found in Illinois. Lori Rose, a 47-year-old mentally and physically disabled woman, reportedly approached police in Chicago on Monday afternoon and told them she needed to go to a shelter.

Rose left Maple Crest Manor on Saturday morning to go for a walk. The assisted living facility lets clients leave and return to the premise as long as they sign off and indicate when they will return. When a couple of hours had passed and Rose still hadn’t returned, a worker at the assisted living facility contacted Scott County Public Administrator Pam Dirnberger, who is also Rose’s legal guardian, before contacting local police.

Staffers at the home said they weren’t worried at first because Rose often takes long walks. They hadn’t, however, anticipated that she would board a bus to Chicago. Dirnberger says she chose to notify the public that Rose was missing because the woman’s mental faculties are similar to that of a “7- or 8-year old.”

After Chicago police found Rose’s name on the national database of endangered and missing persons, they contacted Cape Girardeau authorities. By Monday evening, Rose was on a bus back to Missouri. Dirnberger says that she believes that no negligence was involved.

Nursing Home Negligence
Workers at assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and other residential care properties are supposed to implement the proper measures and procedures to make sure that residents—especially those that require special supervision—do not wander off or disappear. While wandering off a property may seem like a minor incident, a resident who is mentally disabled, disoriented, has dementia or Alzheimer’s, or is under heavy medication could get seriously injured or die if an unfortunate accident were to happen outside the care facility.

If someone you love was injured or killed after walking away from a nursing home because workers failed to properly supervise him or her, left an exit door unlocked, or did not follow proper procedures, your loved one may be entitled to nursing home negligence compensation.

Woman missing from assisted living facility found in Chicago, SouthEast Missourian, October 21, 2008

Disabled southeast Mo. woman found in Chicago, BND.com, October 21, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Maple Crest Manor

Continue reading " Mentally and Physically Disabled Woman that Walked Away from Assisted Living Facility is found in Chicago, Illinois " »

Two certified nursing home assistants are each facing a misdemeanor charge of negligence related to an incident at assisted living facility The Retreat at Palisade, where an elderly woman fell from her chair and slept for hours on the floor covered in her vomit and urine. Nursing home assistants Melinda Meyer, 24, and Robin Martinez, 31, received their summonses after the resident’s daughter reported the incident to police. Fortunately, the elderly woman suffered no physical injuries.

Staff members at the facility are supposed to check on each resident every two hours between 6pm and 6am. Police, however, say that the woman was last seen sitting on a chair at around midnight—a situation not uncommon for the elderly patient. She was discovered on the floor the following morning during the shift change.

The nursing home’s director, Chris Murillo, says he fired the two women right away and reported the incident to local human services and law enforcement authorities. The facility says it has a “zero-tolerance” policy for the kind of “complacency” the two nursing assistants exhibited.

Nursing home neglect can lead to serious emotional and physical injuries. Examples of nursing home negligence include:

• Failure to take the proper measures to prevent fall accidents.
• Failure to make sure that a patient is properly hydrated and/or receiving the proper nutrition.
• Failure to check on patients regularly.
• Failure to respond to resident calls in a timely manner.
• Failure to take residents that require help to the toilet.
• Allowing a patient to wear soiled clothing or sleep in soiled bedding.
• Failure to make sure that a resident doesn’t wander off without supervision.
• Inadequate security.
• Failure to give a resident the required medical care in a timely manner.
• Failure to properly supervise.

Former care home workers accused of neglect, GJSentinel.com, October 14, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Nursing Homes in Illinois, Illinois Department of Public Health

Continue reading " Two Nursing Home Assistants Face Negligence Charges After Elderly Patient Falls and Sleeps on Floor Covered in Vomit and Urine " »

In Madison County, Illinois, a wrongful death settlement has been reached between Wood River nursing home VIP Manor and the daughter of a woman that died at the home in 2004.

Alinda Rust had filed her wrongful death lawsuit against VIP Manor in Madison County Circuit Court in May 2006. Rust’s lawsuit alleges that her mother. Viola Baehler, died from malnutrition, dehydration, and sepsis four months after being admitted to the home. The suit also says that Baehler suffered physical pain, mental trauma, impairment, and disfigurement, and that she sustained medical expenses for these injuries prior to her death. The nursing home has denied all allegations.

The Illinois wrongful death settlement was reached between the two parties in mediation, which is now a mandatory step in Madison County for all medical malpractice cases, including those involving allegations of nursing home abuse or neglect. The Illinois Supreme Court approved the mandatory mediation rule last year.

If your elderly loved one has died in a nursing home and you suspect that the cause of death was nursing home abuse or neglect, you should speak with an Illinois wrongful death law firm that is experienced in dealing with nursing home abuse and neglect cases.

Unfortunately, nursing home abuse and neglect is an all-too common occurrence. A recent report issued by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services found that over 90% of US nursing homes violated federal health and safety standards in 2008.

The report also found that 17% of nursing homes had deficiencies that could result in immediate jeopardy or harm to residents. Common problems at nursing homes included medication errors, bedsore infections, malnutrition, nursing home neglect, and nursing abuse.

Out of the 37,150 nursing home complaints that the department received last year, 39% of the complaints were substantiated and 1/5th of the complaints involved nursing home abuse or neglect.

Mandatory mediation rule helps avert wrongful death trial, Madison St. Clair Record, October 9, 2008

Violations Reported at 94% of Nursing Homes, New York Times, September 29, 2008
90 percent of nursing homes in violation, UPI, October 2, 2008

Related Web Resources:

US Department of Health and Human Services

Nursing Home Care Act, Illinois General Assembly

The daughter of a man who died at the Schwab Rehabilitation Center in Chicago is suing the facility for his wrongful death. The nursing home patient's health deteriorated after breaking his hip in a fall accident while being transferred onto a wheelchair. He died three months after being admitted to the home.

The Chicago wrongful death lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of his daughter, alleges that negligent care by the rehab center led to the 67-year-old’s death.

The nursing home patient was admitted to the center in September 2007 after his leg was amputated. His doctors determined that he would need the help of two staff members and a mechanical lift during transfers because he was at risk for falls and accidents. The next day, a certified nursing assistant tried transferring him onto a wheelchair. The nurse did so alone and used a slide board instead of a lift. The nursing home resident fell, fracturing his left hip and femur.

He underwent surgery for his broken hip and femur at Mt. Sinai Hospital. The injuries, however, caused him to be immobilized and he developed a pressure ulcer on his sacrum, pneumonia, sepsis, and respiratory failure. He died in December 2007. Two months after his death, the Illinois Department of Public Health cited the facility for improper nursing care.

Nursing Home Falls
Fall accidents can lead to serious injuries, especially for elderly people. Unfortunately, fall accidents do occur at nursing homes and other care facilities. Falls at nursing and rehabilitation centers have included:

• Workers dropping patients while moving them to and from beds and wheelchairs
• Patients falling from beds
• Slip and fall accidents
• Trip and fall accidents

Lawsuit: Negligence at Rehab Center led to Death, WBBM, September 30, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Minimizing risk in the nursing home, Bnet

Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital

Illinois Department of Public Health

In Morgan County Superior Court, the daughter of a man who died at Golden Moments Senior Care Center in Jacksonville, Illinois is suing the nursing home, a nurse, two doctors, and other nursing home employees for wrongful death.

Bruce A. Hopley died at the nursing home in 2006. Hopley, then 51, suffered from diabetes and had paid numerous emergency visits to hospitals in the past after experiencing erratic blood sugar levels and seizures. Upon Hopley's admission into the home in August 2006, family members warned staffers about his health. 19 days later, on September 17, Hopley was found dead just one hour after staff members at the home recorded that his blood sugar level was high.

Golden Moment’s current nursing home administrator says that the hospital was not at fault with the quality of care it gave Hopley. The 18-count Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuit names the home, Doctors Marshall Hale and James Bohan, former nursing home administrator Glen Miller, nurse Cathy Mariage, Gary Weintraub, Melvin Siegel, a dietary manager, The Emes Limited Partnership, Skyview Nursing Associates Limited Partnership, Mavin Inc. of Morgan County, and Chicago Title Land Trust Co. as the defendants.

The wrongful death lawsuit is seeking the maximum monetary award allowed for each count.

Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic disease. In many cases, a person afflicted with diabetes must monitor (or have his or her symptoms monitored) regularly to make sure that complications do not arise. Diabetes can lead to kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, infections, and death.

Nursing home workers are supposed to make sure that residents get the care that they need. Failure to provide patients with the proper care can be grounds for an Illinois nursing home abuse claim or wrongful death lawsuit if injuries or death occurs.

Lawsuit alleges wrongful death at nursing home, Jacksonville Journal Courier, September 18, 2008

Related Web Resources:

National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse

Jacksonville, Illinois Nursing Homes, CiteHealth.com

In Illinois, a judge refused to drop any of the criminal charges against the former supervisor of the Woodstock Residence nursing home. Penny Whitlock was indicted on seven charges—including two felony charges of obstructing justice and five counts of criminal neglect—related to several deaths that occurred at the McHenry County nursing home in 2006.

An investigation by the Illinois Department of Public Health found that Marty Himebaugh, one of the nurses at the home, may have purposely overdosed a number of patients with morphine. According to workers at the home, patients were given excessive doses of morphine because Himebaugh thought they had lived long enough or considered them too much trouble to take care of.

After Whitlock found out about the nurse’s behavior, she reportedly told the nurse she could be the home’s “Angel of Death.” The indictment against Whitlock also accuses the former supervisor of failing to report the first suspicious death (of Derek Magnus), which allegedly allowed for three more residents to die from morphine overdoses.

Whitlock has denied all the charges against her. Her attorney tried to get three of the criminal charges dropped against her on the grounds that Illinois law does not allow a defendant to be accused of neglecting someone because of neglect against someone else. Judge Joseph Condon, however, said the issue isn’t about whether the abuse of one resident led to the abuse of the other victims. Rather, the question is whether or not Whitlock failed to report the alleged nursing home abuse.

Himebaugh, who was indicted on six felony charges, has also pleaded not guilty.

Two Illinois wrongful death cases have already been filed related to morphine overdose deaths at Woodstock Residence. In the first nursing home abuse lawsuit, Vicki Lund is suing WHRC & RC Inc, Whitlock, Himebaugh, and Woodstock Residence Administrator Alissa Nataupsky for her mother Virginia Cole’s death due to alleged morphine overdose.

Sharon Hunt filed the second wrongful death case after her son John Sherman also died of an alleged morphine overdose while staying at the nursing home. Hunt is also suing Doctor Gurbax Saini, Seasons Hospice, and a registered nurse practitioner Kathy Gallias.

Woodstock Residence is now called the Crossroads Care Center of Woodstock and is under new ownership.

Court upholds charges against supervisor in 'Angel of Death' case, DailyHerald.com, September 29, 2008

Second wrongful-death suit filed in 'angel of death' case, Northwest Herald, October 6, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Illinois Department of Public Health

Nursing home gets new name, Northwest Herald, April 21, 2008