Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit Alleges that Inadequate Care Led to Resident’s Death
The daughters of a man who died last year after being diagnosed with malnourishment, a urinary tract infection, and advance-stage bedsores are suing the Chicago nursing home where he resided for nursing home neglect. Stanley “Ted” Dancy was admitted to Washington Heights Nursing Home after doctors recommended that he undergo rehabilitation for an illness. Just one month after being admitted to the home, he was take to Mt. Sinai Hospital where his pressure sores and other symptoms were identified and treated. He was then admitted to a different nursing home.
According to Charlotte Parnell, one of Dancy’s daughters, her father’s condition was so far gone after he left the hospital that he was never able to recover. Dancy died on December 12, 2007.
In their Illinois nursing home abuse lawsuit, Parnell and her sister Delorise Darcy-Johnson are accusing the Chicago nursing home of contributing to their father’s death. They claim that the negligent care that Dancy received at the home led to the injuries he sustained leading up to his death.
Pressure Sores
Also known as bedsores, pressure sores occur to a particular part of the body that has experienced prolonged pressure and poor circulation, causing tissue and skin to break down. The skin initially turns red and is irritated until open sores develop. A pressure sore can lead to the destruction of bone and muscle.
There are four stages used to diagnose and treat pressure sores:
Stage 1: The skin remains red even after the pressure has been alleviated.
Stage 2: Layers of skin are gone. The pressure sore looks like an abrasion or blister.
Stage 3: No more skin remains on the sore and tissue is exposed.
Stage 4: Skin and tissue loss leads to exposure of muscle and bone.
Nursing home residents who are the victims of neglect have been known to suffer from malnutrition or sustain bedsores and UTI’s. If you suspect that your loved one is a victim of nursing home neglect, it is important that you take immediate steps to remove him or her from the Illinois residential care facility.
Sisters sue nursing home over death of father, The Daily Journal, November 6, 2008
Pressure Sores, Medline Plus
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