Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Two healthcare workers are under arrest for allegedly abusing elderly nursing home patients in separate incidents at two different nursing homes. The women are Monique Jones, 32, and Nellie Weller, 47. Both of the nursing home workers are Rochester, New York residents.

Jones, a certified nursing assistant (CNA), allegedly kicked an 88-year-old patient in the ribs when she was a worker at the Kirkhaven Nursing Home. Weller's arrest stems from allegations that she tied the nightgown of a nursing home resident around his legs and neck, which made it impossible for him to move or use the urinal. The last alleged nursing home abuse incident is said to have taken place at the Tina Wilson Living Center.

Jones was arraigned today. Weller’s arraignment is expected shortly. Both women face charges of endangering the welfare of a physically disabled or incompetent person and willfully violating health laws. Following the alleged abuse incidents, the two women were fired from the two nursing homes.

Nursing Home Abuse
There are many reasons why nursing home abuse occurs in US nursing homes. Inadequate training, inadequate supervision, inadequate staffing, failure to do a proper background check on workers, and worker impatience or frustration at a nursing home resident are just some reasons why nursing home abuse can happen.

Not only can nursing home abuse lead to a patient sustaining physical or emotional injuries, but he or she also may end up receiving sub-standard care, which puts the resident's health and life at risk. Nursing home residents are entitled to receive the proper care in an environment that is safe and abuse-free.

Two healthcare workers arrested on abuse allegations, MSNBC, January 30, 2009

Attorney General Cuomo Announces Arrests of Two Health Care Workers for Abusing Elderly Residents in Rochester Area Nursing Homes, Office of the Attorney General, January 29, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Homes in Chicago, Illinois, The City of Chicago.com

Nursing Home Overview, Medicare.gov

Continue reading " Two Certified Nursing Assistants Arrested in Separate Incidents For Alleged Nursing Home Abuse " »

A 48-year-old certified nursing home assistant who has been charged with a felony for allegedly punching an elderly nursing home resident in the mouth says the incident never happened. The resident, 94-year-old Vera Talbott, sustained injuries during the alleged 2007 nursing home assault incident. Karen S. Buck and Williamsburg Village nursing home deny that the incident occurred. Buck is scheduled to stand trial in April. In civil court, Talbott’s daughter, Jenette Sloan, is suing the Indiana nursing home and Buck for wrongful death allegedly caused by nursing home negligence.

Talbott was admitted to the nursing home after suffering a stroke. Sloan, who visited her mother daily, says that during one visit, she noticed that her mother’s face was red, she appeared to be drugged or nearly unconscious, and she wouldn’t touch her food.

Sloan says that at first, nursing home workers wouldn’t tell her what was wrong. After she left the facility, however, a nurse contacted her and told her that the nursing home was sending Sloan to the hospital because she had been hit by a nurse.

Sloan says a police officer told her that the nurse had slapped and slugged her mother a few times, which left the 94-year-old with facial bruises and a black eye. Sloan says that her mother had spit on the nurse because she had sores on her feet that hurt whenever anyone would put socks on them.

The alleged assault incident took place in June 2007. In September 2007, Talbott passed away. Her estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that the brutal beating she received from Buck, as well as the nursing home’s negligence resulted in physical ailments, health complications, and ultimately, her wrongful death.

According to the nursing home’s executive director, Ben Wells, an investigation by the state, the attorney general’s home, the ombudsmen, and police found that the allegations against Buck could not be substantiated and the prosecutor at first was not going to press charges. A felony battery charge, however, was filed against her in February 2008. Buck has pleaded not guilty. Wells says Buck has not worked at the Williamsburg Village nursing home since June 2007.

Patient Assault
Physical assault, sexual assault, verbal abuse, or emotional abuse of a nursing home patient by a nursing home worker is illegal and can be grounds for a nursing home abuse or wrongful death lawsuit.

Nursing home caregiver facing battery charge, The Star Press, January 25, 2009

Signs of Nursing Home Neglect, Elder Abuse Foundation

Related Web Resource:
National Center on Elder Abuse

The three daughters of an 84-year-old woman are suing a US nursing home for her wrongful death. Alice Laverne Britton was a resident at Asbury Place nursing home from 2005 until April 2008. Britton’s daughters claim that the nursing home’s repeated negligence contributed to their mother’s death.

Their wrongful death lawsuit claims that the nursing home:

• Failed to get their mother the proper nutritional care that she needed and that she was severely dehydrated and malnourished when she died.
• Failed to properly prescribe and monitor Britton’s medication and that because of this, their mother experienced severe internal bleeding.
• Failed to properly treat her bedsores until her condition became severe.
• Allowed two unskilled student workers at the nursing home to carry their mother, who they dropped. As a result, Britton sustained a broken femur that allegedly was not treated immediately.

Britton was put in hospice care in May 2008. It was at this point, her daughters claim, that the nursing home surrendered its duties and allowed their mother's health to “rapidly deteriorate.”

Asbury Inc Executive Director Teesa Brown disputes the daughters' claims of negligent care. Brown says the nursing home provided appropriate care to Britton. Britton’s daughters are seeking $3 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages for her wrongful death.

Nursing Home Negligence
A nursing home patient’s health can rapidly deteriorate if he or she does receive the appropriate care. If your loved one has exhibited sudden weight gain or loss, develops decubitus ulcers, becomes unresponsive or depressed, or exhibits poor grooming or hygiene, he or she may have become the victim of nursing home neglect. Nursing home abuse or neglect can result in personal injuries or the wrongful death of a nursing home resident.

Asbury Place Faces $13 Million Suit, The Daily Times, January 24, 2009

Signs of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect, Times of the Internet, January 4, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Asbury Place, Maryville

A newspaper is reporting that a US nursing home that was recently slapped with federal and state sanctions was caring for a patient who lost over 87 pounds in 19 days. The Herald-Ledger obtained this information under the Open Records Act.

As noted in an earlier post on this Chicago nursing home abuse blog site, the US government has threatened to revoke the Winchester Centre for Health and Rehabilitation’s Medicare and Medicaid funding. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also warns that the nursing home could be fined a maximum of $6,050 a day if certain issues aren’t remedied. The nursing home has been given more than one Type A citation for alleged nursing home abuse and neglect.

A type A citation was issued in August 2008 after it was discovered that one of the nursing home resident’s dropped from 197 pounds to 109.4 pounds in less than three weeks. Staffers also reportedly failed to properly monitor the patient or notify a doctor that the patient’s condition was deteriorating. The patient became unresponsive. A doctor at the hospital where the patient was eventually admitted told investigators that no one should lose weight that quickly.

Another Type A citation was issued earlier this month after another patient was given the wrong dosage of anti-seizure medication for nearly six weeks during the months of November and December. Rather than orally giving the patient 450 milligrams a day of extended-release capsules, the resident was administered 400 milligrams through a feeding tube. The medication error wasn’t noticed until the patient had a seizure. The nursing home reportedly lacked a system for making sure that staffers were properly administering medications to patients.

Other problems at the Winchester Centre for Health and Rehabilitation, based on investigations and state inspections since August, include failure to tell doctors about patients’ deteriorating conditions, failure to follow up on doctors’ orders for seriously ill patients, unsanitary conditions, disrepair, and improper food storage.

Nursing home patient lost 87 pounds in 19 days, Kentucky.com, January 23, 2009

Winchester nursing home to lose funding, Kentucky.com, January 14, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Winchester Centre for Health and Rehabilitation

Continue reading " Nursing Home Received Citation Because Resident Lost 87 Pounds in Less than Three Weeks " »

In a letter published in the Chicago Tribune, Terrence Sullivan, the Illinois Council of Long Term Care executive director, Pat Comstock, the Health Care Council of Illinois, and Dave Voepel, the Illinois Health Care Association Executive executive director, are warning readers that the financial crisis Illinois nursing homes are facing could place the well being of thousands of elderly nursing home residents at risk. A major reason for this problem, they say, is that nursing homes are being financially stretched as they wait for the state to pay them what they are owed.

Over 2/3rds of nursing home residents rely on Medicaid payments to pay for their care bills. Not only are the majority of nursing home just now getting the Medicaid payments for services they provided residents six months ago, but they may receive just one or two monthly payments in the next six months.

While nursing homes are used to waiting for their Medicaid payments, the current economic crisis is making it hard for them to get the short-term loans they usually rely on while they wait. Nursing homes are having a hard time paying their bills and paying their employees. A number of Illinois nursing home facilities are worried they will have to shut down their facilities, which could displace many elderly and sick residents and deny them the care that they need.

Illinois Nursing Home Facts:
• There are about 1,200 long-term care facilities in the state.
• Some 100,000 people reside in these nursing homes.
• The Illinois Department of Public Health regulates and inspects these facilities annually.
• The Department’s Bureau of Long-term Care is in charge of making sure each Illinois nursing home is in compliance with the state’s Nursing Home Care Act.

Nursing home abuse and nursing neglect continue to be a problem in a number of Illinois nursing homes.

Nursing homes facing economic crisis, Chicago Tribune, January 20, 2009

After he's gone, Chicago Tribune, January 9, 2009

Nursing Homes in Illinois

Related Web Resources:

Illinois Council of Long Term Care

Illinois Health Care Association

Continue reading " Illinois Nursing Homes’ Financial Woes May Threaten the Well Being of Thousands of Elderly Residents, Say Nursing Home Officials " »

A settlement has been reached between the Tennessee State Veterans Home and the US Justice Department over allegations that civil rights violations occurred at two nursing homes. The agreement will allow the veterans care facilities to stay open.

In early 2008, the nursing homes were cited for allegedly neglecting patients. The nursing home neglect reportedly caused unnecessary discomfort and pain and may have contributed to some of the residents’ deaths. Other violations cited by the Justice Department included those involving nursing care and medical attention that substantially deviated from accepted professional standards. The department’s report also accused nursing home staffers of failing to protect residents from fall-related injuries.

Under the agreement, the nursing homes are to provide proper medical and nursing care to residents while protecting them from harmful situations. Under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, the US Attorney General is allowed to investigate claims and weed out deficiencies in nursing care.

Veterans nursing homes, like all nursing homes, are supposed to provide their residents with the proper medical care and attention that each patient requires. In addition to the kinds of illnesses and medical conditions that come with being a sick or elderly nursing home patient, veterans may also have service-connected disabilities or conditions that require specialized nursing care.

As a nursing home patient, you are entitled to having all of your civil rights upheld, as well as other rights involving:

• Privacy
• Personal property
• Religious freedom
• Medical care
• Personal care
• Visitation
• Restraints and confinement

State Veterans Home settles on violations, Nashville Business Journal, January 19, 2009

Nursing Home Care Act, Illinois General Assembly

Related Web Resources:
Tennessee State Veterans Home

Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act

There have been too many recent incidents of nursing home abuse or neglect at US nursing homes for family members to not exercise extra vigilance in making sure that your sick or elderly loved one does not become a victim of such a horrible crime. Sometimes, nursing home residents are too sick or weak to realize that they are being abused. They may also be too scared to report that they are being physically abused, sexually assaulted, or financially exploited by a nursing home worker.

Signs that may indicate nursing home abuse or neglect at a Chicago nursing home:
• The nursing home resident doesn’t seem to get along with a nurse or another worker
• Emergency medication overdose
• Broken eyeglasses
• Poor hygiene
• Large bank withdrawals
• Unexplained or questionable changes to the resident’s will or other key documents
• Unexplained ATM withdrawals, even though the resident could not have made the withdrawals
• Failure of nursing home workers to answer questions about the patient’s care
• Being forbidden from seeing the resident without supervision
• Dementia-like symptoms, including mumbling and rocking
• Sudden changes in weight
• Unexplained broken bones or bruises

If you suspect nursing home abuse or neglect:
• Call police
• Contact an experienced Chicago nursing home abuse attorney

There are steps your Illinois nursing home abuse lawyer can take to remove your loved one from the nursing home while making sure that he or she gets the medical attention and proper care needed. Your loved one may also be entitled to Illinois personal injury compensation for the abuse or neglect.

Related Web Resources:
National Center on Elder Abuse

Nursing Homes in Illinois

Three nursing home residents in wheelchairs suffered facial bruises after they were punched by a man who walked into the Tulare Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The intruder, 28-year-old Marcos Alderete, was arrested and booked on suspicion of felony elder abuse, public intoxication, and battery.

Police officers think that Alderete sniffed paint before he attacked the residents, an 82-year-old man and two 92-year-old women. They say he was able to enter the nursing home through the front door, which was unlocked.

Alderete encountered the three residents in the lobby, where he attacked them. The elderly man’s cheeks became swollen from the assault, while the two females sustained bruises around the eyes. It is not known why they were sitting close to the front door.

Alderete stopped his assault after he was confronted by a nursing home staff member. He then ran outside where he was detained at a nearby hospital by a security guard.

Inadequate Security at US Nursing Homes
Nursing homes are supposed to ensure the safety of their residents. This means that nursing home abuse and neglect must strictly be prohibited and safety and security precautions must be taken to make sure that residents and nursing home workers do not become the victim of violent, sexual, or robbery crimes.

Steps that nursing homes can take to secure the premise:

• Installing decurity cameras and other surveillance equipment
• Setting up alarm systems
• Separating violent residents from other residents
• Making sure there is adequate resident and staff supervision
• Conducting criminal background checks when hiring nurses and other nursing home staffers
• Securing entrances and exits
• Establishing a visitor sign-in policy

If your loved one was injured because of nursing home abuse or neglect or because an Illinois nursing home was negligent about providing adequate security on the premise, you may be able to claim damages for personal injury.

Tulare man arrested in assaults on three nursing-home residents, Visalia Times-Delta, January 15, 2009

Man busts into Tulare nursing home, assaults 3, Visalia Times-Delta, January 14, 2009

Continue reading " Three Nursing Home Residents in Wheelchairs Injured After Intruder Assaults Them " »

The federal government says it is taking away the Medicare and Medicaid funding of a US nursing home that was given a Type a citation for alleged nursing home abuse and neglect. The Winchester Centre for Health and Rehabilitation Center houses up to 183 patients and has a special unit that cares for patients with dementia.

The details for why the Type A citation was issued are not clear—although officials at the nursing home reportedly told Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass Executive Director Kathy Gannoe that the issue involved medical mistakes which have now been corrected.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says that its contract with the nursing home will be terminated next month. At that point, the Winchester Centre for Health and Rehabilitation Center won’t be certified to take care of people that receive Medicaid and Medicare benefits. Any patients staying at the home who have these benefits will be moved to certified facilities when the contract expires.

In order to be certified by Medicare and Medicaid, certain standards, such as those involving resident safety, food sanitation, and improper practices, must be met. Failure to remedy any problems is grounds for termination of the home’s agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In the last three months, the Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass has received 31 complaints regarding the nursing home. More than 85% of the complaints were satisfactorily resolved.

Nursing homes are supposed to provide residents with the medical care and attention that they need.

Winchester nursing home to lose funding, Kentucky.com, January 14, 2009

Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass

Related Web Resource:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Continue reading " Nursing Home Loses Funding After Receiving a Type A Citation for Alleged Abuse and Neglect " »

The niece of a 65-year-old nursing home resident is suing a long-term care facility for nursing home negligence. Melody Lucero says that nursing home workers at North Platte Care Centre, now called Premier Estates, dropped Hazel Earll onto the floor. As a result of the fall accident, she suffered serious injuries and must use a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

The nursing home, its parent companies Davbo Co. LLC and Boyle Company Inc., and nurse practitioner Pamela Barr are just some of the defendants named in the nursing home neglect lawsuit. According to the complaint, in November 22, 2006, Earll, who is mentally retarded and had just undergone hip replacement surgery two days before, was admitted to the North Platte Care Centre for additional rehabilitation.

Two days after she was admitted to the nursing home, NPCC workers were transferring the 65-year-old patient to the bathroom when they accidentally dropped her. The lawsuit contends that Earll’s right elbow, the right side of her forehead, and her cervical spin were injured from the fall. She also fractured her new right hip, which led to an infection.

On November 30, Earll was taken to an emergency room because of extreme distress caused by pain. X-rays showed that her hip was broken in three places. She now requires the use of a wheelchair to get around.

The nursing home neglect lawsuit accuses NPCC of reckless disregard and claims that nursing home workers were not told about the full scope of Earll’s care requirements and needs. The complaint contends that the ratio of nurse to resident at the home is low enough that staffers ignore patients’ needs and that NPCC marketed their home to prospective patients with higher custodial care and medical needs than the nursing home chain could actually provide.

Earll's niece, Melody Lucero, is also accusing NPCC of failing to prevent her aunt from becoming the victim of nursing home abuse and neglect, failing to help her maintain good oral hygiene, failing to provide adequate nursing staffing, failing to provide a proper nursing care plan for Earll, failing to maintain proper clinical records, and failing to tell Earll’s family and doctor that her care plan needed to be modified.

Nursing Home Fall Accidents
Elderly and sick nursing home residents are at risk of sustaining serious injuries anytime they are involved in fall accidents. Nursing home workers are supposed to take preventive steps to make sure such accidents do not happen.

NP woman sues retirement home for negligent care, North Platte Bulletin, December 27, 2008

Maximize the Benefits of Hip Replacement with Rehabilitation, AAPMR.org

Related Web Resource:

Falls in Nursing Homes, CDC

The son of a 72-year-old nursing home resident is suing Golden LivingCenter-Greeley home for his father’s wrongful death. Kevin Cole’s lawsuit, filed in federal court, is seeking at least $75,000 because he says severe thirst, due to nursing home abuse and neglect, was the cause of Dean Cole’s death in January 2007.

Dean was admitted to the nursing home in December 2006 because he was suffering from dementia and required full-time nursing care. The 72-year-old had only been at the home for 3 weeks when his brain and kidneys shut down.

A state Department of Health probe found the nursing home to be “in neglect” of Dean. While staff workers reportedly noted that the elderly patient wouldn’t eat or take his medicines (he didn't eat 15 out of 24 meals that were served to him), nutritional supplements that the nursing home’s dietary manager recommended for Dean were never ordered.

Staff members were about to send Dean to a hospital behavioral unit, after he became combative and agitated, when he fell into a coma. On January 21, 2007, Dean died of severe dehydration, kidney failure, and pneumonia.

Kevin Cole’s wrongful death lawsuit says that because nursing staff members abused and neglected Dean, he lost 20 pounds and 10 liters of water during his brief stay at the home. Kevin is also accusing the nursing home of failing to tell doctors about his father's drastic weight loss.

Feeding Patients with Dementia
According to Dr Susan Aldridge, it is not uncommon for dementia patients to have feeding problems, which is why they may need the help of nursing home workers to make sure they get the nutrition they need. Failure to properly feed and hydrate a nursing home resident can be detrimental to his or her health.

Stillwater nursing home sued over man's death, Star Tribune, December 30, 2008

Son Claims Dad Died of Thirst in Nursing Home, MSNBC.com, January 2, 2009

Related Web Resource:

Dementia Symptoms

A $2 million personal injury lawsuit has been filed against a US nursing home for its alleged failure to protect a patient with dementia from becoming the victim of sexual assault by a male resident. In April 2008, a nursing home aide at Health Care at Foster Creek found a 61-year-old woman in bed, naked from the waste down and crying, as 68-year-old Marko Chandler was allegedly assaulting her. Chandler, who also suffers from dementia, has a criminal history that includes robbery and waving a gun at another man during an argument.

The complaint not only accuses Health Care at Foster Creek of failing to protect the 61-year-old woman from Chandler, but the nursing neglect lawsuit contends that the long-term care facility did not contact the woman’s relatives or report the incident to police even though workers knew that her condition made it impossible for her to consent to any sexual acts.

Following the assault incident, the woman became prone to crying episodes and refused to eat. The nursing home neglect lawsuit contends that some 38 substantiated complaints of nursing neglect or abuse had been filed over a four year period.

Health Care at Foster Creek is one of the homes that received a below average rating from the federal government during its yearly performance review. Recent violations at the nursing home included failure to stop a resident from going into other residents’ rooms, failure to stop residents from assaulting other residents or urinating in another resident’s bed, and failure to monitor a patient who lost 30 pounds in 40 days while suffering from kidney disease because staffers did not ask him what he would like to eat.

Sexual assault crimes at US nursing homes is a serious problem. Attackers have included nursing staff workers, other patients, and visitors. In 2004, nursing home watchdog Wes Bledsoe told CBS News that after searching records in 37 states, he discovered that 380 registered sex offenders were living in US nursing homes.

As for Chandler, who was charged with unlawful penetration and first-degree sexual abuse following the incident with the female resident, he was not convicted of any crime. A judge found him unfit for trial.

Lawsuit accuses SE Portland nursing home of failing to protect resident from sexual assault, Oregon Live, December 29, 2008

Abuse In The Nursing Home, CBS Evening News, November 15, 2004

Related Web Resources:

Nursing Home Compare, Medicare Web site

Health Care at Foster Creek