State of Illinois and Tinley Park Doctor Sued for Chicago Wrongful Death After Mentally Disabled Man Chokes During Dinner
A woman whose mentally disabled brother choked to death while eating dinner at a Tinley Park facility in February 2008 has filed a Chicago wrongful death lawsuit against the state of Illinois and a doctor at the Howe Development Center. Evelyn Kasprak’s complaint accuses Dipankar Banerjee, the facility’s on-duty doctor at the time of the incident, and other staff members of failing to clear Kenneth Kasprak’s breathing or attempting to revive him with CPR after food got stuck in his throat dinner and he began to choke.
Kenneth, who was using medication that made him more prone to choking, had choked on other occasions, and Evelyn’s Chicago wrongful death attorney says Banerjee should have known that the 67-year-old patient might choke again. Her Chicago wrongful death lawsuit also accuses the state of Illinois of failing to train two of the Howe workers who were on duty at the time of the choking accident on how to use an emergency system. Attempts to revive the mentally disabled patient reportedly did not occur until the paramedics arrived at the scene minutes later.
Also named as defendants in the Chicago wrongful death complaint are the two Howe staffers, the Illinois Department of Human Services, and DHS Secretary Carol Adams. Kasprak, whose mental disabilities included a mood disorder, lived at the Tinley Park facility for 11 years.
Some 300 people with severe developmental disabilities reside at Howe. The Tinley Park facility and its mental health center have come under fire over the last couple of years. Howe lost its federal funding in 2007 for providing substandard patient care. Last September, the DHS said that it was planning to shut down the facility in July 2009.
Family of Howe resident files wrongful death lawsuit against state, Southtown Star, March 3, 2009
Tinley Park facility sued in patient's choking death, Chicago Tribune, March 3, 2009
Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park to close, Chicago Tribune, September 5, 2008
Related Web Resources:
Read the Complaint (PDF)
State-Operated Developmental Centers, Illinois Department of Human Services
If your loved one died at a US long-term care facility because staffers did not provide him or her with the proper medical care or attention, it is important that you speak with a Chicago nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer so that you can consider your legal options.
