Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Theresa Steiner’s relative is suing an Illinois nursing home for wrongful death. Steven Streiner says Caseyville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center’s failure to properly treat Theresa’s nursing home bedsores, which caused her sepsis and subsequent death.

The Illinois nursing home admitted Theresa as patient on December 12, 2008. She had a pressure sore on each heel. On her buttock, she had 3 stage II pressure sores.

When she was discharged from the assisted living facility and admitted to a hospital on December 19, 2008, there were a number of sores on her heels and the decubitus ulcers on her buttocks had turned into stage IV bedsores.

The Illinois nursing home neglect complaint contends that as a result of the pressure sores, Theresa developed sepsis. She died on January 7, 2009.

Sepsis
Sepsis is a serious illness that involves an infection in the bloodstream. People with injuries, wounds, or compromised immune systems and those who use catheters have a higher risk of developing sepsis.

Prior to her passing, Steven says Theresa experienced suffering, pain, loss of dignity, emotional trauma, and mental anguish. He is claiming Illinois nursing home negligence, including the alleged failure to properly screen her before admitting her as a nursing home resident, failure to develop a proper care plan for treating Theresa’s decubitus ulcers, failure to hire a proper wound care nurse, failure to notify her doctor that the pressure sores were getting worse, and failure to establish the proper policies regarding pressure sore care.

Steven is seeking over $300,000 in damages plus related costs. The defendants named in the Illinois nursing home negligence lawsuit are Caseyville Property and Caseyville Nursing and Rehabilitation.

Bedsores
Nursing homes must have the proper care plan for treating a patient’s pressure sores. Failure to provide that care can turn what should be a treatable condition into a serious injury that can turn fatal and can be grounds for an Illinois nursing home neglect or wrongful death lawsuit.

Nursing home blamed for resident's sepsis, Madison Record, December 7, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Sepsis, Medline

Pressure Sores, Mayo Clinic

A jury has awarded $7.75 million to the family of Maria Arellano, a 71-year-old stroke patient for nursing home abuse: $5 million is for punitive damages and $2.75 million is for actual damages.

Arellano’s family set up a hidden camera after management at the Fillmore Convalescent Center allegedly ignored their complaints that the elderly woman had unexplained bruises. According to the plaintiffs’ nursing home abuse lawyer, footage shows nursing home worker Monica Garcia pulling Arellano by the hair, slapping her, bending her wrists, fingers, and neck, and violently handling her while she is seated in a shower chair.

Garcia pleaded no contest to simple battery. Arellano continues to stay at the assisted living facility.

Another stroke victim from the same nursing home, 83-year-old Daniel Sanchez, was also the alleged victim of elder abuse. His family says they too saw evidence of hair pulling and bruising. Their nursing home abuse lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in 2010.

Elder Abuse
It his horrible that older and physically vulnerable nursing home residents continue to be easy targets for abusive nursing home workers and patients with violent tendencies. Nursing home workers and the facilities that employ them can be held liable for Chicago, Illinois nursing home abuse, neglect, and/or negligence for allowing nursing home violence to occur at their facilities. Nursing home facilities should take abuse and neglect allegations seriously and make sure that they take action to stop the violence.

Examples of abusive acts committed by nursing home workers:

• Biting
• Scratching
• Punching
• Slapping
• Inappropriate restraints
• Unnecessary pharmaceutical restraints
• Rape
• Sexual assault
• Molestation
• Murder
• Emotional abuse
• Physical abuse

$7.75 million awarded in abuse case, Ventura County Star, December 11, 2009

$7.75 Million lawsuit settled with Fillmore Convalescent Center, Fillmore Gazette, December 23, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Homes, AARP

Medicare.gov, Nursing Homes

Last week, US, Illinois, and Cook County officials entered two Chicago area nursing homes to identify 18 residents with outstanding arrest warrants for felony crimes ranging from disorderly conduct to assault. Five people were arrested. One of them was a sex offender who failed to register in another US state. Three of the patients identified were too sick to be removed from their nursing home. Other warrants could not be enforced right away because authorities from other jurisdictions had issued them.

Nine of the Chicago nursing home patients with outstanding warrants were staying at Columbus Park Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. The other nine were residents of the Heather Health Center in Harvey. Authorities say there are three more nursing home patients with outstanding arrest warrants living in Somerset Place.

According to state records, the two Chicago area nursing homes involved in the sweep are home to a significant number of younger mentally ill residents and felons. As of December 10, 32 of the patients residing at Columbus Park were felons. 62 were diagnosed as suffering from a mental illness. 123 of the193 nursing home patients were younger than 65. At Heather Health Center, there were 32 felons residing in the Harvey nursing home on December 10. 49 patients were mentally ill. 58 out of 108 residents were younger than 65.

Illinois officials continue to remain concerned over the number of nursing home residents that are hurt by younger nursing home residents who are mentally ill and/or have violent tendencies. Patient violence can be grounds for Chicago, Illinois nursing home negligence if the assisted living facility could have acted otherwise to prevent the physical assault, sexual assault, or murder from happening.

This is not the first sweep of this kind involving Illinois nursing homes. According to the Chicago Tribune, Illinois State Police removed about 80 sex offenders and fugitives from 20 Northern Illinois assisted living facilities between January 2005 and June 2006. Following that sweep, there was a nearly 67% drop in the number of Illinois nursing home neglect and abuse complaints filed.

Illinois nursing homes are supposed to provide its residents with medical attention, nursing care, and physical protection from injury accidents and violent crimes.
Nursing home sweeps find 18 residents with outstanding warrants, Chicago Tribune, December 23, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Madigan Calls for Tougher Safeguards at Nursing Homes, Lisa Madigan, October 8, 2009

Compromised Care, Chicago Tribune

Continue reading " Raids of Two Chicago Area Nursing Homes Uncovers at Least 18 Residents with Outstanding Felony Arrest Warrants " »

The lawyer for a former Rosewood Care Center nursing patient claims his client experienced massive rectal bleeding and her health deteriorated significantly because nurses gave the woman a blood thinner. According to the Illinois nursing home negligence complaint, nursing home workers gave Ann Matikitis 4 milligrams of Coumadin on September 24, 2008 even though her doctor said the prescription should be held following an elevated PT/INR lab result.

Matikitis’s lawyer says that the nursing home resident suffered massive rectal bleeding and was hospitalized because she was administered the blood thinner. The Illinois nursing home negligence attorney also says the assisted living facility and its employees neglected to properly consult with the patient's doctor about her deteriorating health, did not report the medication mistake in a timely manner, failed to follow the doctor’s orders, did not properly document the care that she did receive, neglected to record her reaction to the drug, and violated its own residential care policies.

Medication Mistakes
A blood thinner is an anticoagulant that prevents blood clots from forming. They can be used to treat a number of conditions, such as heart disease, atrial fibrillation, and pulmonary embolism. This is not the type of prescription drug that allows for a lot of leeway in terms of dosage errors and should be taken only per the doctor’s orders. A blood thinner overdose can cause serious bleeding, leading to health complications and even death.

Illinois nursing home workers must follow the doctor’s orders for treating each patient. One mistake, such as forgetting to give a resident his/her scheduled medication, not following the resident’s care plan, or ignoring dietary restrictions or feeding directions can cause injury, deterioration of health, and death. Residents that have experienced nursing home abuse or neglect can sue for personal injury.

Nursing home sued over blood thinner, The Record, December 20, 2009

Family files lawsuit against nursing home, The Edwardsville Intelligencer, December 22, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Warfarin and Other Blood Thinners for Heart Disease, WebMD

Nursing Home Overview, Medicare

On Monday, Anthony Marshall, the 85-year-old son of philanthropist Brooke Astor, was sentenced to one to three years in prison for financially defrauding his mentally frail mother. Astor was 105 when she died in 2007. She had Alzheimer’s. Marshall was her only child.

Marshall was convicted of 14 (out of 16) counts for stealing tens of millions of dollars from his mother. Convictions included first-degree larceny and scheming to defraud.

Prosecutors argued that the former ambassador got his mother to change her will and took artwork from her. Meantime, Marshall’s defense team argued that their client had the legal authority to use his mother’s money to give himself presents. They said she was lucid when she revised her will and assigned her estate to him.

It is important to remember that elder financial fraud is also a form of elder abuse. Possible perpetrators of elder financial fraud can include family members, caregivers, friends, business associates, brokers, and investment advisers. Stealing is not just a crime, but it can rob an elderly person, who may no longer be able to work or live alone without assistance, of the resources to retire comfortably and obtain needed nursing attention or private care.

Physical disabilities, illnesses, old age, and impaired mental faculties make elderly people easy targets for elder financial abuse and fraud. Unexplained bank account withdrawals, sudden changes to a will, lots of time spent with a new “best friend,” unusual account activity, and unpaid bills are some possible signs of elder financial abuse.

Our Chicago, Illinois elder abuse lawyers represent clients in Cook County, Will County, Lake County, and DuPage County that are the victims of elder financial fraud, nursing home violence, nursing home neglect, and nursing home abuse.

Brooke Astor's 85-year-old son sentenced to 1-3 years in prison for plundering her fortune, Chicago Tribune, December 21, 2009

Breaking: Astor Trial Concludes; Anthony Marshall Convicted Of Theft, WSJ, October 8, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Financial Abuse, National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse

Elder Abuse and Neglect, Helpguide.org

According to the Chicago Tribune, Illinois officials were dismayed at some of the assisted living facilities in the state. The officials shared their findings with the Nursing Home Safety Task Force, which was set up by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.

The Illinois nursing homes were reportedly crowded with lots of mentally ill residents who did not appear to be getting the proper care. Some of the officials wondered whether these patients should be living in Illinois nursing homes.

For example, according to Lorrie Rickman Jones, the Division of Mental Health Director, nearly 80% of the patients living at one nursing home had a mental illness that facility administrators categorized as a “secondary diagnosis.” Jones was not convinced that these patients’ medical conditions warrant that they stay in an assisted living facility.

The Chicago Tribune notes that the classification of a nursing home patient’s condition is very important, because if more than 50% of a nursing home’s beds sleep residents that are exclusively mentally ill, the federal government will cease reimbursing Illinois for he nursing home care provided by that facility.

Chicago, Illinois Nursing Home Negligence
In Illinois, the debate over whether it makes to house mentally ill patients with elderly residents or patients that are sick from other health conditions continues. The reason for concern is that violent crimes at nursing homes involving mentally ill assailants and resident victims continue to occur. Nursing homes can be held liable for Illinois nursing home neglect if they fail to protect residents from becoming victims of nursing home abuse.

Nursing home inspections stun state officials, Chicago Tribune, December 17, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Department of Human Services

Illinois Division of Mental Health

Nursing Home Safety Task Force

Continue reading " Inspections of Illinois Assisted Living Facilities Leave State Officials Disappointed " »

98-year-old nursing home resident Laura B. Lundquist has been indicted for the murder of Elizabeth W. Barrow, her 100-year-old roommate. Lundquist is charged with second-degree murder. The two nursing home residents lived at the Brandon Woods nursing home.

Barrow was found dead in her bed last September. She had a plastic bag over her head. While suicide was investigated as a possible cause of death, the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office declared her death a homicide by manual strangulation.

Barrow’s son, Scott, claims that Lundquist had verbally harassed and threatened his mother, as well as complained about her roommate’s visitors. He also claims that the 98-year-old woman accused his mom of taking items from her.

Scott says he asked nursing home officials to separate the two residents but they told him the two women were getting along fine. Brandon Woods said the two women were offered the opportunity to change rooms but they both refused.

On Friday, a Superior Court judge ordered Lundquist to undergo a 20-day competency evaluation before she is arraigned.

Nursing Home Negligence
Nursing homes are responsible for keeping residents safe. This means keeping patients with violent tendencies away from other residents.

Meantime, Governor Pat Quinn's Nursing Home Safety Task Force continues to examine ways to curb nursing home violence between residents, which has proven deadly for a number of victims. There are steps and procedures that Illinois assisted living facilities can follow to keep residents from becoming the victims of violent crimes. Failure to do so can be grounds for a Chicago, Illinois nursing home negligence lawsuit.

Roomate, 98, indicted for murder in 100-year-old woman's nursing home death, SouthCoastToday, December 11, 2009

Mass. Woman, 98, Accused of Killing Roommate, 100, ABC News, December 11, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Safety Task Force

Nursing Homes, Medicare

Continue reading " Nursing Home Violence: 98-Year-Old Resident Indicted for Murder of 100-Year-Old Roommate " »

Illinois’ Department of Financial & Professional Regulation is in talks with the Nursing Home Safety Task Force about imposing tougher disciplinary sanctions on nursing home administrators in the event that a patient is injured at an assisted living facility or other forms of nursing home negligence occur.

The IDFPR is tasked with licensing nursing home administrators and other professional staffers. It is the job of nursing home administrators to direct, plan, and oversee nursing home operations. However, sanctions can only be imposed upon administrators that were directly involved in an act of wrongdoing.

Despite reports of numerous nursing home violations and patient injuries and deaths, no nursing home administrator licenses have been revoked since 2005. 587 complaints have been made about nursing home administrators since then. Department of Public Health inspectors have made 407 of complaints. Disciplinary action has supposedly been taken against only 20 administrators, but the Chicago Tribune was only able to find records to document disciplinary measures against 12 administrators. Disciplinary measures included reprimands, fines of up to $1,500, and suspensions.

Nursing home negligence is a serious matter and if you believe your loved one is a victim is being ignored, verbally abused, sexually assaulted, not being properly bathed or fed, exposed to violent residents, or is being abused or neglected in any other way, our Chicago nursing home neglect lawyers recommend that you remove your loved one from the Illinois assisted living facility immediately.

The frequency of incidents involving nursing home abuse, nursing neglect, and violent nursing crimes against residents has escalated to the point that state lawmakers are taking more proactive measures to protect nursing home residents from becoming victims of abuse, neglect, and other violent acts. However, lawmakers still have a long way to go.

Illinois weighing tougher sanctions for nursing home administrators, Chicago Tribune, December 13, 2009

Nursing home heads rarely disciplined, Chicago Sun-TImes, December 12, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Department of Financial & Professional Regulation

Nursing Home Safety Task Force, Illinois.gov

Continue reading " Nursing Home Negligence: Illinois Officials Looking at Tougher Sanctions Against Nursing Home Administrators " »

Authorities are now charging Ardyce Nauden with first-degree murder. The 62-year-old Chicago nursing home resident was at first charged with aggravated battery of a senior citizen and attempted first-degree murder for allegedly punching a fellow resident on August 21. However, the victim, 72-year-old Andres Cardona, died on September 18. The two men resided at Columbus Park Nursing Center, an assisted living facility on the West Side. Cardona was in his wheelchair when the Chicago, Illinois nursing home assault incident happened.

Nauden, who authorities call a psychotic felon and has a history of aggressive behavior and drug convictions, is accused of using a closed fist to hit Cardona. He thought the other resident was stealing his food. Cardona was knocked unconscious. Earlier this month, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the 72-year-old’s death a homicide.

An investigation by Illinois health officials determined that although nursing home workers at Columbus Park documented Nauden’s aggressive and violent actions, they neglected to protect the other residents from him.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois Department of Public Health reports that two other alleged assaults, in addition to the Cardona assault, occurred at Columbus Park over a 90-day period. This figure is very different from the 11 alleged beatings that Chicago police say took place at the Chicago nursing home over the same time period.

Nursing Home Negligence
It is appalling that there are elderly and sick nursing home residents who have been assaulted, raped, or killed while staying at Chicago nursing homes because they were not protected from other patients who are mentally ill and/or who have violent tendencies. Moving into a nursing home should make a patient’s life better, not place them in harm’s way.

1st-degree murder charges in nursing home death, Chicago Breaking News, December 15, 2009

Cops: nursing home resident charged with murder, Sun Times, December 15, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Department of Public Health

Learn how to request police records on potential crime at nursing homes, Chicago Tribune

Continue reading " Chicago Nursing Home Patient Now Charged with Murder of Fellow Resident " »

Three people have been indicted for alleged nursing home neglect. The defendants are nurse Barbara A. Moore and certified nursing assistants Melissa L. Lyon and Destiny W. Duncan. They are each indicted on one count of abuse/neglect of an adult. If convicted, each woman could end up serving up to 10 years in prison.

According to the indictments, Lyon transferred the victim, a nursing home resident, into a bed. She performed a single-person lift when the patient’s care plan required a two-person lift. As a result, the nursing home patient sustained a leg fracture.

Lyon and Duncan are accused of covering up the incident, while Moore is accused of neglecting to notify the patient’s relatives or doctor. The nurse also allegedly failed to check on the resident, which caused the victim to experience prolonged pain and suffering.

Nursing Home Negligence
Some nursing home patients need someone to assist them when getting in and out of a bed. A resident’s care plan may have specific instructions as to how to properly do this. Failure to provide the proper care or assistance when moving a patient can result in serious injuries if the patient falls, or slips, or is hurt in another way.

Following a patient’s care plan is imperative to ensure that he or she gets the needed attention and services Failure to provide this care or providing this care inappropriately can be grounds for nursing home abuse or neglect. Some other examples of inappropriate nursing care:

• Not paying attention to a patient’s concerns or complaints
• Not giving a patient ample opportunity to socialize or exercise
• Not properly feeding a resident
• Not properly bathing a resident
• Failure to provide proper assistance (when required) when a patient is getting in and out of bed or going to the bathroom

Three Indicted In Alleged Incident At Logan Co. Nursing Home, MSNBC, December 2, 2009

1 Nurse, 2 Caretakers Indicted For Patient Neglect, Kentucky Post, December 2, 2009

Related Web Resources:
National Center on Elder Abuse

Elder Abuse in Nursing Homes, NOLO

A jury has awarded the family of Catherine Taylor $51,000 for the nursing home neglect that caused her to develop a huge bedsore that contributed to her death. Taylor was 88 when she died in December 2004.

She lived at the Joliet nursing home in July and August of that year. On August 19, the nursing home resident was hospitalized and underwent surgery to remove an enormous bedsore that her family's Will County nursing home neglect lawyer says was a hole as big as his fist. She also received treatment for bone infections that occurred while she was confined to her bed and exposed to her own bodily fluids. Her family contends that the nursing home bedsore was contributing factor in her Will County wrongful death.

Bedsores
Bedsores can lead to infection, gangrene, fever, muscle tone loss, contusions, clotting, and death. Also called decubitus ulcers, pressure ulcers, or pressure sores, they can develop on the parts of a patient’s body that experiences sustained pressure.

Bedsores can occur when from staying in the same position for a period of time, such as when a patient who is confined to a chair, bed, or wheelchair cannot move without help and the nursing home workers neglect to provide that assistance. Bowel or bladder control problems, which causes urine, perspiration, urine, or stool to irritate the skin, and dehydration or malnutrition can also contribute to causing bedsores.

Nursing home workers are supposed to make sure that patients are turned regularly, bathed, cleaned, and dried properly, changed on a regular basis, and given sufficient food and drink. They can be held liable for Will County, Illinois nursing home neglect if failure to provide the proper care causes a patient to sustain bedsores and other related complications. Bedsores are preventable.

Jury faults nursing home in neglect case, Suburban Chicago News, December 2, 2009

Bed Sores -- The Basics, Bedsores.org

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Safety Task Force

Compromised Care, Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Reporter says that its analysis of information from the US Government Accountability Office shows that Illinois has more unsafe black nursing homes than any other US state. The GAO lists the nation’s 580 most dangerous nursing homes. The assisted living facilities were selected based on the most current inspection survey findings since December 2008.

According to The Reporter, 53 of the 580 nursing homes had primarily black residents. 12 of the black nursing homes are located in Illinois. Also, out of the state’s 51 primarily black assisted living facilities, 24% of the nursing homes are included on the federal list for the facilities with the worst records for safety. Only 5% of Illinois’s 685 primarily white assisted living facilities are on the list.

Nationally, according to The Reporter, black nursing homes make up 10% of the government’s unsafe assisted living facility list—even though they comprise just 5% of US nursing homes. Locally, almost 7 out of 30 Chicago nursing homes fall under the most dangerous assisted living facilities in the US list:

• All Faith Pavilion
• Alden Wentworth Rehab and Health Care Center
• Belhaven Nursing and Rehab Center
• Avenue Care Center
• Renaissance Park South
• Rainbow Beach Care Center
• South Shore Nursing and Rehab Center

None of the 45 primarily white Chicago nursing homes make the list.

Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse
As the loved one of a nursing home resident, it is important that you remove your loved one from a facility as soon as possible if you suspect that Illinois nursing home abuse or neglect is taking place. Nursing home negligence can seriously harm a patient and make his or her condition worse. Infected bedsores, physical injuries, trauma from sexual assault, severe malnutrition or dehydration, broken bones from fall accidents, and death are just some of the awful consequences.

Illinois leads nation with most unsafe black nursing homes, Chicago Reporter, December 2, 2009

Related Web Resources:
US Government Accountability Office

Nursing homes in Illinois

Continue reading " Illinois is US State with Most Unsafe Nursing Homes for Blacks, Says Chicago Reporter " »