Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

May is National Older Americans month. This is a time to recognize this elderly demographic, a group that keeps growing in size as people continue to live longer. By 2030, there are expected to be 71.5 million people in the 65 and over age group.

Many of these older people may have to live in nursing homes so that they can receive the care that they need to cope with some of the illnesses that come with aging, such as dementia or the effects of a stroke or a broken hip. Many sick and frail elderly people cannot live alone and may even require round-the-clock nursing care for their medical and daily needs.

Unfortunately, elder abuse continues to be a problem in nursing homes and in private residences. More than 2 million elder abuse cases take place in the US each year and according to the Jacksonville.com, authorities only hear about 1 out out of every 14 cases. Most elder abuse victims are women and 70% of assaults occur in private residences.

Our Chicago nursing home abuse lawyers wants to remind you that your loved one has certain rights as an assisted living facility resident. Nursing home neglect and abuse violate these rights and are crimes that could land those directly responsible in jail. You also may have grounds for a Chicago nursing home negligence case if the long-term care facility allowed the abuse to happen or failed to act to prevent it.

Nursing homes know that abuse, neglect, patient violence, and sexual assaults happen and it is their responsibility to make sure that such crimes don’t occur on the premise.

National Older Americans Month, Jacksonville.com, May 24, 2010

Related Web Resources:
May is Older Americans Month, Administration of Aging

Elder Abuse and Neglect, Helpguide.org

Continue reading " Our Chicago Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers Salute Assisted Living Facilities Residents During National Older Americans Month " »

Prosecutors are charging a man who was a regular visitor at a convalescent care home with molesting at least two women. The Criminal charges against Julio Mestre, which he has pleaded not guilty to, include elder abuse, sexual assault against a disabled person, burglary, and battery.

The 56-year-old man has been a regular visitor to Creekside Health Care, where he would help his wife administer Holy Communion to residents. According to police, on May 8, Mestre sexually assaulted a 66-year-old female resident whose speech has been impaired ever since she had a stroke.

The victim’s 79-year-old roommate was in the bedroom at the time and pressed the nurse call button for help. An attendant arrived and upon discovering Mestre took him to the nurse’s station. However, Mestre left before police were called and the authorities say that convalescent home did not contact them then to report what happened.

It wasn’t until the following day when Mestre returned to the assisted living facility with his wife and a staff member recognized him from previous night that police were notified about what happened. Mestre has been a registered sex offender ever since he was convicted for a similar crime in 2005.

Chicago Nursing Home Sexual Assault
Assisted living facilities must protect residents from becoming the victim of nursing home abuse, neglect, or sexual assault. This means exercising the appropriate safety measures so that violent or sexual offenders don’t end up hired as nursing workers or, if they are admitted as patients, that they are closely supervised and not placed in positions that would allow them to abuse or assault another resident.

The proper security and supervisory measures must also be in place so that patients aren’t made vulnerable to visitors or workers brought in for the day who may become sexually or physically violent. Any abuse or assault incidents must be reported to the authorities, and patients must be removed from dangerous situations immediately. An assisted living facility's failure to protect a patient from such crimes can be grounds for a Chicago nursing home neglect lawsuit.

Man charged with molesting patients at San Pablo convalescent home, Mercury News, May 26, 2010

Julio Mestre, Charged With Molesting Invalids in Contra Costa, Did Same Here in S.F., SF Weekly, May 28, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Elder Abuse in Nursing Homes, Nolo

Nursing Home Compare, Medicare.gov

Continue reading " Nursing Home Sexual Abuse: Visitor Charged with Sexually Assaulting at Least Two Patients " »

Officials from the office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan conducted an unannounced sweep of the Golden Moments Senior Care Center in Jacksonville on Monday. They were there to check for any nursing home violations.

This is the eleventh raid of an Illinois nursing home in the last several months. It is the first sweep to target an assisted living facility outside the Chicago area. However, this time, officials did not check whether any nursing home residents had outstanding arrest warrants.

No citations or fines were issued and no one was arrested during the inspection. There are five convicted sex offenders living at the Morgan County nursing home, and all of them are living in individual rooms. The nursing home has completed “risk assessments” on just two of the patients.

Earlier this year, the state of Illinois fined Golden Moments $50,000 for the 2009 death of a 74-year-old resident. The patient, Adam Waeltz, had choked on food.

Nursing home workers were required to ground up food before feeding Waeltz, who had no teeth and was known for eating and drinking too fast. However, on the day of his choking accident, Waeltz swallowed ham that had been torn into pieces instead. After his death, ham pieces the size of a tangerine were found in his windpipe.

At least six other residents had allegedly suffered Illinois nursing home abuse while staying at Golden Moments.

Sweep conducted at Jacksonville nursing home, SJ-R.com, May 25, 2010

Jacksonville, Illinois Nursing Home Fined $50,000 for Inadequate Care Related to 74-year-old Resident’s Choking Death, Malman Law, February 9, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan

Nursing home safety task force, Illinois.gov

Continue reading " Illinois Attorney General Conducts Unannounced Visit to Morgan County Nursing Home " »

Charles Brock is suing Fir Lane Terrace (known as Richmond Health and Rehabilitation — Kenwood), assisted living facility owner Extendicare, a number of the company’s wholly owned subsidiaries, nursing home administrators Amanda Jackson, Cynthia Simpson, and Lisa Johnson, and five unnamed employees for his mother’s wrongful death. Margaret Brock, 80, had been living at the assisted living facility for less than two months when she died on October 8, 2008.

According to Brock’s wrongful death complaint, his mother suffered dehydration, malnutrition, poor hygiene, weight loss, pneumonia, chronic obstructed pulmonary disorder-related complications, pain, and several infections, including sepsis and methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus, while at the nursing home. She also was involved in more than one fall accident. Brock is accusing the defendants of violating his mother’s nursing home rights and not fulfilling their obligation to make sure that she was kept safe. The plaintiff is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

Over the last few years, numerous nursing home negligence lawsuits have been filed against a number of Extendicare nursing homes for the poor nursing care that residents have allegedly received.

Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse
It can be devastating to find out that the assisted living facility that you entrusted with your loved one’s care actually made your family member’s condition grow worse. If your loved was injured or became ill because he or she did not receive the proper nursing care, the assisted living facility has violated the patient’s legal rights.

Wrongful death suit filed against nursing home, The Richmond Register, April 27, 2010

Madison nursing home accused of negligence, Kentucky.com, April 28, 2010

Continue reading " Man’s Nursing Home Negligence Lawsuit Blames Extendicare Assisted Living Facility for His Mother’s Wrongful Death " »

Jeremiah J. Healless, a former nursing home worker at Fair Oaks Health Center, is accused of Illinois nursing home abuse. The 25-year-old Harvard man allegedly had had been poking holes in a female patient’s Fentanyl patch and squeezing the patch so he could take the drug himself. Healless is charged with aggravated battery to an elderly person in connection with the pain patch-licking incident.

The Crystal Lake nursing home abuse was discovered after other workers at the assisted living facility noticed that the 92-year-old Alzheimer patient’s pain patch was an unusual color. They asked her family’s permission to set up video surveillance in her room.

Unfortunately, the theft of pain medication from elderly nursing home residents is not as rare an occurrence as one would hope. In an unrelated case, former care home manager and registered nurse Rachel Baker has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for the death of a 97-year-old resident.

Baker is accused of giving Lucy Cox lethal doses of medicine even as she abused controlled drugs that she had stolen from the assisted living facility. She was convicted of manslaughter in Cox’s death but acquitted of the manslaughter death of another elderly patient.

Baker would divert residents’ drugs for her own use. She took Cox’s diamorphine for herself and instead administered tramadol to the elderly woman. Though tramadol is considered a weaker substitute, Baker gave Cox too much of the drug.

In yet another case involving drug theft at a nursing home, Hilary Hartwig, a physical therapist, is charged with theft related to taking a painkilling drug patch from a 94-year-old patient at Bonell Good Samaritan Center. Hartwig admits to similar thefts at other assisted living facilities.

10-year term for care home manager, AP/Google, May 21, 2010

Police: Greeley woman admits stealing pain meds from elderly, The Tribune, May 13, 2010

Police: Nursing assistant licked drugs from patient's patch, Northwest Herald, May 17, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Drug Diversion: The Scope of the Problem, RecoveringNurses

Office of Diversion Control, DEA

Continue reading " Crystal Lake Nursing Home Abuse: Nursing Assistant Charged with Aggravated Battery of an Elderly Person in Pain Patch Licking Incident " »

Velma Penberthy is suing St. Paul's Nursing Home for Illinois nursing home neglect. She is seeking a judgment of over $30,000 plus costs.

The Cahokia woman claims that assisted living facility workers failed to provide her the proper nursing care for her edema and did not help her when she showered. Penberthy contends that due to the negligent nursing care that she received, she injured her leg and ankle during a fall accident in the shower and in a separate injury accident, sustained a leg contusion when she was struck by a motorized wheelchair.

Negligent Nursing Care
Assisted living facilities are supposed to maintain a certain standard of care for their residents. Nursing home neglect, abuse, or failure to provide the proper nursing care can be grounds for an Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuit.

Other reasons why someone might sue for Chicago nursing home negligence:

• Breach of duty
• Nursing mistakes
• Nursing home neglect
• Inadequate security
• Failure to prevent fall accidents
• Failure to treat bedsores
• Sexual assault crimes
• Patient violence
• Inadequate supervision
• Inexperienced or poorly trained staff
• Medication mistakes
• Failure to prevent choking accidents
• Improper restraints
• Wandering/elopement incidents
• Violent crimes
• Elder financial abuse
• Malnutrition
• Wrongful death

It is disturbing that so many patients are victims of Chicago, Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect. It is important to immediately remove your loved one from any abusive situation and report the incident.

Nursing home resident claims employees let her fall, hit her with motorized wheelchair, The Record, May 14, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Homes in Illinois, Illinois Department of Health

Compromised Care, Chicago Tribune

A former nursing home aide has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for sexually assaulting four patients at the National HealthCare assisted living facility. Earlier this year, James Wright entered an Alford plea to four counts of aggravated sexual battery. This type of plea acknowledges that there is enough evidence to convict him but does not obligate a defendant to plead guilty.

According to a court-ordered psychological evaluation to determine the 35-year-old’s eligibility for a sex offender treatment program, Wright blames his victims for his sexual crimes. The evaluation findings describe him as a manipulative hedonist who has a tendency to engage in exhibitionism and voyeurism and ranks his personality along with that of the average molester or rapist. It wasn’t until moments before Wright was sentenced that he admitted responsibility for his actions and asked for forgiveness from his nursing home abuse victims and their families.

Nursing board documents report that seven patients from NHC had complained of sexual assault while Wright was caring for them. Since then, former NHC nurses have said that management routinely disregarded complaints made by nurses and patients regarding Wright’s behavior.

After leaving NHC, he was hired at Brookdale Senior Living-Grand Court Bristol in September 2007. A spokesperson for Brookdale Senior Living says that Wright’s references were flawless and he passed a criminal background check. However, patients from Grand Court Bristol have also come forward claiming that he sexually assaulted them too.

Chicago Nursing Home Negligence
Assisted living facilities must protect patients from becoming the victims of Chicago, Illinois nursing home abuse, neglect, sexual assault, or patient violence. Unfortunately, there are nursing homes that continue to disregard complaints made by residents and/or fail to take the necessary measures to keep violent sexual offenders and abusive workers out of their facilities.

Wright sentenced to 60 years in nursing home abuse case, TriCities, May 14, 2010
Did an NHC nursing home let a serial molester run free for seven years? , Nashville Scene, April 9, 2009

More Nursing Home Abuse Cases Uncovered, Tricities.com, August 28, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Nursing home overview, Medicare

Making the Right Choice, National Institute on Aging

An investigation by a state department of health has found the Jones-Harrison assisted living facility guilty of nursing home neglect in the death of a dementia patient who left the residence and wandered off last November. The report says that nursing home workers thought the woman had gone home with a family member.

However, while a relative did sign the woman out of the nursing home the day before the incident, she did bring the patient back to the assisted living facility. She did not, however, sign the resident back in.

It wasn’t until the next morning that the missing woman was discovered near a parking garage. She had no pulse and had frozen to death. She died from hypothermia due to exposure to the cold. The same family member who had checked the patient out says that nearly 17 hours after the woman was last seen, the nursing home still hadn’t called the cops.

According to investigators, a maintenance worker who left the facility on the day the patient wandered off had left a cyclone gate door open. The worker said that he purposely did not take the time to lock the door because he was cold and wanted to get to his vehicle as quickly as possible.

The health department determined that the assisted living facility and the maintenance worker were both negligent in causing the woman’s death. The report found that Jones-Harrison failed to properly oversee the resident registry and did not put into action in a timely manner the protocol for dealing with missing persons.

Wandering/Elopement
If your loved one is a nursing home patient who needed supervised care and he/she got hurt after wandering off the property undetected and without supervision, you may have grounds for a Chicago nursing home neglect lawsuit . Fall accidents, becoming the victim of a violent crime, hypothermia, dehydration from severe heat, and getting hit in an Illinois car crash are some of the reasons why patient elopement from a nursing home can be so dangerous.

Minneapolis Nursing Home Guilty of Neglect in Patient's Freezing Death, MyFoxTwinCities, May 20, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Preventing Elopement, Repertoire, March 2008

Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care, Helpguide.org

This week is National Nursing Home Week. The theme for this year is Enriching Every Day. The week runs from May 9 - 16 and is for honoring those who add value to life at a nursing home, as well as to celebrate assisted living facilities and their residents.

In Cook County, Will County, Lake County, and DuPage County, our Chicago nursing home neglect and abuse lawyers would like to remind residents’ loved ones that not only is it important to inspect an assisted living facility prior to allowing your family member to live there, but it is also a good idea to visit your relative after he/she has moved in. In addition to spending quality time together, you can make sure that nursing home workers are providing the care and protection that your family member needs.

Signs that your loved one may be a victim of Chicago nursing home abuse or neglect:

• Sudden weight loss
• Bedsores
• Poor hygiene
• Heavy sedation or overmedication
• Severe depression or withdrawal
• Unwillingness of staff members to allow visitors
• Genital infections
• State of agitation or fearfulness
• State of disorientation
• Unsanitary living conditions
• Dehydration
• Malnutrition
• Soiled clothing or sheets

If your loved one or other residents complain about the care or treatment they are receiving at the nursing home, it is a good idea to take what they have to say seriously. It’s also important to observe the patient closely even if he/she doesn’t complain. Is the resident exhibiting any of the signs listed above? How does the patient react when interacting with staff members? How do the nursing home workers treat the patient?

National Nursing Home Week, American Health Care Association

Related Web Resources:
Tips When Visiting a Nursing Home, Ohioline.osu.edu

Tips on visiting friends and relatives, American Health Care Association (PDF)

Continue reading " National Nursing Home Week: Visit Your Loved One at a Chicago Assisted Living Facility " »

The Illinois House and Senate have approved the nursing home reform bill. The legislation is aimed at improving the care and safety levels at assisted living facilities throughout the state. Senate Bill 326 is now headed for Governor Pat Quinn's desk.

Measures in the bill include mandating that nursing homes beef up their staffing levels, satisfy higher standards before taking in residents that are suffering from serious mental illnesses, and keep more dangerous patients in secure areas where they can be supervised more closely and receive more intensive treatment. The bill also paves ground for the transfer of thousands of mentally ill patients out of assisted living facilities into community treatment programs where they can receive more appropriate and effective care. The legislation reflects the 38 recommendations made by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s Nursing Home Safety Task Force that was created following a Chicago Tribune investigation into nursing home violence that has been occurring between residents.

Our Chicago, Illinois nursing home law neglect and abuse firm is pleased to hear that lawmakers are taking steps to provide patients with the nursing care and protection that they need. Too many residents have suffered because nursing homes did not give them the proper care or make sure that they were kept away from violent residents and abusive nursing home employees. The fact that sexual assaults, assault and battery, and murders have occurred at numerous assisted living facilities throughout the state is evidence that the current system needed to be changed.

Most people that live in nursing homes do so because they need help, including specialized nursing care and assistance with their daily self-care needs. Assisted living facilities know this, and it is their job to give residents that care while protecting them from harm.

Nursing home reform bill passes Illinois House, Chicago Tribune, May 6, 2010

Legislature Passes Sweeping Nursing Homes Reform Bill, PRNewsire, May 7, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Final Report, Nursing Home Safety Task Force (PDF)

Compromised Care, Chicago Tribune

Continue reading " Illinois House and Senate Pass the Nursing Reform Bill " »

A new study to be published by the Archives of Internal Medicine reports that interrupting nurses while they are seeing to a patient’s medical needs can increase the chances that a medication error will happen. The more distractions that occur, the greater the number of mistakes that can happen. Per the study, which is the first one to demonstrate a clear link between medication errors and interruptions, four interruptions during a single medication administration doubles the chances that a major medical mistake can happen.

From September 2006 to March 2008, researchers watched 98 nurses preparing and giving 4,271 medications to 720 patients at two Australia teaching hospitals. They categorized mistakes as “procedural failures” or “clinical errors.” Among the findings:

• Just one out of every five medications administration was free from error.
• Interruptions took place during over 50% of all administration.
• Interruptions were linked to an 12.1% increase in procedural failures and a 12.7% rise in clinical mistakes.
• 79.3% of mistakes were minor.
• 2.7% of errors were major clinical mistakes.
• The most common procedural mistakes included giving the patient the right medicine at the wrong time and failing to check the patient’s chart against his/her ID.

Talking to a nurse who is preparing or administering medication is one common interruption. However, there are other reasons why a nurse at an assisted living facility might make a medication error. Understaffing, improper training, exhaustion, making small talk, administrative mistakes, such as failing to check the dosage, type of medication, failure to properly document the medical chart, and a lack of a proper checks and balances system in place to prevent mistakes, are other common causes of medication errors.

At a hospital, a medication mistake can be grounds for a Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit if injuries or death occurs. At an assisted living facility, a medication error may be grounds for a Chicago nursing home negligence complaint.

Interrupting a Nurse Makes Medication Errors More Likely, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, April 26, 2010

Interruptions Linked to Medication Errors by Nurses, Medscape Today

Causes of Medical Mistakes, Wrong Diagnosis

Related Web Resources:

Archives of Internal Medicine

Medication errors plague nursing home residents, Boston.com, February 24, 2005

Continue reading " Medication Mistakes at Chicago Nursing Homes Can Injure Residents " »

La Salle County Nursing Home was named the defendant of yet another Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuit involving another women who was allegedly sexually assaulted by the same male resident. The victim is a 90-year-old former patient.

According to the Illinois nursing home negligence complaint, staff members failed to properly protect her from her alleged assailant, who had a history of sexual violence. The male resident is accused of sexually violating almost a dozen female nursing home patients during his stay at the La Salle County assisted living facility. Many of his targets were suffering from dementia. He has since then been transferred to a psychiatric facility.

The Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuit is seeking over $50,000 for mental, physical, and psychological injuries, and negligence, in addition to legal fees, and costs.

Other La Salle County, Illinois nursing home neglect lawsuits on behalf of women that were allegedly victimized by the same fellow resident:

• A complaint was filed last month on behalf of a former 81-year-old patient who has since passed away.

• In 2009, a nursing home negligence complaint asking for at least $250,000 was filed for a woman whose pelvic bone cracked while she was sexually assaulted.

• Also that year, a $100,000 lawsuit was filed for a woman who was also allegedly sexually victimized.

Chicago, Illinois Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse
Becoming the victim of any kind of sexual assault at any age is traumatic, violating, and causes serious injuries. If a nursing home was negligent and failed to protect a resident from becoming the victim of sexual abuse, you may have grounds for a Chicago nursing home neglect case.

Fourth lawsuit filed against county nursing home, MyWebTimes, April 29, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Compromised Care, Chicago Tribune

Illinois Department of Public Health