Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

No criminal charges are going to be filed against three nursing home workers accused of using their cell phones to take nude pictures of patients. Prosecutors say that they don’t believe a crime was committed. However, the state’s department of health is still looking into the matter.

The nursing home, Kitsap Health & Rehabilitation Center, fired the employees. One of the nurses claims that although they took funny pictures of patients and sent them to one another, they did not take photographs that were inappropriate. Two of the workers have said they have been wrongly accused

Another nursing home worker reported the alleged pictures. Police say the photographs were deleted before they were able to get access to the phones.

Nursing Home Abuse
It is wrong and an act of nursing home abuse to take inappropriate and/or private photographs of nursing home patients without their consent. Unfortunately, this type of nursing home abuse has happened before. In 2007, at least three patients at Greenwood Manor were photographed in the nude. Police say it looked as if the photographs were staged. One woman spoke out when she was sent a picture of patients at the home. Her sister, a resident at the facility, was in the photo.

Last year, a nursing home received a citation because workers used their cell phones to make audio recording and take pictures of patients. The images and sounds, which were accompanied by sexual song lyrics, were reportedly taken without the patients’ permission or knowledge and sent to other nursing home workers at Pimlico Parkway. Staffers claimed that they not know what they were doing was wrong.

Also in 2009, a certified nursing assistant at Pigeon Forge Care and Rehabilitation Center was fired for using his cell phone to take photos of 12 nursing home residents in different states of undress. 47 pictures and 27 videos were taken of patients engaged in different activities.

No charges for Bremerton nursing home photos, Seattle Times, February 11, 2010

Nursing Home Employees Fired For Allegedly Taking Nude Photos Of Resident, KIRO, February 9, 2010

Related Web Resource:
National Center on Elder Abuse

USA Today says that out of every five US nursing homes, one of them will have earned consistently poor ratings for overall quality. The newspaper came up with this figure after analyzing new data from Medicare, which began giving star ratings to US nursing homes in an attempt to help nursing home patients and their families make more informed choices when choosing an assisted living facility. Having this information can be very helpful in avoiding places where Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect are already rampant.

Star ratings are awarded based on inspection reports, investigations into complaints, and other information primarily gathered from the past two years. USA Today discovered that no US state, including Illinois, was exempt when it came to having assisted living facilities that received poor ratings from one year to the next. It is also interesting to note that almost all of the nursing homes that earned one or two star ratings belonged to for-profit companies. The assisted living facilities with the lowest ratings usually had an average of 14 deficiencies each. However, Medicare is quick to note that even a nursing home that receives one star will have had to meet the federal agency’s most basic requirements.

While it is good that federal health officials have developed a rating system that provides information about each facility based on health inspection results, staffing, and quality measures, our Chicago, Illinois nursing home abuse lawyers remain convinced that there is no substitute to actually visiting an assisted living facility and personally inspecting the bedrooms, kitchen, quality of food, and living conditions. This will also allow you to watch the way patients interact with nursing home workers so that you can get a sense of the kind of attention and care your loved one might receive at a particular facility.

Too often, patients become the victims of Illinois nursing home neglect, abuse, or patient violence. Injuries, illness, and death are the unfortunate consequences of nursing home negligence.

Analysis: Poor ratings persist for 1 in 5 U.S. nursing homes, USA Today, January 28, 2010

Nursing Home Compare, Medicare

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Homes in Illinois

Illinois Department of Public Health

Continue reading "One Out of Five Nursing Homes Consistently Earns Poor Ratings for Overall Quality" »

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Golden Moments Senior Care Center is fighting a $50,000 fine that state officials have imposed against it over inadequate nursing care related to the choking death of an elderly patient. Adam Waeltz, 74, died on October 3, 2009.

According to the state’s inspection report, Adam Waeltz, who was developmentally disabled and had no teeth, was at risk of choking on food unless he was properly supervised and fed the proper diet, which required that certain foods be ground up. He was known for drinking and eating too fast.

Yet on October 3, Waeltz was given ham that had merely been torn into pieces. He collapsed and died at the Illinois nursing home. According to the Morgan County coroner, there were ham pieces as large as a “tangerine” in the patient’s windpipe.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is fining Golden Moments Senior Care Center because it found the assisted living facility guilty of five “Type A” violations (each one comes with a $10,000 fine) over the incident.

These are not the first fines imposed on Golden Moments. The Illinois nursing home recently agreed to pay $6,500 to settle a nursing home violation. It also originally faced a $20,000 fine for allegations that one of its nurse’s aides was being abusive toward patients. The Illinois nursing home abuse fine was later lowered. The nurse’s aide, Jessie L. Ross, was let go from the assisted living facility.

Some nursing home patients are unable to eat and drink without help or supervision. This is why nursing homes must be mindful of each resident’s dietary and nutritional needs. Failure to make sure that a patient gets all of the nutrients and liquids he/she needs or that foods are properly processed before they are given to certain residents is nursing home negligence and can prove fatal.

Jacksonville nursing home fined $50,000, BeHealthySpringfield.com, February 3, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Department of Public Health

Continue reading "Jacksonville, Illinois Nursing Home Fined $50,000 for Inadequate Care Related to 74-year-old Resident’s Choking Death" »

According to a review reported in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, pharmacist review of meds and vitamin D supplementation can reduce nursing home falls. This is good news, considering that nursing home falls, as well as fall accidents in hospitals, are common causes of elderly deaths.

After reviewing several studies of vitamin D use in nursing homes, researchers found that nursing home residents’ chances of falling went down by 28% when they were given vitamin D every day. Seniors who had low levels of vitamin D when the study began were the ones who benefited the most. Also according to the report, seniors have a 10 times greater chance of falling when they reside at a nursing home.

Our Chicago, Illinois nursing home neglect lawyers represent patients who have been injured during nursing home falls. Unfortunately, not every nursing home does enough to prevent fall accidents from happening. Many of these fall accidents could have been avoided if only assisted living facilities and their employees had done their jobs correctly.

Common causes of Chicago, Illinois nursing home falls:

• Slip and fall hazards
• Inadequate assistance
• Malnutrition
• Poor lighting
• Lack of handrails
• Uneven steps
• Inadequate exercise program

Fall injuries can be extremely painful and debilitating and may lead to health complications and even death for an elderly or sick/frail nursing home resident.

Do NOT hesitate to explore your legal options for financial recovery.

Vitamin D reduces falls in nursing homes, review says, McKnight's, January 22, 2010

Related Web Resources:
The Cochrane Collaboration

Vitamin D, MayoClinic.com

Four nursing home patients who were allegedly victimized by former certified nursing assistants are suing nursing home operator Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society and four of the ex-nurse's aides for nursing home abuse and neglect. The alleged elder abuse is said to have occurred over a six-month period in 2008 at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea.

Former nursing home workers, Ashton Larson, Brianna Broitzman, Alicia Heilmann, and Kaylee Nash were teenagers at the time. Broitzman and Larson face 21 adult criminal charges, while Heilmann and Nash are charged with juvenile crimes. Two other former nursing workers who were allegedly involved in the nursing home abuse incidents were not named as defendants in the civil lawsuit.

The nursing home negligence complaint accuses the ex-nurse’s aids of prodding, poking, and pinching patients’ nipples, rubbing residents’ crotches, putting fingers in the patients’ mouths until they yelled, placing fingers in residents’ rectums, sitting with naked buttocks on a resident’s lap, simulating sexual activity with a patient, spitting on a resident, and spraying water on a patient. The elder abuse lawsuit claims that the ex- nursing home aides committed intentional emotional distress, civil assault and battery, as well as failed to report the abuse incidents.

The elder abuse complaint is accusing Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society of negligent retention, management, and supervision of its employees, vicarious liability, indemnification, and strict liability. The alleged victims and their families contend that the nursing home failed to fulfill a number of duties, including making sure that patients were not neglected or abused, providing them with the proper services and care, hiring, keeping, supervising workers in a manner that prevented them from mistreating vulnerable adults, and employing staffers that were competent and capable of doing their jobs.

One of the nursing home negligence lawyers in the case noted that the elder abuse incidents were not isolated events. The nursing home workers allegedly entered patients’ rooms and locked the doors. They would laugh at the victims and record them on video. The nursing home abuse lawsuit is seeking $50,000 for each of the plaintiffs for their injuries, pain, and suffering.

The former assisted living workers are accused of abusing about 15 nursing home residents. Some of these alleged victims have died. Their families may be filing civil lawsuits seeking damages.

Lawsuit alleges ‘systemic failure to exercise proper supervision’, Albert Lea Tribune, January 26, 2010

6 Teens charged in nursing home abuse, Star Tribune, December 4, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Abuse Overview, Justia

Nursing Home Compare, Medicare.gov

Continue reading "Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit Filed by Four Alleged Victims of Former Teen Nursing Assistants " »

The Illinois Department of Public Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are warning Somerset Place nursing home that they will shut it down unless certain safety breaches are quickly remedied. They say the violations place the residents at the Chicago nursing home “in immediate jeopardy.”

The CMS’s warning comes following a 10-probe of the assisted living facility. The federal agency has given the Chicago assisted living facility 23 days to fix the problems. The federal government is fining the nursing home $6,050/day until the remedies are made. Meantime, the Illinois Department of Public Health has started taking steps to revoke Somerset Place’s state license. The Chicago facility is contesting the revocation decision.

A statement issued by Somerset says that its’ well-being continues to be the main priority. Managers at the nursing home are reportedly working hard to fix the deficiencies. The Chicago nursing home specializes in working with mentally ill patients.

In December, some 66 patients with felony criminal records were housed among the Chicago assisted living facility’s 400 nursing home residents. Chicago police investigated multiple cases of alleged physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and drug possession at the nursing home between April 2008 and July 2009.

One nursing home resident, Maratta Walker, was murdered after she wandered off the premise. She was able to prostitute herself and use crack cocaine while living there. Inadequate supervision that allows for violent crimes on the premise or for patients to wander off the property alone can be considered Illinois nursing home neglect.

A nursing home can be subject to citations and fines for committing violations that threaten the safety, health, and well-being of its residents. Residents that have been harmed because of such deficiencies may be able to sue the assisted living facility for Chicago nursing home negligence.

Nursing home faces possible closing, Chicago Tribune, January 20, 2010

Federal Investigators Target Troubled North Side Nursing Home, ChicagoIst, January 9, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Somerset Place, LLC
Chicago Nursing Homes, The City of Chicago

Continue reading "Chicago, Illinois Nursing Negligence: Federal and State Officials Threaten to Shut Down Local Nursing Home Unless Violations Can Be Remedied " »

In Chicago, state senators expressed anger about the number of violent nursing home crimes committed by patients. In an effort to curb Illinois nursing home violence, are demanding a full revamp of the way Illinois inspects and monitors assisted living facilities. They also want a stricter screening system for determining which prospective residents may be too violent to house with other patients.

At Thursday’s hearing, the senators announced plans to present reform legislation. Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn’s new Nursing Home Safety Task Force also provided a broad outline of steps it will likely recommend to end the practice of placing dangerous felons and mentally ill residents with other patients in state nursing homes.

Task Force head Michael Gelder spoke about the need for both service options that are specifically geared specifically toward psychiatric patients and improved assessment methods for placing mentally ill patients in the right environment where they can receive the appropriate care.

A recent series of reports by the Chicago Tribune exposed just how dangerous it can be as a sick or elderly nursing home resident living with a younger, mentally ill patient who might also be dangerous. A number of sick and elderly residents have already been physically assaulted, sexually assaulted, and murdered by mentally ill patients with criminal records and/or violent streaks.

Last week, advocates for mentally ill patients had called on the state to overhaul the way psychiatric patients are dealt with and come up with new housing options for mentally ill patients. Housing catered toward mentally ill patients is not only cheaper than housing them in Illinois nursing homes, but it could also allow these patients to thrive. Studies show that mentally ill patients don’t pose a greater danger than do other people as long as they are given the proper care.

A nursing home patient who was injured by another resident may have grounds for filing a Chicago, Illinois nursing home negligence lawsuit.

Senators outraged over Illinois nursing home safety, Chicago Tribune, November 6, 2009

Nursing home reform: Advocates for mentally ill urge overhaul of nursing home operations, Chicago Tribune, October 30, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Nursing Home Safety Task Force

Nursing Homes in Illinois

Continue reading "The Fight Against Nursing Home Violence: State Senators Hold Chicago Hearing About Improving Patient Safety " »

Investigators were disturbed to discover that residents at an illegal adult day care group home were forced residents to live in prison camp conditions. They reportedly were forced to stay in chicken coops and use buckets as toilets. The senior home is not licensed. A number of the residents are mentally disabled.

According to City Attorney James Penman, 22 patients were crammed into three rundown buildings that all lacked plumbing. Razor wire fences and padlocked gates surrounded the illegal elder facility. The house had reportedly be converted into part of the facility and people were residing in rooms as small as 6 feet. Some rooms contained a mattress and two beds.

Last Friday, Pensri Sophar Dalton, the owner of the senior home, was arrested. Police have charged her with 16 counts of causing harm to elderly people.

The facility is no longer in operation. The residents were either transferred to licensed care homes or picked up by relatives.

Our Chicago nursing home negligence lawyers are disturbed to hear that so many residents may have been living under such squalid and unsanitary conditions at a supposed elder care facility.

In order to legally function as a proper nursing home, an elder care facility must obtain the proper licensing. There are hygiene requirements and care protocols and sanitation procedures that must be followed.

The sick, the elderly, and the mentally disabled are especially at risk of becoming the victims of nursing home abuse or neglect. The damage suffered by a nursing negligence victim can impact his or her physical health and emotional well-being. It is a crime to abuse or neglect an elderly person.

Obtaining financial recovery can allow your loved one to cover costs and damages from the nursing home negligence incident.

Alleged elder abuse in San Bernardino, ABC Local, September 5, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Division of Professional Regulation, State of Illinois

Nursing Homes in Illinois, Illinois Department of Public Health

A Kane County judge has found two sisters guilty of criminal neglect of an elderly person. The two defendants are Julie Barry, 48, and Jill Barry, 55. The elderly person was their mother, Mary Virginia Barry, 84, who died in 2007.

According to the Judge Allen Anderson, the two sisters may have intended to give their very sick and elderly mother the care that she needed but they failed to satisfy the standard that is considered a “good faith” effort that exempts caregivers from what is considered neglect. Anderson noted that “good intentions” do not equate to “good-faith efforts.”

On April 20, 2007, paramedics arrived at the home the two women lived in with their mother and found the 84-year-old in a demented state. She had aunts crawling on her and the sheets she was on had filth in them and she was suffering from severe dehydration. She also had bedsores on her back. One bedsore was so deep that hospital workers said they could see her vertebrae. The elderly woman, who had cancer complications and weighed approximately 80 pounds, died a week later.

At their criminal trial, the sisters said that they bathed and took care of their mother regularly. They said that their mother didn’t want to live in a nursing home or have a professional nurse come to their residence.

The Barry sisters’ sentencing hearing for their Kane County, Illinois elder abuse conviction is scheduled for October 9.

Elder Neglect in the Home
Unfortunately, nursing home professionals and other caregiver professionals are not the only ones who are known to commit elder neglect and abuse. Some elderly persons have been abused or neglected by loved ones who have been charged with their care. This can lead to fatal outcomes for the elderly person, who may have no one to turn to for help. Elder abuse can consist of physical abuse, failure to provide medical care, failure to feed or bathe the elderly person, financial exploitation, and other forms of abuse or neglect.

Daughters guilty of criminal neglect in mother's death, Chicago Tribune, August 14, 2009

Barry sisters found guilty of elder neglect

Related Web Resources:
Elder Abuse and Neglect: In Search of Solutions, American Psychologist Association

Abuse and Neglect of Elderly Persons by Family Members, PT Journal.org (PDF)

Continue reading "Geneva, Illinois Daughters Found Guilty of Elder Neglect Leading to Mother’s Death" »

A new study from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago reveals that elder abuse more than doubles the chances of seniors dying earlier, while self-neglect increases the chances of early death by six times. The study’s finding can be found in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s August 5, 2009 issue.

Dr. XinQi Dong, who is the study’s author, and a number of colleagues observed 9,318 Chicago seniors, all above the age of 65, that were taking part in the Chicago Health and Aging Project. They studied the seniors from 1993 to 2005. During this time period, social services received 113 reports of elder abuse and 1,544 reports of self-abuse. 4,306 participants died within seven years.

The study also found that seniors who were abused were twice as likely to die as seniors that were not abused. Dong noted that the studies findings indicate that self-neglect and abuse lead to the kind of physical deterioration that results in death. He says that usually this kind of mortality risk is associated with acute conditions, such as heart attacks. Dong emphasized the importance of preventing elder abuse and that reporting any incidents as soon as they happen can lead to medical intervention.

Dong noted that it is a misconception that only elderly people with dementia and Alzheimer’s are prone to neglect their own care.

Elder Abuse
Elder abuse endangers the victim’s physical, mental, and emotional states. Yet The National Center on Elder Abuse reports that at least 1 out of every 20 nursing home patients is abused or neglected, while acknowledging that this estimate is likely lower than what is the actual reality. 57% of nursing home workers admit to either having seen or committed nursing home abuse and neglect. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that between 1999 and 2002, nursing home neglect was a contributing factor in almost 14,000 patient deaths.

Elder Abuse Linked To Early Death, News Inferno, August 6, 2009

Elder Abuse, Neglect Make Early Death Far More Likely, US News & World Report, August 4, 2009

Related Web Resources:
National Center
on Elder Abuse

Warning Signs of Elder Abuse and Neglect

Continue reading "Fighting Chicago Nursing Home Negligence: Elder Abuse and Self Neglect Increases Odds of Early Death, Says Study" »

The Older Women’s League’s annual report, “Elder Abuse: A Woman’s Issue” says that of the 500,000 to 5 million seniors that are the victims of serious neglect, abuse or exploitation each year, about 66% of the victims are female—that’s about 3 million elderly women.

Other findings in the report:

• People suffering from dementia are at greater risk of abuse than other elderly victims.
• There are about 5.1 million people in the US older than age 65 that have dementia.
• There are more women than men over 90 with dementia.
• In 2005, 44% of people ages 75 and over suffered from a chronic condition that limited their ability to take part in their usual activities. More women over age 65 reported having this problem.
• According to the Long Term Care Ombudsmen, there were nearly 14,000 allegations of nursing home abuse, exploitation, or gross neglect reported in 2007.
• In 2008, the US General Accountability Office found that 70% of state surveys will accidentally overlook at least one deficiency when evaluating licensed long-term care facilities. 15% may miss a case involving immediate jeopardy and actual harm to a nursing home resident.

OWL considers elder abuse a women’s issue because so many women are among its victims. The older a woman becomes, her physical limitations, communication difficulties, and special needs may make it more difficult for her to escape violence—whether at home or in a US nursing home. Also, of the 800 women 60 years of age and over that took part in a 2006 phone survey, over 50% of them said they had experienced some form of abuse throughout their lives, with many incidents occurring after they turned 55. The abuse incidents appeared to have a long-term impact on the their health.

If you are worried that your mother, wife, sister, or grandmother is the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect or caregiver abuse or neglect, it is important that you remove her from the situation immediately. Elder abuse and neglect are health hazards that could cause your loved one’s condition to seriously deteriorate.

Abuse Frequently Against Elderly Women, EGPNews.com

Elder Abuse: A Women's Issue, 2009

Related Web Resources:
H.R. 448: Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2009, Govtrack.us

Elder Abuse, Office for Victims of Crime

Continue reading "Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers: 66% of Elder Abuse Victims are Women, says Older Women’s League" »

In Kane County Circuit Court, two women that are accused of neglecting their elderly mother testified at their criminal trial on Friday. Julie and Jill Barry are charged in Illinois with criminally neglecting an elderly person.

Mary died in 2007. Her daughters were charged with neglecting her after paramedics that arrived at their home discovered the 84-year-old woman living in poor conditions and suffering from serious bedsores. She passed away from cancer complications at a hospital the following week.

Both women maintain that they never abused their mother. They say they provided her with the care that she needed, including bathing her on a regular basis. They also claim that they didn't realize she was suffering from serious bedsores.

Elder Abuse
Elder abuse is a serious matter that can occur anywhere. Not all elder abuse cases occur in US nursing homes. Abuse and neglect of the elderly is also known to take place in private residences. Nursing home workers, professional caregivers, and family members tasked with caring for an elderly person have all been known to commit elder abuse.

According to the American Psychologist Association:
• For every elder abuse or nursing neglect case reported to police, as many as five cases may go unreported.
• Studies show that elderly people that are abused tend to die earlier even than those who are very sick but are not elder abuse victims.
• Most elder neglect and abuse cases happen in private homes behind closed doors.
• Elder abuse can consist of physical abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and/or financial abuse.

Daughters defend care of elderly mother, Chicago Tribune, May 30, 2009

Elder Abuse and Neglect: In Search of Solutions, APA

Related Web Resources:

Continue reading "Chicago Elder Abuse Lawyers: Two Daughters Charged with Neglecting Their Mother Testify At Their Criminal Trial" »