Chicago Trial Attorney Blog : Chicago Trial Lawyer & Attorney : Philip J. Berenz Law Firm : Business Litigation, Personal Injury

Yet another bill has been introduced to try to cap non-economic and punitive damages when nursing home residents and their families attempt to hold nursing homes accountable for abuse and neglect. Read the full article here. The article reiterates what the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has found in the quality of care in this nation's nursing homes and summarizes the outrage that should be present over such a bill:

Clearly, there are some serious deficiencies in the quality of care offered by some of our nursing homes that need to be addressed. Why, then, would we want to severely limit one of the only means of recourse for families who find that their loved ones have been neglected and/or abused? That's what this legislation would do. It would make it harder for nursing homes to be held accountable for abuse or neglect.

The only means to make a nursing home accountable is to make them pay for their mistakes so that, in the future, maybe they won't make the same mistake twice if they know it will continually cost them. It is the only incentive to ensure your loved ones are properly cared for--every day. Without the threat of punitive damages, in particular, nursing home management will calculate the risk of reducing staff to lower levels, keeping records and doctor's orders with less caution and having an attitude of "this is just a business" even more. Make sure such bills do not become law. Call your State Representatives to oppose any such measures. Anything else will only contribute to the notion that the value of the lives of the elderly--and others who must live in nursing homes--are worthless. In this great country, we simply cannot allow that to happen. 

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At least one Court has interpreted the Illinois Sale Representative Act (the "Act") to hold that solicitation of orders occurring outside the State of Illinois after 1990 is covered by the Act. See Circuit Systems, Inc. v. Mescalero Sales, Inc., 925 F.Supp. 546, 549 (N.D. Ill. 1996). That is, so long as the constitutional minimum contacts test is satisfied, such "foreign" orders shall fall under the protection of the Act. See id.

If you meet the definition of a "sales representative" (as discussed in prior postings--but must be discussed with us for an appropriate legal opinion as to whether you meet such definition) and are due commissions, contact us immediately to determine if we can assist you in collecting any unpaid commissions and enforcing the Act so as to recover any attorneys' fees and potential punitive damages. Read our newest press release for a general overview of the Act here: http://www.prlog.org/10207231-unpaid-sales-commissions-in-illinois-may-warrant-punitive-damages.html or see our prior postings under "Illinois Sales Representative Act" here.

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 A man has been charged with abusing nursing home residents. Three patients were videotaped on the abuser's cell phone and had been seen by several witnesses before they were erased. Read the full article here. The saddest part of this situation is that most residents are not in a condition to even report such abuse due to dementia and other similar situations. In fact, it took the wife of one resident to complain to police and according to a court affidavit:

the elderly male victim repeatedly complained that Pearl stripped off his clothes and touched him inappropriately, spit in his face and threatened to hurt him

The victim has trouble sleeping now and can't even calm down. Nursing home residents are guaranteed certain rights in their care but family members must monitor the care and condition of their loved ones to assist in preventing these situations. If you believe a loved one has been abused or neglected, contact us immediately to protect their rights.

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A doctor, a nurse and a pharmacist have been criminally charged in connection with drugging some 22 nursing home residents with psychotropic medications simply to make them more tranquil. Read the article here. The article notes that 3 people may have died and one suffered great injury as a result. The attorney general noted:

'These people maliciously violated the trust of their patients, by holding them down and forcibly administering psychotropic medications if they dared to question their care" . . . 'This is appalling behavior, which amounts to assault with a deadly weapon.'

Laws protect nursing home residents from abuse and neglect; however, the only way to determine if such is even happening is to communicate often with your loved ones. Ask questions. Ask their neighbors questions. Ask the staff how your loved one is. Review their medical records and nurses notes when you can to determine if they are receiving the care, medications and attention required. If not--get them out of the home!

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An Itasca-area nursing home called The Arbor of Itasca has been sued after an 89-year-old woman, who suffered from dementia, was found frozen to death in the nursing home courtyard. Read the full article here. According to the coroner, the woman was outside for at least 90 minutes. Her family noted that she wasn't even able to leave her bed without assistance and doesn't understand how staff allowed her to slip out unnoticed. Striking to the very heart of the matter, one of the woman's daughters stated simply:

This just can't be allowed to happen to anybody. Nobody should have to die like that.

Under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act, a facility cannot abuse or neglect a resident. See 210 ILCS 45/2-107. "Neglect" means a failure in a facility to provide adequate medical or personal care or maintenance, which failure results in physical or mental injury to a resident or in the deterioration of a resident's physical or mental condition. See 210 ILCS 45/1-117. "Abuse" means any physical or mental injury or sexual assault inflicted on a resident other than that by accidental means in a facility. See 210 ILCS 45/1-103. Violation of the act can result in damages, including attorney's fees, being awarded. See 210 ILCS 45/3-602. Know the facility that you check your loved ones into and investigate, investigate, investigate before entrusting your family members to any facility.

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A recent article pointed out life inside one of Illinois' "one-star" nursing homes. Notably, when inspectors arrived they found:

The lobby smelled of urine. In one room, they found a 97-year-old woman, lying in her own waste. She had severe bruises on her arm, foot and both legs that the staff could not immediately explain. Another resident had a bed sore larger than a golf ball and dripping blood.

It was also noted that an obese man suffocated after getting stuck between a mattress and side rails and the State of Illinois fined the facility $50,000 for the death--noted as one of of the largest nursing home penalties in the state last year.

In my earlier posts, I stress often that when placing a loved one in any nursing facility, do your due diligence. Check the ratings system. Check the Illinois Department of Public Health. Ask questions of the staff and visit the facility at various times. There is no reason that any resident should ever suffer through these issues.
 

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The son of a man who died from thirst in a nursing home has filed a lawsuit against the nursing home. Read the full article here. According to an investigation by the Department of Health, staff noticed the man undergo weight loss but didn't notify doctors. The Department of Health found the nursing home be in neglect. When sending loved ones to nursing homes, investigate the nursing homes for past instances of neglect. Check the new Medicare site for ratings here, the local state department that regulates nursing homes (in Illinois here) and ask many, many questions of the staff and administration before admitting a loved one.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") has just launched "Nursing Home Compare" which provides quality ratings for each of the nation’s 16,000 Medicare and/or Medicaid-certified nursing homes. The rating system is a five-star system based on health inspection results, quality measures, and staffing levels and an overall rating is also provided. Visit the rating system here. CMS suggests using these ratings along with other information to get a true picture about any particular nursing home. 

The nursing home industry may be concerned about the system. According to one article, the rating results are as follows:

About 22 percent of the nation's nearly 16,000 nursing homes received the federal government's lowest rating in a new five-star system unveiled Thursday, while 12 percent received the highest ranking possible.

792 nursing homes in Illinois have been rated here. Families should take into account this information before sending a loved one to any Illinois facility but also review other sources of information to determine the level of care and attention loved ones should receive.

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A former nursing home director was sentenced to 19 months in prison and 3 years of probation for neglecting a 60-year-old woman. For the full article, click here. According to the article, the resident was in agony for 5 days before staff called an ambulance. Apparently, aides had dropped the resident while moving her into her bed. Unbelievably, the nurse waited 5 days before ordering X-rays:

despite multiple reports from different staffers that [the resident] was screaming or crying in pain.

The resident died after surgery. The family filed a $3.5 Million dollar civil lawsuit which has tentatively and confidentailly settled.

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