Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Our Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys have been following the new measures by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) have reduced drug abuse among nursing home patients. The DEA has begun to crack down on pharmacists and nurses who dispense drugs without a doctor's written prescription. The practice, which was wide-spread until recently, has been criticized for allowing prescription abuse and overmedication among nursing home residents.

The new measures, although effective in reducing abuse, haven't come without a price. Many residents now find that they have to wait hours, or even days, without pain medication. The New York Times reported the case of one 75 year-old man who had to endure excruciating pain for an entire weekend before he could receive his pain medication that helps him deal with the numerous surgical pins in his body.

Critics claim that the nursing home patients shouldn't have to suffer under these new regulations. Instead, they say, nursing homes should have more doctors on premise or on staff, ready to dispense or write a prescription for these drugs. The diminishing presence of doctors in nursing homes has been a problem now for decades and these new measures highlight their absence. Now, many nurses have to contact pharmacists and the pharmacists contact the doctors. Waiting for a response can often take hours or days. Without doctors present to prescribe these drugs, the patients now have to deal with the bureaucracy of the system.

The New York Times, A Battle Against Prescription Drugs Causes Pain, Oct. 2, 2010

Continue reading "New Measures Make Drug Abuse Less Common in Nursing Homes" »

The Chicago Tribune over the weekend ran a front page story about Alden Village North, the nursing home, they say, has the worst safety record in Illinois. Titled "10 Years. 13 Deaths." the article exposed Alden Village North's abysmal care practices and the number of deaths which have been reported at that one facility alone. The article ran among heart-wrenching pictures of deceased children with special needs, the same 13 children who died under the facility's care.

Part of the Alden Management Services, Inc. group, Alden Village North is a for-profit facility run by Floyd A. Schlossberg. Schlossberg and his numerous nursing home facilities have come under intense heat lately for a string of injustices that have happened inside their walls. These facilities, however, aren't the only ones to blame. For the 13 deaths over the past 10 years, Alden Village North has been requested to pay $190,000 in fines by the State of Illinois. The nursing home has never paid the full amount of any penalty. Laws and enforcement have been extremely weak, despite recent efforts by Governor Quinn to step up the fight against nursing home abuse.

Furthermore, our firm has filed a four-count complaint against another Alden Management Services facility, Alden Orland Park Rehabilitation & Health Care Center. In it, it is alleged that the facility failed to look after a resident admitted post surgery, and that as a result of their negligence, the resident endured pain, suffering, and eventually died.

Chicago Tribune, Children with Disabilities Die on Care Facility's Watch, Oct. 11, 2010

Continue reading "Nursing Home Labeled Worst in Illinois" »

An Illinois nursing home has again come under the eye of public scrutiny for recent allegations of nursing home neglect. Although La Salle County Nursing Home of Ottawa, Illinois is no stranger to bad reviews, complaints of elderly resident maltreatment have begun to gain media attention. Recently, the News Tribune reported that during the most recent health inspection by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) several major incidents raised red flags. Reported incidents included: failure of a registered nurse to perform CPR on a resident and as a result the resident died, verbal abuse of a 100-year-old resident by a certified nursing assistant (CNA), and staff giving a resident food that they were allergic to on more than one occasion.

This is not the first of serious incident reports that the La Salle facility has faced. In the June 2009 inspection by the IDPH, 6 deficiencies were cited, four of them being categorized as causing "immediate jeopardy to resident health and safety." Egregious incidents and substandard employee performance are unfortunately all too common in Illinois nursing home. Although Governor Pat Quinn and Attorney General of Illinois Lisa Madigan have made substantial efforts in improving the quality of elderly care, there are a number of facilities that have yet to comply with state and national standards.

NewsTribune, County Nursing Home Finds Itself in More Trouble, Sept. 28, 2010

Continue reading "Illinois Nursing Home Gains Media Attention" »

Thousands of Illinois residents with mental illnesses are breathing easier thanks to a decree issued by Governor Quinn and approved by a federal judge last week. The degree, which this blog reported on September 10, allows mentally ill patients to be placed in a more appropriate, less restrictive setting. The state will offer approximately 4,300 patients the chance to live in nursing facilities known as institutions for mental diseases, or IMDs. These institutions, proponents argue, are more appropriate for these patients because they cater to the needs of the mentally ill instead of placing them in homes often designed for the elderly. Furthermore, they are better suited to provide care for those mentally ill patients with criminal backgrounds.

The Americans for Civil Liberties Union and Governor Quinn are hailing this a major legal victory for those mentally ill residents of Illinois. Also, many elderly residents are relieved as incidents of drug abuse and violence among many psychiatric patients has been on the rise in recent years. This has come as a welcome change to these seniors and a step forward for the state as Illinois relies heavily on nursing facilities to provide care for younger adults with mental diseases.

The plan requires these patients to undergo extensive screening before they are considered fit for placement in such housing. In addition, patients will be re-screened every two years to determine their suitability. The housing will be supported through 100 percent state funding.

Chicago Tribune, Pact to Decrease Number of Mentally Ill in Nursing Homes, Sept. 30, 2010