Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Last week, Gail Drmacich noticed that her 68 year old mother-in-law's arm was turning green. Drmacich's mother-in-law was under the care of St. John's Place, a nursing home facility that is not only in the midst of a criminal elder abuse investigation, but has been faced with three wrongful death lawsuits since 2003. Because it seemed that the nursing home was ignoring this serious sign of injury, Drmacich telephoned a doctor at a nearby hospital. The doctor recommended that the resident be taken to the ER immediately. Drmacich then notified St. John's Place, but she claims it took the nursing home over two hours to order an ambulance.

A medical examination revealed that Drmacich's mother-in-law was suffering from a separated shoulder and a fractured elbow. Drmacich believes the injuries were perhaps the results of a fall, and that they were caused by nursing home neglect. The former resident was still in the hospital at the time the story was reported, but Drmacich had already cleaned out her mother-in-law's room at St. John's Place and withdrawn her from its care. A representative for St. John's Place briefly commented that these are only allegations, yet to be proven by the state or even brought to the state.

Drmacich also stated that her mother-in-law had shown signs of bruising in the past, and Drmacich appears to have been continually frustrated with the care provided by St. John's Place. Although it took something as unnerving as a green arm to alert her that something was seriously wrong, you should be aware that sometimes smaller signals can be signs of big problems. Bruising can be caused by many factors, and can be much more common in the elderly, but there are some types of bruising that should alert you that abuse or neglect may be occurring. Here is a helpful guide on what to do if you believe your loved one is a victim of such abuse or neglect.

If you or someone you love has been injured, neglected or abused in a nursing home at the hands of nursing home caretakers, please contact Ed Fox & Associates today.

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Another-family-alleges-relative-was-victim-of-abuse-at-St-Louis-County-nursing-home-158639165.html

Advocates for the elderly and disabled are disappointed with the lack of input they had concerning legislation on minimum staffing levels in nursing homes passed by the Illinois General Assembly. An Illinois State Senator, Jacqueline Collins, and other advocates for patients were urging for a 20 percent minimum RN level in nursing home facilities. Advocates urged that the 20 percent care level was supported by research and that it would lead to a reduction in neglect of nursing home residents. Collins, in particular supported the 20 percent RN level in nursing homes because the lack of RNs is a particular problem at Chicago-area nursing homes. Despite concerns and research brought forth by Advocates, the Illinois General Assembly did not pass a 20 percent RN minimum care level as part of the legislation.

The resulting agreement reached after group meetings on the language of the legislation and negotiations resulted in SB 2840 and includes $70 million in Medicaid cuts - 2.7 percent cut rather than the 15 percent cut that nursing homes feared. In addition, the agreement included Health Care Council of Illinois' preference for 10 percent RN staffing levels. This agreed upon 10 percent falls very short of what Advocates urge is a necessary level of care to provide appropriate staffing and individualized nursing and personal care to nursing home residents. Advocates contend that people are going to be neglected as a result of the staffing reductions. Collins was upset, not simply because the lack of RNs is a particular problem in her district, but because she was assured by Michael Gelder, Governor Quinn's senior health-care policy advisor, that the RN staffing issue would be resolved in negotiations after the state budget was passed by the General Assembly. It seems that, despite these assurances, the staffing issue was resolved through closed-door meetings and budget-related deals with the powerful nursing home industry - which happens to be one of the State's largest sources of political campaign contributions.

SB 2840 and its 10 percent RN care level has disappointed a lot of advocates for the elderly and disabled who feel left out of the process that ultimately decided their fate. RN care at a level of 10 percent is not enough to see meaningful improvements in the level of care required at Illinois nursing home facilities.

If you or someone you love has been injured, neglected or abused in a nursing home at the hands of nursing home caretakers, please contact Ed Fox & Associates today.

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x345281011/Advocates-criticize-bill-to-reform-nursing-home-staffing-levels

It is troubling the vast amount of news that is reported on nursing home abuse and neglect. A Laredo, Texas news story discusses a woman, Mary Arias, who was "shocked" by the treatment of her father, who currently resides in a nursing home. Her father is paralyzed on the left side of the body, which has drastically limited the actions he can take on his own. His limitations require him to rely on nurses at his nursing home to assist him in certain activities and take care of him. Mary Arias' father complained to her during one visit that he had wanted to rinse out his mouth and was told by the nurses to do it himself. Mary Arias, reported this incident and her father's treatment to Pro 8 News because she was and is concerned about the nurses' attitudes and lack of care and for the other residents who are the recipients of the same or similar treatment.

When a person and/or his or her family makes the tough decision to seek nursing home care, neglect and abuse should not be factors that are calculated in this decision. Today, however, nursing home abuse and neglect seem to be all too frequently occurring and, as such, must be factors at the forefront of the minds of those considering nursing home care. Mary Arias made a good point - if the nurses and/or staff do not want to work in a nursing home and do not want to help care for those in need, then they should not be in the business of caring for those in need. It is a sad state of affairs when, almost everyday, there is a report in the news of a nursing home resident who has suffered from neglect and/or abuse or has been injured in a nursing home. Lack of compassion, staffing reductions, funding cuts, etc. lead to an increase in instances of nursing home abuse and/or neglect. The family members of those who are being cared for in nursing homes are the eyes, ears and voices of the residents and should inquire into the level of care their respective family members receive to ensure that they are not victims of nursing home abuse and neglect.

If you or someone you love has been injured, neglected or abused in a nursing home at the hands of nursing home caretakers, please contact Ed Fox & Associates today.

http://www.pro8news.com/news/local/Nursing-Home-Addresses-Claims-of-Neglect-157114775.html.

A few months ago, we wrote about the dangers of overusing and improperly administering psychiatric drugs in nursing homes. Well, last week, U.S. health officials announced that they seek to alleviate some of these dangers by reducing the use of antipsychotics in nursing homes by fifteen percent before the end of 2012. This is a response to the rampant, wrongful use of these drugs to subdue dementia patients, and the risks that this abuse poses to their health and lives. If you believe that a nursing home is improperly or wrongfully providing medication to you or a loved one, here is an instructional guide on how to begin taking action. (see #9 for wrong medication issues)

To achieve their goal, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently launched a partnership with federal and state officials, advocacy groups, caregivers, and nursing homes, with the intention of providing better care to dementia patients in nursing homes. Antipsychotics certainly have proper and intended uses, including the treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc., but nursing homes have long administered these drugs to subdue dementia patients, which can have dangerous side effects, including death. Many nursing homes continue to disregard these risks, and routinely drug dementia patients with antipsychotics, perhaps because caregivers think the patients are too difficult to deal with properly.

CMS recently discovered that in 2010, daily doses of antipsychotics exceeding the recommended level were given to more seventeen percent of nursing home patients. There may have already been some rules in place to prevent caregivers from administering unnecessary drugs, and many of these antipsychotics explicitly warn of severe risks for dementia patients, but these rules were clearly not enough. This new partnership is a step in the right direction. CMS hopes to provide better training to caregivers, educate nursing homes on the use of antipsychotics, and provide alternatives to antipsychotics. Hopefully this will result in the desired fifteen percent decrease in antipsychotic administration, and more importantly, help provide better care for nursing home patients throughout the country.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a nursing home at the hands of nursing home caretakers, please contact Ed Fox & Associates today.