Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

An Illinois nursing home resident is blaming a Madison County, Illinois nursing home for a recent injury.

Blanche Hicks filed a lawsuit against Eden Retirement Center, Inc. on July 19, 2011, alleging that Eden Village was responsible for a fall she suffered in November 2010. According to the lawsuit, Hicks was left unattended in her room and, as a result, fell and broke her hip. She is seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

It is common knowledge that nursing home falls can cause serious injury, or even death, for frail nursing home residents. Nursing homes certainly can't prevent every single fall, but they are required to identify those residents that are at a high risk for falling and take measures necessary to make it as safe as possible for them. Two of the measures nursing homes should use more to prevent falls are as follows:

1. Care Plans - Care plans should be regularly updated so all employees know how to properly care for each resident.

2. Additional staff - The more staff members available to provide care, the less likely a resident is to fall.

If you or a loved one has suffered injury in a fall at a nursing home and are in need of legal advice, contact Illinois Nursing Home Attorney David Terry to schedule a free, no obligation consultation at 1-888-317-2525.

A Glen Carbon, Illinois nursing home resident filed a lawsuit alleging that a faulty furnace at the facility caused her to suffer a heat stroke.

The lawsuit, filed on July 1, 2011 against Eden Village Care Center and Cummings Heating & Cooling, Inc., alleges that the woman was found unconscious and near death in her room in May 2009 from exposure to extreme heat. She had been lying on the floor overnight in a room that registered a temperature of 110 degrees.

The lawsuit further alleges that the facility's furnace had previously had problems with a stuck heat sequencer and a broken control board.

Elderly individuals are very sensitive to weather extremes. We have all seen the public service announcement advising us to check on our older neighbors during periods of extreme heat. One would think that nursing home employees - who are supposedly ultra-sensitive to the needs of the elderly - would know better than to leave residents in rooms with excessive temperatures. Having been involved in a case several years ago where my client died of hyperthermia with a care body temperature of 109.7 degrees, I am particularly incensed by cases like this.

I wish the resident involved in this case a speedy recovery and good luck in her legal case.

If you or a loved one have suffered abuse or neglect at the hands of a nursing home and are in need of legal assistance, contact Illinois Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney David Terry to schedule your FREE, no obligation consultation at 1-888-317-2525.

Is the death of an 86 year-old Illinois nursing home resident a homicide? Illinois police are investigating.

The female resident was initially believed to have fallen at Maryhaven Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Glenview, Illinois, but nursing home officials have admitted that a fellow resident was believed to have been involved. According to a nursing home spokesman, Brian Crawford, "Within the past couple of weeks, an unfortunate incident occurred in a private room". The incident was reportedly an attack on the elderly woman by another resident in a an area of the facility caring for dementia residents.

The elderly woman was moved to hospice care at St. Francis Hospital, where she died on July 14. According to the Cook County Medical Examiner, she died from heart disease and brain injuries related to the assault.

If this unfortunate event involved resident on resident assault, it joins the long list of such actions in nursing homes. Certainly, we cannot comment on the specifics of this case because details have yet to be released but far too often patients with violent pasts or mental problems are allowed to reside with the general population of vulnerable elderly adults. In those instances, many nursing home residents become easy targets for the perpetrators.

If you believe you loved one's health or safety is at risk by another nursing home resident, do not hesitate to ask facility staff members to move your family member to a safer area.

Glenview, Illinois police continue to investigate the incident.

The Terry Law Firm routinely handles cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. If you suspect that a loved one or family member is experiencing abuse or neglect at the hands of another resident or nursing home staff, contact Illinois Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney David Terry at 1-888-317-2525 to schedule your FREE no obligation consultation today!

A California class action lawsuit seeks to shed light on the lack of care given to nursing home residents by Golden Living Centers in California. The primary allegation is that Golden Living Centers systematically refused to follow the state mandated staffing regulations that require 3.2 hours of nursing care per patient per day. Rather, according to the allegations, Golden Living Centers staffed it's facilities at a lower per patient day amount resulting in neglected and injured residents.

Even though this is a California case, it has significant implications in Missouri as well. As a nursing home abuse lawyer I have handled several cases against Golden Living nursing homes and have seen first hand the lack of care that happens in these facilities. If the California case is successful, every single Golden Living facility will be under pressure to improve their staff to patient ratio, even in states like Missouri where there is no minimum staffing requirement.

Staffing is a key component in the care received by nursing home residents. I am regularly amazed at how many nursing homes refuse to admit that their staffing levels have a direct correlation to the number of injuries suffered by their residents. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that one CNA cannot provide adequate care for ten nursing home patients each of whom requires a substantial level of care.

Let's take a closer look at Missouri Golden Living Centers and how they compare with state and national averages with respect to staffing: According to statistics provided by Medicare, the national average for CNA care for nursing home residents is 2 hours and 24 minutes per patient per day. For Missouri nursing homes, that average is 2 hours and 30 minutes per patient per day. A review of some of the Golden Living Centers in Missouri shows few, if any, meet either the national or Missouri averages. Here is the staffing information for six Golden Living facilities in Missouri:

Golden Living Center - Bloomfield: 2 hours and 5 minutes of CNA care per patient per day.
Golden Living Center - Branson: 1 hour and 49 minutes of CNA care per patient per day.
Golden Living Center - Dexter: 2 hours and 23 minutes of CNA care per patient per day.
Golden Living Center - Pin Oaks: 1 hour and 50 minutes of CNA care per patient per day.
Golden Living Center - Westwood: 1 hour and 47 minutes of CNA care per patient per day.
Golden Living Center - Independence: 2 hours and 13 minutes of CNA care per patient per day.

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