Chicago Medical Malpractice Attorney Blog

As we age, our health problems multiply, leaving many Americans on numerous medications whether to treat high blood pressure, thyroid problems, high cholesterol, diabetes, Alzheimers disease, etc. And while many of these medications are necessary to prevent serious health problems, they also come with potentially life-threatening side effects. An estimated third of patients over 65 have suffered a serious adverse side effect from their prescription medications.

A recent article in The New York Times highlighted some of the problems with the growing overmedication of the elderly. Recent studies have found that elderly patients are more at risk for adverse drug reactions not only because they are generally on such a large number of medications, but also because some medications can have a different effect on elderly patients. For example, hypnotic sedatives, such as Ativan, that are used to treat anxiety can cause confusion and severe sedation in elderly patients. Likewise, sedating antihistamines can also cause confusion, blurred vision, or drowsiness.

The American Geriatrics Society addressed this issue by publishing new guidelines that identify which medications are most likely to have adverse effects on elderly patients. Again, given that almost half of patients over 65 years-old take five or more medications on a daily basis, these guidelines will be extremely helpful to geriatric doctors. The intent of these new guidelines are not only to help prevent negative medication side effects, but also to decrease the overall cost of medication.

Continue reading "Prescription Medicine Overwhelms Elderly" »

Hospital borne infections have been a problem for years, and drug-resistant bacteria like MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) have become household names. However, a recent New York Times article highlights another virus that is causing a high rate of death among children and the elderly and provides some insight into how the medical community could help decrease the number of deaths.

Norovirus is an extremely contagious virus and in recent years has become the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis. And while many of the symptoms caused by norovirus mimic that of the flu or a severe cold, e.g. nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain; epidemiologist Aron Hall warns, "I think there is perhaps a misperception that norovirus causes a mild illness; . . . [it is] a major problem that requires some attention."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year norovirus causes over 20 million illnesses, leads to 70,000 hospitalizations, and results in 800 deaths. In addition, norovirus is the most common cause of food disease outbreaks in the U.S. Because norovirus has much in common with C. difficile, a bacterial infection, medical officials are examining the ways hospitals and nursing homes have tried to combat the spread of C. diff to try and help reduce the spread of norovirus.

Continue reading "Intestinal Infections Are Killing More Americans" »

Our current economy situation is forcing many people to reevaluate their careers and move towards jobs that can't be eliminated or downsized. And for many, the answer lies in the medical field, particularly in nursing. Detroit and the state of Michigan seem to embody the nation's economic turmoil and according to the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth the state of Michigan will need to add an estimated 18,000 nurses by 2015.

In order to meet this estimated job shortage, many workers are changing from their current volatile careers to what they see as a more stable career choice. A recent New York Times article showcased some Michigan natives making the shift to nursing, many of which were male. For example, the 49 year-old grocery warehouse employee who now works at a nursing home, or the 57 year-old nursing student who used to work as an automotive vibration engineer. These men represent the growing trend to keep your options open and find work where you can.

Currently, Michigan's unemployment rate is at 9 percent. In order to not become a number in that statistic, many former automotive employees are turning to nursing as a way to jumpstart a new career. In fact, the trend is so predominant that Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan even established a program specifically geared towards training former autoworkers in nursing.

Continue reading " Nursing Homes and Hospitals Are Hiring Laid Off Blue Collar Workers Who Retrained to Become Nurses" »

Doctors and nurses have a responsibility to advocate for their patients and to exercise due diligence in making sure their patients' needs are being met. That responsibility increases when the patients cannot speak on their own behalf, e.g. when the patient is a child, in a coma, or perhaps a stroke victim. This issue of nurse and doctor responsibility was at the center of a recent Kentucky nursing home abuse lawsuit involving an elderly resident's injury at a Louisville nursing home.

The patient was an elderly resident who was in the Kentucky nursing home after a stroke left him with decreased mobility. As part of his care and treatment, doctors had instituted a policy that required the Treyton Oak Towers nursing staff to use a lift and two staff members to transfer the resident in and out of his wheelchair. Typically, care plans like this are put into place to help reduce the risk of falls and injuries.

However, in this nursing home abuse case the nursing staff chose not to follow the transferring plan. Instead, just one staff member attempted to move the resident from his wheelchair to his bed. The staff member of course dropped the resident, fracturing both of his legs. Yet rather than telling someone, the staff member simply put the resident back into his bed as if the fall had never happened. And since the resident's stroke left him unable to tell anyone else about the fall, his fractures also went undiagnosed. It was not until the resident was transferred to a hospital that his fractures were diagnosed and treated. The resident died just two months after the fall.

Continue reading "$8 Million Verdict Against Nursing Home for Resident's Broken Leg" »

As part of an effort to reform Illinois nursing homes, government agencies are attempting to increase their oversight of potential nursing home violations. When the Department of Public Health went to investigate potential nursing home policy violation at an Illinois facility, the Illinois nursing home facility accused the health agency of failing to follow the proper investigation procedures in UDI #10, LLC v. Department of Public Health, No. 1-10-3476 (February 1, 2012).

The nursing home investigation arose after a nursing home patient, herein called R1 to protect his/her identity, died as a result of a choking incident at Pekin Manor. This was the second time R1 had experienced a choking incident in the course of one day. When R1 became unresponsive his wife called a staff member for help. The staff member called the paramedics, but did not perform CPR while waiting for their arrival. R1 was transported to the hospital by the paramedics and ended up dying later that day.

The nursing home facility was operated by UDI #10, LLC (UDI) and had specific policies and procedures in place regarding a similar situation. The policy dictated that a UDI staff member was to stay with R1 and that a staff member was to accompany the paramedics to R1's room. In addition, the staff member should have performed CPR while awaiting the paramedics' arrival; the only reason CPR should not have been done was if R1 had a valid do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order in his chart. And while R1 and his wife had signed a DNR order, it was invalid because it was not signed by a doctor.

Continue reading "Illinois Appellate Court Affirms That Nursing Home Care Act Deadline is Directory Rather Than Mandatory - UDI #10, LLC v. Department of Public Health" »

As we enter the short, cold days of winter, we remember the advice our parents gave us as we'd leave the house to brave the cold: bundle up, put on a hat, and zip up your jacket. As we ourselves grow older and become parents, it is important we ensure that our own parents and grandparents receive the best possible care. And while nursing home facilities are created to help facilitate this care, the reality is that not all nursing homes are doing so.

This is why in July 2010, Illinois enacted increased regulations to its Illinois Nursing Home Safety Act (SB3226) (Public Act 96-1372). While Illinois's Nursing Home Care Act was first signed into law in 1979, the 2010 amendments were aimed at increasing the quality of care and regulations for nursing home facilities.

The changes came after a series of articles in The Chicago Tribune highlighted the gross nursing home abuses going on in Illinois' nursing home facilities. Because of overcrowding and understaffing problems, many Illinois nursing home residents were housed with potentially dangerous residents. Many nursing homes were accepting residents with criminal records or mental health diagnoses and housing them alongside geriatric residents without providing adequate security measures. As a result, an increased number of nursing home residents were getting abused, not by the staff, but by fellow nursing home residents.

Continue reading "Illinois Nursing Home Safety Act Ramps Up Protection for Elderly" »

When a civil lawsuit is settled, both parties can agree on whether or not to disclose various aspects of the lawsuit and subsequent settlement. For example, it is common for high profile cases to include a stipulation that neither party will disclose the specifics of the settlement, leaving the public to guess at the amount and terms of the settlement. However, a recent Illinois nursing home malpractice settlement included more unusual terms: neither party would disclose the names of the other party.

The Cook County nursing home lawsuit arose after an 86 year-old woman developed multiple pressure sores all over her body. Pressure sores are a common problem in many nursing homes and can develop when the nursing home resident is not turned or repositioned often enough. In this particular case, the decedent, who we will call Jane Doe, developed sepsis from the multiple pressure sores around her body and ended up dying ten months later.

Ms. Doe's family brought a nursing home malpractice lawsuit against the unnamed nursing home facility in which they alleged that the nursing home was negligent in that it had failed to develop an appropriate skin care plan to prevent the breakdown of Ms. Doe's skin. In addition, the complaint alleged that the nursing home had failed to reposition Ms. Doe in a timely manner and did not keep her developing wounds clean.

Continue reading "Nursing Home Settles Lawsuit by Resident's Family for Pressure Sores, Sepsis and Death - $500,000" »

In medical malpractice lawsuits, documentation is key in proving both the plaintiff's and defendant's cases. A jury is much more likely to believe what is documented in the chart than testimony that is generally provided several years after the alleged medical malpractice took place. However, when something is not documented in the chart, then it is up to both parties to convince the jury that their version of the events is true.

In the Illinois medical malpractice lawsuit of Dolores Murray v. Diane Price-Gordon, R.N., 06 L 9083, the plaintiff was unable to convince the jury that the defendant nurse had acted negligently. Instead, the jury sided with the defendant and her version of the events despite the lack of support provided by the medical chart.

In Murray, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant nurse's failure to monitor the plaintiff's vital signs led to her permanent upper extremity paralysis. However, the nurse maintained that she had properly monitored and observed the plaintiff and that her actions were not responsible for the plaintiff's paralysis. While the plaintiff relied more on the lack of documentation in the medical chart, the defendant relied more heavily on medical experts' testimony to prove her case.

Continue reading "Jury Finds for Nurse in Patient's Claim of Inadequate Monitoring, Leading to Central Spinal Cord Syndrome - Murray v. Price-Gordon" »

In order to prove medical negligence, a plaintiff needs to demonstrate that the doctors or nurses operated outside of the standard of care, i.e. the regular level of care required in a given situation. If the plaintiff fails to demonstrate that the doctors or nurses acted outside the normal standards, then the court will likely rule that there was no medical negligence even if faced with a negative medical outcome.

Take for example the nursing home negligence case of Attorney General of Illinois v. Westwood Manor, et al. The case was brought by the Illinois Attorney General's Office after an elderly resident at Chicago's Westwood Manor nursing home facility died from burn-related injuries. The 81 year-old resident had received second and third degree burns after being bathed by one of the nursing home's nurses. The case was complicated by the fact that there was over a two week delay in treating the burns. As a result of the burn injury, both of the nursing home resident's legs needed to be amputated and she died less than three months later from related complications.

Continue reading "Doctor, Nurse and Nursing Home Acquitted in Cook County Criminal Abuse Case" »

A Will County jury found in favor of a Wilmington, Illinois nursing home in a wrongful death lawsuit in which the decedent's family claimed the nursing home failed to provide adequate care. The not guilty verdict in Martin Donegan v. Embassy Care Center, 05 L 782 (Will County), came despite evidence that the nursing home had failed to perform a neurological exam following the resident's fall.

The Illinois nursing home malpractice suit involved 53 year-old Martin Donegan. Donegan was a resident at Embassy Care Center due to his paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis. In July 2005, the nursing staff found Donegan out of his bed and in another patient's room. While in that patient's room, Donegan had fallen and hit his head.

While the typical procedure following any sort of fall is to perform a neurological assessment, which could include assessing a patient's reflexes, gait, and general behavior, the nursing staff failed to do so. Instead, Donegan was simply returned to his own bed and a phone message was left for his treating physician. The treating physician failed to return that call and no further steps were taken following Donegan's fall.

Continue reading "Jury Holds For Nursing Home After Head Trauma Causes Fatal Injury - Donegan v. Embassy Care Center" »

The right to a trial by jury is a central tenant to American law. As a result, courts tend to be reluctant to overturn a jury's verdict. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, if a jury's verdict is found to be in conflict with current laws, a court might overrule the verdict. Also, if a jury award contradicts the jury's own statements and opinions, then a judge or court might be inclined to vacate the jury verdict.

The Illinois wrongful death case of Philemont Garcia, etc. v. Seneca Nursing Home, etc., 2011 Ill.App. (1st) 103085, demonstrates what happens when an jury contradicts itself. The Cook County jury awarded the decedent's estate $1 million as compensation for Roberto Garcia's fall to his death after he climbed out of a fifth story window while staying at Seneca Nursing Home. In theory, the jury award meant that the jury had found the defendant nursing home negligent for contributing to the decedent's death. Yet in a response to a special interrogatory, the same jury had stated that the nursing home could not have foreseen the circumstances leading to the resident's death.

The case facts of the Illinois wrongful death lawsuit centered around Roberto Garcia, a resident at Seneca Nursing Home. Garcia suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, along with blindness, abnormal muscle tone, and chronic restlessness. He suffered from delusional behavior and occasional hallucinations. In addition, Garcia had difficulty walking on his own and was essentially wheelchair dependent. Yet despite his physical limitations, Garcia was found wandering away and hiding at times and had made more than one attempt to try and climb out his bedroom window.

According to trial evidence, there was no record of Garcia ever being identified as presenting a risk for self-harm, suicide, or escape. As a result, no clear plan was ever developed to prevent him from climbing out of his window. The lack of preventive measures was partly explained through testimony by Garcia's psychologist and psychiatrist, both of whom testified that they did not think that the fifth floor windows in Garcia's room even opened. They further stated that if they had known that they did, they would have been more proactive in formulating a preventive care plan to limit Garcia from escaping through the window.

At the end of the trial, the defense submitted a special interrogatory to the jurors. A special interrogatory is a question a party submits to the jurors, typically aimed at deciding a major legal component of the case. In Garcia, the defense submitted a special interrogatory that asked whether the jurors believed it was "reasonably foreseeable" that Garcia would kill himself or act self-destructively. The Cook County jury answered in the negative, but then went on to enter a $1 million jury verdict in favor of the nursing home's negligence.

Continue reading "What Happens When a Jury Contradicts Itself? $1 Million Verdict Overturned in Garcia v. Seneca Nursing Home" »

The field of medicine is generally associated with healing - we go to our doctors when we don't feel well and expect them to treat us. Yet a large part of medicine is also prevention. Women undergo yearly mammograms to try and catch breast cancer early on, while people with high blood pressure take medication to try and prevent heart attacks or strokes.

Doctors and nurses are responsible for identifying the risk of future medical problems and developing a treatment plan to avoid that risk. For example, some patients with decreased mobility and strength might be at risk for falling during a hospital admission or rehab stay. Therefore, nurses need to evaluate patients to determine whether or not their conditions puts them at an increased risk for falling. Once the degree of risk is determined, the medical staff can work together to create a prevention plan to insure the patient's safety. It is when these risks are not properly evaluated and prevented that nursing malpractice and medical negligence can occur.

The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit of Sorce v. Shorehaven Health and Rehab. Ctr., 09 CV 3083 (Waukesha County), illustrates what can happen if there are not adequate fall prevention measures in place. The 76 year-old Sorce had been admitted to the Shorehaven Health and Rehabilitation Center as part of his recovery from brain surgery. During his admission, Sorce was using a walker to get around and was generally given assistance with getting up and around.

However, one day towards the end of his stay, Sorce was sitting in his recliner chair when he realized he needed to use the restroom. As was his practice, Sorce pressed his call button to request nursing assistance to the bathroom. However, as more time passed and his call continued to go unanswered, Sorce elected to try and reach his walker and the bathroom by himself. Sorce raised himself out of his recliner, took a few steps across the room, but then fell on the floor and hit his head.

Continue reading "Surviving Family Receives $850,000 Wrongful Death Settlement After Rehab Center Fails to Prevent Elderly Resident's Fall - Sorce v. Shorehaven Health and Rehab. Ctr." »

An elderly man required an above the knee amputation with a flesh-eating bacteria after his heel ulcer became infected . He brought an Illinois nursing negligence lawsuit against the home health service that was supposed to be monitoring his pressure ulcer. The Cook County jury awarded the plaintiff $793,644 for his suffering and disability as a result of the healthcare service's negligence in Rudolph v. Northwestern Memorial Home Healthcare.

The medical negligence can be traced to the plaintiff's right hip replacement in December 2000. During his recovery at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the 79 year-old William Rudolph developed a blister on his right heel that quickly progressed to a Stage III pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers typically develop in bedridden or wheelchair-bound patients whose limbs stay in one position for extended periods, which limits the blood supply to that area. They are typically identified by stages of severity, with Stage I being the least severe and Stage IV being the most severe.

After Rudolph's release from his inpatient rehab stay, Northwestern Memorial Home Healthcare was assigned to treat the plaintiff's pressure ulcer. The healthcare service would make in-home nursing visits to Rudolph in order to maintain the integrity of the area around the wound, clean and treat the pressure ulcer, and prevent the ulcer from progressing to a Stage IV ulcer. In order to do so, the nursing service visited Rudolph three times per week during December 2000 and January 2001, during which time the heel wound remained a Stage III ulcer.

Continue reading "Nursing Negligence Results in $793,000 Jury Verdict in Above the Knee Amputation- Rudolph v. Northwestern Memorial Home Healthcare" »

The State of Illinois has been investigating Alden Village North and assessing whether the quality of care provided at the Illinois nursing home meets state standards. If not, the state plans on closing the Chicago nursing home because of overwhelming reports of nursing home abuse and neglect. New reports of five additional deaths caused by poor health care at the facility does not bode well for its future.

In addition to the state's investigation, a federally-backed watchdog group, Equip for Equality, found that illnesses at Alden Village North were not properly treated, doctors ignored pages, lab results were discarded and investigations into the deaths of its residents were found to be superficial at best. The Chicago-based Equip for Equality group started its own investigation as part of a nationwide advocacy group that has been granted broad powers by Congress to help protect people with disabilities.

As part of its investigation, Equip reviewed patient records at Alden Village North in order to assess the quality of nursing home care being provided. Its investigation is now completed and Equip filed its official report with the State of Illinois this past month. Presumably the state will consider Equip's report as it makes its decision about the future of the Chicago nursing home.

Continue reading "Report of Deaths Mounting at Chicago Nursing Home" »

A recent Illinois Supreme Court decision changed the way damages can be sought under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act. The Court ruled unanimously in a 6-0 ruling that punitive damages cannot be awarded for wrongful death cases under the Nursing Home Care Act in Thomas Vincent v. Alden-Park Strathmoor, Inc., No. 110406.

Punitive damages are different than compensatory damages, which are awarded by courts and juries as payment for actual harm or losses suffered as a result of the defendant's actions. While compensatory damages are seen almost as a way to reimburse the plaintiff for their loss, punitive damages are meant as a way to punish a defendant for its actions. Punitive damages are typically awarded in addition to compensatory damages and are only awarded when the defendant's actions are so grossly negligent that additional censure is needed.

In the underlying Chicago nursing home malpractice case, Thomas Vincent, the legal representative for his deceased mother's estate, filed a complaint that contained three counts requesting damages be paid by Alden-Park Strathmoor, Inc. for its negligent care and treatment of his mother prior to her death. While two of the counts sought compensatory damages, the third and final count was a survival claim filed under the Nursing Home Care Act which included a request for punitive damages for the nursing home's allegedly willful and wanton conduct.

Continue reading "Punitive Damages By Surviving Family Members Denied Under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act - Vincent v. Alden-Park Strathmoor, Inc." »