Chicago Injury Law Blog

"A $750,000 jury award against a Jacksonville nursing home where a 77-year-old woman was raped by a repeat sex offender has the daughter elated about the outcome, but not because of the money.

I don't care if it was $1, it was all about the ... verdict," Sandra Banning said Friday.

Banning is happy because she thinks Thursday's verdict in the civil case will help reignite legislation to protect people from sex offenders in nursing homes. She said she wants a law to prevent what happened to her mother from ever happening again.

The Estate of Tranquilino Mendoza sued Summit Care Corporation on a negligence theory for the injuries sustained by Mr. Mendoza when he was assaulted and battered by a mentally ill patient of the nursing home where Mr. Mendoza was living who was placed in the room with Mr. Mendoza. His roommate beat Mr. Mendoza with a water pitcher, a glass and his fists two days after being moved into the room where Mendoza was living. Mr. Mendoza died from unrelated causes three years after the 1997 assault and batter. He was 81-years-old at the time of the assault. Plaintiffs asserted that Defendant knew or should have known of the risks associated with putting the assailant in the same room with Mr. Mendoza because the assailant had been involved in 30 assaults before he was paired with Mendoza.

Summit Care claimed that Mr. Mendoza’s injuries from the assault and battery were not significant and that he recovered quickly from the injuries.

The verdict is one of the largest ever for nursing home abuse.

State inspectors often overlook serious deficiencies, including life-threatening conditions, in the nation's nursing homes, Congressional investigators say in a new report.

In the report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, questioned data used by the Bush administration in arguing that its policies have fostered "significant improvements" in the nation's nursing homes.

Nursing homes must meet federal standards to participate in Medicaid and Medicare. Homes are inspected by state employees working under contract to the federal government.

A newly enacted law to protect nursing home residents from sex offenders and other ex-cons is being watered down due to industry cries that it is too costly.
The Vulnerable Adults Protection Act requires that a criminal background check be performed on nursing home residents to keep sex offenders out of nursing homes or away from other residents within the nursing home. The proposed changes, heavily lobbied for by the nursing home industry, exempts residents from background checks unless the resident voluntarily confesses to past crimes on a questionnaire, essentially implementing the honor system to keep sex offenders away.

Read the full artice here.

Relatives of two former nursing home residents and an advocacy group have sued the state for failing to investigate complaints against nursing homes promptly, alleging the delays exposed elderly patients to abuse and neglect. The suit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, comes after a California health official conceded in a July interview with The Times that the state has often been unable to respond to complaints filed against nursing homes within the 10 working days required by law. Over the last five years, the number of complaints against nursing homes has increased, from 9,650 in 2000 to 15,512 in 2004, according to the state. But the number of state citations has decreased, from 709 in 2000 to 464 in 2004.

Get the full article here.

Consider this all too familiar story. Texas resident Noe Martinez, Sr., lived with his son and daughter-in-law up until they could no longer care for him. He suffered from late stage Alzheimers and needed constant care. His son took him to the McAllen Nursing Center, where late one evening a nurse gave him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Mr. Martinez had no teeth, and without his dentures or glass of water he choked on the sandwich and suffered a heart attack. Mr. Martinez eventually died as a result of the heart attack.
However, bringing suit against the nursing home is extremely difficult thanks to the sweeping tort reform laws passed in Texas in 2003.
The problem begins with the Republican majority in the Texas legislature. The nursing home lobby in Texas stuffed the pockets of Republican campaigns. This money, along with money from corporations and insurance companies, funded illegal Party tactics to put more Republicans in office. The indictments continue, but not before the damage was done.
Nursing homes in Texas are currently regulated by the state less now than in the last decade. With minimal state regulation, and caps on nursing home negligence cases, there is little deterrant for a nursing home to minimalize care in the name of big profits.
When you consider the current state of nursing home care in Texas with the aging baby boomer population, the potential problems are frightening. You have a potentially overwhelming population headed for facilities that are poorly regulated and protected from lawsuits.

Read the full article here.

A recent study performed by the University of Toronto indicates that non-profit nursing homes in the United States offer better care than for-profit homes. The study considered 40 cases comparing non and for-profit nursing homes between 1993 and 2002. The study showed that residents in for-profit nursing homes had higher rates of development of pressure ulcers, were subjected to greater use of psychoactive medications, and were more frequently placed in restraints.

The study does not explain the descrepancy, but reason would dictate that the pressure to make money often predominates over patient care. This ultimately leads to a focus on the bottom line rather than the best care of the residents.

On another note, be very leary of any nursing home that purports to be "non-profit." Often non-profit nursing homes pay out huge sums of money to those with an ownership interest in the home. Some investigation into the financial workings of the home is always a good idea.

An alarming trend of violent acts by and against residents of nursing homes is surfacing. Statistics from the federal Administration on Aging shows that in 2003, the number of reported patient-on-patient assaults increased to 5,515, from 5,000 in 2000. During this same period, the number of reported nursing home patient-on-patient sexual assaults shot up 51 percent, to 1,302 in 2003.
This increase is due to a variety of reasons, but is most often the result of lack of supervision. Failure to consider an incoming resident's criminal history including sexual assault is another cause.
From more information, check out the National Association of State Units on Aging.

There is an alarming rate of nursing home injuries including physical, psychosocial, cognitive and financial harm. The most common physical injuries are the result of an unnecessary fall. Of the 1.5 million nursing home residents nationwide, approximately 50% fall at least once per year. Of the residents that fall each year, 10-20% of the falls result in serious injury. Among people 85 years of age or older, 20% of fall related deaths occur in nursing homes.

The best way to protect a loved one from one of these injuries is by choosing the right nursing home...

On April 27, 2005, Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced that proceedings have been initiated to close down the Emerald Park Health Care Center in Evergreen Park. At the request of the Illinois Department of Public Health, Attorney Madigan filed an emergency motion in Cook County Circuit Court to appoint an administrator to oversee the Home's closing. You can read the IDPH press release here.

Violations and fines have plagued Emerald Park for years, including a $20,000.00 fine for not providing sufficient nursing care in 2003, and $5000.00 fine for not protecting a resident from mental and physical abuse in 2002.

The Chicago Sun Times recently reported the rash of convicted sex offenders currently living in nursing homes in Illinois. State law does not require that the sexual abuse conviction be disclosed to residents of the nursing home. A check with the State revealed that there are 100 convicted sex offenders living in 54 nursing homes, long term care facilities, and supportive living centers in Illinois.
Worsening the issue is the fact that workers at the nursing facilities are not told of the criminal past either. This is becoming a disturbing trend across the country's assisted care facilities. See related article here.