Articles Posted in Nursing Home Negligence

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The Illinois 4th District Appellate Court affirmed the decision of an Adams County Circuit Court judge.  In December 2018, Mark Mason signed numerous documents allowing his mother, Doris Mason, to be admitted to St. Vincent’s Home Inc., a nursing home, including an admissions agreement. The agreement included an arbitration clause and a provision in the contract for services that the contract terminates automatically in the event of Doris’s death.

From December 2018 through October 2019, Doris resided at the nursing home. She suffered a fall, fracturing her left femur on Jan. 14, 2019. She also suffered burns to her right hip five times between Feb. 20 and May 7, 2019.

On Oct. 2, 2019, Doris passed away. Mark filed a lawsuit in December 2020 against the nursing home, WDM Health Services Inc., and three caretakers. Mark alleged violations of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act, negligence and claims under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act.

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Doe, 81, lived in a nursing home’s secure memory unit. She tended to wander and had exit-seeking behaviors, necessitating her use of the WandergGuard, a wearable safety device.

Even after a door alarm was activated, a nursing home staff member did not see that she had fallen down multiple flights of stairs. She was discovered at the bottom of the stairs, bleeding and crying for help.

Doe suffered serious injuries, including a subarachnoid hemorrhage. She unfortunately died eight days later.

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A Chicago federal judge sent a lawsuit against the nursing home, Petersen Health Care, back to the state court after the defendant failed to persuade the judge that it had acted at the direction of the federal government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Anita Martin, who was a resident of Illinois, sued the elder care company, Petersen Health Care, after the death of her mother, Marlene Hill. Hill lived in the Bloomington Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, which was operated and run by Petersen Healthcare.

Hill unfortunately died on May 15, 2020 with “COVID-19” listed as a substantial contributing factor,”  the lawsuit stated.

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Paul Smith was admitted to the Attleboro Nursing & Rehabilitation Center where he was recognized as a fall risk. Three years after his admission, he suffered a fall that resulted in a fractured hip. His condition deteriorated, and he died approximately two weeks later. Smith was survived by his son and wife.

The Smith estate sued the nursing home and several related entities alleging that these defendants had chosen not to properly evaluate Smith and failed to take the necessary steps to minimize his risk of falling and injuring himself.  The Smith family lawyer argued that his fall was preventable, which directly led to a decline in his health. It was also alleged that the fall was a cause of his death just two weeks after his hip fracture.

Before trial, the parties settled this case for $120,000.

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Charles Jackson lived at Care Pavilion Nursing & Rehabilitation Center for more than four years. During his time there,  he allegedly suffered more than 14 undocumented falls. After one fall, he was found on a bathroom floor and was taken to a hospital where he underwent a hip replacement.

Jackson was returned to the nursing home but was transferred back to the hospital less than one month later.  There, he was diagnosed as having sepsis and severe dehydration.

He died just over two weeks later from respiratory distress, sepsis and a prosthetic hip infection. Jackson, 83 at the time of his death, was survived by his adult daughter.

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Vera Petrella was a resident of the Arden Courts of Yardley long-term care facility. She had a history of coronary artery disease, hypertension, dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

Her care plan provided that she would receive assistance transferring her in and out of bed, assistance going to the bathroom and walking. Several weeks after she was admitted, Petrella fell. After several more falls, she suffered a fractured left hip that required surgery. She later died as a result and was survived by her three children.

The Petrella family and children sued Arden Courts of Yardley PA LLC and other entities, alleging claims for wrongful death and survival. The Petrella family claimed that the facility chose not to implement fall prevention measures, adequately assess her condition and provide sufficient supervision.

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Mr. Doe, 84, suffered from advanced dementia and lived in a nursing home. One morning, a nursing assistant found Mr. Doe lying in his bed with his head caught between the bed frame and side rail. Shortly after he was discovered, Mr. Doe was pronounced dead. The nursing home allegedly falsely reported to the medical examiner that Mr. Doe had died of cardiac arrest related to his hypertension.

A lawsuit against the nursing home alleged that it chose not to use safe bedrails that allowed for 2 3/8 inches of space between the mattress and the bedrails. The Doe family charged that the space between Mr. Doe’s bedrails and mattress was 7 inches, which allowed him to slide in between the mattress and rails, becoming trapped and strangled.

The lawsuit also alleged that the defendant nursing home had wrongfully chosen not to report that the actual cause in Mr. Doe’s death was bedrail strangulation.

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Thomas Handzus, 75, suffered from dementia, schizophrenia, malnutrition and other ailments. He was a resident of Meadowview Rehabilitation & Nursing Center.

During his approximate three-month stay at this nursing home facility, he experienced weight loss, aggressive behavioral disturbances and confusion. Handzus also left the facility unsupervised or was wandering.  It became necessary for him to be transferred to a behavioral health unit for psychiatric care.

After Handzus returned to the nursing home, he fell and hit his head. Following a hospitalization, he was transferred to hospice care and died several days later. He was survived by his son.

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The Illinois Appellate Court for the 1st District reversed and remanded a part the Second Amended Complaint that alleged violations of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act and common law negligence. The trial judge denied the defendants’ motion to compel arbitration, ruling that the plaintiff denied the existence of a valid arbitration agreement and stating that she lacked authority to sign the agreement on behalf of the patient. Section 2(a) of the Uniform Arbitration Act contemplates a summary proceeding in which the court substantively disposes of the issues presented.

The appellate court order reversed and remanded the case with instructions to proceed summarily pursuant to Section 2(a), and to render disposition resolving the factual legal issues raised in determining at the trial level the validity of the nursing home’s agreement.

The court denied the defendants’ Section 2-619(a)(5) motion to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds finding that a question of fact existed as to whether the patient was under a legal disability, was not injunctive in nature and thus is not appealable under Rule 307.

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Olive Mary Davis lived at the Silver Lake Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. As a known fall risk, she required a high level of care, including a bed alarm, verbal cues and raised bed rails.

On the day of this incident, she was found on the floor covered in blood. She suffered a fractured right hip. The fracture required open reduction and internal fixation surgery as well as treatment for her fractured forearm.

Davis died of her injuries within two months and was survived by her daughter.

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