Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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Kathleen Menard, 97, was a resident in an assisted living facility. While she was in an outside courtyard at her assisted living facility on an extremely hot day, she fell off her motorized scooter and landed behind some trees.

She was found unconscious about four hours later and transferred to a hospital for treatment of heat-related illness, including a third-degree sunburn. Menard died within two months. She was survived by her adult son and daughter.

Menard’s children, on behalf of her estate, sued the assisted living facility and its owner alleging that it chose not to ensure her safety by, among other things, checking on her while she was outside, installing security cameras in the courtyard and trimming the trees in the courtyard to ensure staff members had a full view of residents who were outside of the facility.

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Doe, 62, suffered from developmental delays and schizophrenia and lived at Roe Residential Care Facility. While Doe was there, he suffered a vicious beating from his roommate, resulting in a fractured left femur, four broken bones, a broken left clavicle and a collapsed lung. There were other injuries as well.

Doe remained in the hospital’s intensive care unit for two weeks after this occurrence. He was later transferred to a skilled nursing facility for two months.

Doe sued the residential care facility alleging that it knew or should have known that Doe’s roommate was not an appropriate candidate for admission due to the roommate’s tendencies toward violence. Doe further claimed that the defendant residential care facility, Roe Facility, chose not to follow the applicable regulations for its admission and retention of the roommate.

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Opal Moore, 92, suffered from dementia with agitation. After a hospital stay, she was admitted to the memory care unit at Superior Care Home for rehabilitation.

When she was admitted, her family instructed various nursing home personnel and its owner that she had aggressive behaviors, such as spitting and cursing. A care plan was established, which included a psychological consultation.

However, the consultation was not done and her aggressive behaviors increased. Several months after her admission, she spat on another resident in the dining room. A nurse then contacted her attorney-in-fact and requested that the family provide sitters.

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Rae Hemingway was admitted to the Crestview Center Nursing Home. At the time of the admission, Hemingway’s risk factors were falling, which were documented; they included her history of falls, contractures, decreased circulatory function, and use of assisted ambulatory devices. She was considered a fall risk. By order she was not permitted to walk or remain unattended as a resident of this nursing home because of her fall risks.

Nonetheless, Hemingway was allowed to walk from the facility’s lobby down a hallway. She fell and struck her head and face resulting in a traumatic subarachnoid hematoma and multiple fractures to her face and arms.

Hemingway died several weeks later from complications of her injuries. She was survived by her adult son and daughter.

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Jane Holloway was an employee of Oakridge Convalescent Home on Feb. 7, 2011. She filed a charge of discrimination in violation of the Illinois Human Rights Act (775 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq.) against Oakridge Nursing & Rehab Center LLC (“Oakridge Center”) who was the employer and the managing company of Oakridge Convalescent Home.

Oakridge Center received notice of the charge in the spring of 2011 and transferred substantially all of its assets for no consideration to Oakridge Healthcare Center, LLC (“Oakridge Healthcare”). Oakridge Healthcare became the new manager of Oakridge Convalescent Home. Holloway subsequently obtained an administrative judgment of $30,880.  When Oakridge Center chose not to satisfy the judgment, the State of Illinois filed a complaint against Oakridge Healthcare, as the successor of Oakridge Center to enforce compliance with Holloway’s judgment.

Oakridge Healthcare filed a motion for summary judgment; the circuit court granted it. The State of Illinois appealed and argued that it presented sufficient evidence to create material issue of fact that Oakridge Center transferred its assets for the fraudulent purpose of escaping Holloway’s judgment.

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Dolores Trendell, 85, was admitted to Clare Oaks for rehabilitation following a fractured ankle.  She suffered from atrial fibrillation, which put her at risk for developing blood clots and suffering strokes and had been taking Coumadin as a blood thinner for years. Trendell was admitted to this nursing home facility on Feb. 23, 2011. Less than a month later, a nurse at Clare Oaks documents that Dr. Percival Bigol, the doctor responsible for managing her medication, spoke to the nurse by phone and ordered the Coumadin discontinued.

The nurse, Christina Martinez, did so and documented the change twice, but chose not to include it in the “physician orders” section of Trendell’s medical chart.

Dr. Bigol denied ever giving the order or being aware of the change at the time. Trendell ceased receiving Coumadin on March 16 and suffered a stroke two weeks later.

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Louise Reese, 100, lived at Harbison Hall Assisted Living. While an employee of the facility was helping her get up from the commode, she dropped her to the floor. Reese suffered bilateral femur fractures.  Without further examination, the employee of the facility put her back in her bed and covered her up with bed sheets and blankets.

When a hospice aide arrived to see Reese, she found her moaning in pain. The aide also discovered severe swelling and bruising around Reese’s knees and lower thighs. X-rays revealed the femur fractures in both legs. Although Reese was transported to a hospital for care and treatment, she unfortunately died the next day.

Reese’s estate sued Harbison Hall alleging that its employee chose not to protect the patient while moving her from the commode to a wheelchair. It was also alleged that the employee failed to call for help when she dropped Reese and failed to evaluate her. There was also an allegation that the assisted living facility and its employees decided not to report the fall to Reese’s family. The lawsuit also alleged inadequate staff training. It may be obvious, but it seems likely that the nursing aide or employee elected to hide her condition under the bed clothes after she dropped Reese to the floor and elected not to tell anyone about the fall, which undoubtedly severely injured the fragile 100-year-old woman.

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Ellis Mae Reed, 72, had a history of significant health problems that included diabetes and vascular disease. After she developed a blood clot, she was admitted to Jackson Hospital. For five days, she remained bedridden. She developed sepsis and was moved to the facility’s critical care unit, where she was diagnosed as having a Stage 4 pressure sore on her sacrum; staff administered three debridements and hospice care.

Reed unfortunately died approximately three months after her Jackson Hospital admission. She is survived by her 12 adult children.

Reed’s son, on behalf of her estate, sued the hospital, alleging that it chose not to turn and reposition her during the first five days of her hospital admission, which was the method that should have been used to prevent her pressure sore. The Reed family also alleged that the medical chart contained false entries.

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Natalie Clark, 82, had a history of mental health problems. She was admitted to a nursing home where she resided for approximately one year. During her time at the nursing home, staff administered a cocktail of antipsychotic medications, which included Haldol, Seroquel and Poloxin.

She developed neurological symptoms and painful contractures, which led to her hospitalization. This condition occurred after she was given these medicines.

Clark later died after suffering from pneumonia. She was survived by her adult son.

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Christine Mitchell, 70, was a resident of Grace Healthcare of Tucker where she required assistance with all activities of daily living.

One morning, a nursing home assistant attempted to change Mitchell’s bed linens while she remained in the bed.

While the bed linen change was ongoing, the nursing assistant rolled Mitchell off the bed. She suffered a large bruise on the right side of her forehead and was later diagnosed as having a subdural hematoma — bleeding within the brain.

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