Family Sues Illinois Nursing Home Over Relative's Death Related To Bed Sores & Infection
[Caption: The VIP Manor nursing home is one of 35 care centers managed by Cypress Health Care.]The family of a deceased Illinois man is suing the VIP Manor nursing home in Wood River, saying the facility was responsible for their family member’s death.The Madison-St Clair Record reports that Thomas Woodward, 52, was taken from VIP Manor to a hospital in Effingham, IL in March, 2010. He was diagnosed with severe bed sores, low blood pressure, and a bone infection in his lower spine. During treatment for the bone infection (osteomyelitis), Woodward developed colitis - a serious infection of the...
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1) Fall In Nursing Home, 2) Bed Sore In Nursing Home, 3) Lawsuit Against Nursing Home
Given the circumstances, it's not terribly surprising that many nursing home negligence cases involve similar fact patterns and types of injuries. Perhaps one of the most common fact patterns involves patients who sustain hip fractures after falling at a facility. Particularly in the elderly, falls and hip fractures can be particularly difficult given that many will face a long and painful road to recovery in addition to a loss of independence. These commonly encountered facts were once again form the grounds of a recently filed nursing home negligence lawsuit filed against an Illinois Nursing Home. The lawsuit initiated by the...
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Nursing Home Injury Laws: Illinois
Hard to believe, but since we initiated Nursing Home Injury Laws last year, we have helped many families get the resources they need following an injury or death of a loved one in a nursing home or medical facility. Nursing Home Injury Laws, has links and resources related to some of the most commonly encountered nursing home injuries including: medication errors, falls, elopement, sexual abuse and bed sores. Though many nursing home injury cases involve similar fact patterns, the cases need to be evaluated on an individualized basis, due to the individual state's laws. Over the next few weeks I will...
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New Medicare Report On Medical Errors In Hospitals Reinforces Ongoing Problems
There's some saying that has been jumbled back-and-forth about how many patients were feeling fine until they went to the hospital and got sick. Well, as corny as the saying may be, a trip to the hospital may be one of that last places you want to go--- particularly when you look at data released from Medicare concerning hospital safety data. After evaluating bills bills that hospitals submitted to Medicare for payment between October, 2008 and June, 2008, CMS, looked through the billing codes used to quantify the type of treatment provided to each patient. The results demonstrate that many...
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Is The Lack Of Continuity In Patient Care Responsible For The Endless Bedsore Problem?
Sometimes I get sick of hearing about the 'good ol' days'-- when homes were affordable, people were friendlier, milk tasted like milk (as opposed to some whitish water)--- and how life may have been a little bit better? Certainly, I'm not one to bicker about they way things were and how tough everything is now, but I certainly have developed a respect for both traditions and learning how to do things fundamentally correctly-- without the addition of all the new gizmo's that alway's promise to improve on the way things were done yesterday. I began having a hankering for nostalgia...
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Hospitals Fined For Preventable Medical Complications Such As Bed Sores
Disgusted by the high rates of unnecessary medical complications patients were experiencing during admissions to many hospitals, Maryland has implemented a new system to penalize these poorly performing facilities. Under the new plan to improve the quality of care, Maryland Hospitals with medical complication rates higher than the state's average would be penalized by having lower rates of reimbursement provided by the state. Utilizing a list of 49 types of medical complications (including common problems such as: bed sores, falls, urinary tract infections and accidental nicks and cuttings during medical procedures), Maryland's Health Services Cost Review Commission would then look...
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Family Of Neglected Nursing Home Resident Awarded $42 Million By Jury
Joseph Clint Offutt lived an admirable life. Like many of his generation, Mr. Offutt served in World War II, working on the farm and was a dedicated husband for 58 years. Yet despite all of his accomplishments in life, age began to creep up on Mr. Offutt. After suffering a stroke in 2007, Mr. Offutt's family realized that they were no longer able to care for him at home so they looked for a skilled nursing facility. On March 25, 2008 Mr. Offutt was admitted to Harborside of Madisonville (currently known as Hillside Villa Care and Rehabilitation Center). Just nine...
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Brookdale Assisted Living Facility Fails To Learn From Mistakes: Dementia Patient Dies After Ingesting Detergent
In 2008 authorities from Florida regulatory agencies warned Homewood Residence, a Brookdale Senior Living facility, to secure areas of its kitchen and other areas of the facility that were accessible to residents with dementia. The warning came after dangerous products such as: coffee pots, curling irons and chemical products were found unsecured at the facility. Two years later-- not much has changed at this Brookdale assisted living facility. Authorities found similar problems during the investigation of the death of a 93-year-old resident at the facility. The elderly man was able to access the unsecured dishwasher and access the area...
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Need Help Selecting A Nurisng Home? Talk To The Staff
I spend a lot of time talking with families regarding the selection of an initial nursing home for a family member or perhaps transferring the person from one nursing home to another. Soon into our discussion, I see mild mannered people become downright angry when discussing the problems they encounter when selecting a facility. Most of the time, the selection of a skilled nursing facility is done during a stressful period such as the onset of a sudden illness or when change in medical condition necessitates such a move. Frustration levels seem to get compounded when families visit facilities only...
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Elder Abuse Is Widespread, Yet Only 4% of All Cases Get Reported To Authorities
I had to do a re-read of a recent article appearing in the Tennessean.com regarding the prevalence of elder abuse-- or perhaps more accurately the prevalence of un-reported elder abuse in Tennessee. The article cites a report from The Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability that estimate just 1 out of 23 cases of elder abuse get reported to authorities. While there may be a number of reasons why elder abuse goes unreported, a primary reason the article points to is the fact that most elder abuse is perpetrated by caregivers who control the individuals access to the outside world--...
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