Jonathan Rosenfeld's Nursing Homes Abuse Blog : Jonathan Rosenfeld's Nursing Homes Abuse Blog | Lawyer & Attorney : Strellis & Field Law Firm | Bed Sores, Senior Neglect, Elder Abuse, Sexual Abuse: Chicago, Illinois

In times of need, locating necessary information regarding the legal rights and resources for nursing home patients can be difficult and imposing.  In this respect, we are proud to introduce a new resource for patients, families and practitioners looking for a concise compilation of information regarding nursing home laws.  Nursing Home Injury Laws, provides every states':

• Nursing Home Laws
• Medical Malpractice Laws
• State Resources
• Applicable State Code

Additionally, we will be posting regular updates regarding important developments relevant to nursing home care within each state.  Here is a link to Nursing Home Injury Laws.

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A nursing home patient, connected to an oxygen line, sustained serious burns to his face and after his cigarette ignited the nasal line and the bed in which he was laying. The incident took place at Summit Park Nursing Home in New York.  Nurses were able to extinguish the fire before the man sustained more serious burns to other parts of his body.  

Read more about this case involving smoking-related burns here.

My take on this:

Nursing homes need to create and implement smoking policies to cut-down on situations such as this.  Most smoking policies forbid patients from smoking in their rooms primarily due to the difficulty supervising them and the inherent risk of falling asleep while smoking.  In this case, hopefully the New York Department of Health will investigate this matter so similar smoking-related injuries can be avoided.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries:

Unsupervised Nursing Home Resident Dies From Burns 

Maximum Fine Levied Against Nursing Home For Failing To Supervise Resident While Smoking

Smoking-Related Fires Are A Real Threat To Nursing Home Patients. Is It Time To Put Out The Fire?

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As an injury lawyer who frequently handles nursing home negligence matters, I find myself regularly thinking 'what happened to plain old common sense'?  I mean, you can train the nurses, physicians, maintenance workers and administrators til' you're blue in the face-- yet most of the commonly encountered nursing home problems could easily be avoided with plain old common sense.  

Want an example?  How does checking on the temperature of food before feeding a disabled person? Is that too much to ask? 

Along those lines, homicide charges were filed against Alador Thompson, an employee of Cambridge-Brightfield Assisted Living Facility in Hatfield, PA.  The charges are related to an October 8th incident in which Thompson poured scalding oatmeal into the mouth of an Alzheimer's patient she was responsible for feeding.  The oatmeal caused the resident to suffer burns to his lips, tongue, and the inside of his mouth.

The resident was taken to a local hospital for burn treatment.  After three days of hospitalization, the resident was returned to Cambridge where he apparently stopped eating and died.

On August 5th Thompson will be arraigned on charges related to involuntary manslaughter and neglect of a care dependent person. 

Hey district attorney, can I make a suggestion?  How about filing similar charges against the administrator of the facility for accepting this poor man back at the facility and allowing him to starve to death following the obviously severe burns he suffered on hands of your employee? 

Read more about this case of severe neglect at a Pennsylvania assisted living facility here.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Posts

Ohio Nurse Sentenced To 12 and 1/2 Years For Sexually Abusing 100 Nursing Home Residents

Guilty Plea From Nurse Accused Of Abusing Tennessee Nursing Home Resident

Nursing Home Resident Chokes To Death On Dinner

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Officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health are seeking the closure of Regal Health & Rehab Center in Oak Lawn, IL.  Officials cite the facility's pattern of safety problems as the primary reason for their decision to revoke the facilities license.

According to Melany Arnold, an IDPH spokeswoman, "Its happened over the years.  (Regal will) fix (a violation), but then they'll get into another cycle and have a different violation.  They're following the law and operating under the law, but because of the history of the facility, we have grounds to revoke a license."

In February, nursing home inspectors found problems with medical equipment, personnel and supervision of resident.  According to health department officials, the problems were corrected shortly thereafter which in turn allowed the facility to remain open.

However, the 'cycle' of problems at Regal continue.  In April, an inspection revealed an unknown patient sustained burns when he smoked cigarettes while hooked up to an oxygen machine.  The man died shortly after the incident.

In June,Village of Oak Lawn inspector's cited Regal for:

• Dirty water fountains and appliances
• Water damaged ceilings
• Rodent droppings on the floors
• Employees smoking within the building
• Employees washing hands in sinks that contained food

"This building is in compliance, there there's not anything negative coming from (the health department about us now," according to Michael Lerner, Regal's owner.  "Anything that's alleged gets resolved," he added.

Lerner is the sole owner of Regal Health and Rehab Center.  Lerner also owns Camelot Terrace and Forrest Hill Health and Rehab according to public records.  Not surprisingly, all of Lerner's facilities have multiple safety violations and have  been regularly sued in Cook County.

I commend the Department of Health for acting proactively in this matter.  Maybe this will be a wake up call to other nursing home owners who elect to provide the most minimal quality of care to their patients.

Read more about this troubled Chicago nursing home here.

Related posts

Third Quarter Illinois Nursing Home Violators

Quarterly Review Of Illinois Nursing Homes Reveals Major Problems

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Nursing homes have a duty to protect their residents from harm inflicted by not just the staff and other residents at the facility--but also keeping residents from harming themselves.  Rivera Healthcare Center, a California nursing home, failed to protect a resident from harming himself and consequently received a $100,000 fine-- the highest fine permissible under California law. 

The fine comes after a California Department of Health investigation related to the burn-related death of a 64-year-old resident.  An investigation into the matter revealed that on December 23rd, a male resident left the facility in his wheelchair to smoke a cigarette.  As he attempted to light the cigarette, the man ignited himself.  

The man sustained third-degree burns to his legs, thighs, groin, buttocks and left hand.  Despite, extensive medical care in a hospital burn unit, the nursing home resident died 18 days after the incident from organ failure and sepsis as a result of the extensive burns.

The report said the nursing home staff failed to monitor the mans whereabouts and failed to respond to the emergency situations.   Apparently, upon seeing the man literally in flames, the staff panicked and failed to use a fire extinguisher and fire blanket just six feet away to douse the flames. 

In addition to this fine and AA citation, Riviera Healthcare Center also had an administrative violation earlier this year in addition to the accident for which the Department issued a $20,000 fine.  Health department records confirm 19 complaints have been filed against the facility since 2005.

Read more about this case involving smoking-related burns here.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Posts

Resident Who Smoked & Used Oxygen Suspected Of Causing Fire At Assisted Living Facility

Unsupervised Nursing Home Resident Dies From Burns

A Reminder Of What Constitutes Nursing Home Neglect

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