Nursing Home & Elder Abuse

• Nursing home resident freezes to death

  Barry Doyle | February 16, 2007 10:24 PM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  An Alzheimer's patient in an Indiana nursing home was found frozen to death on the ground outside the facility. He was able to leave the facility unnoticed and froze when he was left outside overnight in sub-zero temperatures.The cause of death for the resdient was hypothermia.One of the main reasons that people with family members with Alzheimer's seek to admit them to nursing homes is to...

• Chicago nursing home cited for abuse

  Barry Doyle | February 13, 2007 11:30 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A Chicago nursing home was cited by the Illinois Department of Public Health after it was discovered that some residents were being awoken at 4:30 a.m. so that they could be dressed and in the day room before the day shift arrived. Interviews with staff members indicated that the night shift was instrcuted to get 2-3 residents ready for the day before the day shift arrived.The residents...

• Cicero nursing home cited in resident-on-resident assault

  Barry Doyle | February 11, 2007 11:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A resident in a Cicero nursing home was injured after being attacked by a fellow resident. The resident who assaulted him had been released to the nursing home from the Illinois Department of Corrections. During the months prior to the assault, the recently released resident had been observed using street drugs such as crack cocaine and marijuana, hitting other residents, and engaging in...

• Nursing home fined in morphine overdose

  Barry Doyle | February 06, 2007 7:30 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  The state of California fined a Sacramento-area nursing home $100,000 -- the largest amount permitted -- when a resident of the nursing home received a massive overdose of morphine. The physician's order called for the resdient to receive 10 milligrams per hour. Instead he received over 120 milligrams over a two-hour time span.The resident died as a result of the medication overdose.Nurses in...

• Nursing home resident scalded

  Barry Doyle | February 05, 2007 9:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A California nursing home resident suffered significant scalding injuries when she was exposed to 145 degree water while seated in a shower. After she was burned, the CNA did not call 911, but put her to bed instead. Investigators learned that the facility had a policy against permitting non-supervisory staff to call 911.The resident suffered third-degree burns on over 60% of her body as a...

• Nursing home threatened with loss of funding

  Barry Doyle | February 03, 2007 7:30 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A recent inspection of a nursing home in Michigan by state inspectors resulted in the issuance of citations against the nursing home for 25 violations of state or federal regulations. Now, the state has requested that the nursing home be denied Medicare/Medicaid funding, which would effectively put the nursing home out of business.Violations found during the inspection included residents being...

• Woman burned in fire at nursing home

  Barry Doyle | January 30, 2007 8:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A Montana nursing home resident died last week after being burned in a fire at the nursing home. The fire was apparently caused by the use of cigarettes near oxygen equipment.The woman suffered second and third degree burns and died the following day.Oxygen equipment creates a special risk of fires when cigarettes or other open flames are nearby. The oxygen from the equipment can create a...

• Nursing home resident strangled in bed rails

  Barry Doyle | January 27, 2007 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A Kansas City nursing home was fined $10,000 by state regulators after a resident died in her bed at the facility. The facility was using bed rails to allevaite the risk of falling. Unfortunately, the resident became trappedin between her mattress and the bed rails and died.The medical examiner ruled that the cause of death was positional asphyxiation.Bed rails seem like a natural way to...

• "Mercy killings" investigated at McHenry nursing home

  Barry Doyle | January 24, 2007 10:54 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  The McHenry County State's Attorney obtained a court order to exhume at least three bodies of deceased residents of a local nursing home. This is part of an ongoing investigation into allegations that a member of the nursing staff deliberately killed residents of the facility.The residents were allegedly killed with a fatal overdose of morphine.Normally, the law holds employers responsible for...

• Fire in nursing home

  Barry Doyle | January 21, 2007 5:00 PM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  An Illinois nursing home resident was seriously burned in a smoking accident at the facility. One of the resident's diagnoses was dementia which had worsened in the months before the fire. Staff members from the nursing home were aware that he was smoking unsupervised in his room, but there was no care plan in place to address dangers associated with his smoking. In fact, a member of the...