Illinois Deserves the Truth

Elder Abuse Awareness Month

Most people understand that elder abuse is a huge problem in Illinois.  Still, you can't help but feel stunned when you learn tragic stories like that of 77-year-old Ivory Jackson, who was beaten to death at his nursing home.  Events like this constantly remind us that we need to do more to protect nursing home residents from harm.  That's why Gov. Blagojevich's proclamation of July as "Elder Abuse Awareness Month"--just a few days after Mr. Jackson died--felt especially relevant to the times.

“Our seniors have the right to be treated with dignity, respect, and to feel safe and secure.  Unfortunately, many seniors find themselves victims of abuse and neglect which is unacceptable,” said Gov. Blagojevich.  “The sooner we know about a case of abuse, the sooner we can put a stop to it.  But in order to keep up the fight against abuse and neglect, we need everyone to do their part.  If you suspect a case of elder abuse report it.  Elder Abuse prevention will help keep thousands of seniors safe each year.”

Click here to learn more about the proclamation, which is part of the state's "Break the Silence" campaign.

Awareness efforts like this are crucial, but reporting abuse isn’t the only way to keep residents safe.  We need to make sure our loved ones and their families can have their day in court and hold abusers accountable for wrongdoing.  Our lawmakers can take a big step forward on this front by passing The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act in the House (H.R. 6126) and Senate (S. 2838).  Nursing homes increasingly rely on binding, mandatory arbitration hearings to take away the legal rights of abuse victims. This legislation would give victims back their rights and would hold abusers accountable to their victims.

Woman Claims Retaliation for Reporting Medication Errors

Here is a situation I've never come across:
Back in my home state of Iowa, an innocent woman was jailed, cited for assault of her own mother, and denied visitation rights to her mother’s nursing home for thirteen months—all on false pretenses.  She says she was falsely accused by a nursing home worker, because she complained about medication errors and poor care at the home—a home that was cited for “medication errors and problems with nursing services” just last year.

Making Arbitration a Choice for Nursing Home Residents

Last week Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) introduced the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2008 in the HOuse.  This important legislation would make "binding mandatory arbitration" not binding anymore in nursing home contracts.  This came about a month after United States Senators Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Herb Kohl (D-WI) presented the same legislation in the US Senate. 

This legislation is intended to protect the rights of residents of nursing homes in how they choice to dispute an issue.  Binding mandatory arbitration has been getting more and more attention as companies continue to put these unfair conditions in everything from credit card agreements to car insurance policies to employment applications.  Binding mandatory arbitration requires that consumers forgo their rights to address their grievances in front of a judge and jury. 

We need to make sure that our elderly and frail are able to get their day in court.  Hopefully this legislation will get passed and start getting back some of the rights that corporate America has been successful at stripping away from us. 

To find out more about the dangers of binding mandatory arbitration check out the Public Citizen website.

Nursing homes escaping liability

Chicago's ABC affiliate ABC 7 aired a story on how Illinois nursing homes are not required to carry liability insurance.  We’ve talked about this for a while, but it looks like the mainstream press is finally catching on to the severity of this issue.  Estimates of how many nursing homes go without liability insurance are as high as 20%, and that’s not even counting nursing homes that are considered underinsured, or homes that carry policies from overseas insurers that don’t have to follow U.S. court orders.  All of this means that when your loved one is mistreated or abused in a nursing home, chances are it will be very difficult to hold the facility accountable and seek compensation.

Last year, fines for nursing home violations in Illinois totaled over $3.5 million.  Less than $1 million of that total has been collected.  These fines aren’t just for petty infractions.  According to the IDPH, there were 177 Type A violations in Illinois in 2007.  These are situations in which there is a “substantial probability that death or serious mental or physical harm will result.”  To give you a better picture, here are a few examples of A violations from recent IDPH reports:

•    "Failure to prevent sexual abuse of a resident, and not reporting the incident to the proper authorities."
•    “Using restraints for staff convenience, resulting in possible mental abuse.  A resident was locked in a linen closet and two residents were tied to their beds with sheets."
•    “Failure to prevent a medication error when staff gave a resident ten times the amount of the ordered dose. Staff also failed to notify the resident’s doctor about the overdose.  The resident died two days later."

ABC also highlighted a few of the many tragic stories of loved ones dying from nursing home abuse.

"I didn't know that nursing homes were not required to carry insurance," said Jill Szczekocki, granddaughter.

In another case at Rosewood in 2006, Szczekocki's grandmother was left alone in a washroom; according to state records, by a new employee who hadn't finished orientation or been told of the 93-year old's mandatory care needs. Mae Blake fell and hit her head.

"Six weeks later, she was put on hospice and she passed away," said Szczekocki.

It is long past time we hold nursing homes responsible for such incidents.  We can do this with house bill 5213 (we blogged about it here).  HB 5213 would make it mandatory for nursing homes to carry a minimum amount of liability insurance.  It would also make information on home’s coverage plans available to the public, so people like Ms. Szczekocki will know what to expect in the case of an accident.  Nursing home residents deserve a guarantee that if they are victimized, they or their families will be fairly compensated.  All Illinoisans should get behind this bill.

Click here to watch the ABC story.

Nursing home predators

Illinois has a great law called the Health Care Worker Background Check Act that requires nursing home employees to undergo criminal background checks.  Unfortunately, this doesn't extend to nursing home residents.  The Today Show stunned us this morning (for the second time this week) with a story on criminal sex offenders in nursing homes.  There are more of these criminals in nursing homes than most of us realize, and they younger on average than other residents.  All seniors deserve a safe place to live, but the nursing home industry isn't doing enough to guarantee that.

Task force takes on abusers of the elderly

Encouraging story from the Tribune...

Most of us know the sad truth that elderly abuse has been on the rise for a while now (elderly abuse complaints in IL have gone up 53% since '93). A story today suggests that government officials are finally catching on.  A multi-agency task force is out there reviewing suspicious elderly deaths. 

Although short on funding, officials say their success may offer a blueprint for the future. In Kane County, the state's first review team has prompted prosecutors to file criminal charges, legislators to enact a new law and other counties to consider establishing their own teams.

I’m glad more people are taking notice of the disturbing trends out there.

Woodstock nursing home update

A few days ago we learned that two former nursing home employees in Woodstock had been arrested on suspicion of fatally overdosing as many as six residents.  The latest is that the family of one of the victims is seeking redress for their loved one's suspicious death.  The local NBC and ABC stations covered the story (watch the videos here and here).

Holding nursing home abusers accountable

You might remember the tragic story of a Woodstock nursing home where six residents have died suspiciously (link courtesy of Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog) over the past few years, possibly from morphine overdose.  Well, the families of these victims may finally be getting closer to justice.  Today police arrested a former and a current employee on suspicion of overdosing residents.

We need to keep prosecuting these abusers, but let's also hold the nursing homes accountable for allowing these horror stories to go on.

Don't forget to visit the Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog for more on this case and others.

Two bills that will protect Illinoisans

Recently two important bills passed through committees in the state legislature, house
bill (HB) 5213 and senate bill (SB) 2784. These bills will reach the house and
senate floors for consideration in the coming weeks.

HB 5213, Nursing Home Liability Insurance. Sponsored by David E. Miller
(D-29th District) and co-sponsored by Greg Harris (D-13th District) and Mary E. Flowers
(D-31st District)

This bill requires nursing homes to carry liability insurance, just as Illinois car drivers
do. It also makes information about nursing home insurance plans available to the public,
so potential residents and their families are better informed when making important
decisions. Finally, the bill requires licensed nursing homes to pay treble damages (three
times the amount of actual damages) when they violate residents' rights. This important
bill will help hold wrongdoers accountable.

SB 2784, Civil Procedure Death of Party. Sponsored by Don Harmon (D-39th
District). 

This bill allows people who have been wronged to still be able to receive due
compensation if the responsible person dies. It requires that when a person dies before a
lawsuit is filed against him or her, the court can appoint a representative (of the
wrongdoer's estate) against whom the action may be filed. In this way innocent victims
don’t suddenly have to pay for another's wrongful conduct.

SB2784 is already scheduled for a Senate reading on April 1st and HB5213 will be debated soon, too. We need to get the message out that these bills are important to all Illinoisans.

Contact your state representative and state senator to let them know you support
HB 5213 and SB 2784. You can find your legislator’s contact information by going to the General Assembly's home page.

Nursing Homes Escaping Liability

Cross posted from The Pop Tort by Amanda

Among other things, the civil justice system is supposed to compensate victims of grossly inadequate care or gross failures of care.  So when nursing home care kills or injures its vulnerable residents the nursing home should be held accountable.  Right?

But, according to the Oklahoma Center for Consumer & Patient Safety, "[O]ver 20 percent of the beds in Oklahoma are in nursing homes that refuse to carry [medical liability] insurance." Also, many of the companies that run these nursing homes set up complicated corporate structures that shield their assets from possible litigation.

Which means that there is often no legal recourse for the victims and their families if they suffer from abuse and neglect while in these homes, and they can escape responsibility for their misconduct. 

Yesterday's Oklahoman offered this example

In October 2006, Leah Gann of Sand Springs received a dreaded telephone call.

Her mother had been injured at The Gardens nursing home in Sapulpa.

Hospital X-rays revealed her mother had suffered spiral fractures to both legs, she said. Since that type of injury often is associated with abuse or neglect, Gann sued the nursing home.

She said she was upset at what she discovered: The nursing home had no medical liability insurance coverage.

"I never learned what happened to my mom," Gann said. "I never knew to look for insurance (when picking a nursing home)."    

Unfortunately, this is not just happening in Oklahoma, but in states like Illinois. Thankfully, important legislation is being discussed in both states - Oklahoma (SB1549) and Illinois (HB5213) that would require nursing homes to carry liability insurance. 

I say "about time!"  As drivers, we are required to carry liability insurance so that innocent victims can be compensated for their injuries, why shouldn't people who care for our loved ones be held to the same standards?   

We need to make sure the civil justice system is accessible to anyone who has been harmed or killed while in a nursing home is important, not just in Oklahoma and Illinois, but across the country.  Between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited, or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection. 

For more information check out the Center for Justice & Democracy new fact sheet on elder abuse and nursing homes.