Nursing homes are meant to provide quality care for elderly or disabled individuals who need assistance with their daily needs. Unfortunately, some nursing homes do not live up to these obligations. Because nursing home residents are so vulnerable, they can suffer serious harm if a facility or its staff members are negligent in providing the care they need. Sadly, many residents are the victims of nursing home abuse. Family members should be sure to understand the possible types of abuse that can affect their loved one, and in cases where abuse has occurred, they will want to work with a personal injury attorney to understand their legal options.

Forms of Nursing Home Abuse

Abuse may be committed against nursing home residents by a facility’s staff members or by other residents. Some ways that a nursing home patient may be abused include:

• Physical abuse - This may include hitting, slapping, shoving, or other actions that inflict physical pain and discomfort. Because nursing home patients are often in frail physical condition and susceptible to harm, these actions can lead to serious injuries and permanent impairment.
• Verbal or emotional abuse - Staff members may shout at, insult, berate, harass, or intimidate patients, or they may purposely isolate them from others or ignore their requests for aid or assistance. This can cause a great deal of emotional harm to residents, leading to depression, anxiety, and social withdrawal.
• Sexual abuse - Sadly, the vulnerability of nursing home patients may lead staff members or other residents to take advantage of them sexually, especially when patients suffer from dementia or experience other issues that make it difficult for them to tell others about what has happened to them. Sexual abuse may include forced sexual contact, taking sexually explicit pictures of a person, forcing a person to disrobe, or committing sexual harassment involving inappropriate speech or behavior.
• Improper restraint - Staff members may use physical restraints to confine a resident to a bed or chair, and these may include strapping a person’s wrists or ankles to a bed or chair, using bed rails to prevent a person from leaving their bed, or using belts or trays to force a person to remain in a chair. Chemical restraints such as sedatives or other drugs may also be used by staff members if they believe a patient is being troublesome. Restraints should only be used when they are medically necessary, and they should not be used to restrict a resident’s freedom.
• Financial exploitation - Caregivers or other people who are close to a nursing home resident may coerce or manipulate them into turning over their money or property or making changes to their will. In some cases, a person may commit identity theft by using a resident’s personal information to open credit cards, make purchases, or obtain loans.

Contact Our Rolling Meadows Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys

If your loved one has suffered harm while residing at a nursing home, Newland & Newland, LLP can help you determine whether their injuries were the result of abuse or neglect. We will help you understand your legal options for recovering compensation, and we will work to ensure that those who caused your loved one’s injuries are held responsible for their wrongdoing. Contact our Arlington Heights nursing home injury lawyers at  847-797-8000 to set up your free consultation today.

The death of a spouse is one of the most heartbreaking experiences a person could ever go through. The loss of a husband or wife due to old age or an unavoidable illness is tragic but losing your spouse to the irresponsible actions of another person is especially devastating. If your spouse has passed away from injuries sustained in a fatal drunk driving accident, you have the option of bringing a civil action against the drunk driver.

Illinois Wrongful Death Claims for Fatal Car Accidents

If a driver under the influence of alcohol or drugs causes a fatal car accident, the driver will likely face significant criminal penalties. DUI resulting in great bodily harm or death is a felony offense in Illinois. The person who caused the fatal accident may be imprisoned for up to 14 years as a result of his or her recklessness. Although criminal charges against the person who caused your loved one’s accident may provide a sense of justice, criminal charges do not help alleviate the financial burden created by your spouse’s death.

A wrongful death claim is a civil claim that may be used to recover financial compensation after the loss of a loved one. In Illinois, a wrongful death is one that is caused by the careless, reckless, negligent, or intentionally malicious actions of another party. If your loved one’s death was caused by a drunk driver, you will most likely not be required to prove that the driver acted negligently to receive compensation. He or she may be considered “negligent per se” or automatically at fault for the accident.

Ideally, a professional in any industry should do his or her job to the best of his or her ability. When someone is a doctor, surgeon, anesthesiologist, or other medical professional, job performance is a matter of life and death. Even a seemingly simple mistake or oversight can lead to disastrous consequences in the medical field. Some medical mistakes are so grievous that they are called “never events” because they should never happen. If you or a loved one were harmed in a never event, it is important to learn about your legal options. You may be entitled to financial compensation through a medical malpractice claim.

Examples of Never Events

Medical professionals are human, and like all humans, they can make mistakes. However, when a medical professional makes a serious, avoidable medical mistake, the professional or the facility may be liable for damages. Often, medical malpractice cases involve ambiguous situations in which a medical worker’s actions are questionable but not immediately, obviously negligent. It is only after a detailed investigation that the medical professional’s negligence becomes apparent. A never event is typically much more blatant. Some examples of never events include:

• Performing surgery on the wrong body part
• Performing surgery on the wrong patient
• Leaving a foreign object such as a surgical tool inside the patient’s body
• Using contaminated drugs or devices
• Administering the wrong medication or an inaccurate dose of medication
• Inseminating the wrong egg or using the wrong donor sperm during artificial insemination
• Allowing a patient’s bed sore to reach a stage 3 or above in severity
• Physical abuse or sexual assault of a patient

Legal Rights After Being the Victim of a Never Event

Although serious, avoidable medical mistakes should never be made, studies show that these events are more common than one may assume. One study found that over 4,000 never events occur each year in the United States. If you were injured because of a medical mistake or your loved one died because of medical negligence, you may have the right to bring a civil claim against the liable party. You may be entitled to financial compensation for medical bills, lost income due to missed work, funeral and burial expenses, disability, disfigurement, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and other damages.

Most people have experienced heartburn or gastroesophageal reflux at some point in their life. Often, people suffering from stomach or intestinal distress turn to prescription or over-the-counter antacids to alleviate their symptoms. Most trust that the medications available at the pharmacy are safe. However, sometimes drugs must be recalled because a risk is discovered. The popular medication Zantac has been recalled after it was discovered that the medication could increase users’ risk of cancer. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer after taking Zantac, you should know that you might have a valid defective drug claim.

Background Information Regarding Zantac Concerns

Zantac is the brand name of a medication called ranitidine. It is an H2 blocker used to treat heartburn and stomach ulcers. Concerns about the medication’s safety were first brought up because the active ingredient, ranitidine HCl, breaks down into a chemical called Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified NDMA as one that is likely carcinogenic to humans. 

NDMA has been linked to many types of cancer including:

For many drivers, sharing the road with large commercial trucks can be frightening. These vehicles are much larger and heavier than passenger cars and trucks, and a collision with a semi-trailer truck can result in devastating injuries. There are a variety of factors that can lead to truck accidents, but driver fatigue is one of the biggest concerns, since a truck driver who falls asleep at the wheel or attempts to operate a vehicle while drowsy can cause serious harm to other drivers, their passengers, or pedestrians. 

Increased Concerns About Truck Driver Fatigue

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led many people to remain at home and avoid traveling, fewer people have been using the roads in Illinois and throughout the United States. However, this has also led to an increase in products being ordered online, which has resulted in additional trucks on the nation’s roads to ensure that cargo is shipped and delivered quickly. Due to a shortage in the number of truck drivers in the U.S., the increased need to deliver products means that fewer drivers are being required to drive more often, which may increase the chances that drivers will be pushing their limits and operating their vehicles when they are unable to do so safely.

The federal government has created regulations meant to prevent truck driver fatigue and ensure that drivers can remain awake and aware of the conditions on the road at all times. Under these hours-of-service regulations, truck drivers can drive for a maximum of 11 hours after being off-duty for 10 hours, and they cannot drive for more than 60 hours in a seven-day period or 70 hours in an eight-day period. Drivers must also take a 30-minute break after driving for eight hours.