Archive for category: Blog

CHICAGO, IL – The National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that more than 425 people may die on U.S. roadways this New Year’s Day holiday period. Holidays are traditionally a time of high travel for families across the country with many choosing to travel via car which has the highest fatality rate of any major form of transportation. While holidays are a time to celebrate, many include alcohol consumption which is a major contributing factor to motor-vehicle crashes and fatalities.

The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports 40% of deadly crashes between Christmas and New Year’s involve drunk drivers. The organization, which is part of the National Institute of Health, stated on average there were 54 fatalities occur due to alcohol-related car crashes on New Year’s Eve alone.

Drunk driving avoidance tips for New Years

Drunk driving is responsible for 10,000 deaths each year and about one third of all traffic-related deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). View tips on how to avoid drunk driving this New Years:

The easiest way to know your guests won’t drive under the influence is to limit their access to alcohol. Serve non-alcoholic drinks to designated drivers and for those who don’t wish to drink.

While it may seem nosey, ask about guests plans for a designated driver to help you decide if you need to confiscate keys or let someone pass out of your couch. Ensure that your guests know that you’re looking out for their safety. If you’re able to, offer them a place to stay until they’ve sobered up.

Alternative modes of transportation are at the palm of your hand. Uber and Lyft offer services to safely bring you from one place to another.

If you’re heading out for a party, it’s important to be responsible and avoid drinking and driving for your own safety and others on the road. You may think you can drive after a few drinks as alcohol effects your depth perception and information-processing skills. Since alcohol is a depressant, your central nervous system will slow down which delays your brain’s ability to access and respond.

Every state has a different legal limit, but driving with a BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) above .08% is extremely dangerous. The legal limit in Illinois is .08%. If you’re under 21 years old, there is a zero tolerance policy.

How much is too much?

Frequent drinks believe they can handle their liquor. The hard truth? Most metabolisms need a full hour to properly digest a glass of alcohol. A standard “glass” is classified as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits. If you drink more than this in an hour, you should wait and find an alternative way home. Do not get behind the wheel.

The Dinizulu Law Group wishes you a happy and safe New Years.

CHICAGO, IL – Long-term senior care encompasses a spectrum of options. There are a variety of long-term care options including nursing homes and assisted living, but sometimes these are not enough.

Maintaining independence is a priority for most adults. Other alternatives like independent living and continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) attract many residents. For seniors who prefer a family-like atmosphere and need more help, options such as group homes are available.

Complex decision-making

Paying for long-term care facilities and determining the quality of care they can provide for you or your love one can be frustrating and overwhelming. Payment is a major limiting factor in long-term care choices. For example, assisted living facilities and CCRCs are extremely expensive. You’ll also need to factor in what is and isn’t covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

Facilities don’t operate the same way they did before the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically because of the outbreaks and negligence to control measures. Resident activities and visitor restrictions may still be in place.

Staffing shortages continue to plague the long-term care industry. In a press release from the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, he Bureau of Labor Statistics reported losing nearly 290,000 caregivers (or 14% of its workforce) since February 2020, the worst job loss among all health care sectors.

Determining care levels

Long-term care is a good option for people who need around-the-clock care, assistance with daily activities and feeding, help with mobility such as transferring in and out of bed or to a wheelchair. Nursing home residents can receive prescribed treatment and personal care as needed. Rehabilitation services like speech or physical therapy may also be available.

Assisted living facilities offer a housing alternative for older adults who need assistance with dressing, bathing, eating and toileting, but do not require intensive medical and nursing care. Assisted living is known for its community-based approach, with a focus on group and individual activities so residents don’t feel isolated.

Utilize the Eldercare Locater to help you start the search for local long-term care facilities in your area.

Other types of long-term care facilities include:

• Retirement living/independent living
  Independent or retirement living focuses on a self-sufficient lifestyle for seniors. These residences might be part of self-contained retirement communities or high-rise apartment complexes, among other models. Costs for independent living options vary greatly based on location, services and benefits including housekeeping and activities offered.
• CCRCs
  CCRCs offer a tiered approach to their residence, so as their needs change, they can transition to on-site assisted living or nursing home facilities. A resident only has to make one move within their community to transition to different levels of care. CRCCs are intended to be the last place a person lives, but this streamlined convenience can cost a pretty penny. CRCCs represent a significant financial investment with hefty entrance fees and monthly charges.
• Adult family homes/residential care homes
  Unlike nursing homes, family homes and residential care units do not promise any kind of medical or skilled nursing coverage; however, they do help with day-to-day care including living, eating, bathing, dressing and toileting.
• Medical foster care
  For military veterans with chronic medical conditions that meet the nursing home level of care, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) oversees its Medical Foster Homes Program. These facilities are private homes in which a trained caregiver provides support to a small number of people. The costs ranges from about $1,500 to $3,000 per month based on your income and level of care needed.
• Memory care
  Older adults who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia requires an extra level of care and supervision. Memory care facilities offer a safe and structured environment with gentle sensory stimulation that people with dementia can benefit from. Secured memory units are located within many nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
• Skilled nursing facilities
  Nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities are often used interchangable; however, they aren’t exactly the same. Skilled nursing facilities have a consistent presence of nurses of physicians and offer rehabilitation services, including occupational, physical and speech therapy. An individual that truly qualifies for skilled nursing facility care needs significant assistance. For example, a skilled nursing resident may have a disability or require chronic medical care like dialysis.

Covering the cost

The cost of senior care depends on your geographic and metropolitan region. According to Genworth’s 2021 Cost of Care Survey, the median monthly cost for an assisted living facility is $4,500 – totaling $54,000 annually, up from $28,800 in 2004. Skilled nursing in a private room is more expensive clocking in at more than $9,000 per month, totaling more than $108,400 per year.

It’s important to review what Medicare and Medicaid cover, as well as how long-term care insurance can be applied towards nursing home costs.

CHICAGO, IL – Regulators have continued to allow thousands of nursing homes across the country to remain afloat without a registered nurse on duty, according to USA Today’s investigation. Only 4 percent of these nursing home facilities were cited by government inspectors. Even worse? Even fewer were fined.

Understaffing is a serious issue that has plagued nursing homes for decades. An online website found that more than 90% of nursing homes in the U.S. is currently understaffed.

In February 2022, the Biden Administration announced a comprehensive set of reforms to improve the quality and safety of nursing home care, hold nursing homes accountable for the care they provide and make the quality of care and facility ownership more transparent (CMS.gov). In the spring, they will propose a fourth approach.

USA TODAY‘s investigation compared millions of nursing home inspection reports and timesheets to the staffing numbers that are set by the federal government and found staffing patterns of failure.

Understaffed nursing home facilities has remained a stagnant problem well before the COVID-19 pandemic. CMS requires a registered nurse to be on-staff for eight hours a day; however, most facilities failed to meet this standard.

Many former nurses have been left stunned that the public has not demanded better care for vulnerable adults, especially after the gross negligence that was exposed during the pandemic.

Former registered nurse Barbara DeCelles worked 38 years at a senior care centers in Wisconsin and Illinois, but called it quits last year.

She explained she was done working 25-hour long shifts knowing she might be making a mistake, then leaving, and possibly driving off the road from exhaustion on her way home.

Since the late 1980s, federal regulations have required facilities to have “sufficient nursing staff” to meet residents needs and to have an RN in the building at least 8 hours each day. Nursing homes across the country have failed to meet this standard due to the long hours nurses are expected to work due to facilities being chronically understaffed.

Consequences of lax enforcement of understaffing

Cindy Napolitan, 66, is an eyewitness to what understaffing really means at Cheyenne Medical Lodge in Mesquite, TX, where she resides with her adult daughter. Both have multiple sclerosis (M.S.) and her husband, former caregiver, died in 2017.

Napolitan described her care as difficult to get regular showers or help transferring to a wheelchair. Her daughter suffered from a bed sore, or pressure ulcer, because the doctor’s orders to turn her every two hours was not followed. Since 2018, Texas nursing homes have been reported as the nation’s second lowest staffing levels.

Residents at other nursing home facilities reported to USA TODAY they felt trapped and no matter where they went, couldn’t find adequate care. In New York, Claire Campbell faced low staffing levels everywhere she took her mother, Grace Campbell. Despite filing various complaints with the state against facilities, she said very little changed.

Grace experienced delay in diaper changes, falls, dehydration and urinary tract infections while residing at The Riverside Premier Rehabilitation and Healing Center in Manhattan, NY. After another fall, Grace moved to Amsterdam Nursing Home in the early summer of 2021. Grace had to wait hours for help to use the bathroom and couldn’t push her wheelchair over the marble threshold.

The frequent delays caused Claire to hire an aid to visit her mother at the Amsterdam Nursing Home. Even that didn’t guarantee quality or timely care.

On Claire’s birthday in January, Grace called saying she had a bowel movement but no one had came to help her. Grace rushed over but within an hour, her mother was dead. Her death certificate cited “natural causes,” although she had significant bruising on her face and head suggesting she fell due to the nursing home’s negligence and low staffing levels.

Failure in Illinois

Jacinda Gaston often smelled urine when she stepped off the elevator to begin her shift at Alden Lakeland, an Uptown Chicago nursing home.

Residents who were able to speak told her they sat in soiled diapers for eight or more hours. Urine and stool ran up people’s backs to their necks and the entire bed had to be changed.

Academics recommend and the Illinois state law requires at least one certified nurse assistant (CNA) per eight residents a day. At night, state law requires at least one aide per 21 residents. At Alden Lakeland, Gaston was often responsible for up to 35 residents at a time.

Inspection reports from this year document the understaffing at Alden Lakeland. This nursing home is 1 of 6 facilities named in a class action lawsuit recently filed against The Alden Network, one of the largest nursing home operators in Chicago.

Since 2012, inspectors have shown up the Alden Lakeland 28 times and issued 90 citations. Reports documented abuse, head wounds, broken bones, medication errors, pressure ulcers that threatened lives, residents with dementia wandering unsupervised, improper use of physical restraints, cloudy catheter tubes, mice infestations and staff members providing care beyond the scope of their license.

Illinois had the lowest staffing in the nation overall across five years. Last year, 91% of nursing homes missed the mark set forth by Medicare.

CHICAGO, IL – Have you ever wondered what you’re agreeing to when you sign an arbitration agreement? An arbitration agreement is a written contract in which two or more parties agree to utilize a neutral third-party, the arbitrator, to resolve a dispute instead of pursing any legal claims against the other party through a lawsuit.

Arbitration overview

Rather than having your case heard before a judge in the court of law, your dispute is heard by an arbitrator during an arbitration hearing. The procedures involved are less rigorous than standard court procedures and is much more informal than a court hearing with most arbitration hearings being held in a conference room.

Arbitrators are often retired attorneys or judges; however, those in a more specialized industry can be trained in arbitration procedures.

The disadvantages of arbitration agreement

Arbitration leaves matters solely in the hands of the arbitrator versus a jury. The arbitrator acts as the judge and the jury, in this case. For most individuals, having a jury of peers is an important right when seeking restitution of a claim. If you can’t choose an arbitrator, there can be conflicts of interest between parties.

Arbitration also limits the amount of information each side is required to provide the other party. In employment cases, for example, this hurts the employee because the employer is normally the one in possession of most of the documentation relating to the employee’s case. Additionally, if a company insists on arbitration, you may have to pay for the process.

Most importantly, arbitration decisions typically cannot be appealed. If the arbitration is mandatory and binding, both parties waive their rights to the court system and have a judge or jury decide their case.

Contacting an attorney

There are plenty of good reasons you should not sign an arbitration agreement. While many people haven’t filed a lawsuit, you have the right to do so. Contact one of our skilled attorneys at the Dinizulu Law Group to review a contract or a stand-alone arbitration agreement. For a free case evaluation, contact us today at (312) 384-1920.