Blog | Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd

Who To Sue If You Suspect Nursing Home Abuse

March 10, 2017/in Blog, Elder abuse, nursing home neglect/by Yao Dinizulu

If you have a loved one who is in a nursing home, then you expect that they will be provided with the best of care. What happens when someone abuses your loved one or neglects them? Who do you sue for nursing home abuse, and how do you do it?

Elder abuse unfortunately happens more often than we would like to think. In most cases, it is not the physician’s fault. Unless the physician is the one who specifically did the abuse, then they are not at fault. The doctor usually makes visits to the nursing home, but they do not work there full time. The director of nursing is in charge of all other medical concerns. This means that they oversee the nursing staff and medical procedures and guidelines that must be followed. The nursing home administrator handles all other departments and oversees day-to-day procedures. They are in charge of making sure that staff follows protocol, including how residents are treated.

Under Illinois state law, you can sue the corporation, the nursing home administrator, and the caregiver whose actions constituted the abuse. With constant turnover and ownership changes, it can be difficult to know exactly where to place the blame. An experienced nursing home abuse attorney can help you to determine this and to find the relevant information. Watch the video to learn more.

If you have questions about how to sue when you suspect nursing home abuse, please email or call us at 1-312-384-1920 or 1-800-693-1LAW. Our experienced Chicago-based nursing home abuse attorneys are here for you. You may also find more videos and media content from the Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd. on our media page.

Ex Nursing Home Employees Refused to Fabricate Medical Records to Hide Abuse

March 7, 2017/in Blog, Elder abuse/by Yao Dinizulu

Abusing nursing home residents is deplorable, and altering medical records to hide the effects of the negligence is downright immoral. That is what the staff at an Illinois nursing home has allegedly been doing, though, but two ex-employees refuse to let it continue.

The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act: Resident’s Rights When Faced with Nursing Home Abuse, Neglect, or Bad Care

March 3, 2017/in Blog, Elder abuse, nursing home neglect, Uncategorized/by Yao Dinizulu

The decision to place a loved one in a nursing home can be a difficult one. While we often have the best of intentions, caring for an elderly family member can be a strain on your family and moving an individual into a facility designed to care for the aging can be tremendously helpful. Not only do nursing homes have skilled staff on hand, but facility resources are also designed to help loved ones transition into their autumn years.

Unfortunately, the National Council on Aging (NCOA) provides data indicating that approximately one out of every 10 Americans over the age of 60 will experience some form of elder abuse. Many times, this is nursing home abuse comes at the hands of caregivers at a senior care facility. Nursing home neglect and abuse takes many forms, such as:

Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Emotional Abuse
Confinement
Passive Neglect
Willful Deprivation of Medicine, Care or Food.
Financial Exploitation

The elderly who are experiencing nursing home abuse or neglect are at an increased risk of death at a rate of 300% more those who do not experience such cases of elder abuse. During a time when your loved one is supposed to be enjoying their golden years, the last thing you want is another’s misconduct causing harm to your loved one. What can you do to ensure nursing homes and elder care facilities are following the law and treating their patrons with the respect they deserve?

Nursing Home Abuse Takes Many Shapes

Under the Nursing Home Care Act, the state of Illinois ensures that nursing home patrons and their families have recourse if the unthinkable happens and the facility or one of their agents neglects or mistreats an individual. For example, every nursing home resident has a right to manage their own financial affairs. Additionally, residents must be allowed their own personal physician if requested, albeit at their own expense. In addition to the hard line rules, Illinois law also requires that caregivers treat residents with dignity, ensuring privacy and respect in treatment programs.

Although sometimes patients or residents may need restraints to prevent them from harming themselves, these restraints may never be used as punishment. The facility, however, may not use restraints without the informed consent of the resident or the resident’s guardian.

Sometimes physical neglect or abuse in a nursing home is obvious, but emotional trauma is less apparent, particularly when a resident suffers from an ailment that prevents them from effectively communicating.

Chicago Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers and Elder Abuse Attorneys Can Help You

It may appear that nursing home lawsuits resulting from the injury of a loved one are straightforward. Although the law does prohibit certain neglectful or abusive acts, administering justice remains complicated. A skilled nursing home lawyer will help you determine who to bring an action against and also what claims to assert.

The experienced Chicago nursing home abuse attorneys at Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd. understand the complicated nature of bringing caretakers and nursing home facilities to justice in the unfortunate event of nursing home negligence and abuse. Let our nursing home abuse lawyers in Chicago help you. Please contact us today at 1-312-384-1920 or 1-800-693-1LAW.

What Are the Signs of Malnutrition?

March 1, 2017/in Blog, Elder abuse/by Yao Dinizulu

Malnutrition is a widespread problem among senior citizens in nursing homes. According to The Commonwealth Fund, at least 33 percent of nursing home residents in America suffer from dehydration, malnutrition, or both.

Employee Fired For Being Injured After 22 Years On The Job

February 24, 2017/in Blog, Workplace Injury/by Yao Dinizulu

Have you been fired by your job after giving them years of your life? Why did they fire you? Did you have a workers’ compensation claim?

Workers’ compensation is a huge slippery slope. On one hand, it gives protections to you as an employee. On the other hand, your employer may try to retaliate because you filed workers’ compensation. You have a right to workers’ compensation, and a company cannot fire you as retaliation for filing a worker’s compensation claim. The key is having evidence to prove that this is why you were fired.

I once had a client who had worked for the same company for over 20 years. She injured her arm while working, and had to file a workers’ compensation claim. The doctor checked her out and told her it as Fibromyalgia, then had her take a leave from work. Her employer didn’t like that, so they sent her to a different doctor who declared that she was able to return to work.

She re-injured herself, and had to go on leave indefinitely. Her employer begged her to come back, and being a hard worker, she did. She requested and was granted some unpaid days off around a winter vacation. She was fired 2 days into her unpaid vacation. She was upset. Her employer said they were firing her because of job abandonment, but she knew she had received permission.

We had several experts testify on behalf of the client, but the most important testimony is the one from a coworker who their supervisor giving our client permission to have those days off. In response, the jury awarded a verdict of $1.8 million in favor of our client. Watch the video to learn more.

You can also find more videos and learn further about workers compensation laws on our media page. If you have questions about what to do if you were fired from a job for filing a worker’s compensation claim for an on the job injury, please contact us by email or at 1-312-384-1920 or 1-800-693-1LAW. At the Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd., our workman comp lawyers from Chicago are here for you.

How We Proved A Job Discrimination Case Involving Self-Defense

February 24, 2017/in Blog, Workplace Discrimination/by Yao Dinizulu

Discrimination cases can be tricky. You have to prove that there was adverse action taken against one party when there was none taken against another party, and that can be difficult to do.

Imagine this: There are two individuals. They both have similar stories. They attended the same high school. They both served in the military. They both worked for the same company. What’s different about them? One is African American and one is Caucasian. One was fired and one was not. Let’s consider what we needed to prove for this discrimination case.

The African American party was sent out on a stranded motorist call. Upon arriving, the motorist began to get aggressive. It was the company’s policy that the employee is responsible for walking away from situations in which the motorist becomes angry. Let’s call the emergency roadside assistant Bob. Bob walked away from the motorist. While he was trying to walk away, the motorist grabbed Bob. Bob did not expect that, and did not know what was going to happen beside the road, so he hit the motorist in self-defense. He was suspended and then fired. He had just bought a retirement house, and had been working extra to save for his retirement. He was only two years away from retirement.

Now, let’s look at the other party. We’ll call him Joe. Joe was also called out to help a stranded motorist. In the process, he hit another motorist. The driver of that car got upset and proceeded to throw hot coffee all over Joe. Joe got upset and chased down the driver. When he got to him, he proceeded to punch him 6 times in the face. His actions were against company policy. He was not fired.

Bob had an adverse action taken against him in his case, while Joe did not. We can investigate cases like this by pulling employee files. When Joe’s file was pulled, we saw his rejected workers’ compensation claim, which led us to study the story we just described. We compared and contrasted it with Bob’s case. We took it to their supervisor, who admitted to excusing Joe’s actions. In the face of a discrimination lawsuit, the supervisor decided to settle with Bob. Watch the video to learn more.

You will also find more videos on job discrimination examples on our media page. If you have questions about discrimination on the job, please contact us by email or at 1-312-384-1920 or 1-800-693-1LAW. The Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd., is a Chicago-based employee discrimination and work injury law firm. Our workplace discrimination lawyers from Chicago are here for you. We have represented over thousands of clients across Illinois and neighboring states.

What Factors Should I Consider When Choosing a Nursing Home for a Loved One?

February 21, 2017/in Blog, nursing home neglect/by Yao Dinizulu

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 1.4 million nursing home residents in 2014. Additionally, the Family Caregiver Alliance reports that the five types of care facilities— adult daycare centers, home health agencies, hospices, residential care communities and nursing homes—assist more than 8 million people annually.

Questions To Ask a Nursing Home Administrator

February 17, 2017/in Blog, nursing home neglect, Uncategorized/by Yao Dinizulu

Do you have a loved one that needs to reside in a nursing home? Our loved ones mean the world to us. We would do anything to make them happy including researching the best care for them. Ask staff and administrators the following questions when searching for a nursing home.

The first thing that you want to inquire about is her staff’s education. What kind of experience and education do they have? Is continuing education available to them on an ongoing basis? Are they up to date in new medical techniques and care giving techniques? The next thing that you’ll want to inquire about is what the caregiver-to-resident ratio is. You want your loved one to have interactions with the same set of caregivers each day because it promotes stronger bonds and ensures that the caregivers really get to know what your loved one needs and wants.

You’ll also want to inquire about how the staff is trained in handling special conditions. Do they have training and experience working with residents who may have Dementia or Alzheimer’s? Do they know the signs, and are the able to handle any obstacles?

Finally, you’ll want to ask about the care they offer. Is staff trained in infection prevention? How about preventing bedsores or ulcers? What about best hygiene practices? These are all things that should be included in the care plans for residents. They are also all important factors in determining what facility your loved one resides in. You don’t want them somewhere where the staff are inadequately trained. Watch the video to learn more.

If you have questions about what questions to ask nursing home administrators, please contact our nursing home abuse attorneys by email or call us at 1-312-384-1920 or 1-800-693-1LAW. Our experienced Chicago-based nursing home abuse lawyers are here for you. You may also find more educational videos and media content from the Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd. on our media page.

The Top 5 Questions For Nursing Homes According To The CDC

February 17, 2017/in Blog, nursing home neglect/by Yao Dinizulu

The CDC or Center for Disease Control has a lot of guidelines on preventing infections. One set of guidelines involves the questions you should ask your nursing home about infection prevention. You want to become familiar with their protocols and how they handle that situation.

Let’s start with one point. Nursing homes are known for spreading infections. Many of the residents are elderly, and has such, may have a hard time caring for themselves. What is the nursing home staff doing to prevent infections from spreading?

You want to ask what their protocols are and how they are enacted. You want to ask about their time frame for protocols. The next question you’ll want to ask is about the staff. What are their credentials? How are they being trained, for what kinds of practices or conditions, and for how long? Do they receive continuing training and education?

What about flu shots? The flu can be devastating for the elderly and those in compromised health. Are staff and residents required to get flu shots? If so, how often? How does the nursing home handle hygiene? Do they use gloves and sanitize shared equipment regularly before using it with other patients?

Finally, you want to ask the staff how they handle infections. If an infection begins, are they going to notify you right away? How do they protect your loved one? You need to know the answers to these questions. Watch the video to learn more.

If you have questions about what you should ask the nursing home about infection prevention, policies, and procedures, please contact our nursing home abuse attorneys by email or call us at 1-312-384-1920 or 1-800-693-1LAW. Our experienced Chicago-based nursing home abuse lawyers are here for you. You may also find more educational videos and media content from the Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd. on our media page.

Law Intended to Protect Elderly Might Hurt Nursing Home Abuse Case

February 6, 2017/in Blog, Elder abuse/by Yao Dinizulu

NBC Chicago recently reported on a tragic case involving nursing home abuse and the law that might prevent the family of the deceased from attaining justice. The 88-year-old victim spent the last 10 months of his life in a nursing home and required around-the-clock care after suffering a stroke.