An Illinois woman is pursuing legal action against a nursing home where her aunt was a resident, the Cahokia Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She is seeking over $250,000 in compensation. The woman’s aunt passed away while in the care of the nursing home. The woman claims her aunt’s death was due to medical negligence, and that her aunt was in extreme pain prior to passing on.
The victim entered the nursing home in 2008. According to the woman, her aunt contracted a serious urinary tract infection and that she was dehydrated. The woman claims her aunt was in pain, which could not be relieved. When her aunt yelled out on April 14, 2015, she was given a sedative. Moreover, at that time no one reached out to the aunt’s primary care physician.
On April 16, 2015, the Illinois Department of Health came to investigate the situation. At that point the aunt was further medicated, yet, according to the lawsuit, was still in pain. Her primary care physician still had not been notified of her condition. Per the lawsuit, the aunt was moaning. Her bed was covered with vomit, urine and fecal matter. At that point the aunt was cleaned up and her primary care physician was notified of her condition. She was sent to the hospital, but while in the emergency room on April 18, 2015, she experienced cardiac arrest and passed away from multiorgan failure and septic shock.
Time will tell how this lawsuit will progress, but no matter what it is important to recognize that individuals placed in nursing homes are entirely dependent on the care of those who work there. This is why it it is never easy to make the decision to place a loved one in the care of a nursing home. It is both an act of love and an act of trust. Should that trust be broken, and an act of neglect causes a nursing home death, the victim’s loved ones may want to reach out to an attorney to better understand their rights.
Source: Madison – St. Clair Record, “Cahokia nursing center sued over woman’s 2015 death,” Karen Kidd, May 2, 2017
