Cook County Wrongful Death Law Blog

Worker is in critical condition after construction accident

On behalf of Kent Lucaccioni of Kent M. Lucaccioni, Ltd. posted in Work-Related Deaths on Thursday, October 17, 2019.

Construction projects occur all over Illinois and there are many projects occurring at any given time. This means that there are also many construction workers working on these projects as well. Construction workers and their families rely on these jobs in order to support themselves and their families. However, in order to work and be able to earn an income, the workers must be healthy enough to work. If they are seriously injured or killed in a construction accident it can be very devastating.

Unfortunately, this is what occurred to a construction worker recently while working on a project at the Museum of Science and Industry. A forklift which was moving some heavy equipment fell on the worker. The forklift trapped him in a six-foot hole as well. It took a long time to rescue the worker and after they were able to remove him, he was transported to the hospital in critical condition. The extent of his injuries was unknown, but he did have injuries to his arms and legs.

What could go wrong during a "routine" C-section?

On behalf of Kent Lucaccioni of Kent M. Lucaccioni, Ltd. on Saturday, October 12, 2019.

For the majority of your pregnancy, you envisioned having your baby the old-fashioned way. Then, for some reason, your obstetrician told you that you would need a C-section.

Whether your doctor planned the procedure or it occurred due to an emergency during your labor, you found yourself facing major surgery. Make no mistake, as common as C-sections are, they're still major surgical procedures that come with risks to you and your baby. Medical negligence could easily occur and cause harm to you or your baby.

Common forms of physical abuse suffered in nursing homes

On behalf of Kent Lucaccioni of Kent M. Lucaccioni, Ltd. posted in Nursing Home Deaths on Thursday, October 10, 2019.

One fact of life that no one in Illinois can avoid is the fact that they will get older. As people age their needs change and many people experience more and more health complications. Some of these complications will not require any additional help besides attending doctor appointments and taking prescriptions. However, many illnesses and health complications will require daily care and unfortunately many families are not able to provide the care that their loved ones require.

Therefore, many families will move their loved ones to nursing homes and assisted living situations. These places can provide a great service and provide the care people need, but some fall below the standards and people's loved ones can suffer great harm at one. There are different types of nursing home abuse that people can suffer including emotional abuse, neglect, financial abuse, physical abuse and other types of abuse. All types of abuse can be very detrimental, but physical abuse can lead to significant health problems and even death.

Medical errors lead to many deaths each year

On behalf of Kent Lucaccioni of Kent M. Lucaccioni, Ltd. posted in Medical Malpractice on Thursday, October 3, 2019.

The body is not perfect and people in Illinois need to go to the doctor from time to time. This could be for a routine check up to try and prevent something more serious from occurring. However, many other times it is because the person is sick or injured and needs medical attention in order to get better. Doctors therefore play a very important role in people's lives and when people go to them, they expect they will do their job and do everything within their power to heal them.

However, doctors like everyone else are human and will make mistakes from time to time. These mistakes can be very costly for the victims though and lead to much bigger problems and even death. A recent study found that approximately 250,000 people die each year due to medical mistakes. This places medical mistakes as the third leading cause of death behind only heart disease and cancer. There are many different mistakes made though and it is not always just a mistake made by a doctor that leads to the death.

There are many victims of fatal car accidents each year

On behalf of Kent Lucaccioni of Kent M. Lucaccioni, Ltd. posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, September 26, 2019.

Many people in Illinois drive their cars every day. People rely on them to drive to work, go to school, run errands, go shopping, drive their children to various activities, go to friends' homes, entertainment and many other reasons. When people are driving to these various locations they are usually simply thinking about what they need to do or other aspects of life. Usually they are not thinking that they could be in a car accident, but that is a possibility every time people drive.

Some of these accidents are not very serious, but others can be very severe, cause life-changing injuries and many people lose their lives as well. Fatal accidents occur more than anyone would like as well. In 2017, there were a total of 998 fatal accidents in Illinois. These accidents occurred all over the state as. Five hundred and eighty occurred in urban areas and 418 occurred in rural areas. They also occurred on all days and at all times, however, most of them occurred on weekends in the evening and at night.

Construction violations make OSHA top 10

On behalf of Kent Lucaccioni of Kent M. Lucaccioni, Ltd. posted in Work-Related Deaths on Friday, September 20, 2019.

Falls at a construction site may be fatal. But failure to provide protection against falls at construction sites topped the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's preliminary list of the 10 most cited violations from Oct. 1, 2018 through Aug. 31, 2019. This list also contained other violations of safety rules at construction sites which are not only illegal but also constitute construction negligence.

Violation of fall protection regulations has been the top citation for many years. There were 6,010 citations for this violation in this preliminary list. Many of the fall protection citations were issued to contractors engaged in roofing, masonry and new-family housing.

Running red light deaths set decade record

On behalf of Kent Lucaccioni of Kent M. Lucaccioni, Ltd. posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, September 12, 2019.

Violating traffic signals can be fatal. A recently-released study, in fact, revealed that car accident and other traffic fatality deaths attributed to running red lights set a 10-year record in 2017.

Columbia senior care facility under scrutiny

On behalf of Kent Lucaccioni of Kent M. Lucaccioni, Ltd. posted in Nursing Home Deaths on Friday, September 6, 2019.

The death of a resident at a Columbia senior care facility last Feb. was just one serious symptom of resident care problems. Understaffing and other problems at the facility have led to neglect and poor care.

The Illinois Department of Public Health fined that facility $25,000 for the death of the resident. IDPH found that the facility missed a significant need to change a resident's medical treatment. The resident was hospitalized because of that error and later died in hospice.

Elder Justice Act needs to be strengthened

On behalf of Kent Lucaccioni of Kent M. Lucaccioni, Ltd. posted in Nursing Home Deaths on Saturday, August 31, 2019.

The Elder Justice Act was passed in March 2010 and faces its 10th anniversary. It was intended to prevent elder abuse, neglect and financial exploitation. But this law was underfunded and inadequately enforced and needs more attention.

This law received less than 10% of its authorized funding, especially with the financing that was to be dedicated for Adult Protective Services. The establishment of forensic centers to help detect elder abuse is one of the major parts of the law that never received any funding.

Most bed sores are preventable

On behalf of Kent Lucaccioni of Kent M. Lucaccioni, Ltd. on Thursday, August 29, 2019.

While you'd like to be able to stay with your parent 24/7 at the nursing home where he or she resides, you know it's not possible. In fact, that's likely one of the many reasons you spent so much time trying to find the facility that seemed to be the best fit for your loved one. Although you worried about having to entrust your aging parent to a team of care providers, you also had confidence in the system.

You know that nursing home workers received training to provide high quality care according to Illinois law and accepted safety standards. Sadly, there's no guarantee that every nursing home administrator or caregiver will adhere to regulations. Many patients have suffered terrible injuries because of medical negligence. That's why you'll want to know from the start where to seek support if a problem arises.