On April 13, 2020, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) enacted an emergency rule which is designed to protect essential employees should they become ill with COVID 19. The rule creates a “rebuttable presumption” that if an essential employee contracts COVID 19, the contraction occurred during-the-course of his or her employment. The meaning of a rebuttable… [Read More]

Dear valued clients:Our office is aware of the Covid 19 situation and is taking measures to keep our staff safe during these difficult times. For the immediate future, we will not be meeting in person with any of our clients. However, all of our clients can reach us by telephone, email at chicagolegalnet@yahoo.com or by… [Read More]

When certain professionals do not report the abuse of an elderly or disabled person, they may be held liable for the injuries or deaths that occur. Mandatory reporting laws impose an affirmative duty on professionals to report nursing home abuse or neglect. Whenever the law imposes a duty, everyone who is affected is required to… [Read More]

A total of 54 out of 56 states and territories that were surveyed reported receiving nearly 1.5 million notifications of elder abuse, neglect, and mistreatment of older or disabled adults in 2016. The overwhelming number of incidents combined with the shortage of investigators has resulted in delayed response times and lengthy processing periods, with the… [Read More]

Insufficient funding and under-staffing, both products of investor greed, are two ingredients that result in increased rates of abuse in nursing homes. According to the AARP, over 1.3 million people live in nursing homes. Studies conducted from 2000 to present have found that the nursing home population will increase in the next few decades. In… [Read More]

A federal government audit found that Illinois leads the country in the total number of nursing home abuse cases. The report recently concluded, examined a period from 2015 to 2016 and found that of 134 cases in which hospitals are treating victims found evidence of physical or sexual abuse or neglect, 17 were from Illinois… [Read More]

The Trump Administration, through announcements released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, illustrated its intent to roll back legal rights enacted under the Obama Administration that made it easier for patients to sue nursing homes for abuse and other violations. Nursing home patients’ rights have come under increasing fire in the Republican-dominated Congress… [Read More]

The rate of nursing home evictions has gone up dramatically over the last few years. This staggering increase has lawmakers and organizations rushing to implement new policies to cut back on the number of wrongful discharges. Nursing Home Eviction Trends The number of nursing home evictions has doubled during the last five years in which… [Read More]

The proposed cuts to Medicaid imperil the millions of retirees who depend on the government program for their nursing home care services. Earlier this year Republicans proposed steep cuts to Medicaid as part of the effort to roll-back the “Obamacare” healthcare reforms. Medicaid pays for the majority of people who reside in nursing homes. Any… [Read More]

As obesity rates rise, nursing homes are struggling to provide assisted-living care to obese and morbidly obese patients. Since these patients often require specialized equipment and more work-hours, and they increase the risk for staff injuries, many nursing homes simply can’t keep up. As a result, many nursing homes are rejecting obese patients altogether. Rising… [Read More]