Archive for December, 2008

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a story about 24-year-old Ryan Hock. Ryan suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) when his Toyota Celica was hit head-on by Daniel Kannegiesser’s van last July in Waukesha County. 

Ryan suffered an incapicitating injury. An incapicitating injury is any injury, other than a fatal injury, which prevents the injured person from walking, driving or normally continuing the activities he/she was capable of performing before the injury occurred.

Unfortunately, incapacitating injuries in alcohol related accidents occur three times as often as alcohol-related deaths. In Ryan’s case, the accident left him in a semi-coma with two broken legs, a broken clavicle, a collapsed lung, and shearing in his brain.

Brain shearing, also referred to as a diffuse axonal injury or axonal shearing, is often seen in car accidents after high-speed stops. The damage is caused by twisting and turning of the brain tissue. An axon is a part of the nerve that carries impulses or messages between nerve cells. The shearing movement causes axons and small blood vessels to tear. This disrupts the communication between brain cells and can lead to cognitive, behaviorial and emotional changes. For more information on traumatic brain injuries (TBI) click here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the total cost of acute care and rehabilitation for TBI victims in the United States is $9 billion to $10 billion per year, not including indirect costs to families and society (e.g., lost earnings, work time, and productivity for family members, caregivers, and employers, or the costs associated with providing social services).

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

Here’s a list of Wisconsin nursing homes that received the lowest possible rating in the Nursing Home Staffing category, according to the Medicare Nursing Home Compare Five-Star Rating System. All of these homes receive a one (1) star rating in the Nursing Home Staffing category.

According to Medicare’s web site, this information is self-reported by the nursing home and gathered during the most recent health inspection. This star rating is for overall staffing hours, which include Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs), and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). Other types of nursing home staff such as clerical, administrative, or housekeeping staff are not included in these staffing calculations.

To calculate the rating, the number of staff hours per resident per day was used and then the information was case-mix adjusted. Case-mix adjustments take into account the different levels of resident needs (or mix of cases) in different nursing homes.

Belmont Nursing & Rehabilitation Center – Madison
Birch Hill Care Center – Shawano
Chilton Care Center – Chilton
Golden Living Center – Bradley – Milwaukee
Golden Living Center – Colonial Manor – Milwaukee
Golden Living Center – Dorchester – Sturgeon Bay
Golden Living Center – Southshore – Saint Francis
Grancare Nursing Rehab Center – Fond du Lac
Hartford Healthcare Center – Hartford
Heartland HCC Pewaukee – Waukesha
Highland Heights Healthcare Center – Milwaukee
Hope Health & Rehab – Lomira
Kewaunee Care Center – Kewaunee
Ladysmith Nursing Home – Ladysmith
Lincoln Village Conv Center – Racine
Manawa Community Nursing Center – Manawa
Mayville Nursing Rehabilitation Center – Mayville
Millway Care Center – Milwaukee
Monroe Manor Nursing & Rehab – Monroe
Parkside Care Center – Little Chute
Villa Marina Health Rehab – Superior
Waukesha Springs Health Rehab – Waukesha
Waunaukee Manor Health Care Center – Waunaukee

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula, S.C. is a Wisconsin law firm with a devoted nursing home neglect practice.  Our nursing home abuse and neglect trial team has successfully represented abused and neglected residents in almost every county.  We know Wisconsin.

Analysis of the Nursing Home Compare Five-Star Rating System has uncovered the ten worst states for nurse staffing.

The rating system gives nursing homes from 1 to 5 stars, overall and on 10 key quality measures such as performance in the latest three quarterly reports; percentage of residents with urinary tract infections; performance in the latest three annual health inspections; and adequacy of both overall staffing and staffing by registered nurses.

To get a five-star rating on staffing, homes had to provide at least four hours a day per patient of care by registered nurses and other nursing staff. 

The following 10 states have the highest percentages of nursing homes with the worst rating of 1 star for adequate staffing by registered nurses.

State                         #of nursing homes                       % of homes with 1 star

Louisiana                          269                                                      75.1
Georgia                             342                                                      66.1
Arkansas                           225                                                      54.7
Texas                             1,042                                                      47.2
Oklahoma                          295                                                     46.1
Tennessee                         293                                                     41.6
Missouri                            489                                                     41.1
Virginia                             263                                                     37.6
Indiana                              482                                                     32.6
Alabama                            218                                                     31.7

Although some nursing home execs say the ratings are not a true representation of their facility or may be skewed, the fact remains that the homes provide much of the information. “CMS is using their data,” says Illinois ombudsman Sally Patrone. If they’re poorly rated, they need to improve.”

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula, S.C. is a Wisconsin law firm with a devoted nursing home neglect practice.  Our nursing home abuse and neglect trial team has successfully represented abused and neglected residents in almost every county.  We know Wisconsin.

Approximately 16,000 nursing homes received their first “report card” from the federal government last week.  Early analysis reveals non-profit homes are more likely to provide superior care than their for-profit rivals.

The new rating system assigns homes one to five stars for quality, staffing and health inspections, in addition to an overall score.

The scores represent thousands of inspections records, complaint investigations and quality measures, such as how many nursing staff hours were provided each day to patients, how many patients developed bedsores and how many were placed in restraints.

Analysis of the data found:

• Twenty-seven percent of the 10,542 for-profit nursing homes were one-star, compared with 13% of the 4,182 non-profits (2,846 for-profit homes vs. 543 non-profit homes).
• Nineteen percent of non-profit facilities got five stars, compared with 9% of for-profits.  Most non-profits are owned by corporations, while about one-fifth are run by faith-based groups.

Studies show “a lot of the for-profit homes have low staffing, and it shows up in their quality, says Charlene Harrington, professor emeritus of nursing at the University of California-San Francisco and a member of Medicare’s technical advisory committee for the ratings. 

For more information on the Nursing Home Compare Five-Star Rating System, click on the following link http://www.cms.hhs.gov/ .

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula, S.C. is a Wisconsin law firm with a devoted nursing home neglect practice.  Our nursing home abuse and neglect trial team has successfully represented abused and neglected residents in almost every county.  We know Wisconsin.

The percentage of family income spent on auto insurance by Wisconsin residents is the third lowest in the country.  According to Auto Insurance Report, a family with a median income of $72,495 has an average auto insurance expenditure of $590.

Only North Dakota and Iowa had a lower ratio of auto insurance premium to family income than Wisconsin.  Wisconsin had a premium to income ratio of .81 percent.  The highest ratio was in Louisiana.

“Motorists in Wisconsin enjoy the benefits of a highly competitive insurance marketplace,” said Andrew Franken, president of the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

Following the Journal Sentinel’s ‘Wasted in Wisconsin’ series last October, JSOnline has been publishing a tragic drunk driving story for each county of Wisconsin in a series called Sobering Reminders.

More than 1,600 people died from Jan. 1, 2003, to Dec. 31, 2007, in alcohol-related accidents in Wisconsin.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula is a Wisconsin personal injury law firm handling cases through out the state.  Our personal injury lawyers have successfully represented injured people in almost every county. We know Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Association for Justice announced today its new slate of officers, elected by the organization’s membership in a vote last Friday, December 5, 2008 at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee.

WAJ is Wisconsin’s largest statewide voluntary bar association. The organization is dedicated to promoting and protecting a fair and effective justice system – one that ensures justice for all, not just a privileged few. Officers serve one-year terms.

The newly elected officers include:

President: Brookfield attorney, Mark L. Thomsen
President-Elect: Salem attorney, Paul Gagliardi
Vice President: Milwaukee attorney, J. Michael End
Secretary: Green Bay attorney, Edward Vopal
Treasurer: Milwaukee attorney, Jeffrey A. Pitman

Jeffrey A. Pitman is a named partner of Pitman, Kyle & Sicula, in Milwaukee specializing in representing victims of serious injury and nursing home abuse and neglect. Jeff has been certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy since 2000. Jeff has been an active member on the Board of Directors for Wisconsin Association for Justice, the Elder Law section of the Wisconsin State Bar, the Nursing Home Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.

He lectures extensively on nursing home abuse and neglect and has authored numerous articles in the area of personal injury litigation. Jeff was selected by Law & Politics Magazine as a Wisconsin Super Lawyer TM in each of the last three years (2006-08) and has been granted the coveted AV Peer Review Rating by a panel of his peers. The AV rating shows that a lawyer has reached the height of professional excellence and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity.

Hospitalization rates as a result of pressure sores have risen dramatically over the last 15 years, according to a report from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Hospital admissions for which pressure sores were either a primary or secondary diagnosis rose 80% between 1993 and 2006, according to the report. Primary diagnosis hospitalizations reached nearly 45,000 in 2006, compared with 35,800 in 1993, and secondary diagnosis hospitalizations jumped from 245,600 in 1993 to 457,800 in 2006.  Those with a secondary diagnosis of bedsores were typically being treated primarily for pneumonia or other infections.

The death rate among secondary diagnosis cases was one in eight. Primary diagnosis patients fared better, with a one in 25 death rate, according to the report. Pressure sore hospitalizations also typically lasted more than twice as long and cost between $6,000 and $10,000 more per visit than most other hospitalizations, according to the report.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula, S.C. is a Wisconsin law firm with a devoted nursing home neglect practice.  Our nursing home abuse and neglect trial team has successfully represented abused and neglected residents in almost every county.  We know Wisconsin.

In binding mandatory arbitration, a company requires a consumer to agree to submit any dispute that may arise to binding arbitration prior to completing a transaction with the company. The consumer is required to waive their right to sue, to participate in a class action lawsuit, or to appeal.

Mack and Lovie Mitchell witnessed first-hand the effects of binding mandatory arbitration in long-term care facilities. After suffering from numerous strokes and Alzheimer’s, Mack was admitted to Cordova Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Collierville, Tennessee. Upon his admission, Mr. Mitchell was not competent to sign his own admission papers, and Cordova needed Mrs. Mitchell to sign them for him.

Unfortunately, at the time of the meeting, Mrs. Mitchell had been receiving chemotherapy for Stage 3 cancer. The medication left her with blurry vision and difficulty concentrating, preventing her from reading the agreement.  Instead, Cordova’s admissions counselor summarized its terms and Mrs. Mitchell signed it.

During the three months that Mr. Mitchell was a patient at Cordova, he suffered several injuries from multiple falls and severe neglect which led to his eventual death.

Mrs. Mitchell filed a complaint against Cordova/Kindred. In response, Kindred attempted to force Mrs. Mitchell into arbitration instead of court. The case made it all the way to the Tennessee Court of Appeals where it was concluded Mrs. Mitchell must enter into binding mandatory arbitration.

This case is just one of many examples across the country of elder Americans who are forced into signing arbitration clauses prior to being admitted to long-term care. Congress has introduced legislation called the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act which would put an end to these practices.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula, S.C. is a Wisconsin law firm with a devoted nursing home neglect practice.  Our nursing home abuse and neglect trial team has successfully represented abused and neglected residents in almost every county.  We know Wisconsin.

As we age, our skin becomes thin and dry and less elastic. This is one reason that the elderly are at-risk for pressure sores. Health experts say many pressure sores don’t have to occur. In fact, caregivers say bedsores are easier to prevent than to treat.

Nutrition is crucial in preventing skin breakdown and aides in the healing process.  Malnourished residents are very susceptible to pressure sores. It’s essential to get enough calories, protein, vitamins and minerals in your diet.

Daily skin inspections are necessary for early detection and prevention.  Pay special attention to hips, spine and lower back, shoulder blades, elbows, heels, buttocks and tailbone and feet. If there are any signs of damage or infection (drainage, foul odor, increased tenderness, redness and warmth in surrounding skin) contact the caregiver immediately.

Experts advise shifting position every 15 to 30 minutes that you’re in a wheelchair and at least every two hours, even during the night, while in bed. If unable to move independently, a caregiver must be available to help. Utilize foam pillows or wedges for support or to keep knees or ankles from touching.

If there are any signs of pressure sores or neglect, alert the nursing staff, attending physician and nursing home director.

Pitman, Kyle & Sicula, S.C. is a Wisconsin law firm with a devoted nursing home neglect practice.  Our nursing home abuse and neglect trial team has successfully represented abused and neglected residents in almost every county.  We know Wisconsin.