Personal Injury Law

Chicago Cases of Nursing Home Sexual Violence ? too many cases, too little arrests

By Hurley, McKenna & Mertz

The Chicago Tribune (1/26, Jackson and Marks) reports, ?Authorities have investigated at least 86 cases of sexual violence against elderly and disabled residents of Chicago nursing homes since July 2007, but only one of those cases resulted in an arrest.? Furthermore, of Chicago?s nursing home facilities, government records show that sexual violence incidents were reported in more than a quarter of elder care facilities.

Further research suggests that although Illinois Law requires nursing homes to notify police immediately after receiving any reports of sexual violence, no reports were filed in at least 9 cases, and in other cases, reports were filed months later. Perhaps surprisingly, almost all of the 86 cases involved residents attacking other residents, and very few involved employees or visitors. A potential culprit is the fact that several Illinois nursing homes are relied upon to house younger psychiatric patients with known violent tendencies.

Most nursing homes in the Chicago area with a recorded incident had substandard staffing levels, a key indicator of patient safety. The most discouraging discovery regarding nursing home sexual violence is that fact that of 86 known incidents, only one perpetrator was arrested. Furthermore, there is every indication that more incidents of sexual violence occurred that went unrecorded.

Hurley, McKenna, & Mertz has dealt with several nursing home cases, some of which have involved sexual violence, others have involved abuse and neglect. As a Chicago attorney, I am very concerned that we will not get a handle on this serious issue until nursing homes are staffed more satisfactorily and law enforcement takes these cases more seriously, as a single arrest for 86 known cases is appalling.

Full post as published by Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog on February 07, 2010 (boomark / email).