Levin & Perconti

Levin & Perconti is a nationally renowned law firm concentrating in all types of serious injury, medical malpractice, nursing home, and wrongful death litigation. Our personal injury attorneys are committed to protecting and vindicating the rights of people who are seriously injured by the negligence of others.

Latest from Levin & Perconti - Page 3

Medical Malpractice Briefing Includes Facts on U.S. Nursing Home Industry’s Failed Response To COVID
The 2021 update to the briefing book Medical Malpractice: By The Numbers, published by the Center for Justice & Democracy (CJ&D) at New York Law School, has been released and includes the latest statistics and research on issues related to medical malpractice, including long-term care wrongdoing. The 141-page volume includes over 400 linked footnotes and sources. It also discusses how laws could make it harder for patients and their families to place accountability on health care providers and nursing home owners in the case of
Continue Reading Patient Safety Book Highlights COVID Nursing Home Care

COVID-19 Proved Just How Unsupported Nursing Assistants Are at U.S. Long-Term Care Facilities
According to the National Direct Care Workforce Resource Center, more than 600,000 nursing assistants provide personal care, assistance with daily activities, and clinical support for 1.4 million nursing home residents nationwide. In a revealing editorial by the Co-Founder & CEO of the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA), Lori Porter says the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic has been the darkest time for these workers, resulting in failures in care and protection against injuries, illness, and infectious diseases.
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Continue Reading Nursing Assistants Carry Heaviest Load In Providing Quality Resident Care

Justice in Aging: How The American Rescue Plan Helps Older Adults
More than 45% of Americans over 65 have trouble meeting their basic needs. As a new administration works to provide COVID-19 relief to older adults, many of who are reliant on Medicaid funding for their health care, including long-term care, a fifth COVID-19 relief package, the American Rescue Plan (H.R. 1319), was signed into law totaling $1.9 trillion on Mar. 11, 2021.
The law is expected to significantly improve health care access and increase economic security for older adults due to the pandemic. Medicaid is the funder for most long-term care
Continue Reading The American Rescue Plan Could Improve U.S. Long-Term Care

Older Adults in Illinois Long-Term Care Settings Should Be Vaccinated with Sense of Urgency
It’s been nearly three months since COVID-19 vaccines have been made available for Illinois nursing home residents and staff, making them a priority in the long line of vaccine recipients across the state. Officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) say approximately 414,900 doses total have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for Illinois long-term care facilities. A total of 361,971 vaccines have been administered
Continue Reading Are Illinois Nursing Homes Vaccinating All Residents?

University of Chicago Researchers Say Privately Invested Nursing Homes Have Increased Death Rates Among Residents
Researchers at the University of Chicago, Penn, and NYU have been busy studying Medicare data covering more than 18,000 nursing home facilities nationwide. Their review includes about 1,700 facilities that were bought through private equity from 2000 to 2017. Total private equity investment in U.S. nursing homes went from $5 billion in 2000 to more than $100 billion in 2018.
The findings, published in a new working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, showed that when private equity firms acquire nursing homes, about 1,000 more resident
Continue Reading After A Private Nursing Home Acquisition, What Happens to Patient Care?

New Federal Guidelines Expand Visitation Options in Some Illinois Nursing Homes, Families Should Lookout for Signs of Abuse or Neglect
Although the risk of COVID-19 transmission within nursing homes and other long-term care facilities has been high, related outbreaks and deaths in nursing homes are down, according to a report by The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. And with many facilities now operating with residents fully vaccinated, in-person nursing home visits are being allowed at some senior living facilities in Illinois.
According to the updated guidance released on March 10, 2021, from CMS, facilities can
Continue Reading Are Nursing Home Visits Allowed in Illinois Yet?

Levin & Perconti Names Attorney Kelly Sabo Gaden as Firm’s Newest Partner
Levin & Perconti is thrilled to welcome our newest partner, attorney Kelly Sabo Gaden. With nearly 15 years of experience in representing nursing home abuse and neglect victims and their families, medical malpractice, and other personal injury cases, she adds further depth to the industry-leading firm’s practice in representing and protecting our most vulnerable communities.
“Kelly is an extremely talented and effective trial attorney. She will make a strong addition to the firm in this leadership role,” said founding partner Steven Levin. “She shares our mission of
Continue Reading Chicago Law Firm Welcomes Partner Kelly Sabo Gaden

Warnings Emerge After COVID-19 Outbreak Caused by New Variant of Virus is Detected in Kentucky Nursing Home
The public has been informed of several new variants of the coronavirus for some time, including some of the more known viruses circulating, such as the UK variant, the Brazil variant, or the South Africa variant. But on Mar. 16, 2021, a recent outbreak of COVID-19 involving 41 cases at a nursing home in Eastern Kentucky could be what health officials say was triggered by an entirely new strain. The outbreak involved 14 staff and 27 residents, with several testing positive for the
Continue Reading COVID-19 Variants and Understaffed Nursing Homes

New Study Highlights Ongoing Issues with High Staff Turnover as Major Contributor to COVID Nursing Home Deaths
As almost all U.S. nursing homes are working to vaccinate residents and staff, ongoing issues impacting the care residents require are proving to be the cause behind some of the most horrendous coronavirus neglect cases and disastrous infectious disease outbreaks in history. Authors of a new study published in Health Affairs on Mar. 1 highlight the persistent problems caused by an unstable long-term care workforce as one of the significant underlying threats that contributed to the staggering death tolls of nursing home residents
Continue Reading Poor Staffing Contributed to Nursing Home COVID Deaths

Legislators Send Nursing Home Reform Package to New York Governor in Response to Disastrous COVID-19 Care
New York state, once ground zero for the COVID-19 pandemic and where long-term care tragedies have left many in shock, may soon become the new epicenter for nursing home care reform. State lawmakers began passing several measures on Feb. 22, as scandals break and the coronavirus pandemic continues to haunt residents, their families, and underpaid and overworked care teams. And on Wednesday, Mar. 3, the New York Assembly passed another series of nursing home-related bills to increase the transparency of facility violations, require
Continue Reading U.S. Lawmakers Begin To Introduce Nursing Home Reform Bills

What Do You Know About the Migrant Shelters Around Chicago?
Thousands of children remain detained by Customs and Border Protection and ICE, and horrific stories of abuse and neglect continue to erupt from the centers these young migrants have been forced to call home. For more than 20 years, Chicago has been the temporary home to many children who have been detained after entering the U.S. Some of them have either crossed the border alone or, most recently, were taken and separated from their parents under the Trump Administration immigration policies. Some of the displaced children are taken to the
Continue Reading Illinois’ Detention Shelters Must Protect Migrant Children

Fall-Related Brain Injuries Go Unnoticed Too Often in Nursing Home Residents
March is Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Month. Those who have suffered from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) acquired their irreversible injury due to severe trauma – typically when the head violently hits an object or an object pierces the skull and enters the brain. These brain injuries can be serious for the elderly, especially those with underlying conditions, and require greater assistance with daily living activities, such as long-term care patients and nursing home residents. For this older group, TBI is physically painful and can cause devastating mental and
Continue Reading Nursing Home Falls Are No. 1 Cause of Resident Brain Injuries

March is National Nutrition Month – Nursing Home Negligence Can Lead to Malnutrition and Dehydration
In long-term care and post-acute care settings, malnutrition is often a result of ongoing neglect by caretakers who do not offer enough food or do not monitor proper nutrient consumption either by the mouth or a feeding device. And although delivering nutritious food, adequate amounts of water, and quality care to these individuals seems like basic necessities all facilities should provide, a staggering 85% of elderly living in nursing home-type environments suffer from malnutrition.
According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:
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Continue Reading How To Know If Your Loved One Is Malnourished, Dehydrated

Family Files Wrongful Death Suit After Police Shooting of Ricardo Muñoz
Attorneys Steven Levin, Daisy Ayllon, and Julie Murphy from Levin & Perconti in Chicago are representing the family of Ricardo Muñoz in a wrongful death suit against the Lancaster Police Department and local officials. The team is working alongside Michael Perna and Ryan Borchik of Pennsylvania’s Perna & Abracht Law Offices.
Ricardo Muñoz, of Pennsylvania, was fatally shot by police on Sept. 13 in response to his family asking for assistance during his mental health episode. Mr. Muñoz, 27, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Officials Face Lawsuit After Police Shoot and Kill Mentally Ill Man

Proposed SAFE TECH ACT Could Help Safeguard Against Fraud, Abuse, and Exploitation of Online Users
With so many more individuals, organizations, and private companies using mostly online-based and platform-mediated channels to reach communities and consumers, many of us have started to question the safeguards and civil rights protections regarding who is responsible for abusing or exploiting those involved, especially in moments of tragedy. In response, the SAFE TECH ACT has been introduced by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and rallied for by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and designed to make it easier for targets of fraud, exploitation,
Continue Reading Proposed Bill Would Hold Tech Platforms Accountable For Wrongful Death

Illinois Nursing Home Residents Still Battling COVID-19 Challenges, Pandemic Concerns Remain High in Cook County
On Feb. 25, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported 1,884 new coronavirus disease cases. And while 130,000 doses of vaccine were administered across the state, the greatest group of individuals at risk of deadly exposure remain the elderly and those living in nursing homes and long-term care and rehabilitation facilities. In the weekly report, IDPH also provided a list of counties with recent fatalities.

  • Adams County: 1

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Continue Reading Chicago Area Still Seeing Daily COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths