Judge rebukes nursing homes for misleading mentally ill patients

In Illinois, a recent court settlement allows certain mentally ill patients who pass a screening to live in supportive community based housing.  Many of these residents are currently resigned to living solely in nursing home facilities.  After the settlement, some for-profit nursing homes were distributing “information sheets.”  Language in the “information sheets” included implications that those who choose to leave the nursing facilities for a community setting would be left without housing, food, or medical care.  A Federal judge, in a stinging rebuke of the nursing homes, found the flyers to be inaccurate and incendiary, appealing to residents' and family members' fears.  The judge shut down the nursing homes using these “scare tactics.”

You can read the full story online here.

David Cohen Presented With the American Association for Justice's 2010 Wiedemann & Wysocki Award

David R. Cohen, Chair of Stark & Stark's Nursing Home Litigation Group, was presented with the American Association for Justice's (AAJ) 2010 Wiedemann & Wysocki Award. The award is given to those who have demonstrated a deep commitment to the highest standard and duties of trial lawyers. When called upon, these individuals demonstrated extraordinary leadership among the AAJ Board of Governors and contributed to an overwhelming and unprecedented success during a time of great challenge.

The award was presented to Mr. Cohen at the AAJ's Annual Awards Breakfast Sunday July 11, 2010. The Annual Awards program was established by the AAJ to honor those individuals who have both advanced AAJ's mission and those who have been champions of the civil justice system.

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State Partnership Allows Nurses to Work in Several States, Despite Criminal Activity

I recently found a USA Today article that details how nurses can move from state to state and keep working in spite of incompetence and criminal activity.  There is a compact among 24 states whereby a license obtained in a nurse's home state allows access to work in the other compact states. But an investigation conducted by, ProPublica, the non-profit news organization, found that the pact also has allowed nurses with records of misconduct to put patients in jeopardy. In some cases, nurses have retained clean multi-state licenses after at least one compact state had banned them.

You can read more on this story online here.