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Many nursing home residents have difficulty in swallowing and require the use of a Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastronomy (PEG) tube to assist them in eating, drinking and taking medications. Unfortunately, complications with feeding tubes are an all too common occurrence and often caused by human error. Sadly, the Bloomingdale elder abuse attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have represented many victims of neglect or mistreatment when caregivers fail to take appropriate measures when feeding or administering medication through a PEG tube.
The use of feeding tubes is a high risk, complicated procedure where the staff of the nursing facility must look for complications on a routine basis. This is because many problems with the PEG tube can lead to deadly necrotizing fasciitis, sepsis (blood infection) or other serious infections caused by the leakage of medicine and feeding from a displaced GT tube. The standard of care requires a nursing home staff to stop using the feeding tube once a complication arises.
Lexington Health Care Center – BloomingdaleLexington Health Care Center – Bloomingdale is a 166-certified Medicaid/Medicare-participating for-profit facility that is part of the Lexington Health Network providing services to residents of Bloomingdale and DuPage County. The facility is located at:
165 S. Bloomingdale Rd.
Bloomingdale, Illinois 60108
(630) 980-8700
Lexington Health Care Center offers:
- Cardiac rehabilitation
- Pulmonary rehab
- Orthopedic rehab
- Wound care
- Therapy: physical, occupational, speech, respiratory
- Memory care
- Respite care
- Long term and short term care
- Independent living
- Assisted living
As a part of federal and state law, nursing home regulators routinely update their databases to keep the public informed of currently opened investigations, filed complaints, safety concerns and health violations of facilities nationwide. The updated information is posted on numerous websites including Medicare.gov, a recognized comparative website used by many families to make informed decisions about where to place a loved one who requires the highest level of health and hygiene care.
Currently, Lexington Health Care Center – Bloomingdale maintains an overall three out of five available star rating compared with other facilities throughout the United States. This includes four out of five stars for quality measures and three out of five stars for both health concerns and staff issues. Our Bloomingdale nursing home neglect attorneys have uncovered numerous safety concerns involving this facility. Two of those concerns include:
- Failure to Provide an Appropriate Level of Treatment to Residents Requiring Special Services Including Feeding Tubes
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 12/10/2015, a notation was made by a state investigator during an annual licensure and certification survey concerning the facility's failure to "ensure the proper placement of the feeding gastronomy tube prior to medication administration.” The deficient practice by the nursing staff at Lexington Health Care Center – Bloomingdale directly affected one resident at the facility “reviewed for care and maintenance of a feeding tube.”
A failure was first noted at 1:00 PM on 12/08/2015 during a medication pass when a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) attempted to check a resident’s gastronomy to (GT) placement “by injecting 15 milliliters of air through the GT three-way stopcock but had difficulty.” The investigator noted that the LPN stated that “the feeding tube was clogged” before attempting to unclog the GT “by injecting 25 milliliters of water, but the tube remained clogged.” At that point, the state investigator noted that the LPN proceeded “to inject 25 milliliters of water through the tube” stating that the “feeding tube is now unclogged” prior to instilling 25 milliliters of water without checking the patency of the tube and aspirating some gastric content before administering the resident’s medication.
The state investigator noted that the deficient practice by the Licensed Practical Nurse failed to follow the facility’s policy titled Enteral Feeding that reads in part: “the nurse verifies tube placement before feeding, medication administration [… by inserting] at least 15 milliliters of air with a piston syringe into the tube while auscultating the epigastric areas for air sounds and aspirating gastric contents; observe color and return contents to stomach.”
- Failure to Provide Residents Assistant to Require Help with Eating/Drinking, Grooming and Personal and Oral Hygiene
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 12/10/2015, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure “to provide grooming, personal hygiene and eating assistance to residents identified as needing extensive assist.”
The state investigator first noted this deficient practice by the nursing staff after an observation of a resident who “was served a bologna sandwich (cut in half) with chips and a pickle spear” while dining in the New Town unit dining room. The resident required assistance by “there was no staff queueing and/or assistance provided to [the resident] until [a nurse] was informed of the observation” by a state investigator.
If your loved one has suffered serious injury or death due to complications involving the PEG tube while residing at Lexington Health Care Center – Bloomingdale, or any other Illinois nursing facility, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers can provide legal assistance. Our DuPage County elder abuse attorneys can take immediate legal action to ensure all those responsible for causing your loved one harm are held legally and financially accountable.
To successfully resolve your claim for financial compensation, we encourage you to contact our Bloomingdale Illinois nursing home abuse law firm today by calling (888) 424-5757. We provide free, full case consultations to discuss the merits of your claim. Our law firm accepts every personal injury claim and wrongful death lawsuit on contingency, so no upfront payment is necessary.
http://www.lexingtonhealth.com/
