CBS Chicago reported last week that a lawsuit was recently filed against a nursing home located in Arlington Heights for its negligence. The nursing home is accused of failing to provide a 92-year-old woman with proper care and treatment after the woman’s family learned that dozens of maggots had been living in the nursing home resident’s ear for several days.
As you can imagine, the woman’s family was very disturbed when they learned that maggots were found in the woman’s ear. What is more shocking about the incident, though, is that staff failed to notice the maggots for about three days, even after prescribing ear drops for the resident who appeared to be suffering from “wax buildup.”
According to the lawsuit, the Illinois nursing home patient suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. As a result of the disease, the woman relies solely on nursing home staff and family members to care for her. She also cannot speak.
For over a week, the elderly resident was being treated by a doctor for wax buildup and was receiving ear drops. Nine days after the treatment started, a nurse discovered maggots in the woman’s ear. The nurse found the bugs after an aid at the facility reported that the woman had been scratching her ear.
After discovering the bugs, the woman was hospitalized. Doctors then discovered a total of 57 maggots in the elderly woman’s left ear. Doctors had to perform surgery to safely remove all of the bugs. Without removing bugs from one’s ear in a timely and safe manner, an individual could suffer injuries to the eardrum or experience other symptoms like vomiting or hearing loss.
In addition to seeking compensation for the nursing home’s negligence, the family is also seeking compensation for emotional distress resulting from the incident. The family has also taken action to move the woman to a different nursing home in Illinois.
Source: CBS News, “92-year-old has 57 maggots removed from ear, family sues nursing home,” Ryan Jaslow, Nov. 30, 2012
- Our firm represents patients and families who have been harmed by similar incidents of nursing home negligence like the incident discussed in today’s blog post. To learn more about protecting victims’ rights, please visit our Chicago nursing home neglect lawyers page.
