March 16, 2010

Overhauling The Healthcare System

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce and its investigations subcommittee have summoned the chief executives of WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group, Humana Inc. and Aetna to testify about medical claims denied for individuals with preexisting conditions as well as recent rate hikes.

The lawmakers have written letters to the CEOS of the four largest insurance companies, asking these companies to provide information about claim denials for policyholders with preexisting conditions and refusing coverage for potential customers with medical conditions. Congress also wants the insurers to list their average premiums and average increases, information about the companies' maternity care coverage in the individual market, and information to justify rate increases.

The medical malpractice attorneys at Levin and Perconti are members of the American Association for Justice and will remain on top of these issues. The personal injury attorneys at Levin and Perconti constantly work to protect not only their clients’ rights to healthcare but the right of all America's patients to healthcare.

March 11, 2010

Proposal seeks to end nursing home violence

Chicago newspaper SouthtownStar explored the nursing home abuse legislation introduced by Chicago lawmakers this week. The nursing home abuse attorneys at Levin & Perconti are happy with the two key features of the reform nursing home abuse legislation – beefing up nursing home staffing in Illinois nursing homes and raising fines on facilities that endanger residents. The nursing home industry signaled that it was not happy with the nursing home neglect bill, stating that the proposal far exceeds the issues addressed by the Illinois governor’s nursing home safety task force.

Illinois state Senators Jacqueline Collins and Heather Steans co-sponsored the legislation, which is backed by groups such as the AARP, unions representing health care workers, the Supportive Housing Providers Association, and Illinois Citizens for Better Care. As an AARP volunteer from Decatur stated, and Levin & Perconti has unfortunately realized for a long time now, thousands of nursing home residents in Illinois are victims of nursing home abuse, assault, and inadequate care. The nursing home group says that the legislation is unreasonable and mentions that the state has cut back on public health surveyors for many years.

Specifically, Senate Bill 685 aims to address these problems by improving the quality of care, creating meaningful regulations for Illinois nursing homes, providing regulations that promote resident safety, improve the quality of care for nursing home residents through provisions like higher staff to patient ratios and enhanced training, and offering less restrictive alternatives to people who do not need nursing home care.

The AARP has set up a Nursing Home Legislation Hotline. Citizens can contact their legislators and urge them to support by the SB 685 by calling 1-888-616-3322.

Click here to read more about the Illinois nursing home legislation.

To read the AARP summary, click here.

March 3, 2010

Chicago injury attorney: Key to ending violence in nursing homes is adequate staffing

Chicago injury attorney Steven M. Levin recently addressed the violence that has been reported and uncovered in Illinois nursing homes in a Letter to the Editor at Chicago Tribune. Mr. Levin commended the Chicago Tribune’s effort in raising public awareness surrounding the safety issues in Chicago nursing homes. The title of the Chicago Tribune article was “Nursing homes’ toll: 86 sex cases, 1 arrest.” Steven M. Levin has represented victims and families of victims in several incidents of Illinois nursing home abuse and neglect and has advocated for nursing home reform for many years. The nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti have fought for the vulnerable nursing home victims and have been successful in obtaining many record verdicts and settlements.

The Chicago Tribune noted that many of the Illinois nursing homes where sexual attacks occurred were operated with insufficient nursing home staff. Mr. Levin replied that substandard nursing home staffing is the cause of the majority of Illinois nursing home neglect and safety issues. Mr. Levin added that some nursing home owners focus on census and revenue over the safety of their nursing home residents. In order to end the incessant violence in Chicago nursing homes, we must address the issue of nursing home staffing.

As highlighted in a blog post from earlier this week, Illinois elected officials are stepping up their push for nursing home safety, but there is more that we can do. Readers are encouraged to contact your state representatives to demand legislation providing adequate staffing standards for Illinois nursing homes. You can find out who your state representative is by clicking here.

To read the Letter to the Editor that Steven M. Levin submitted to the Chicago Tribune, click here.

March 1, 2010

Nursing home safety push stepped up by Illinois government

The Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti are happy to share that the State of Illinois is stepping up its nursing home safety push, according to a recent Chicago Tribune article. The Illinois Attorney General stated that her office and the local police are working to protect Illinois nursing home residents by visiting Chicago and Illinois nursing homes unannounced and also conducting safety checks at troubled Illinois nursing homes.

Chicago police have joined forces with investigators and medical experts from the Illinois Attorney General’s office to find unregistered felons and sex offenders living in Illinois nursing homes. When visiting Illinois nursing homes unannounced, authorities are also interviewing nursing home residents and nursing home staff at the Illinois facilities with histories of serious resident safety breaches. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is also working to introduce a comprehensive package of nursing home safety-reform bills in the near future.

The nursing home injury attorneys at Levin & Perconti are glad that vulnerable nursing home residents are finally getting the attention they need and deserve. For too long, residents have been neglected, being abused under the radar. Recently, Governor Quinn’s Nursing Home Safety Task Force completed a 52-page plan to overhaul our state of Illinois’s troubled nursing home system. The task force was formed after a Tribune investigation documented rapes, attacks, and murders at Illinois and Chicago nursing homes that serve the area’s poorest residents. Particularly troublesome in Illinois is its reliance on nursing homes to house younger psychiatric patients, including more than 3,000 with felony records. This is an issue that Levin & Perconti has often highlighted in its Illinois nursing home abuse blog. More than a dozen early nursing home safety bills have already been introduced by nursing home advocates and the nursing home industry.

Click here to read the full Chicago Tribune article about the increased safety push.

December 30, 2009

Top Ten Civil Justice Triumphs of the Decade

As 2010 approaches, the attorneys at Levin & Perconti wanted to take a moment and wish you and your families a Happy New Year! A recent article in the Huffington Post highlighted the top ten civil justice triumphs of the decade and we think it’s important to reflect on the progress that civil justice attorneys have made. From tort reform failures to product liability victims rights; from Wyeth v. Levine to referendum rejection of special interests; from blogs and books to studies – the past decade has sure been filled of rewards after much hard work in civil justice.


Continue reading "Top Ten Civil Justice Triumphs of the Decade" »

December 14, 2009

Illinois medical error reporting law to finally be implemented?

The Chicago Tribune reported recently that the Illinois medical error reporting law will finally be implemented. Ten years ago, a landmark report addressed that medical mistakes cause up to 98,000 wrongful deaths in American yearly. In 2005, Illinois legislators decided to tackle the issue a passed an Act requiring hospital to report the deadliest kind.

Continue reading "Illinois medical error reporting law to finally be implemented?" »

November 23, 2009

Open Access to Courts Bill introduced in Congress

The attorneys at Levin & Perconti received a recent update from the American Association for Justice and wanted to spread the word about this bill recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The much needed bill aims to restore standards required to file court cases and strengthen the basic legal protections of Americans. The bill comes after two U.S. Supreme Court decisions unexplainably added difficulty for litigants seeking justice in many civil cases.

Continue reading "Open Access to Courts Bill introduced in Congress" »

November 18, 2009

Is blaming lawyers the new "strategy" for halting any meaningful health reform?

CNN.com recently featured an Op-Ed by Anthony Tarricone, the president of the American Association for Justice. The interesting Op-Ed highlighted the recent uptick in “lawyer blaming” that opponents of health care reform are using. Mr. Tarricone summarized it quite nicely when he wrote, “Somehow, the fringes of the GOP have made health care about trial lawyers and medical malpractice. Instead of focusing on how to fix our broken health care system, opponents of real reform would rather limit the legal rights of injured patients. Talk about misguided priorities.”

As attorneys at Levin & Perconti see on a daily basis, medical negligence affects real people. Studies indicate that up to 98,000 people die yearly from preventable medical errors, and countless more are severely injured. Mr. Tarricone compared this statistic to two 737s crashing daily for a year. If this were to happen, would we blame the airlines or the passengers? And, would we question the FAA?

Continue reading "Is blaming lawyers the new "strategy" for halting any meaningful health reform? " »

October 14, 2009

Tell your Rep we want Fair Elections Now

The Fair Elections Now Act offers an alternative to the U.S.’s current pay-to-play system. Under the Act, Candidates for Congress could volunteer to accept donations only from individuals in amounts $100 or less. Right now, there is too much at stake to continue to allow big pharmaceutical companies and other big businesses to finance the elections.

E-mail your representative about Fair Elections.

August 16, 2009

Bank of America announces halt on forced arbitration

Following JP Morgan Chase’s announcement in July and the settlement between the Minnesota Attorney General and the National Arbitration Forum, Bank of America has announced that it will halt forced arbitration. In a recent press release, AAJ Associate Director of Federal Relations acknowledged that this announcement is a positive step, but also reinforces the need for Congress to protect consumers from forced arbitration.

To learn more about forced arbitration.

August 5, 2009

Families to testify in favor of Medical Device Safety Act

Two families are offering testimony in the nation’s capital today in favor of the proposed Medical Device Safety Act. One family is scheduled to talk about their 16 year-old son who was dependent on a pacemaker. His family believed that his death was related to a problem with the pacemaker device.

To read more about the medical safety product testimony.

August 2, 2009

House set to vote on food safety bill

The House is expected to vote on a multibillion-dollar food safety bill, touching ever facet of the U.S. food supply chain. The bill’s full impact is not known yet, but consumers are supposed to be safer.

To read more about the House food safety vote.

July 31, 2009

Congress weighs federal oversight of cemeteries following Burr Oak

The Chicago Tribune reports that following the testimony of victims of the Burr Oak cemetery scandal, congressional leaders left Chicago to push for legislation for federal oversight of the cemetery industry. The hearing was held to document the horrors of families whose loved ones may be among those hundreds discovered at the Chicagoland cemetery in an alleged scheme for money.

To read more about the potential federal cemetery oversight.

July 1, 2009

FDA will not shield tobacco firms from tort liability

Recently, President Obama signed the FDA tobacco regulation bill into law. The law allows the FDA to require specifications on warning labels and advertising. Additionally, the law specifically states that no provision of the Act modifies or otherwise affects any action or liability under the product liability law of any state.

To read more about the tobacco regulation law.

June 22, 2009

Mixed reaction to FDA tobacco regulation

Today, President Obama signed a new product liability bill giving the government new oversight over the tobacco industry. However, as the video above shows, not everyone is considering it a victory.

June 18, 2009

Senate set for final vote on FDA tobacco regulation

The Senate has cleared the last hurdle toward passage of the tobacco regulation bill. A final vote on the regulation bill could come as early as today. The bill would give the FDA authority to impose new rules on the production, sale, and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products.

To read more about the tobacco regulation bill.

June 13, 2009

Senate approves FDA tobacco regulation bill

Just Thursday, the Senate passed the FDA tobacco regulation bill by a 79-to-17 vote. The bill now heads to the President’s desk. The bill increases the power of the FDA to regulate the manufacturing, marketing, and sale of tobacco products.

To read more about the Senate’s passage of the tobacco regulation bill.

June 11, 2009

Senate votes to end debate on tobacco regulation bill

Earlier this week, the Senate voted 61-30 to give the FDA legal authority to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products, setting up a possible passage of the tobacco regulation measure this week. If the tobacco regulation bill is signed into law, the FDA would be given powers to regulate the content of tobacco products and provide other oversight of tobacco products.

To read more about the tobacco regulation bill.

June 5, 2009

Victory for Chicago personal injury lawyers: Governor signs SB 84

Earlier this week, Governor Quinn signed into law Senate Bill 84, now Public Act 96-0012. This law is a victory for Chicago personal injury lawyers because it repeals the notice requirement in personal injury lawsuits against the CTA. Under the former statute, Illinois trial judges had to throw out transit injury lawsuits where plaintiffs or their attorneys made innocent mistakes on pre-suit notice.

To read more about the victory for injury attorneys.

To read the full text of Public Act 96-0012.

June 2, 2009

FDA tobacco legislation reaches Senate floor this week

Senate legislation authorizing the FDA to regulate tobacco will come to the Senate floor this week. The bill would give the FDA new product safety powers to regulate tobacco products. The tobacco regulation bill would create a new department within the FDA with the authority to regulate tobacco marketing and advertising, control the amount of nicotine in products and bar product claims such as “light” and “low-tar.”

To read more about the tobacco regulation litigation.