Legal Updates

On April 26, 2018, the Illinois Appellate Court (3rd District) held in Messmore v. Silvis Operations, LLC, et al., Appeal No. 3-17-0708, that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by declining to stay the severable issues of proximate cause and damages in a wrongful death case from issues pending in arbitration. The underlying…

On July 23, 2018, the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, affirmed the Circuit Court of Cook County’s ruling granting a rehabilitation facility defendant’s Motion to Compel Arbitration of negligence claims brought against it. This case arises out of an alleged injury suffered by the plaintiff while a patient of the defendant rehabilitation facility, Symphony…

Illinois Appellate Court upholds hospital’s claim of privilege asserted under the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act An Illinois appellate court has recently upheld a hospital’s claim of privilege over certain documents sent to its Patient Safety Organization (PSO) for the purpose of improving patient safety and quality of health care. The decision represents an…

Another Cautionary Tale of the Perils of Alleged Fraudulent Healthcare Billing A Chicagoland area doctor has been indicted on federal fraud charges alleging that he illegally pocketed almost $1 million in payments from Medicare and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (“BCBS”).  The physician was federally indicted on April 26, 2018, on seven counts…

Circuit Court Judge Thomas Lyons recently entered a ruling upholding a $4.1 million verdict against Clare Oaks Assisi Healthcare Center.  Judge Lyons also granted Plaintiff’s counsel’s petition for more than $1.3 million in attorney fees, and roughly $147,000 in costs. The case arose out of the death of Dolores Trendel, an 85 year-old woman, who…

On November 9, 2017, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the ruling of the Circuit Court in Hayes v. Victory Centre of River Woods, LLC, 2017 IL App (1st) 162207 and held that the lower court erred in denying Defendant’s motion to stay the Wrongful Death claim pending arbitration of the Survival and Family Expense claims raised…

In April 2017, a jury awarded a plaintiff $100,000 in a case involving allegations of negligence against GlenCrest Healthcare & Rehabilitation Centre. The case was wound care case; Plaintiff alleged the defendant negligently failed to prevent development and progression of skin breakdown in a 75 year old female resident, resulting in a Stage IV decubitus…

   On July 18, 2017, a Cook County jury awarded a $4,111,477 verdict against Clare Oaks Assisi Healthcare Center. The case arose out of the death of Dolores Trendel, an 85 year-old woman, who was transferred to Clare Oaks in February of 2011 for physical therapy after suffering a fractured hip from a fall at…

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken two significant steps away from its prior proposed ban on mandatory arbitration agreements in the long term care setting, abandoning its appeal of a decision blocking implementation of a prior rule banning mandatory arbitration agreements, and issuing a new proposed rule rescinding its prior ban…

On May 15, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Kindred Nursing Centers, L.P. v. Clark, No. 16-32, that state courts are pre-empted by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) from singling out arbitration agreements for disfavored treatment. At issue in the underlying case were powers of attorney held by respondents, the wife…