Family Files Lawsuit against Nursing Home after 57 Maggots Found in Patient's Ear

 Posted on May 31, 2013 in Personal Injury

According to a report in the Huffington Post, the family of a 92 year-old nursing home patient has filed a lawsuit against the Lutheran Home for the Aged in Arlington Heights, IL. Catherine McCann, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and is unable to speak, kept pulling on her ear while in the care of the home. Doctors at Northwest Community Hospital removed 57 maggots from woman's ear. The removal of the infestation was videotaped by the doctors, but was so graphic that even some television news stations refused to air it. Now McCann is battling the antibiotic-resistant form of Staph infection known as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) her family says is caused from the maggots. The family is worried that given her weakened physical condition, she may not survive the infection. John McCann paid over $270,000 over the past two years to the nursing home for around-the-clock care for his wife. She was supposed to be receiving daily ear drops for a problem with wax buildup. Some of the maggots found in her ear were determined to be two to three days old, which indicates the nursing home had not been dispensing the drops on a daily basis. The lawsuit is seeking $50,000 in damages for emotional distress and negligence. In a 2012 U.S. News & World Report ranking of nursing homes, the Lutheran Home for the Aged received four out of five stars in overall score. It only received two stars in the category of Quality Measure, which includes "percentages of residents who got recommended care, such as flu vaccinations, and percentages of residents who had pain, bedsores, urinary tract infections, and other care‑related problems." If one of your family members has been neglected or abused while a patient in a nursing home, contact an experienced Illinois personal injury attorney today to find out how you can hold the facility accountable for those injuries.