Chicago Wrongful Death Law Blog

For many years, asbestos was a common building material. Unfortunately years later, it was determined that exposure to asbestos causes serious asbestos-related illness including respiratory issues and cancer. Prior to this discovery, millions of workers were exposed to asbestos on a regular basis. Now, many of these same employees have been seriously injured or have died because of their asbestos-related exposure.

The Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled on a case involving a man with an asbestos-related illness. In this case, the man worked for an Illinois railroad company for many years. During this time he was exposed to asbestos and developed serious lung and respiratory ailments. He subsequently brought a suit against the railroad company in 2009. However, the railroad company argued that Illinois was not the proper venue for the suit since the man is a resident of another state.

As American baby boomers age, more and more families are relying on assisted living and nursing home facilities to care for their family members. When families choose these facilities for their elderly parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, they expect them to receive the best care possible. However, nursing home negligence is all too common in Illinois nursing homes. Families need to be careful to protect themselves and assert their legal rights if a problem arises.

In a recent Illinois case, the administrator of a woman's estate has sued an Illinois nursing home, and its director, for its treatment of the woman prior to her death. According to the wrongful death suit, this treatment was a contributing factor in the woman's death and decreased the woman's quality of life while she was in the facility's care.

Fatal accidents can happen anytime, anyplace. Accidents on the roadways, on the job or under the care of a medical professional can unexpectedly result in the loss of a loved one. One such fatal work-related accident recently left a construction worker dead on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston. The worker was killed after being hit by a falling beam. The 16 foot long, 70 pound beam was hit by a construction crane and fell six stories. The worker suffered fatal head and chest injuries in the construction accident. He was pronounced dead at an Evanston hospital.

The accident happened in the morning hours at the southeastern end of campus. The construction site is the future home of a new music school and communications building. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it has started an investigation into the accident. No preliminary findings of the investigation have been released, and it could take up to six months for it to be completed. It is unknown if the victim's family will enlist the assistance of a wrongful death attorney to pursue a civil lawsuit.

A nursing home is a facility that houses and cares for the elderly and the infirm. In Chicago, Illinois, an individual enters a nursing home because he or she is unable to care for him or herself. Unfortunately, residents of nursing homes are not always properly cared, which can result in nursing home negligence.

A family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Parkside Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in the death of their mother. The suit claims that the nursing home, located in Fairfield, Ohio, is guilty of improper care and unsanitary conditions. The mother was a resident of the nursing home from April 2008 to July 2008, during which time she became very ill. The family maintains that the mother suffered from malnutrition and dehydration as well as pressure sores, infections and sepsis during her stay, which led to her death in September 2008. The family argues that it was the nursing home's negligence, as a result of its failure to adequately assess the patient's skin changes, weight loss, infections as well as nutrition and hydration statistics that caused the mother's injuries and ultimately her death.