Cheatum was cheated: A nursing home lawsuit

This week the family of a Tennessee man won $4 million in a lawsuit against the nursing home chain that had cared for him. Cheatum Myers suffered numerous falls during his nursing home stay, one of which broke his hip. He didn’t get treatment for the injury for a week.

 And an infection around where Myers’ catheter was located led to a high fever complicated by pneumonia. He had one bedsore all the way to the bone on his heel.

 Mr. Myers died in 2005, and the lawsuit claimed it was because of the lack of care.

Advice to the adult children of frail elders: Check the quality ratings of nursing homes with your state’s department of public health.

Read another lawsuit story, or read the source story in the Daily News Journal.

Lucio Satar: A flu vaccine story

Lucio Satar, a healthy eight-year-old boy in Minnesota, began feeling sick with the flu on Jan. 24. He died Wednesday of pneumonia, a complication from the flu.

Across the U.S., about 100 children die every year from flu complications, according to Patsy Stinchfield, a pediatric nurse practitioner who leads the Minnesota Immunization Practices Advisory Committee.

Advice to parents: Please have your families vaccinated against the flu.

Read the story in the Lacrosse Tribune.