Nursing home sued over maggots

An Illinois nursing home is facing a medical malpractice lawsuit after 57 maggots were found in a patient's ear, a lawyer says. The family of Catherine McCann, a 90-year-old Alzheimer's patient, on Nov. 28 filed the suit against Lutheran Home, a nursing home in Arlington Heights, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday. On Sept. 16, a nurse at Lutheran Home was caring for McCann and noticed a maggot fall out of her ear. McCann was immediately transported to a local hospital where 57 maggots were removed from her ear. "I'm curious how someone could wash her hair and not noticed 57 maggots," said Henry Phillip Gruss, the attorney who filed the suit for the family. McCann has since been moved to a different care facility, Gruss said. The suit alleged that McCann suffered severe injuries, elder abuse and neglect because the nursing home failed to provide "a reasonable standard of professional care." Phil Hemmer, the nursing home's administrator, said Lutheran Home has done nothing wrong. "This is a freak occurrence that has nothing to do with the care she was provided or the environment she was living in," Hemmer said. McCann's family, which has previously filed complaints against Lutheran Home for undisclosed reasons, is seeking at least $50,000 in damages.