An Illinois toddler died nine years ago after suffering third degree burns from bathwater. The Illinois House last week approved legislation to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
The measure would require all new water heaters be equipped with a safety valve.
It was introduced in honor of Mikayla King. Her mother, Jennifer King, recounted the event to lawmakers last month.
“Sheets of skin were falling off of her legs,” King said. “The skin looked like a sock hanging from her foot. My sweet little 18-month-old baby girl had third degree burns from less than 3 seconds in the bath water.”
Mikayla spent two months in the hospital before she died. During that time, she underwent 19 surgeries. An infection caused her right leg to be amputated below the knee. She was on so many medications that the doctors put her on kidney dialysis. Eventually, her heart gave out.
The Kings temporarily lost custody of their remaining three children while the Department of Children and Family Services investigated Mikayla’s death. They determined it was an accident.
In 2011, the Kings filed a product-liability suit against Whirlpool, the manufacturer of their water heater.
During the trial, King said, experts testified that 2,000 people suffer severe scald injuries each year, despite the fact that safety technology has been available for more than 30 years.
But the safety feature was only offered on their high-end water heater models.
“I was so angry when I heard that the people most affected by these injuries are our most vulnerable: children, elderly and people with different abilities,” King said. “And they still made the choice to continue this practice which allows them to be hurt and worse.”
A police investigation found the bathwater that killed Mikayla reached 138 degrees. A Whirlpool engineer told the court they couldn’t tell what temperature the water heater was set to because of a phenomenon called stacking, which allows a 30 degree difference between the temperature set and how hot the water actually is.
The safety valve mandate in “Mikayla’s Law” would ensure tap water doesn’t exceed 120 degrees — hot enough to kill legionella bacteria, but not so hot it causes injury when touched.
King said it’s the equivalent of requiring seat belts in a car.
“Thousands upon thousands of people are injured every year because of scald burns that could be prevented by technology that has been around for 30 years — technology that does not cost much in comparison to the value of people’s lives or the millions of dollars in medical costs in each year to treat these scald injuries,” she said.
A bill that would have given more power to county board chairmen in the state could die in the Rules Committee after members missed the deadline to send the legislation back to the House.
House Bill 3596 is sponsored by state Rep. Sam Yingling, D-Grayslake, and would have allowed county board chairmen to take actions such as giving funds back to taxpayers and allowing them to get rid of advisory committees or commissions. The bill originally was filed by state Rep. David McSweeney as House Bill 3317.
Bills that don’t report in time to the House for third reading and passage, or consideration of action, are automatically re-referred to the Rules Committee. From there, the bill either advances to other relevant committees or remains untouched until it dies with the end of session.
Yingling could not be reached for comment Friday.
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SPRINGFIELD — A bill that would bar municipalities in Illinois from enacting local “right-to-work” laws like one the village of Lincolnshire enacted in 2015 is one step closer to going to Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Those are laws that prohibit employers from requiring a worker to join a labor union as a condition of employment.
The Illinois House on Wednesday gave final passage to a bill that has already cleared the Senate that would clarify that state government has exclusive authority to enact laws governing what are known as union security agreements – agreements between employers and unions that spell out the extent to which workers can be compelled to belong to a union, as well as whether the employer will collect dues and fees on behalf of the union.
State Rep. Lance Yednock, an Ottawa Democrat and chief sponsor of the House version of the bill, said it would only reiterate what Congress intended when it passed the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which gave states authority to enact right-to-work laws.
“In doing so, Congress decided to avoid the confusion that having 7,000 units of local government in Illinois with thousands of different laws would create,” Yednock said in arguing for the bill.
In recent years, however, federal courts have interpreted the law in different ways.
In Illinois, the issue came to a head in 2015 when the village of Lincolnshire passed an ordinance that prohibited the use of union-security agreements.
It also prohibited the use of “hiring halls,” which are union-based organizations that supply new recruits to employers with collective bargaining agreements. And it prohibited the use of dues “checkoff” arrangements in which employers collect union dues through payroll deductions on behalf of unions.
The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399 challenged that law in federal court, arguing that the Taft-Hartley Act gives only states the authority to enact such laws. Lincolnshire, however, argued that as a political subdivision of the state, it had the right to exercise the state’s authority.
In January 2017, a federal district court struck down the ordinance, and in September 2018, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision. However, the appellate court also noted that other courts of appeals have ruled differently – specifically the 6th Circuit, which in 2016 upheld a similar law enacted by Hardin County, Kentucky.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Kentucky case. But now that the 7th Circuit has reached a different conclusion in the Lincolnshire case, some lawmakers said they believe the nation’s high court will be forced to weigh in.
“My impression is that if (some) other district goes up to the Supreme Court and they somehow rule that something similar to Lincolnshire is allowed, this ban would be stricken, and I think it would no longer be constitutional and enforceable on the books of Illinois,” House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs, said during debate.
The bill, Senate Bill 1474, passed by a 101-8 vote. It previously passed the Senate, 42-12, on March 7. But the House deleted a provision in the original Senate bill that would have made it a misdemeanor for any local government official to violate the act. That means the bill now must return to the Senate to either agree or disagree with the House change.
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Region: Decatur,City: Decatur,Politics,Region: Central
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Battery-operated smoke detectors weren’t sufficient to save about 30 dogs who perished in a January kennel fire near West Chicago.
State Rep. Diane Pappas says the outcome could have been less devastating had the two-story building been equipped with more advanced fire safety measures.
Illinois lawmakers now are considering legislation to require pet boarding businesses to install a fire alarm system that automatically notifies first responders when it’s activated.
House Bill 3390 aims to protect animals kept overnight at kennels that do not have either 24-hour staffing or sprinkler systems in place, said Pappas, an Itasca Democrat who introduced the measure this month.
"We want to make sure anybody who takes in animals on a for-profit basis (is) actually protecting them from this horrendous death by fire," she said. "Often, it takes a tragedy to make us aware of a deficiency in the law, and unfortunately that’s what happened here. We’re trying to fix that."
According to the proposal, kennel operators who don’t comply would be denied a new license, or the renewal of an existing license, by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The House Labor and Commerce Committee is expected to vote Wednesday on the bill, which would amend the Animal Welfare Act.
The legislation has support from the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association, said board President and Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis.
Though battery-operated detectors can be used as a last resort, he said, hard-wired alarm systems allow for a quicker response from fire crews, which limits building and property damage and reduces the risk of injury or death.
"We’re happy to see any kind of legislation that promotes fire safety and that provides methods of community risk reduction," Puknaitis said. "Fire can spread exponentially in a matter of minutes. We do everything we can to try to minimize that."
Many communities already are requiring automatic fire notification systems or sprinklers in homes and other new construction, he said, so it makes sense to add fire safety requirements in locations where animals are kept overnight.
"Those pets are like family members to people," Puknaitis said. "We want to make sure that we provide protection to those pets and those animals, just as we do to human beings."
On the morning of the Jan. 14 kennel fire near West Chicago, operator Garrett Mercado left for "just a few hours" and returned to find a glow coming from the second-floor apartment where he lived, he told the Daily Herald in January. The fire was producing thick smoke and intense heat by the time he arrived.
A DuPage County sheriff’s deputy spotted the blaze while on patrol about 5:30 a.m., alerted dispatchers and helped Mercado free some dogs from cages. Carol Stream firefighters then battled the fire to rescue as many dogs as possible and bring them to the front yard. Roughly 30 were saved.
The kennel, licensed under the name "The Bully Life Animal Services," had passed its last routine inspection in September, though it fell under scrutiny on social media after critics raised questions about its cleanliness and staffing.
Mercado said he knew the facility was a "fixer upper" and made plans with the landlord to complete improvements; installing a sprinkler system was "at the top of the list."
The cost of retrofitting a facility with more advanced alarm systems could be an issue for some boarding businesses, especially those housed in antiquated buildings, said Kristen Funk, executive director of the Naperville Area Humane Society. But she says there’s no question the added protection is necessary.
"I think it’s very important, especially if there’s not staff there all the time," Funk said. "Animals are in cages and can’t get out, so to have the notification or sprinkler systems — I couldn’t agree more with it."
The proposed law would apply to any licensed kennel operation, with no exemptions for existing boarding facilities, Pappas said. "It’s a dangerous situation for both the pets and the people, so my view is, it doesn’t help anyone if you’re grandfathered into this," she said.
Republican state Sen. Don DeWitte filed a similar bill weeks ago calling for the installation of sprinkler systems in all pet boarding facilities. After realizing Pappas had parallel legislation that was moving quicker through the approval process, DeWitte said, he stood down on his bill and pre-filed to be the sponsor of House Bill 3390 when it moves to the Senate.
"My concern, as was her concern, was to get something put on the books that would give pet owners security when turning their loved ones — i.e. their pets — over to kennel operators," said DeWitte, of St. Charles. "We were both touched by the unfortunate fire in West Chicago several weeks ago. We both agree this is viable legislation."
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When I met earlier this year with Tamar Friedman, her discomfort was obvious, not just in her face but in the constant motion of her hands as she gently rubbed fingers together in an effort to ease the tingling sensation in them.
“It’s so hard,” she said, when I asked what it’s like to keep up with her duties as a school social worker, wife and mother of two small children while also dealing with this ongoing pain.
But what caused even more stress as the 45-year-old Naperville woman battles a debilitating, nerve-destroying disease is the energy she’s had to exert over the past year to get help from her health insurance company.
That’s what Friedman was forced to do ever since learning just before Christmas the treatment approved by her neurologist was denied by Blue Cross Blue Shield, despite the fact the company had previously paid for a six-month trial her family insist made a world of difference in her health and her life.
The disease is not well-known, says her sister Heather Friedman, which is part of the problem. Tamar was enjoying an active life with husband Jason Dyhouse, a band teacher at Granger Middle School, and their two children, ages 4 and 8, until about 20 months ago when she began experiencing tingling in her feet that gradually turned into painful spasms traveling up her body, along with crushing headaches that led to dizziness and blurred vision.
After months of doctor visits, including a trip to Mayo Clinic, she was finally diagnosed at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center with autoimmune small fiber polyneuropathy, a relatively new disorder only recently linked to antibody FGFR3, which attacks and damages small nerves in the body.
Also only recently, according to the Friedmans, a medical study showed that an extremely expensive intravenous infusion of healthy blood plasma would successfully lower the levels of antibody that were causing her symptoms.
The insurance company, they said, refused to cover the treatment at first because it was considered off-label. But after Friedman was hospitalized almost a year ago, Blue Cross agreed to a six-month trial of intravenous plasma infusions, delivered by a nurse in her home, four days at a time once a month for half a year.
The infusions were life-changing, Tamar Friedman says. As the antibody causing her disorder decreased to normal levels and her nerves regenerated, symptoms were almost completely eliminated. That’s when her doctor requested insurance coverage for a six-month continuation of the treatment at half-dose.
But Blue Cross refused the doctor’s request, and after he appealed the denial in October, Friedman received a letter from the insurance company days before Christmas informing her that appeal was also denied. Although the insurance company had paid for the initial treatment that got excellent results, Blue Cross Blue Shield claimed the intravenous plasma treatment had not been deemed medically necessary.
Repeated attempts for a response from Blue Cross Blue Shield were not successful.
“Getting the denial was awful,” said Friedman. “It is hard enough to deal with a debilitating disease … you feel so powerless. And these people are making decisions that affect my life and my kids’ lives.”
As each week passed and her symptoms worsened, Dyhouse, her husband, said he had to once more take over her household duties as his wife “just tried to get through each day.”
In early January, Friedman’s parents paid $11,000 out of their own retirement fund for a treatment which, like before, brought tremendous relief. But also like before, symptoms gradually returned.
Because the couple depends on two incomes, Friedman has no choice but to continue working at Currier Elementary School in West Chicago, which she says has been “so understanding” of her situation.
Still, at the end of the work day, “I am depleted … all I want to do is lay down and sleep.”
The family, however, chose not to lie down for the insurance company. After Friedman’s doctor submitted yet another request for coverage, the couple hired a health care advocate. Also, state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, got involved. She contacted a government liaison with Blue Cross Blue Shield about what she described as “a serious situation” and was told the insurance company would “research the case and review Friedman’s file.”
Things can fall through the cracks, which is why follow-up is so important, of course. But if you are not getting the response you feel is necessary, Kifowit insisted, call your elected officials.
“We make laws,” she said. “But what most people forget or fail to understand is that we are also here to be an advocate” for residents.
Because elected representatives have “a lot of contacts with industries and government liaisons,” Kifowit added, ”we can cut through the red tape and get it in the hands of people who need to know how to fix it.”
Some or all of the above must have made a difference in this case: A couple weeks ago Friedman said she was notified verbally that six more treatments were approved, which will give her at least 24 weeks of relief.
While there have been some cases of the disease going into remission, “no one really knows for sure what will happen because it’s so new,” Friedman said, fully aware that “we may have to go back to the drawing board and keep requesting.”
Still, Kifowit expressed optimism this medical dilemma appears to be heading toward a positive outcome.
And that’s what the Friedmans are holding on to for now.
“I certainly don’t like the process. And it’s unfortunate we have to go to such lengths,” said Tamar. “But I’m so grateful relief will be coming.”
STATE LAWMAKERS ARE WORKING ON A COUPLE OF BILLS TO HELP INCREASE ORGAN DONATION IN ILLINOIS.
THERE’S A REAL NEED FOR LIVE ORGAN DONORS TO PROVIDE KIDNEYS AND BONE MARROW TO THOSE WHO ARE SICK SAYS VILLA PARK REPRESENTATIVE DEB CONROY. HER BILL MAKES SURE DONORS AREN’T DISCRIMINATED AGAINST WHEN IT COMES TO LIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMS AND TAKING TIME OFF OF WORK. ADDITONALLY:
A SECOND BILL OFFERS A TAX CREDIT TO EMPLOYERS WHO GIVE WORKERS 30 DAYS PAID LEAVE FOR AN ORGAN DONATION SAYS MEGAN CRAIG WITH THE NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS.
PEOPLE WANTING TO DONATE A KIDNEY OR BONE MARROW TO HELP SAVE A LIFE OFTEN RUN INTO ROADBLOCKS AT WORK.
01-All No Sub,02-Pol,15-Health,19-Legal,24-ILGA,25-Working,26-Delivered,06-RK Email 11,HL,HL New,RKPRS HL
STATE LAWMAKERS ARE WORKING ON A COUPLE OF BILLS TO HELP INCREASE ORGAN DONATION IN ILLINOIS.
THERE’S A REAL NEED FOR LIVE ORGAN DONORS TO PROVIDE KIDNEYS AND BONE MARROW TO THOSE WHO ARE SICK SAYS VILLA PARK REPRESENTATIVE DEB CONROY. HER BILL MAKES SURE DONORS AREN’T DISCRIMINATED AGAINST WHEN IT COMES TO LIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMS AND TAKING TIME OFF OF WORK. ADDITONALLY:
A SECOND BILL OFFERS A TAX CREDIT TO EMPLOYERS WHO GIVE WORKERS 30 DAYS PAID LEAVE FOR AN ORGAN DONATION SAYS MEGAN CRAIG WITH THE NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS.
PEOPLE WANTING TO DONATE A KIDNEY OR BONE MARROW TO HELP SAVE A LIFE OFTEN RUN INTO ROADBLOCKS AT WORK.
01-All No Sub,02-Pol,15-Health,19-Legal,24-ILGA,25-Working,26-Delivered,06-RK Email 11,HL,HL New,RKPRS HL
STATE LAWMAKERS ARE WORKING ON A COUPLE OF BILLS TO HELP INCREASE ORGAN DONATION IN ILLINOIS.
THERE’S A REAL NEED FOR LIVE ORGAN DONORS TO PROVIDE KIDNEYS AND BONE MARROW TO THOSE WHO ARE SICK SAYS VILLA PARK REPRESENTATIVE DEB CONROY. HER BILL MAKES SURE DONORS AREN’T DISCRIMINATED AGAINST WHEN IT COMES TO LIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMS AND TAKING TIME OFF OF WORK. ADDITONALLY:
A SECOND BILL OFFERS A TAX CREDIT TO EMPLOYERS WHO GIVE WORKERS 30 DAYS PAID LEAVE FOR AN ORGAN DONATION SAYS MEGAN CRAIG WITH THE NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS.
PEOPLE WANTING TO DONATE A KIDNEY OR BONE MARROW TO HELP SAVE A LIFE OFTEN RUN INTO ROADBLOCKS AT WORK.
01-All No Sub,02-Pol,15-Health,19-Legal,24-ILGA,25-Working,26-Delivered,06-RK Email 11,HL,HL New,RKPRS HL
STATE LAWMAKERS ARE WORKING ON A COUPLE OF BILLS TO HELP INCREASE ORGAN DONATION IN ILLINOIS.
THERE’S A REAL NEED FOR LIVE ORGAN DONORS TO PROVIDE KIDNEYS AND BONE MARROW TO THOSE WHO ARE SICK SAYS VILLA PARK REPRESENTATIVE DEB CONROY. HER BILL MAKES SURE DONORS AREN’T DISCRIMINATED AGAINST WHEN IT COMES TO LIFE INSURANCE PREMIUMS AND TAKING TIME OFF OF WORK. ADDITONALLY:
A SECOND BILL OFFERS A TAX CREDIT TO EMPLOYERS WHO GIVE WORKERS 30 DAYS PAID LEAVE FOR AN ORGAN DONATION SAYS MEGAN CRAIG WITH THE NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS.
PEOPLE WANTING TO DONATE A KIDNEY OR BONE MARROW TO HELP SAVE A LIFE OFTEN RUN INTO ROADBLOCKS AT WORK.
01-All No Sub,02-Pol,15-Health,19-Legal,24-ILGA,25-Working,26-Delivered,06-RK Email 11,HL,HL New,RKPRS HL
Working for Illinois Caucus 