Elderly woman's fall off scale lands Loyola University Health System in court

An 80-year-old woman is suing the owner of a dialysis center in Maywood, where she claims she fell off a scale.

Catherine Freeman filed a complaint Oct. 30 in Cook County Circuit Court against Loyola University Health System, acting as Loyola Center for Dialysis.

According to th suit, Freeman was at the defendant's facility for dialysis treatment on June 23, when a staff member asked her to step on a scale in order to record her weight. When she stepped on the scale, Freeman says it toppled over, throwing her to the floor.

Freeman claims the defendant is responsible for maintaining safe equipment and training, supervising and monitoring staff in the safe use of said equipment. She says the defendant's negligence caused her to fall and sustain injuries.

She is seeking more than $50,000, plus court costs, and is represented by Jeffrey S. Deutschman of Deutschman & Associates in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014L011233.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it represents only one side of the story.