You would think that someone who reads about elder abuseand neglect on a daily basis would stop seeing red after a while.  Yesterday, however, while reading an account of nursing home neglect that resulted in a death, I was struck by a statement from an Illinois official responsible for regulating nursing homes that was so out of touch with reality that my fingers shook as I hit the keys on my laptop to respond.

An investigative piece by NBC Chicago5 tells the sad story of Joseph Karney, a Chicago man who moved into The Renaissance Park South nursing home in 2005 after having a stroke and heart attack. Joseph was later diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer and placed on a medication to which he was responding well. Over time, his sister noticed he was failing. They investigated and learned that the nursing home had failed to give him his cancer…