The nursing home you take your family member to live in must ensure a good quality of life for residents. If the facility fails to exercise its duty with diligence, causing unnecessary harm to your loved one, a Philadelphia choking lawyer can help.
At Pintas & Mullins Law Firm, we aim to protect our clients’ rights and interests. Contact us at (800) 842-6336 and we will guide you on the next course of action.
If you intend to file a lawsuit for injuries caused due to negligence and abuse in a nursing home, you have two years from the time the incident happened. Lawyers understand choking can be a traumatic experience for your loved one. Our commitment is to help you fight for justice.
The Responsibility of a Nursing Home in Preventing Choking
You take your loved one to a nursing home expecting high-quality care. Sometimes, these facilities can neglect, mistreat, and abuse residents, causing emotional and mental anguish.
According to the Nursing Home Reform Act, employees in a nursing home should be diligent in their duties. They should have the necessary skills and techniques to apply in life-threatening situations. Training can offer assistance to residents in moments of choking.
Apart from having the necessary skills to support a resident with swallowing issues, staff members must exercise precautions to prevent any elderly adult from choking.
So, what does a Philadelphia choking lawyer look for in your case as a basis for nursing home choking?
Failure to Monitor Residents During Mealtime
A standard nursing home should ensure proper supervision during meals. Every resident has unique needs, and well-trained staff should handle any situation that arises. However, some staff may ignore this duty, leaving residents at risk of choking.
For example, an employee may engage in texting while residents struggle to eat. Such individuals can be responsible for injuries caused by choking.
Failure to Observe Dietary Obligations
Nursing home facilities should understand every resident’s situation and tailor diets according to the residents’ unique needs. If a resident has issues with chewing, the staff should offer pureed food (to prevent choking incidents).
Some diets require care providers to cut food into small bits before serving. If they fail to do so, the nursing home can also be responsible for damages incurred to the choked resident.
Failure to Assess Potential Swallowing Issues
Some nursing home residents may have underlying conditions that cause swallowing difficulties. A qualified facility should assess and identify these issues and provide solutions. An employee who fails to exercise the required care to handle eating problems can be accountable for the choking incident.
An older adult can file a claim through a lawyer and demand compensation for damages.
Choking Due to Medical Devices
Some residents in nursing homes may have medical devices, like tubes, fitted to assist in breathing. Sometimes, these devices may clog, due to the medical staff’s failure to monitor residents and ensure their devices are working correctly. The result may cause a respiratory strain, choking the resident.
Filing a Philadelphia Nursing Home Choking Claim
If your loved one suffered severe choking injuries because of a nursing home employee’s negligence, you could file a lawsuit for different reasons, including:
- Inadequate training of employees, increasing the risk of choking for residents
- Failure to evaluate a resident’s ability to swallow
- Failure to provide the right diet based on the resident’s swallowing issues
- Offering the same food and drink after identifying a swallowing disorder
- Failure to supervise vulnerable residents during meals
- Allowing a resident to eat in an improper position
- Failure to assess and diagnose swallowing issues, such as dysphagia
You can seek to hold a negligent facility responsible for your loved one’s choking-related damages. This situation can cause problems for an elderly adult, including physical injuries and pain and suffering.
A lawyer can help surviving family members pursue a wrongful death claim in cases where death occurs.
For a free legal consultation with a Philadelphia Choking Lawyer serving Philadelphia, call (800) 794-0444
Taking Action Against the Liable Party
Apart from choking, negligence in a nursing home can cause other severe problems, including head injuries, broken bones, and bedsores. Some elderly adults can struggle with mental and emotional trauma due to these issues.
Fortunately, you can use legal grounds to prove all damages and seek compensation. A legal team can collaborate with medical professionals to estimate the cost of losses, including:
- Medical expenses
- Mental and emotional anguish
- Loss of a loved one, in case the choking caused the death
If your loved one suffered injuries and damages because of negligence in a nursing home, a lawyer could assist.
We will start by evaluating your claim and discussing available options for you to consider. While it may be difficult for your family, our law firm will do everything to protect your loved one’s rights and interests.
Philadelphia Philadelphia Choking Lawyer Near Me (800) 794-0444
How a Philadelphia Choking Lawyer Can Help You
While accidents can occur at any time, most of them are preventable. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), choking is one of the leading causes of unintentional deaths in the U.S. If your loved one is affected, investigate the incident with the help of a lawyer.
Your loved one’s injury could have occurred due to the failure of staff members to attend to residents during mealtimes. All residents should be monitored, helped, and offered adequate care in a nursing home. Reporting such incidences can help the injured person get justice.
If your loved one has encountered an unfortunate situation, a lawyer can offer legal counsel to demand compensation for all responsible parties’ damages.
Our law firm is committed to helping clients get what they deserve. We will evaluate all aspects of your case and recommend options.
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Start Your Pursuit of Justice with Pintas & Mullins Law Firm
Did your loved one suffer injuries in a nursing home due to choking? The law requires these facilities to offer quality care to residents and exercise precautions to prevent injury risks. A Philadelphia choking lawyer with our team can investigate the choking incident and hold the responsible parties accountable.
We will help you file a lawsuit and guide you throughout the process. Contact Pintas & Mullins Law Firm at (800) 842-6336 for a case evaluation.
Call or text (800) 794-0444 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
