If your elderly loved one died in a nursing home due to elder abuse or neglect, you may have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit on their behalf. While compensation will never bring your loved one back, those responsible for their untimely death may shoulder responsibility for your losses. Contact a Riverside death lawyer at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm to potentially help you receive justice on behalf of your loved one.
Wrongful Death Causes in Nursing Homes
Nursing homes have a duty and obligation to ensure the safety and care of their residents. If a nursing home fails in that duty, often an elderly resident may suffer serious injuries or even death. If an elderly resident of a nursing home suffers a death due to elder abuse or neglect, it classifies as wrongful death, and those responsible may face serious penalties. Nursing home elder abuse or neglect that results in wrongful death may appear in the following ways.
Physical Abuse or Neglect
Many wrongful death cases result from physical abuse or neglect of an elderly person in a nursing home. Nursing homes can remain understaffed, leaving overworked employees frustrated and exhausted, according to Health Service Insights.
These employees may simply lack the capacity to meet the needs of all of the elderly residents in their care. In some cases, their frustration results in physical abuse or neglect of the elderly residents. Unfortunately, those elderly persons that suffer from physical abuse experience a much higher risk of death than normal senior adults, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Physical neglect can also lead to wrongful death. Neglect appears in many ways and can include the failure to reposition elderly bedridden patients, causing the development of serious bedsores. Bedsores can lead to serious medical complications or even death if untreated. In other cases, neglect can cause elderly patients to attempt to go to the bathroom by themselves, leading to severe falls, which can result in death. Any lack of supervision or monitoring of elderly residents may result in a wrongful death due to the neglect of the nursing home staff.
Malnutrition and Dehydration
Elderly patients have an even greater need for nutrients and hydration. Many senior residents of a nursing home may not have a strong appetite or may have medical issues such as dysphagia, making it difficult for them to swallow, according to the Mayo Clinic. If the nursing home staff fails to monitor these elderly residents, they may develop serious medical conditions leading to death if they suffer from either malnourishment or dehydration.
Errors in Medication
Most elderly residents of nursing homes require some sort of medication. Every patient deserves to have their correct medications administered in the proper dosages and at the right times. Attending physicians, nursing home pharmacies, management, and the nursing home employees all have a responsibility and duty to ensure that the elderly residents receive the correct medication and dosages, along with food and water if necessary.
If your elderly loved one had any preventable errors in their medications that caused them to die, you may have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit on their behalf. For your free case evaluation, call us.
Wrongful Death Lawsuits
The basis for all wrongful death lawsuits against nursing homes typically depends upon either negligence or abuse. Wrongful death lawsuits based upon nursing home abuse and neglect differ from other types of wrongful death cases. Nursing homes have a very focused and narrow responsibility to ensure the safety and care of their residents. Nursing homes should have strong procedures, protocols, and frameworks in place to ensure that nursing home residents receive proper care at all times. These legally required frameworks for safety make nursing home wrongful death lawsuits different than typical medical malpractice lawsuits.
Essentially, the nursing home had full knowledge of the medical conditions of your elderly loved one prior to their admittance to their facility, and they assumed the responsibility of their care with that knowledge. Additionally, many nursing home abuse and neglect cases may also come with a history of abuse and neglect in the facility. In these cases, a series of events or a pattern of abuse or neglect may result in the wrongful death of elderly residents. If a nursing home resident chokes and dies due to a failure to monitor them, the nursing home staff bears responsibility. Another cause may involve neglecting to update an assessment or care plan of an elderly resident that leads to a failure to recognize the need for consistent repositioning. That lack of care can lead to sepsis due to bedsores in the patient. Ultimately, in all cases of wrongful death, the nursing home facility assumed the responsibility to care and protect the safety of your elderly loved one, and failed to do so through direct abuse or neglect.
For a free legal consultation with a Wrongful Death Lawyer serving Riverside, call (800) 794-0444
Consider a Riverside Death Lawyer
If your elderly loved one died in a nursing home, and no medical explanations account for their death, you may feel indescribable grief and might be plagued with several questions as well. If you suspect that your elderly loved one suffered any kind of abuse or neglect that led to their untimely death, consider a Riverside death lawyer at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm. Call us to help you determine your right to file a wrongful death claim on their behalf. While compensation will never bring your loved one back, you may hold the responsible parties accountable for their actions.
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