If your spouse or parent died in a nursing home because of neglect or abuse, you might have a wrongful death claim against the facility. A nursing home is liable if neglect or abuse at the facility led to the death of a resident.
Because many people who live in nursing homes have fragile health, they are susceptible to significant, even fatal harm from abuse or neglect. If your loved one died because of wrongful conduct at a nursing home, a lawyer can help you go after compensation. Call Pintas & Mullins Law Firm today at (800) 842-6336 for a free case evaluation. There is no obligation.
Establishing Nursing Home Wrongful Death
When someone dies because of the wrongful act of another person, the situation can qualify as wrongful death. The act can be negligent (careless) or intentional. The act can either be that someone did something that harmed the victim or failed to act, and that failure to act harmed the individual.
When the wrongful act is neglect or abuse by a staff member or a fellow resident, the nursing home can be liable. Nursing homes must provide professional care to residents and take reasonable measures to protect them from harm. When residents die from a facility’s failure to meet standards, this could be considered wrongful death in nursing homes and the close surviving relatives could seek compensation for their losses.
How a Wrongful Death Can Happen in a Nursing Home
When your spouse or loved one goes into a nursing home, it is because he or she needs more medical treatment and services than you can provide at home. Your loved one should receive round-the-clock nursing care that he or she deserves.
Even though they are expensive, some nursing homes provide sub-standard care. When medically fragile people do not receive the services they need, the results can be tragic and fatal.
Here are some ways that elder abuse or neglect at a nursing home can take the life of your loved one:
- Failure to dispense medication as prescribed: Medication errors are frequent in healthcare settings. Patients may receive the wrong dose, the wrong type of drug, or someone else’s prescription. Unintentional medication mistakes are neglect. When a staff member intentionally withholds prescribed medications from a resident, the situation can be abuse.
- Not preventing sacral ulcers: A nursing home should be vigilant about preventing bedsores and treating them immediately when they develop. Despite medical intervention, some sacral ulcers (bedsores) can lead to death from sepsis or squamous cell cancer.
- Inadequate fall prevention procedures: Fall injuries claim the lives of many older adults every year. Victims may die right away from a skull fracture or other brain injury. Sometimes the passing happens days or weeks later, from a blood clot that travels to the brain, heart, or lungs. A patient can even die from pneumonia while bedridden during recuperation.
- Accidents while administering patient care: Some residents of nursing homes need intensive hands-on services, such as physical therapy, transfer from the bed to a wheelchair, or bathing. If a poorly trained or careless staff member drops the resident while performing any of these activities, the individual could sustain injuries that take his life.
- Intentional abuse at the hands of a staff member or fellow resident: A person living in a nursing home is at the mercy of the other people in the facility, including workers and other residents. A resident can die from injuries sustained in an act of violence (assault).
These are only a few examples of the ways that wrongful death in nursing homes occurs.
For a free consultation, call Pintas & Mullins Law Firm today at (800) 842-6336.
For a free legal consultation, call (800) 842-6336
Awards for Wrongful Death Claims
If your spouse or parent died as the result of neglect or abuse at a nursing home, you might have a right to seek monetary compensation for your losses, which include:
Economic Losses
This category covers the financial losses the decedent and his estate incurred, like the medical expenses from the neglect or abuse, and funeral and burial expenses.
Non-Economic Losses
The close survivors might have a claim for losses like:
- The surviving spouse’s claim for loss of the love, companionship, and consortium of the deceased person
- The mental anguish of the survivors
- The immediate family’s loss of the guidance, love, nurturing, and companionship of the decedent
Every wrongful death claim is different. The amount of compensation that you can pursue will depend on the unique facts of your situation.
Punitive Damages
Your state might allow the award of punitive damages if the facts are disturbing or shocking. If there was a callous disregard for the safety of the residents, for example, that lead to the death of a resident, or if the facility had an unacceptable track record of abuse or neglect, the court might decide to impose punitive damages to send a message to the nursing home.
How Attorneys for Wrongful Death Can Help You
If the death of a resident occurred because of neglect or abuse at a nursing home, the facility is liable. The law does not require you to work with a lawyer on your wrongful death suit, but it can be a smart idea to do so. These claims often involve large sums of money, so the nursing home’s insurance carrier will have a substantial incentive to fight your claim.
At Pintas and Mullins Law Firm, we hold nursing homes all over the United States accountable when they hurt and kill residents. We know the tactics the insurance carriers of the facilities use to try to deny or devalue your wrongful death case.
There is only a short amount of time to file an action against a facility whose wrongful acts caused the untimely death of your loved one. No matter how shocking the facts of your situation, if you miss the deadline, you could lose the right to seek the compensation you deserve.
Call Pintas & Mullins Law Firm today at (800) 842-6336 to get started. We can evaluate your claim at no cost to you. There is no obligation. If we take your case, we will not get paid until you win.
Call or text (800) 842-6336 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
