Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog
The family of an Indiana woman, who is believed to have died due to the injuries she suffered as a result of an altercation related to her Alzheimer’s and dementia, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home where she was living when she died. The suit accuses the nursing home of being negligent, and thus at least partly responsible for the woman’s death.
According to the local coroner’s office, the woman’s cause of death was a failure to thrive due to subdural and subarachnoid hematomas, which were the result of blunt force trauma that she suffered after a fall during an altercation with another resident.
The report from the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, which was linked to in the story written by a local newspaper, concluded that among other things:
“Based on observation, interviews and record review, the facility failed to provide supervision to prevent falls and prevent a resident altercation which resulted in a fall, injury, hospitalization and death.” (page 8/28)
From the report, it also appears that this was not the woman’s first altercation.
The woman was a resident of the Alzheimer’s unit in the nursing facility, and she additionally suffered from dementia. The woman’s relatives claim that their motivation for filing suit was at least partly attributable to feeling as though the nursing care facility expressed no remorse or compassion following the incident.
One of the most upsetting aspects of these types of potential nursing home abuse or neglect cases, is that when we pay a large amount of money to a facility, we expect that our loved ones will be cared for. We hope that they will make sure that our loved ones receive the proper treatments and therapies that they need, and that they will be safe. Unfortunately, in cases such as this one, it appears as though that is not always the case.
If you have a loved one in a nursing facility, and you believe that they are being neglected or abused, you should not hesitate to speak with an experienced nursing home abuse attorney who can advise you regarding the next steps to take. Aside from acting to protect your loved one’s safety, there may be relevant statutes of limitations, setting a time limit on your potential legal claims.
If you are worried that an elderly friend or relative who is staying at a nursing home in Maryland or the Washington D.C. area is suffering from nursing home neglect or nursing home abuse, contact the experienced attorneys at At Lebowitz & Mzhen. We help people in Maryland obtain compensation for injuries caused by nursing home abuse or neglect. To schedule your free and confidential consultation, contact us online today, or by calling us at (800) 654-1949.
More Blog Posts:
Verdict Against Nursing Home in Medication Error Case Based on Res Ipsa Loquitur Doctrine: Freudeman v. Landing of Canton, Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog, published November 7, 2012
Lawsuit Against Nursing Home May Proceed on an Ordinary Negligence Claim After Court Dismisses Medical Malpractice and ADA Claims, Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog, published September 25, 2012