Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog
A Long Island nursing home is under investigation after a 71-year-old resident recently passed away while under the home’s care. According to a report by one local news source, this isn’t the first time the home has been in the news. Back in June of this year, several employees from this same nursing home were charged with criminal offenses related to the death of another resident.
Evidently, both the most recent death as well as the prior death occurred in the home’s 40-bed ventilation unit. Loved ones of the recently deceased asked employees to speak to someone about the previous death that occurred in the home, but they were told “absolutely not.”
As it turns out, earlier this year, several employees of the nursing home were charged with several offenses, including patient neglect and falsifying business records to cover up information about the woman’s death that occurred back in 2012. All involved pleaded not guilty to the offenses. These cases have not yet concluded.
In the most recent death, nursing home employees explain that one of their regularly serviced machines suddenly stopped working. Despite the employees’ attempts to get to the woman as quickly as possible, she died a few minutes later. The woman’s family, however, counters that the death certificate offers a different explanation of what occurred in the woman’s final moments.
Nursing Home Negligence Too Often Results in Death
This tragic story out of New York is not uncommon across the country, including in Maryland. All too often, nursing home employees get “burnt out” of their job and begin to cut corners. It starts with them losing sympathy for their patients and then can morph into something worse, including intentional neglect and even abuse.
When a nursing home takes in a resident, it assumes a duty to care for that person. Of course, there is no way that a nursing home can prevent every death that may occur in its facility. However, a large number of preventable deaths do occur in nursing homes each year.
When a preventable death does occur, it is often due to a nursing home employee’s negligence or some intentional action. When this is the case, the family of the victim is permitted to bring a wrongful death action against the nursing home and the employee whom they believe to be at fault.
Have You Lost a Loved One Too Soon in a Maryland Nursing Home?
If you have lost a loved one in a Maryland nursing home, and you believe that it was due to the intentional or negligent actions of the nursing home management or one of the home’s employees, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. To learn more about the wrongful death laws in Maryland, and to speak to a dedicated Maryland personal injury attorney about your potential case, click here, or call 410-654-3600 today to schedule a free initial consultation.
See More Blog Posts:
North Carolina Cites Nursing Home for Inadequate Care and Abuse, Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog, published July 14, 2014.
Staffing Shortage May Have Been Responsible for Boy’s Death at Maryland Group Home, Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog, published July 28, 2014.