Wrongful Death in Nursing Homes

Posted On August 17, 2018 Uncategorized

When placing our elderly loved ones in a nursing home, we are entrusting their safety and well-being into the hands of the nursing home staff. While many nursing home caregivers are genuinely caring and compassionate, many more are stressed, overworked, or simply don’t care. When nursing home staff fail to do their jobs properly, your loved one suffers.

Wrongful death in a nursing home can occur due to abuse or, more commonly, neglect. Failing to turn a bedridden patient regularly, failing to treat medical conditions or infections in a timely manner, and medication mistakes can all lead to the untimely death of a nursing home patient.

If you have lost your loved one due to nursing home negligence or abuse, call elder abuse lawyer Travis Siegel at 562-372-6904 for your complimentary consultation. Mr. Siegel has dedicated his career to helping elderly victims and their loved ones get the compensation they deserve.

Common Causes of Wrongful Death in Nursing Homes

Nursing home neglect is often a major factor in wrongful death cases. Neglect can lead to a number of issues and complications that can easily lead to death, such as:

• Untreated infections: Infections can quickly become deadly if left untreated. Bed sores are a common problem that can lead to infection, but bed sores shouldn’t happen in the first place if the bedridden senior citizen is turned regularly.

• Unsanitary conditions: A major sign of neglect at a nursing home is unsanitary conditions. Unwashed bed sheets, unchanged underwear, mold, and a generally dirty environment can contribute to your loved one becoming fatally ill.
• Dehydration or malnutrition: When a nursing home is understaffed or your loved one’s caregiver is simply negligent, your parent or grandparent may not receive the water and food they need for survival.
• Wandering: Elderly men and women with dementia and other conditions are at a high risk for wandering off into dangerous situations unsupervised. It is the nursing home’s duty to make sure all residents are monitored and supervised to prevent wandering.
• Over-medication: Elderly nursing home residents are often over-medicated in order to keep them docile and easy to handle. This can easily lead to health complications.
• Medication mistakes: In addition to over-medication, mistakes in medication type and dosage are easy to make when staff don’t pay enough attention. Elderly residents often take many different types of medication that require strict schedules and dosages, and a mistake could cost them their life.

What Can You Do About Wrongful Death?

If you think that your loved one died in a nursing home as a result of staff negligence or abuse, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Travis Siegel. He will treat you with respect and compassion, and do everything he can to help you win your case against the negligent nursing home.

While a lawsuit against a nursing home won’t bring your loved one back, it will send a message that nursing home negligence won’t be tolerated. It will hopefully help other residents escape the fate of your loved one. In addition, a lawsuit can help you obtain compensation for expenses such as funeral and burial costs, medical bills, loss of companionship, and pain and suffering of your loved one.

Schedule Your Wrongful Death Consultation

Call elder abuse lawyer Travis Siegel today at 562-372-6904 to schedule your complimentary consultation. We serve clients in Long Beach, Tustin, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Santa Ana, and other nearby areas of southern California.