Elder Law

Nursing Homes Negligence Leads to Deadly Resident Fall

By Levin & Perconti

The Madison-St. Clair Record recently reported on negligent conduct at an Illinois nursing home. James Mang filed a lawsuit last month against the Stearns Nursing and Rehabilitation Center following the tragic death of his father, Bernard.

Bernard first became a resident at the facility in late May last year. However, the nursing home staff was unable to provide proper care to the vulnerable elderly resident almost immediately. Within hours of arriving at the facility, Bernard was allowed to fall on several occasions. The suit estimates that within 24 hours of walking through the doors of the nursing home, the vulnerable resident literally fell three to four times. The staff members simply failed to adequately supervise Bernard or take any steps to eliminate the risk of falling.

As should be expected with elderly residents whose bodies are often weak and in need of special care, the falls caused severe damage for Bernard. Ultimately, the nursing home resident broke his neck. He experienced extreme pain and relentless suffering following the accident. Only three days later, Bernard passed away.

It shocks the senses when the inadequate care at a nursing home is so vividly on display. Bernard Mang suffered the consequences of improper care nursing home care within hours of arriving at the facility. Our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti sympathize with the suffering of Bernard?s friends and family following these tragic events. Unfortunately, these cases occur across the state with alarming regularity. Every day residents suffer injuries that shorten their lives because the care provided to them falls below that which any reasonable resident should expect.

Allowing resident falls, for example, is one of the most common ways that nursing home employees fail to provide the service that the law requires. It is common knowledge that nursing home resident must be carefully monitored at all times to protect against these preventable accidents. With fragile health, even a single fall can have deadly consequences. As soon as a resident enters one of these facilities, steps must be taken to ensure that these nursing home falls do not occur. Even one day of bad care can cause death, as the Mang family unfortunately discovered.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on September 17, 2010 (boomark / email).