Elder Law

Nursing Home Negligence Causes Deadly Fall

By Levin & Perconti

The Los Angeles Times reported on a tragic act of inadequate nursing home care that has led to the death of a resident at the Pilgrim Haven Health Facility.

The doctor for the 85-year old victim was very clear when he explained to nursing home officials that the patient had a heart condition and diabetes which required his walker be nearby at all times. In addition the doctor explained that the resident would require supervision at all time while walking or attempting to walk. However, even those simple, direct commands were too much for the negligent nursing home staff to handle.

The resident first fell in early October attempting to get out of his bed. His walker was not within his reach. An employee found the man, claims he only suffered a small scratch and failed to check-up further. Two months later the elderly resident fell yet again. A quick neurological examination after the second fall did show any major problems, but that same night the man began looking pale, listless, and started vomiting.

However, because of short staffing levels, no registered nurse was on duty the night the patient began having these problems. Because of that, nursing home employees basically ignored the symptoms for several hours. Employees only acted the next morning, transferring the man to the hospital where he died very shortly after arriving. Doctors at the hospital immediately discovered that head trauma had caused bleeding in the man's brain, but by the time he arrived at the hospital it was too late to save him.

Following the incident state health officials have cited the nursing home for its abuse and negligence. They are required to pay a $100,000 fine and improve its fall monitoring. Regardless of their failure to having proper nursing staff on hand, and inability to effectively monitor the movement of a known-fall risk, the nursing home officials still claim that they acted properly. They are appealing the decision.

Nursing home negligence like the failure to prevent falls, occurs at facilities big and small in all parts of the country. Unfortunately, any time that a facility stands to lose money because of their bad acts, they resort to all he legal maneuvers in their arsenal to avoid paying. That is where our Chicago nursing home attorneys at Levin & Perconti come in. Our attorneys have decades of experience fighting for the friends and family of victims similar to the resident in this case. We are committed to standing up the large nursing home companies and asserting the legal rights of those injured by their mistakes and abuses. If you need help standing up to an abusive nursing home, please contact our offices and explain your story.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on August 07, 2010 (boomark / email).