Elder Law

Nursing Home Settles for $600,000 in Wrongful Death

By Levin & Perconti

The owner of a nursing home for developmentally disabled adults has agreed to a $600,000 out-of-court settlement with the family of a man who died after he was physically restrained by his caregivers. The 30-year-old man died in late October. An investigation determined that the man died from ?excited delirium? which is a condition traditionally associated with police death-in-custody cases, in which struggling suspects suddenly stop breathing after being forcibly restrained. Depositions would show that the employees violated both regulations and the care?s home policies. On the day of the incident, the employees went to the room after the young man became unruly. When an employee went in to check on him, he began calling his caregivers names. After asking the victim to ?self-restrain? two employees pinned him down. It was during the struggle that the victim stopped thrashing around and wasn?t breathing. Physical restraint can oftentimes become problematic for nursing homes. To read more about the wrongful death, please click here.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on March 28, 2009 (boomark / email).