Poor care in nursing homes is responsible for many injuries and premature deaths. Unfortunately, many of these injuries and deaths are never reported because physicians naturally believe the age of the patient or ongoing medical conditions contributed to their death. In addition, facilities may attempt to purposely cover up anything that could be determined negligence. There are several reasons why wrongful death may not be discovered when someone dies in a nursing home.
One of the main reasons that an elderly patient’s wrongful death may not be reported is that nursing homes are concerned about civil lawsuits that could result should the patient’s family discover that something that occurred in the home led to the person’s death. Malnourishment, dehydration and infection are common in the elderly, but these can also be signs of neglect or care that is improper. However, many nursing homes do not investigate such incidents and often work to cover up these issues to avoid a lawsuit by the patient’s family.
Because most elderly patients, especially those who have been placed in assisted living, suffer from a wide range of physical and emotional problems, doctors often attribute a death to one of those conditions rather than investigating whether the patient received proper care in the nursing home. Although doctors genuinely care about their patients, they are human, too, and could hastily declare a cause of death without taking the time to determine what the actual cause may have been, whether out of laziness, carelessness or simply being too busy to take the time to investigate. A physician who determines a cause of death too quickly should be held accountable since they are the patient’s first defense against neglect or mistreatment.
There are ways to determine if you may have a wrongful death case in the death of a loved one who was in a nursing home. Some of these include:
If you have a loved one who has died while in a nursing home and you suspect their death was preventable, contact Lundy Law at 1-800-LundLaw to learn whether you may be eligible for a wrongful death claim. Because wrongful death in a nursing home often goes unnoticed, you need a law firm who will ask the right questions and get answers as quickly as possible. At Lundy Law, we understand how difficult it is to lose a loved one and we are here to help you get justice for them should their death have been due to negligence or other wrongdoing on the part of a doctor or nursing home.