Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Death of Nursing Home Resident

In Tennessee and all across the United States, people put their loved ones in nursing homes every day, expecting that they will be well cared for. However, many patients suffer from abuse, negligent, and in some cases patients even die as a result of medical malpractice and negligence. Tennessee Wrongful Death lawsuits can be filed for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: motorcycle or car accidents, defective products, an occupational hazard or medical malpractice or negligence. Medical malpractice is one of the most common causes for wrongful death in the United States. About 98, 000 Americans have died a wrongful death due to medical malpractice and 90, 000 of these cases filed for wrongful death claims.

According to this Nursing Home Neglect lawsuit, on December 13, 2011, a woman died after suffering a subdural and subarachnoid hematoma. Although devastated at her loss, it was a situation the family could understand. Sadly, this family was lied to, although the real facts were not revealed until they were watching the evening news. The newscaster announced that the coroner’s office ruled the cause of death a homicide because she was assaulted by an Alzheimer’s patient.
The family went to the nursing home seeking answers following the news report. They were avoided by staff members. The victim’s son doesn’t blame the other resident, but he was shocked by the lies and could not believe the lack of supervision provided by the nursing home staff. The altercation happened in the dining room, where no supervision was present.

According to the case, the family originally sought an apology and $30,000 to cover the woman’s hospital bills; however the nursing home refused to accept accountability. Now the facility is facing a wrongful death lawsuit. An inspection in January 2011 cited the nursing home for failure to provide adequate supervision to prevent a fall in the Alzheimer’s unit. In response the nursing home submitted a plan of correction and promised not to leave Alzheimer’s residents unsupervised in the dining room. The plan was never effectively implemented.

Cases similar to this one unfortunately occur too frequently due to under staffing and improper training at nursing homes and other care facilities. If the nursing home facility had responded the way they stated they would to the citation in January of 2011 and had proper trained and adequate staff, this wrongful death could have been prevented. Unfortunately, despite laws in place to prevent medical malpractice and negligence, wrongful death cases like this one continue to increase. The rate of medical malpractice cases shot up by sixty-eight percent in the United States. If you feel that you or a loved one has suffered from medical malpractice or negligence, then you may have a wrongful death claim. When you contact on of our Tennessee Nursing Home Malpractice Lawyers about your case, we will help you to figure out if you do in fact have a claim and how much compensation you may be eligible for to help with the bills you have occurred and for the pain and suffering you have endured.