Personal Injuries and Wrongful Death in San Diego Nursing Homes
With the elderly population rapidly expanding, more people will be turning to nursing and retirement homes for their later years. As we age, small injuries and accidents take on greater significance. In fact, the CDC reports that death from a fall is the leading cause of accidental death among those older than sixty-five. If an individual is being cared for in a nursing or retirement home, his or her family depends on the staff to provide a quality level of care and for the facility to be maintained in a safe and healthy manner.
As a San Diego, California, based personal injury lawyer, I have seen loving families suffer from the loss that accompanies the wrongful death of an elderly family member when the death was a result of negligent care or elder abuse. The surviving family members want more than monetary compensation. They want to believe that the abuse will never happen to anyone else. At minimum, personal injury litigation puts a nursing home on notice that it must improve the situation and the standard of care and it forces their directors to re-examine their practices and procedures.
A Representative Case: A woman with Parkinson's disease died as a result of choking or aspirating food. The decedent's family, the plaintiffs, alleged the nursing home failed to properly supervise and assist the resident while she was eating and failed to respond promptly when she began choking. Plaintiff's family received a $975,000 settlement.
Elder Abuse and Nursing Home Negligence
Incidences of nursing home negligence and elder abuse generally fall into four main areas:
- Management — negligent staff supervision, insufficient staffing level, insufficient training of staff
- Personnel — negligent care or neglect by staff, criminal or abusive activities by staff, errors in medication dispensing, staff competency issues
- Premises — improper maintenance of the facility including floors, food, building temperature and bedding
- Equipment — improper selection or maintenance of equipment
Free Initial Consultation — Call 858-345-2450
I offer an initial consultation at no charge, and do not charge attorney fees unless compensation is recovered. If your loved one has been neglected, abused, or has died as a result of elder abuse or nursing home neglect or mistreatment, I urge you to contact me.
