Wrongful Death Caused by Nursing Home Neglect

Ohio Wrongful Death Lawyers | Nursing Home Neglect

When a loved one requires nursing home or assisted living care, it is difficult for everyone involved. This difficult situation can become tragic when a loved one suffers wrongful death due to nursing home neglect or abuse. It is always hard to cope with the death of a loved one, but knowing that the death was preventable compounds the grief.

According to a special report by the St. Louis Post Dispatch, “thousands” of elderly nursing home residents are victims of “fatal neglect” every year. In a study published in September 2002 in the Journal of Health Care Law and Policy, Marie-Therese Connolly, head of the U.S. Department of Justice Nursing Home Initiative, stated “Unlawful abuse and neglect is widespread, underreported, infrequently prosecuted and the cause of untold suffering, injury, illness and death.”

In 1999, the National Center of Health Statistic’s data showed starvation, dehydration or bedsores as the cause of death on 4,138 death certificates for nursing home residents. The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging conducted an investigation that indicated that there are 500,000 to 5 million cases of elder abuse and neglect every year, most of which are unreported. “The number of avoidable deaths of our elderly could be in the tens of thousands” stated Sen. John Breaux.

Many of the deaths in nursing home facilities result from inadequate staffing. In a 2002 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it was reported that 90 percent of nursing homes are unable to provide proper care because of understaffing. Another shocking statistic is that 92 percent of all nursing homes have aides or other staff with a criminal record. Background checks for nursing home employees are not required.