A jury in Florida recently awarded $1.1 billion in damages to the family of a woman who was the victim of nursing home neglect. According to the lawsuit, the woman fell over 17 times while a resident of the facility. The injuries suffered in the falls eventually lead to the woman’s death.
The attorney for the family was quoted in The Ledger saying that he felt that the jury was signaling to nursing homes that nursing home neglect was no longer going to be tolerated. “Especially not in Polk County.”
John O’Connor, the editorial director for McKnights Long-Term Care and Assisted Living News, recently penned an editorial where he offered some advice to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
O’Connor acknowledged the “disgraceful practices” that take place in many of the country’s nursing homes and offered that nursing homes that allow these practices to continue can “expect to incur the wrath of outraged juries.” He also stated that “If I were running a facility right now, I’d be doing everything humanly possible to prevent resident falls.”
Any regular reader of this blog knows that nursing home falls are a frequent topic. Nursing home falls are exceptionally dangerous because, in addition to devastating injuries, they can also lead to bed sores, infections, and other potentially deadly conditions.
The question that remains is whether this is an isolated incident or a trend? The aging baby boomer population is still large, voting, and sitting on juries, and, for the first time, probably feeling that nursing home care is becoming a very real possibility. I’d guess this is a trend.
There’s evidence that nursing homes also see it as a trend. The number of nursing homes that are attempting to get residents to sign “no sue” waivers upon admission is growing. If you have a loved one in a nursing home, read the admission forms very carefully.
If you have a loved one who has been seriously injured in a nursing home fall at an Illinois nursing home, contact my law offices for a free and confidential evaluation of your case. At my law offices we have the experience to manage every aspect of your Chicago nursing home neglect lawsuit, and we would welcome the opportunity to speak to you.