Nursing Home Deaths

When a loved one is committed to the care of a nursing home, we expect that they will be cared for properly and treated with dignity. Sadly, there are times when the nursing homes to which we've entrusted our loved ones betray that trust, providing substandard care and placing our loved ones' lives at risk.

An alarming article at PennLive.com  suggests nursing homes in Pennsylvania have failed to provide basic care more often than we would like to believe. The article points to 46 disturbing nursing home deaths in Pennsylvania between 2013 and 2015, all of which could have been prevented if proper, basic care was afforded to the victims.

Failure to Follow Doctor's Orders

Many of the deaths were completely unnecessary, caused by the nursing home's' failure to follow simple orders from the victims' doctors. For example, one resident in Adams County was killed by a bowel-obstruction after nursing home staff failed to give him enough to drink for 40 days, despite his doctor's instructions that he be given plenty of fluids.

Another victim in a Philadelphia nursing home with severe cognitive issues choked to death on a mustard packet after being left unsupervised during dinner. The nursing home failed to follow a doctor's simple order that the resident be supervised during meals.

Failure to Provide Basic Care

Several other deaths were caused when nursing home staff inexplicably "dropped the ball,” failing to provide basic care and to follow routine procedures. One resident who fell several times suffered serious injuries, confusion and pain and later died from those injuries. There was no record that the nursing home even called a doctor to report the falls.

In a second resident's case, a nursing home failed to follow medication changes made after a hospital visit, using drugs which should not have been used, eventually causing the resident's death.

A third resident even died from dehydration after a nursing home provided the resident with only one-third of the fluids needed to survive, even failing to give the resident any fluids for three days straight.

It’s unthinkable to know that our loved ones risk being mistreated at places that pride themselves on the care of the elders. No one needs to experience a loved one’s death at the hands of someone else who’s primary purpose is to care.

Contact a Wrongful Death Attorney

While it is extremely unfortunate that these instances do occur, a wrongful death attorney can help. The cases above are only a few of the dozens of egregious and wrongful deaths caused by nursing homes in the past few years. Your loved ones deserve basic care and the law demands that they receive the same.

If one of your loved ones has been injured or has died in a nursing home and you suspect they did not receive proper care, contact the Law Offices Alvin F. de Levie & Associates at (215)-351-1100 for a consultation.

We maintain offices throughout the Pennsylvania, with locations in Philadelphia, State College, Clearfield, Bellefonte and Lock Haven, and we are willing to meet any clients throughout the Commonwealth.