Nursing Home Neglect

Our client was an elderly woman with dementia and multiple falls who resided in a memory care unit of an ALF. Over the course of a six (6) month period, the client fell 15 times and required hospitalization on eight (8) occasions for injuries including head trauma, neck pain, facial laceration, fractured nasal bones, chest wall bruising, closed head injury, subdural hematoma, and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Her fall risk continued to increase, and the ALF failed to assess her to determine whether she remained appropriate for continued ALF residence or whether she needed a higher level of care to protect her from falls. On her last day at the ALF, the client fell twice and sustained a massive subdural hematoma which caused her death several days later. After a short period of litigation, the ALF settled with the client’s family for her wrongful death.