WHEN RESIDENTS ATTACK RESIDENTS – Another Kind of Nursing Home Neglect
Over the past year, I have represented 2 different families whose loved ones were residents in nursing home/long term care facilities, and were attacked by another facility resident, seriously injured and lost their lives.
The first family’s Aunt was attacked and thrown to the floor by a male resident who investigation showed had previously committed attacks against other residents and the facility’s staff. The attack on our client caused her brain injury and her death. The second case involved a family whose mother had expressed fear to the nursing staff about a man who roamed the facility and kept coming into her room. One day she returned to her room, found the man in her bathroom, and ordered him out. He pushed the woman to the ground and she suffered a broken hip. She died less than 2 weeks later from complications of the hip replacement surgery caused by the attack.
Nursing homes, Assisted Living Facilities and Memory Care Units must protect their residents and patients from the dangers of resident on resident attacks. Such attacks are not so unpredictable that they cannot be anticipated. Regulations and good nursing practice demand that these facilities provide a safe and secure environment for its residents. ITS NOT ONLY GOOD PRACTICE. IT’S THE LAW.
In order to ensure that your loved one is safe, the nursing home administration should consistently evaluate nursing home residents to determine whether or not they are a risk for attacking other residents. We recommend you ask the nursing home administration what their protocol is to protect your loved ones when a violent resident commits a dangerous act.
I am proud to say that we took successful legal action against these facilities for both of our clients and their families. None of this should have happened.
If you need information about how to protect your loved ones, or suspect he or she is or has been a victim of resident-on-resident violence or other nursing home/assisted living neglect/abuse, please reach out to us at Sugarman Law. Our Nursing Home and Elder Abuse Litigation Team is here to help you and your loved one seek maximum compensation for your losses – catastrophic injuries, medical expenses and wrongful death.
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To read more about resident-on-resident attacks, click here.
