Nursing Home Fined For Patient's Head Injury and Death

Frequently falls in nursing homes lead to brain injury and even death.  The nursing home and its staff are responsible for these injuries and legal action can be instituted by the patient and their family.  In New York State, special rights and legal protection are afforded to nursing home residents.

Here is an example of poor care in a nursing home that led to a tragic death as reported in the Los Angeles Times.  A Northern California nursing home was fined $100,000 after a State investigation found that nursing home staff failed to prevent a patient from falling twice and suffering a fatal head injury for which he was not treated.
 
State investigators found that an  85-year-old patient, who had a heart condition and diabetes, was supposed use a walker and be supervised when walking, but found that nursing home staff failed to install an electronic fall monitor as ordered by the patient’s doctor and also failed to ensure that the patient’s walker was within reach.

The man denied that he had hit his head and he was given a neurological evaluation that appeared normal, according to staff members’ notes. However, when he turned pale and listless and started vomiting later that night, staff members did not assess him for possible head injuries or notify his doctor for about two hours, in part because there was no registered nurse on duty that night, according to the patient’s medical records.

After staff members notified the patient’s nephew and doctor, they had the man transferred to a hospital, where he died the next morning. Doctors used a CT scan to determine the cause of death was bleeding in the brain and a fall with head trauma, according to medical records cited in the investigator’s report.

At the brain injury law firmof DeCaro & Kaplen, we handle nursing home malpractice cases and can assist your family and yourself.