Families across Miami and Florida take elder care very seriously. It can be a difficult choice to move a loved one into the care of someone else, and families want to feel as though they are choosing a safe and secure facility. Too many times, however, nursing homes are negligent in their duty to protect their residents.
Recently, the family of a woman who was a resident in an assisted-living facility filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility. The family claims that staff members were grossly negligent when they failed to protect the woman after she was assaulted by another resident.
According to reports, the victim’s niece filed the lawsuit after her aunt died from injuries sustained at the facility. The woman had complained to staff members that a male resident was harassing her and she was fearful of him. The woman was told, simply, to avoid the man, who reportedly suffered from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
However, on one October day in 2010, the man assaulted the woman, choked her and knocked her to the ground where she hit her head. Instead of properly assessing the damage and getting her proper medical treatment, staff members brought the woman to her room and left her there. It was much later when workers noticed that the left side of her body was unresponsive. She passed away after she was brought to the hospital.
The woman’s niece claims that employees neglected to give proper medical attention to her aunt and failed to protect her from dangerous residents. The wrongful death lawsuit is requesting damages associated with the victim’s pain, humiliation and mental anguish.
Source: Dailyrecord.com, “Whippany assisted living facility sued in 85-year-old resident’s death,” Peggy Wright, Sept. 20, 2012
