How Can Families Seek Justice for Wrongful Death in Nursing Homes?

Are Families Able to Seek Justice for the Wrongful Death of a Loved One in a Nursing Home?

It’s always a difficult decision for family members to decide that an elderly loved one should move into a care facility or nursing home. When the decision is made, it’s done with the faith and belief in the facility and caretakers to give them the attention and treatment they need. That’s why it’s devastating to learn of an injury due to nursing home abuse or neglect. The only news worse than that is learning of a wrongful death at a nursing home, and the unfortunate reality is that it happens far too often.

Many loved ones in the aftermath of losing a loved one to a nursing home death want to know if they can seek justice for the wrongful death. The law does provide for immediate family members, such as spouses and children, to bring a lawsuit against the facility in those cases. If the deceased did not have a spouse or children, other relatives, like siblings or parents, can also bring a lawsuit. With more distant relatives, the details of the law vary, and it is best to speak with a knowledgeable attorney like the team at Cornell Injury Law to get the best information for your unique case.

How Do I Know if My Loved One’s Nursing Home Death Was a Wrongful Death?

A nursing home can be held liable for a wrongful death if it can be shown that the nursing home’s care and actions, or lack of care and inaction, were directly involved in what caused your loved one’s death. This kind of involvement can manifest in many different ways.

Sometimes, it can happen because of a preventable fall that severely injures or kills a resident. It can also be related to dietary and nutritional issues that cause malnutrition or dehydration. It can come from incorrect dosages of medication, improper treatment, or the ignoring of medical problems. It can also be from wellness neglect that leads to issues like bedsores, or more active and hostile issues like abuse from employees or fellow residents.

The challenge in any case of this type is not to show the damage caused but to provide proof that the facility was liable for the circumstance or decision that led to the damage. While it may seem straightforward to you that an error in medical decision-making, dereliction of care duties, or some other issue that the facility was responsible for led to your loved one’s death, the court requires a particular burden of proof. To discuss what is needed to make a solid case, you should speak with an experienced attorney team like the one at Cornell Injury Law.

What Types of Damages Can Be Included in a Nursing Home Wrongful Death?

When a case is brought against a nursing home or care facility, several different types of damages can be included in a lawsuit. They all cover various aspects of the loss and additional potential costs levied as a discouragement from making the same mistake with other patients.

Many loved ones think of funeral costs first, which can and should be included in a lawsuit. Another critical consideration to include in a lawsuit is loss of consortium, which is the non-monetary losses from being deprived of a loved one, such as companionship, intimacy, and other positive activities and interactions that are explicitly related to the lost loved one. 

Additional medical bills often result from nursing home issues; these should also be included in a lawsuit. Pain and suffering, like loss of consortium, can’t be measured in simple terms of financial loss, but the court allows for this to be considered in any nursing home wrongful death lawsuit. And finally, there is always the potential option to include punitive damages, particularly for egregious offenders, which are costs meant to punish the facilities for blatant or wanton breaking of laws or dereliction of care.

How Long Do We Have to File a Nursing Home Wrongful Death Case?

This is vital information, and many family members do not understand the importance of details in this case. When family members are considering filing a lawsuit against a nursing home, there is a window of time called the statute of limitations. Any lawsuit related to a nursing home wrongful death case must be filed within the statute of limitations. However, contrary to many people’s beliefs, the beginning of the statute of limitations isn’t the death of your loved one, but rather the date of the injury that caused the loved one’s death.

That is an important distinction because it can change your filing deadline by quite a bit of time. For example, if your loved one contracted a severe infection due to bedsores, but they lived for several months before [assing away due to complications from that infection, the statute of limitations would begin at the time of the bedsores and infection, rather than the time of death. That makes for a time difference of several months between the two incidents, and that could mean your case needs to be filed even sooner than you think. That’s why it’s best to start prepping as soon as possible.

Do I Need an Attorney for My Nursing Home Wrongful Death Case?

You are not required by law in the state of Iowa or the United States to have an attorney to bring a lawsuit against a nursing home for a wrongful death. However, knowing what you could be losing if you try to handle the case independently is essential.

Medical insurance companies make the most profit when paying the least possible amount to their policyholders. The problem with that arrangement is that it incentivizes them to provide you as little as possible to compensate you for your devastating loss. These companies have been doing the same process for years, delaying, denying, and distracting the rightful recipients of that compensation to keep your money for themselves. The bad news is, most non-attorneys don’t know all the tricks they use when doing it. The good news is that experienced and competent attorney teams like the one at Cornell Injury Law have seen it and fought it all for years, and they’re ready to do the same for you.

Don’t risk the justice you deserve for the loss of your loved one to the sneaky tactics of insurance companies. Call us today at 319-946-4019 so we can start helping you get your case together and seek fair compensation for your tragic loss.