Some nursing home or assisted-living residents in Chicago require more medical care than others. For example, some patients must follow strict diets or therapy and medication regimens in order to keep their health under control. In other cases, staff might only need to make sure that a resident is getting enough exercise and is eating properly.
However, all nursing home residents require supervision. A facility’s failure to supervise residentscould result in devastating consequences. Earlier this year, we mentioned that one Illinois resident had left his facility in the middle of winter without anyone noticing that he had walked out the door. The patient had died in the woods before he was found. Recently, a lawsuit was filed by a family member of a patient who discovered that his mother was left outside on a hot, summer day without any supervision. The man’s mother died of heatstroke.
Prior to his mother’s death, the man had raised concerns with the facility about leaving residents outside for too long without any supervision, the lawsuit states. The man had even arranged to discuss the issue with the facility in a formal meeting scheduled for August 24, 2011.
But when the man arrived for the meeting, he found his mother sitting outside on the patio again with no supervision. His mother did not have any shade to protect her from the sun. When the man approached his mother, he discovered that she was unresponsive. The woman was rushed to a hospital. Unfortunately, she died of heatstroke. At the time of her death, her body temperate had exceeded 103 degrees.
The man is now filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility. The lawsuit states that the woman’s death could have been prevented had the facility taken proper care of its patients. Families trust that nursing homes will protect their loved ones. When this trust is broken as a result of negligence, families deserve to make sure that all negligent parties are held liable for their wrongdoings.
Source: CBS Los Angeles, “Man Sues Assisted Living Center For Elder Abuse In 89-Year-Old Mother’s Death,” June 20, 2012
