It’s hard to leave a beloved elderly family member in the care of others, but we anticipate that the nursing home we choose will uphold its legal obligation to provide a safe living space with skilled, thorough care and respect for our loved one’s human dignity. Unfortunately, nursing home negligence and abuse are more common than we’d like to think.
One of the worst possible outcomes of nursing home abuse is a loved one’s injury or a worsened medical condition that causes their wrongful death. If this grievous outcome happened to your loved one, call or contact Knapp & Roberts online to learn how an experienced Scottsdale nursing home wrongful death attorney can achieve justice for your lost loved one and your grieving family.
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Scottsdale Nursing Home Wrongful Death Attorney
Why Selecting Knapp & Roberts Might Be Right for You
For over 30 years, Knapp & Roberts has been dedicated to advocating for injury victims. With Knapp & Roberts on your side, you can be assured of the following:
- You’ll have a personalized strategy based on the unique circumstances of your loved one’s case
- We prioritize your family’s right to full compensation for your losses, including for the emotional anguish caused by the preventable death and your loved one’s pain and suffering
- A dedication to compassion for every client, with assertive legal representation that prioritizes your family’s best interests
We don’t charge upfront fees to injury victims. Instead, after a free consultation, we go to work for you at no cost until after we’ve first recovered compensation for you through a settlement or court award for your damages.
What Types of Nursing Home Abuse In Scottsdale Cause Wrongful Death?
When an elderly loved one needs care that exceeds the family’s ability to provide, families carefully research and choose the best possible nursing home within their budget, trusting that the facility will live up to the promises on their glossy brochures. Unfortunately, a review of over 52 studies reveals that an alarming 64.2% of nursing home staff reported committing a form of abuse in the past year.
The following types of abuse in nursing homes can lead to wrongful death:
- Neglect, including failing to provide a safe living environment, basic nutrition, hydration, medications, supervision, and hygiene
- Physical abuse, including improperly using restraints, hitting, shoving, kicking, and other physical assaults
- Emotional abuse, including yelling, berating, belittling, name-calling, and intentional isolation
- Sexual abuse, such as sexual assault or any unwanted penetration by a staff member or another resident
Physical and emotional abuse or neglect in a Scottsdale nursing home can lead to serious injuries, depression, shortened life expectancy, and wrongful death. A Phoenix nursing home abuse lawyer can thoroughly investigate these violations, secure staffing logs, and gather the necessary evidence to prove the facility breached its standard of care.
Why Does Nursing Home Wrongful Death Occur?
Nursing homes have high staff turnover rates and chronic understaffing problems due to crowded conditions, heavy workloads, and low pay rates. Often, this leads to overwhelmed, inexperienced caregivers and unrealistic resident-to-staff ratios. The most common causes of nursing home wrongful deaths in Scottsdale and throughout Arizona include the following:
- Preventable infections and sepsis, including from respiratory illnesses, infected bedsores, and urinary tract infections
- Dehydration and malnutrition
- Medication mistakes
- Falls due to inadequate supervision and broken or insufficient mobility equipment or handrails
- Choking and aspiration due to failure to follow dietary restrictions
- Resident “elopement” or wandering outside of the facility and suffering an accident or death from exposure due to lack of adequate resident monitoring, failure to lock doors, or broken gates
When a nursing home fails to uphold its legal duty of care under state law (Arizona 46-455), it leaves the facility liable for damages, including in Scottsdale nursing home wrongful death cases.
Signs of Nursing Home Abuse That Could Lead to Wrongful Death
When you have a loved one in a nursing home, it’s crucial to remain alert and aware of signs of harmful neglect and abuse, including the following:
- Sudden changes in appearance, mood, or behavior
- Unexplained bruises, lacerations, and abrasions
- Weight loss and dry skin, lips, and hair
- Poor hygiene and unkempt appearance
- Bedsores
- Torn, dirty, or bloodied bed linens
- Uneaten meals and untouched drinks
- Reluctance to speak in front of caregivers or staff
- Broken personal items, like glasses, dentures, and hearing aids
- Missing medication doses or overmedication
- Repeated infections
- Social withdrawal
What to Do After a Loved One’s Wrongful Death In a Nursing Home?
If your elderly loved one died in a nursing home and you suspect wrongful death, it’s crucial to take action as soon as possible after the death by doing the following:
- Photograph any apparent physical injuries, bedsores, and unkempt room appearance
- Request an independent autopsy and a copy of the report
- Ask the nursing home administration for your loved one’s records and daily care logs
- Gather the contact information of any eyewitnesses
- Don’t sign nursing home exit papers or forms without an attorney present to ensure that you aren’t signing a waiver giving up your right to a lawsuit
It’s always best to hire a nursing home wrongful death lawyer before accepting an early settlement offer. Early offers are often low-ball amounts that require waiving the right to a lawsuit.
Who Can File for Wrongful Death In Arizona?
Under Arizona 12-612, the law states the following:
“An action for wrongful death shall be brought by and in the name of the surviving husband or wife, child, parent or guardian, or personal representative of the deceased person.”
Siblings and more distant relatives cannot file a wrongful death claim in Arizona. Instead, the state limits claims to those who suffer the financial consequences of the death, preventing exploitation.
What Can I Recover In a Scottsdale Nursing Home Wrongful Death Case?
After a loved one’s preventable death in a nursing home, you can leave the legalities of your claim in the hands of your lawyer so you can focus on your grief and your family. Common damages recovered include the following:
- Reimbursement for any medical expenses incurred before the death
- Funeral and burial costs
- Lost wages for a family’s time away from work
- Compensation for the elderly decedent’s pain and suffering
- Compensation for the family’s emotional grief and anguish
In a minority of cases, punitive damages are available if the nursing home’s actions were egregiously wrongful, malicious, or showed wanton disregard for the safety of residents, resulting in the wrongful death.
Contact Knapp & Roberts to Speak With a Scottsdale Wrongful Death Lawyer
Nothing can erase what happened or bring your lost family member back. Still, you can give them a voice for justice through a Scottsdale, Arizona wrongful death claim against the negligent nursing home. Call Knapp & Roberts to learn how an experienced attorney can represent your family’s best interests throughout every step of the process.