How Nursing Homes Can Be Held Liable for Wrongful Death

Choosing to place an elderly loved one in an extended care facility is a difficult decision built entirely on trust. We expect these facilities to uphold strict legal and medical standards to keep residents safe and comfortable. Unfortunately, chronic corporate understaffing and systemic neglect in Arizona nursing homes frequently lead to catastrophic, preventable harm.

If your loved one died due to facility negligence, understanding how liability works is the first step toward achieving justice. A Phoenix nursing home wrongful death attorney can help your family hold the responsible facility fully accountable. Understanding liability in Arizona nursing home wrongful death claims is a crucial starting point in giving your loved one a voice for justice.

First, What are the Most Common Causes of Wrongful Death in Arizona Nursing Homes?

Nursing homes often face chronic understaffing, leading to high staff turnover rates and overwhelmed, inexperienced, or underqualified caregivers. Most nursing home wrongful death cases result from one of the following five types of recognized nursing home abuse:

Nursing Home Neglect

Neglect is alarmingly common in nursing homes and includes failing to provide adequate hydration and nutrition, failing to administer prescribed medications, failure to treat infections, improper hygiene, broken or missing mobility equipment, and inadequate supervision.

Failing to obtain medical care for a resident who has suffered a medical emergency is also a common cause of nursing home wrongful death due to neglect.

Physical Abuse in Arizona Nursing Homes

Physical abuse occurs when a staff member or another resident physically assaults an elderly resident, including hitting, shoving, kicking, pinching, or illegally using physical restraints.

Emotional Abuse Leading to Decline

Emotional abuse occurs when a caregiver yells, name-calls, belittles, berates, threatens, or intimidates an elderly resident, or when they intentionally isolate a resident from social activities. This leads to cognitive and physical decline that can lead to shortened life expectancy, worsened medical condition, and wrongful death.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse in nursing homes refers to any unwanted sexual touching or penetration. Sexual abuse can lead to infections, emotional withdrawal, physical decline, self-harm, and wrongful death.

Financial Abuse

While financial abuse, such as making unauthorized transactions in a nursing home resident’s accounts, doesn’t directly cause death, it can lead to a general decline and may be a significant sign of other abuses occurring within the nursing home.

Who Is Liable In a Nursing Home Wrongful Death Claim?

It often takes an experienced Arizona nursing home abuse and wrongful death attorney to investigate all aspects of a nursing home resident’s death to determine the cause of the death, the negligence or abuse that occurred, and the responsible party. In most nursing home wrongful death claims, one of the following parties is legally liable:

• An individual caregiver
• The nursing home administrator
• The company or corporation that owns the facility

Less commonly, the liable party may be the manufacturer of a defective product or equipment, such as a faulty wheelchair or a walker with a dangerous design flaw. In these cases, the claim becomes a product liability case. However, the nursing home administrator may share liability under Arizona’s system of pure comparative negligence described in Arizona Revised Statutes § 12-2505, if they were aware of the faulty equipment and failed to take corrective action, leading to the resident’s wrongful death.

Proving Liability for Wrongful Death In an Arizona Nursing Home

Nursing homes have a legal obligation to provide skilled care, access to medical treatment, adequate nutrition and hydration, appropriate medications, proper hygiene, social stimulation, and respect for human dignity and individuality. Unfortunately, about one in five nursing home residents reported abuse in a recent survey, and studies estimate that only about one in 24 cases of nursing home abuse are reported to authorities.

Proving liability in a nursing home wrongful death claim requires evidence that meets the following legal standards of liability:

• The at-fault party owed a legal duty of care to the resident
• They breached this duty of care through negligence (which may include careless, reckless, or intentionally wrongful actions)
• The breach of duty directly caused the death
• The family members suffered damages from the death

Damages in Arizona nursing home wrongful death claims include compensation for economic losses, like funeral and burial costs, and non-economic damages like compensation for the family’s emotional anguish.

Signs of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect That May Cause Wrongful Death

If you have a beloved elderly family member in a nursing home, it’s crucial to be aware of common signs of abuse and neglect that may lead to wrongful death. These often include the following:

• Unexplained injuries, including bruises, lacerations, head injuries, and fractures
• Untreated or infected bedsores
• Frequent infections
• Broken personal items, including glasses, dentures, and hearing aids
• Torn or bloodied clothing and bedding
• Sudden weight loss
• Dry, chapped lips and skin
• Missed medication doses or overmedication
• Signs of physical restraint use
• Poor hygiene and unkempt appearance
• Broken equipment
• Uneaten meals and untouched drinks
• Changes in behavior, including withdrawal, anxiety, and depression
• Reluctance to speak in front of caregivers

A nursing home resident experiencing abuse or neglect may be physically or cognitively unable to report their abuse. In some cases, they don’t report abuse or unsafe conditions because they are ashamed or don’t wish to burden loved ones.

How Does an Arizona Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Help Prove Liability In a Wrongful Death Case?

Nursing homes and their powerful insurance companies commonly dispute liability in nursing home abuse and wrongful death claims. For this reason, an experienced attorney does the following:

• Investigates all aspects of the death to identify the negligence that occurred
• Pinpoints the liable party or multiple parties
• Documents compelling evidence of liability
• Carefully calculates the family’s damages
• Sends their findings to the appropriate insurance company in an evidence-backed demand package
• Negotiates with the insurance company for a settlement, or
• Takes the case to court seeking the maximum compensation available to the claimant

In Arizona, only a spouse, parent, or child may file a wrongful death claim. If the decedent has no spouse or child, the representative of their estate may file a claim. Then, any compensation awarded is distributed according to the decedent’s will or estate plan, or according to Arizona’s intestacy laws for those without a will.