Medical Malpractice Can Happen in Nursing Homes Indicates Cleveland Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Jan 13, 2012
Cleveland, OH (Law Firm Newswire) January 12, 2012 – It does not matter where this case happened. The fact is that medical malpractice can and does happen to seniors in nursing homes.
“When nursing homes do not provide the right care to their residents or negligently provide the care they claim they offer, they too may be sued for medical malpractice, and not just the facility itself,” said Christopher Mellino. Mellino is a Cleveland medical malpractice lawyer and wrongful death lawyer at The Mellino Law Firm LLC, in Ohio, “The employees, other caregivers on the premises, and the owners can all be liable.”
Consider the case involving an 80-year-old woman who fell out of her bed at her nursing facility. The staff responded to her cries and discovered she had sustained head trauma and was in excruciating pain. For some unknown reason, the staff put her back in bed without calling a doctor and later in the day found her unresponsive. She died in the hospital. The medical malpractice lawsuit filed stated the nursing home was negligent in caring for the woman and that the negligence was the direct cause of her death.
“Evidence at trial indicated that the staff knew the woman was at a high-risk for falling, and it was for that reason that her doctor ordered her bed to be as low as it could go. The home was also supposed to have rubber mats around the bed to help protect her should she fall and bed alarms to alert staff if she tried to get out of bed. None of these preventive measures were being followed when the woman fell,” added Mellino.
When the family of the deceased asked for a copy of her medical records, the nursing home failed to provide them. Their excuse was their lawyer was reviewing them, but they declined to give anyone the lawyer’s name, never mind contact information. The whole debacle eventually resulted in the plaintiff’s lawyer asking for a restraining order to prevent the home from destroying or changing the deceased’s records.
The family got the restraining order that barred the home from tampering with the records but it went one step further as well. They ordered the home to produce all pertinent records relating to the deceased. A trial would be the next step. “Medical malpractice? If the allegations about the woman’s care are true and found to be so, the nursing home may be paying damages for the woman’s death as a result of medical negligence,” Mellino indicated.
It seems to be quite evident on the face of things that the staff was negligent in not providing care the deceased needed; care that the doctor ordered but was not carried out. When nursing homes do not follow medical instructions and someone is severely injured or dies, they need to be held responsible.
“Do you have a senior in nursing home care? Are you worried about how they are treated? Do you have evidence of what may be medical malpractice? Call my office. It’s my job to help you in situations like this and outline your legal rights, what to expect on settlement or jury trial and what you may hope to obtain in terms of compensation,” added Mellino.
To learn more or to contact a Cleveland Medical Malpractice attorney or Cleveland malpractice attorney, visit http://www.christophermellino.com.
Mellino Law Firm LLC
200 Public Sq., Suite 2900
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Call: (216) 241-1901
