Elderly Farmington, Texas, Nursing Home Resident Dies as a Result of Alleged Neglect
Nov 20, 2015
Austin Personal Injury Lawyers – Perlmutter & Schuelke, PLLC
Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) November 20, 2015 – Jeanette Consteanna died under questionable circumstances at a nursing home. Her daughter filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
According to the statement of claim, Consteanna became a resident of the Bloomfield Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center nursing home in 2006 and lived there until 2014. Her pre-existing medical conditions on admission included dementia, general muscle weakness, diabetes and hypothyroidism.
The parent company of Bloomfield Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center, Preferred Care Partners Management, is located in Plano, Texas, and was served with notice of the Consteanna lawsuit alleging inadequate treatment resulting in weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration, bed sores, various infections and an unexplained arm fracture. Cathedral Rock of Fort Worth, Texas, formerly owned the Bloomfield Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center. It was also a named defendant in this lawsuit. Apparently it was not the first lawsuit of its kind filed against the nursing home operator. The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office filed a suit against them alleging understaffing in their facilities that led to inadequate care for residents.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Cathedral Rock had been found guilty in 2010 of felony health care fraud for failing to provide proper care for residents in multiple Missouri nursing homes. Its founder, Kent Harrington, was required to pay $1 million in penalties and fines. With an established track record of understaffing and providing less than optimal care, this lawsuit may be successful when it gets to court or goes to settlement. Elder neglect, also referred to as nursing home negligence, typically arises when a resident does not receive proper emotional, medical or physical care. The resulting neglect may pose serious risks to vulnerable seniors and may also escalate to physical abuse, serious injuries and possibly death.
Elder neglect is defined as intentional actions causing harm or creating a serious risk of harm to a senior in care by a caregiver or another person standing in a trust relationship to the elder. This includes failure to satisfy the elder’s basic needs or to protect the elder from harm. “If such neglect results in death, the surviving family has the option to file a wrongful death lawsuit to send the care facility, its owners and other families in a similar situation, a strong message that elder neglect is not to be overlooked or tolerated,” said Austin wrongful death attorney Brooks Schuelke.
Wrongful death lawsuits differ from criminal cases. In a wrongful death claim, a lawsuit is filed directly and liability is expressed in terms of financial compensation. In a criminal matter, a prosecuting attorney pursues charges and a determination of guilt usually results in penalties, fines, prison or probation. A wrongful death claim may be filed in Texas even if criminal charges are also filed relating to a death.
To report abuse in an elder care facility, follow the instructions on this page.
Learn more at http://www.civtrial.com
Perlmutter & Schuelke, PLLC
206 East 9th Street, Ste. 1511
Austin, TX 78701
Call (512) 476-4944
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