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Notable Case Results of our California Nursing Home Injury Lawyers

Residential Care Facility Wrongful Death Case – A 74-year-old woman residing in an Oxnard, California Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) died after choking on her own vomit. During the early morning hours of a weekend shift, the woman was suffering from persistent vomiting due to food she ate during her dinner meal. The staff members at the facility became annoyed at the woman's repeated calls for assistance so the staff, at the direction of the night supervisor, intentionally tied her emergency call cord up so that it was out of her reach and the staff would no longer be inconvenienced by her requests for assistance. Unfortunately, the woman suffered another vomiting episode and, being that she could not reach her call cord, she was forced to get out of bed in search of assistance. As she got out of bed, the elderly woman fell to the floor, and began choking on her own vomit. She was left on the ground for 4 hours, until oncoming morning staff did a routine check of all of the patients and found her in her then dried vomit. Having aspirated her vomit, the woman died. The was case settled by our San Diego residential care facility lawyers on the eve of trial for $2,200,000.00 which was, at the time, lauded by the press as the largest settlement ever reported in the State of California against a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – An 85-year-old woman, admitted to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) to aid in her rehabilitation after undergoing hip surgery, died following amputation surgery necessitated by severe and incurable pressure ulcers on her heel. While at the SNF, the woman's medical care providers and health management organization permitted severe Stage IV pressure ulcers/bed sores to develop on her heel as a result of their lack of care. Her condition progressively worsened, and she became septic. A below-the-knee amputation surgery was performed in an effort to save her life. Tragically, however, the woman suffered complications from the surgery, and she died. After aggressively pursuing this case for almost two years, our California nursing home injury lawyers recovered just over $1,700,000.00 on behalf of the decedent's grieving family.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – A San Diego-based skilled nursing facility (SNF) allowed an 88-year-old long-term custodial resident to bleed internally for 26 days as a result of the nursing staff's failure to monitor her medication levels as ordered by her physician. Despite obvious signs indicating that her health was declining over the 26 day period, the facility never contacted her physician to report a change in her condition. The internal bleeding proved too severe, and the woman eventually suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and died. As a result of its failure to render proper medical care and attention to this resident, the facility received a Class "A" Citation from California's Department of Health Services. Following over a year of serious litigation, the California nursing home negligence lawyers of our firm were able to settle the case at mediation in the amount of $1,500,000.00, an enhanced settlement based upon the serious likelihood of punitive damages being awarded at trial. In addition, the elderly woman's attending physician also paid additional monies in confidential settlement based upon her personal failures in not realizing that her orders were not being followed properly and that the nursing staff was not monitoring the patient's medication levels.

Long Term Acute Care Facility/Wrongful Death – Two patients admitted to a Southern California long-term acute care facility (LTAC) died shortly thereafter as a result of the facility's failure to provide them with appropriate care. The families of these two patients filed a joint lawsuit against the facility, physicians, and other persons responsible for the decedents' medical care. In the first case, the patient went into cardiac arrest in the early morning hours, and the facility had to call 911 because it did not have anyone on duty that was trained in CPR or Advanced Life Support. No medical treatment was provided at all until the ambulance arrived 20 minutes later, and, as a result, the patient died. In the second case, the patient had an indwelling catheter that was supposed to be changed every 48 hours, and the facility failed to change or monitor the catheter for over 10 full days. Consequently, the patient became septic, and died. Over the course of litigation, it was discovered that the California Department of Health Services had been investigating this particular facility for various reasons, such as understaffing and failure to provide competent care. Shortly after the two unfortunate incidences that made up this case, the facility was permanently shut down. After litigating the case for almost two years, our San Diego nursing home injury attorneys successfully settled the case for the sum of $1,125,000.00.

Developmentally Disabled Adult Abuse / Wrongful Death Case – A 31-year-old developmentally disabled adult male, who had endured several months of physical abuse while residing at Lanterman Developmental Center, died after receiving a serious, likely intentional, blow to the abdomen. Prior to the man's death, repeated claims of abused had been made to the facility's administrator and director, but they nonetheless failed to take preventative measures to protect the resident from the continued abuse, leaving him vulnerable to attack. While it was still unclear whether the terminal blow was dealt by a fellow resident or one of the facility's employees, the firm’s San Diego nursing home negligence attorneys obtained a $950,000.00 settlement on behalf of the victim's surviving family.

Residential Care Facility Wrongful Death Case – A 92-year-old male resident had been living in a board and care facility for just three months when he was rushed to the hospital where he was noted to be suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, and severe muscle wasting. The elderly man was also found to have live insects living in his eyes and mouth. He died less than a week later. Shortly thereafter, his family filed a lawsuit against the facility and the placement agency for their failures to provide him with proper care, allowing him to suffer and ultimately die. Very early on in the litigation process, the parties settled with our California residential care facility lawyers in the amount of $1,050,000.00.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – After successfully undergoing surgery to repair a fractured hip, an 88-year-old woman was placed in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) to give her time to recuperate, but died shortly thereafter as a result of the facility's failure to properly monitor a hematoma as directed by a physician. Notably possessing "good restorative potential," she was solely being admitted to the SNF so as to receive short-term rehabilitative therapy aimed at helping her regain her strength so that she could return home to live with her husband. The facility's nurses were under strict instructions from the admitting physician to continuously monitor a hematoma affecting the woman's right groin area, and to report any signs of infection. However, no care plan was ever developed to address how the hematoma should be monitored, and the nursing staff failed to assess the presence or absence of a femoral or pedal pulse, the color and temperature of her leg, or the presence of edema. Consequently, the plaintiff suffered a complete loss of circulatory function in the affected leg less than three weeks after being admitted to the SNF. This condition went unnoticed for several days, eventually necessitating emergency surgery, and resulting in her death shortly thereafter. Our firm’s San Diego nursing home negligence attorneys settled the case against the SNF for $700,000.00 after just six months of litigation.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – A 78-year-old resident, living in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) for the purposes of receiving short-term rehabilitative therapy, had a positive prognosis to return to living independently in the near future. Upon admission, the facility, its administrators, and its nursing staff were made aware that, based largely upon her being diabetic, the woman's nutrition, blood sugar levels, diabetes medications, and skin integrity had to be closely monitored. However, less than six weeks after being admitted, the patient began suffering from extreme dehydration, malnourishment, and had necessary medications and insulin withheld from her. These conditions caused her to develop painful bed sores and a urinary tract infection, and eventually suffer a fatal heart attack. Early on in litigation, our California nursing home injury lawyers were able to mediate with the facility, recovering $600,000.00 on behalf of the resident's surviving children.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – An 80-year-old woman, admitted to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) in order to receive short-term rehabilitative therapy, was on Coumadin, a medication used to thin the blood so as to prevent it from clotting. Facility administrators and nursing staff were aware that the resident was on this medication, and that, when a person is taking Coumadin, it prevents internal traumatic injuries from healing. Armed with such knowledge, the facility's medical personal nonetheless allowed the resident to fall while undergoing physical therapy, causing her to bang her head very hard. The therapist reported this incident to nursing staff, but nursing staff failed to relay the incident to the resident's primary care physician for further investigation or to heir on the side of caution and suspend her regular doses of Coumadin until her injuries could be assessed. Approximately 18 hours after the incident, the woman was found to be unresponsive in her bed. After being transferred to the emergency room, doctors discovered that the woman had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage, which went uncontrolled, partly due to the continued administration of the Coumadin. Unfortunately, the resident died as a result of this massive internal brain bleed. As a result of this incident, the facility received a "AA" Citation from the California Department of Health Services. Being that the facility was run by Riverside County, certain immunities prevented the decedent's surviving family from recovering punitive damages. However, quite early on in litigation, the San Diego nursing home injury attorneys of our firm were still able to recover $750,000.00 on behalf of the injured parties.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – An 84-year-old skilled nursing facility (SNF) resident died as a result of having been severely neglected. The facility's administration and staff were well-aware of the resident's need for skilled nursing care, including receiving medication that had to be administered by injection. Shortly after being admitted to the facility, the resident was found to have large, dark bruises covering large portions of the left side of his body, which had been caused by his medication injections being improperly administered. However, despite noticing these bruises and that his medication was being improperly administered, the facility failed to inform either his physician or his family of his condition, and caused it to worsen by continuing to administer the medication improperly. Their actions caused the resident to suffer prolonged internal bleeding, which went untreated because his physician was not made aware of his condition, and he ultimately died. Although the facility hotly contested the allegations of abuse and neglect as well as the cause of death, the firm’s California nursing home negligence lawyers obtained a $350,000 cash settlement on behalf of the victim's surviving family members.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – The surviving family members of an 87-year-old skilled nursing facility (SNF) resident that died after her life-sustaining medication was withheld over a period of 26 days filed suit against the facility as well as her primary care physician for failing to properly administer her medication and for failing to adequately monitor the patient's health. During the litigation, the firm demonstrated that laboratory results taken at the hospital where the woman died shortly following admission were inconsistent with the woman having received her physician prescribed medication, which the facility alleged was properly provided. To refute such contention, the firm obtained the pharmacy dispensing records which revealed that no such medications had been administered for the patient for over three weeks. Shortly thereafter, the firm was able to recover $910,000.00 on behalf of the decedent's grieving family.

Residential Care Facility Wrongful Death Case – In an effort to keep a 94-year-old man quiet and "trouble-free," a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) intentionally over-medicated him. As a result, the resident fell in the middle of the night, sustaining a broken hip and shoulder. Tragically, the man died before an operation could be performed. The facility agreed to settle the lawsuit brought against it by the decedent's surviving family and our San Diego residential care facility attorneys for the sum of $700,000.00.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – An 87-year-old skilled nursing facility (SNF) resident who posed a well-documented high-fall risk, died as a result of the facility failing to create a care plan that would protect such a high-risk resident. Absolutely no fall prevention protocol was initiated by the facility despite it being aware that the woman had suffered falls previously and it forming its own opinion that the resident was at a high risk for falls. Just six days after her admission, the patient suffered a serious fall while unassisted. As a result, the woman incurred a severe head injury, which could not be corrected quickly enough, and she died that same day. The case brought by her surviving family members settled early on in litigation for $475,000.00.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – An 83-year-old skilled nursing facility (SNF) resident contracted urosepsis as a result of the facility's failure to properly care for and cleanse her indwelling catheter. She subsequently died as a result of the urosepsis. Her six surviving child brought a lawsuit against the facility, and the firm was able to recover $600,000.00 on their behalf.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – A 90-year-old woman developed several pressure ulcers as a result of a nursing facility providing her improper care. These pressure ulcers progressively worsened, one of which was so severe that her tailbone was exposed, and caused her excruciating pain. This condition eventually led to her death a short time later. The firm was able to obtain a $300,000.00 settlement on behalf of the woman's surviving family despite the facility's claims that it provided adequate care to the decedent, that they were helpless to prevent the pressure ulcers from forming, and that they did not cause the decedent's death.

Residential Care Facility Injury Case – An 82-year-old residential care facility for the elderly (RCFE) resident was dropped by an employee that had not been properly trained during a routine transfer from the toilet to her wheelchair. As a result, she incurred a fractured femur, and was forced to undergo surgery to repair it. Thereafter, the woman was transferred to a rehabilitation facility to receive physical therapy with hopes of making a full recovery. While at the rehabilitation facility, the patient developed pressure ulcers, which lead to infections, substantial weight loss, and fevers. She was eventually forced to undergo several surgeries to heal the progressively worsening pressure ulcers. The patient brought a lawsuit against the care providers, and the firm’s California residential care facility lawyers were able to recover $275,000.00 on her behalf during the early stages of litigation.

In-Home Healthcare Neglect / Injury Case – A 93-year-old woman was supposed to receive skilled in-home care to provide assistance with her needs of daily life while still allowing her to remain in the comfort of her own home. On just the fourth day of receiving these contracted services, the company wrongfully sent an untrained employee to assist the woman. During one particularly unskilled transfer, the employee left the woman standing unattended, despite knowing that she was unstable and a high fall risk. Consequently, the woman fell, and broke her hip. She was then forced to undergo surgery, and had to live in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) to aid in her rehabilitation. In litigating this case, the firm was able to show that the defendant company's failures amounted to a violation of California's Elder Abuse Act, rather than mere negligence. The company agreed to pay a settlement of $365,000.00 early in litigation process.

Skilled Nursing Facility Wrongful Death Case – A 78-year-old skilled nursing facility (SNF) resident lost an alarming 25 pounds in just seven days while in the facility's care, and subsequently died. While the facility adamantly claimed that the weight loss was caused by medical complications that were outside of its control, it settled the claims asserted by the decedent's children for $375,000.00 without a lawsuit ever being filed.

Elder Abuse Resource Center