DATELINE WADING RIVER, NY "I call and call but I can never see a doctor when I need one."

These words, spoken in a phone call over what seemed to be typical commotion in his Riverhead nursing home, proved to be the last that sons Ross and Jason heard their father Saul utter.

Within hours their father had lapsed into a coma from which he would never awaken.

"Do you think they just didn't hear him when he reached out?" Ross wondered.

"You mean the nursing home staff?"

"Yeah. Them.  I mean, he never seemed to have trouble making himself heard."

"I know."

"Maybe he was calling out, but they just weren't responding," Ross speculated. "It's true that when we visited him, the staff seemed pretty scarce. In fact last Saturday there was only one nurse's aide on Dad's floor."

"He was hooked up to plenty of monitoring equipment. Maybe they just weren't paying attention," Jason agreed.

"I think we should look into this further."

"I hate to imagine him calling out in his last hours - maybe in pain or having trouble breathing -- with no one answering him."

"I know. Terrible."

What happened to Saul in a nursing home is not uncommon. Nursing home abuse often manifests itself in unexplained injuries that can ultimately be traced to falls or other negligent nursing home care. The causes of these injuries require investigation, a study of medical records, and plenty of question-asking. A nursing home should be a safe place for patients, but sadly patients suffer unexplained injuries and death due to negligent nursing home care.

Often the first indication of nursing home abuse comes from an unexplained fracture, hematoma or other injury.

How will you know whether your loved one’s injury was caused by negligent nursing home care?

An unexpected visit to the emergency room is also cause to suspect negligent nursing home care. Ask questions. What caused the injury? Was there a fall? Where and when did this happen? In Saul’s case, he may have needed close monitoring or needed to go to the bathroom and nobody answered his call for help. Or, he may have been so medicated he could not walk properly. Or he may have fallen out of bed or wheelchair because the nursing home was not monitoring him properly due to inadequate and short staffing.

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Is this your scenario?

 

If you or a loved one has suffered from nursing home abuse, you and your family have certain rights. Gathering the evidence needed for a lawsuit against nursing home facilities is time-critical. Put Dalli & Marino talent on your case today.

The evidence from a 1992 study by Wilinsky et al. is still compelling today |read now|. The researchers found that ” The odds of dying were 2.74 times greater among the 549 respondents placed in nursing homes than among the 4,602 respondents who remained in the community.”

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