South Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
Florida nursing home facilities and medical professionals have a responsibility to provide competent care to all residents in the facility. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. A shocking number of nursing home residents are victims of neglect and abuse. If your loved one has been hurt while in the care of a nursing home, our skilled Miami nursing home negligence attorneys can help. For years, we have helped South Florida clients recover the compensation they need in their personal injury cases, and we can help you as well.
In April of 2012, a woman fell while in the care of a nursing home facility in Pensacola, causing a blood vessel to rupture and blood to start collecting in parts of her brain. Shortly thereafter, the woman lost her life. In 2013, the woman’s children sued the nursing home’s parent company and it’s management company. The lawsuit alleged that the nursing home had failed to follow its own care plan in an effort to prevent the woman from falling. Almost 6 years afterwards, a jury concluded that the fall killed the woman, In addition they jury also found that the nursing home was negligent in its care; specifically, in allowing the fall to happen in the first place. As such, the woman’s children were given an award of $200,000.
Between the time the lawsuit was filed and the jury’s decision, the parent company has been sold and is now operated by an entirely different company. One of the woman’s children has passed away. The management company exited the personal injury suit by direct verdict — an equivalent of a dismissal — due to a lack of evidence which directly connected its operations within the facility to the woman’s fall. As such, if there is no appeal, the nursing home’s parent company is the only party obligated to compensate the woman’s surviving children.
Under Florida law, victims who have suffered as a result of nursing home abuse and neglect may file a civil claim against the nursing home that was responsible. Negligence, in the context of a nursing home, occurs when injury or death results by a nursing home’s failure to use the level of care that another nursing home would have adhered to in the same or similar circumstances to reasonably protect residents from harm.
It is important to note that victims can settle their claims outside of court if the nursing home facility takes responsibility for the wrongdoing and makes a reasonable settlement offer. A case can also move forward to trial and a jury can award an appropriate amount of compensation for the abuse or neglect that took place.
If your loved one has been injured or died while in the care of a nursing home facility, you may have legal options. At the Law Offices of Robert Dixon, our Miami nursing home negligence attorneys can take a close look at what happened in your case and help you understand your rights. To discuss your specific case with us, please do not hesitate to call us today at 1-877-499-HURT (4878) or contact us online.