Nursing Home Wrongful Death Lawyers – Seeking Justice for Those Who Have Lost a Loved One Due to Negligence or Wrongful Conduct

Losing a loved one is hard.  It’s especially difficult when the loss was due to negligent conduct by others, such as a nursing home facility, in which a loved one’s care has been entrusted.

We understand.

We know that even if a loved one may have been in declining health, this is still no reason not to be protected from abuse and negligence.  We expect that our seniors will be treated well – with dignity and respect – and kept safe.

Making Your Case

In order to prevail in litigation in a nursing home negligence case, including a case for wrongful death, the person or family must show that abuse, negligence, or some other wrongful act resulted in death.  In some cases, the evidence will be strong, such as where the wrong medication or dosage may have been administered.  In other cases, such as fall which resulted in medical complications that ultimately resulted in death, many days, weeks, or even months may pass between the negligence or wrongful act and the resident’s death.  Any such delay in time does not remove legal negligence, although as a practical matter defendants typically assert that other factors, such as declining health due to age, were the real reason that a resident died.

Using Medical Experts

Medical experts play a critical role in a nursing home wrongful death case.  In establishing a case of negligence, medical testimony is important to show how a nursing home failed to properly care for a resident, such as allowing a fall to occur or not properly turning an immobile patient causing bedsores to develop.   Based upon a resident’s condition, medical experts are able to provide an opinion as to the level of care that should have been administered, so that a jury has a basis for making a determination that negligence occurred.

Medical experts are also vital in connecting the results of negligence to the ultimate harm when such connection is not obvious.  In the case of a resident who died from sepsis, a medical expert (such as a physician) will be needed to provide an opinion that the sepsis, in fact, was directly the result of the bedsores (which in turn were caused as the result of the negligence of the facility).

How Defendants May Seek to Avoid Liability

Defendants and their attorneys will often seek to cast doubt on the causal connection.  For instance, they may claim that even if bedsores were present, a case of sepsis was a result of a cause other than bedsores (and thus they are not liable).  They might also claim that a resident died from a cause other than sepsis.  Medical experts are used to substantiate the aspects of a person’s or family’s claim for wrongful death.

We Meticulously Build the Wrongful Death Cases for Our Clients

Thorough investigations, witness interviews, depositions, conferences with experts, medical chart examination, and legal research all are part of injury and wrongful death cases.  A solid case is built over time, as more facts are known and more details established.

As the case of our client progresses, defendants can choose to seek a fair settlement with our clients to fully account for the wrongdoing that has transpired, or we are well-prepared to take our case to a jury for fault and liability determination.

Call Us to Get Started with You Case

New York as a two year statute of limitations for wrongful death cases, so it’s important to begin your case prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations.   Additionally, it’s important to begin investigating a possible wrongful death case as soon as possible, and to interview witness before memories fade.

Typically, we represent clients in wrongful death cases on a contingency fee basis, so you will not owe us any fees while your case is ongoing.  Call us to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to learn more about your rights for seeking a recovery.

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Client Review

I’m very grateful for Attorney Friedlander and all his staff that worked for a settlement for my Mother’s death due to wrongful death by negligence at a nursing home. It just confirms my belief that nursing homes are only there for the money, and many of the 18-year-old kids working there, with no proper training, education, are totally unqualified and are also just there for a paycheck. God only knows what happens when there are no visitors or relatives there. From what I observed, many staff members were sharp, and disrespectful.
There may be a day that these same people are unfortunate to be in a Nursing Facility, and are treated the same way that they treated the elderly as an employee.

I can only hope that these nursing facilities can get their acts together sooner than later, knowing that there WILL be more lawsuits coming their way under their current “best practices”. So, KUDOS to Attorney Bill Friedlander, Christa, Billie, and so many other people who helped win this battle and have provided some much needed closure during my time of much grief and sorrow. Thank you all so much!

Avvo 5 Star Review – Anonymous