Elder neglect and wrongful death. Those are the basis for a recent lawsuit filed against Valley Convalescent Hospital in Bakersfield, California following the death of 80 year-old Robert Hopkins. The suit alleges that Hopkins had multiple falls (from both his bed and wheelchair) as a result of poor supervision with the final fall being the cause of his death. Additionally, Hopkins had a range of bedsores that were attributed to not enough repositioning by the staff at the Bakersfield hospital.

Bakersfield.com reports on the wrongful death lawsuit, “The purpose of this lawsuit is to prevent these types of tragedies from occurring in the future. Valley Convalescent and other skilled nursing facilities need to understand that if they drop the ball when it comes to patient safety, there will be consequences and those consequences will be severe.”

Nursing home neglect is unfortunately a common source of wrongful death claims and a successful claim can serve the dual purpose of providing financial compensation for the family of the deceased (in this case, it is Hopkin’s widow that brought the action) and also bring the type of public scrutiny that inspires change and hopefully limits future issues. Like this lawsuit that also alleges elder neglect, a lot of wrongful death cases also allege other charges against the defendants in the complaint. While there may be one final settlement or verdict amount, each claim is examined and handled separately.

Elder neglect coupled with wrongful death is a particularly emotional type of case because for many family members they do not realize that the abuse is going on until it is too late. In the case of Hopkins, his wife was only aware of two falls and not the other seven.

At Walch Law, we understand how difficult this time is for you and we are here to handle your financial and legal issues so you can concentrate on what is really important right now. If you are dealing with a wrongful death from nursing home neglect, please get in touch with us immediately to discuss things further– there are strict filing deadlines for these cases that you do not want to miss. We are available 24/7 to talk now and throughout your case and win over 95% of our cases. We are here to help.