Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

An 87-year-old woman died on Friday in a hit-and-run accident after she had fled the nursing home where she was staying. Now, the family of Florence Warren say they plan on suing the Good Samaritan Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for wrongful death for allowing her to escape the premises.

Warren was relocated to the nursing home this month so she could be placed in a locked-down ward that was supposed to be secure. Warren, who was suffering from the early stages of dementia, had a record of fleeing care facilities and her daughter says that the nursing home was made aware of this. Warren was also was in physical pain because of her osteoporosis.

According to police, Warren managed to disable an alarm located on the sliding glass door in her nursing home room and then walked up the long driveway to the road. Someone later saw her lying on the road. She was transported to a hospital where she died from her injuries. The driver of the vehicle that struck Warren has not been apprehended.

Not only are US nursing homes supposed to make sure that patients are not injured or abused while staying at a long-term care facility, but they are supposed to make sure that residents are protected from other elements that could cause physical harm. For example, while security measures must be in place to make sure that no one hurts the resident staying at a nursing home, safety measures must also implemented to make sure that nursing home residents do not leave the premises unsupervised.

Many nursing home patients are at a home to begin with because they require constant, supervised care. Failure to provide this ongoing attention and medical care to a nursing home resident can be grounds for a nursing home neglect lawsuit.

Family of hit-and-run victim to sue nursing home, ChronicleOnline.com, March 17, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Dementia, Medline Plus

Dementia: What are the Common Signs?, Family Doctor.org