West Palm Beach Nursing Home Wrongful Death

Making the decision to enter a nursing home is often a difficult decision that a family makes together to help ensure their loved one is cared for properly, and that they can live out their remaining years in comfort and peace. Nursing homes are responsible for providing residents with the proper care and treatment.

However, in some tragic cases, nursing homes and their staff do not provide appropriate care, and in some extreme cases, staff may even directly contribute to a nursing home resident’s death.

Florida law recognizes a cause of action for wrongful death in nursing homes when a nursing home resident sustained a loss, injury, death, or damage as a result of nursing home staff failing to provide the proper care and treatment of nursing home residents.

A West Palm Beach nursing home wrongful death lawyer can help grieving families recover for the loss of their loved one, as well as associated expenses such as medical bills, funeral expenses, and loss of companionship. With a focused attention on providing families with the best representation possible, a dedicated nursing home abuse attorney is prepared to explain the complicated process of proving a wrongful death in a nursing home case.

Holding Nursing Homes and Staff Accountable

Losing a loved one is always difficult, and this is even truer when a person believes that their loved one was the victim of abuse or neglect by their nursing home.

Fortunately, Florida statutes allow families to hold nursing homes and their staff accountable for their actions through filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

In order to be successful in a wrongful death lawsuit a family member or a representative will need to demonstrate that the nursing home was liable by proving the following elements:

• The defendant owed a duty to the resident
• The defendant breached the duty to the resident
• The breach of the duty is a legal cause of loss, injury, death, or damage to the resident
• The resident sustained loss, injury, death, or damage as a result of the breach

Proving Liability

Proving the above-mentioned elements often requires a thorough investigation of not only the events surrounding a resident’s untimely passing but also often requires a thorough examination of nursing home policies and procedures.

It is critical that anyone considering filing a wrongful death lawsuit understand that Florida Statute Section 400.023 requires that a family prove these elements by a preponderance of the evidence.

Preponderance of the evidence is a legal term, which means that a person and their West Palm Beach nursing home wrongful death lawyer will need to collect and produce more persuasive and convincing evidence than the nursing home.

Recovering from the Loss of a Loved One

Florida recognizes that in a case of wrongful death in a nursing home, a grieving family should be entitled to compensation for their losses and for their loved one’s injuries.

Florida Statute Section 400.023 gives families two separate options in a wrongful death case and a family may choose to recover survival damages or wrongful death damages.

Survival damages are those that a person would have been able to recover for their pain and suffering had they survived. Survival actions are essentially an extension of a person’s right to recover damages from an injury and can include medical expenses and loss of income.

Wrongful death actions recognize many of the same expenses as survival damages, however wrongful death damages also allow surviving family members to recover compensation for the loss of companionship that their loved one gave to them, as well as funeral expenses.

Determining expenses and losses associated with a loved one’s passing is a difficult and personal matter, however, it is essential to a case that a family prove their losses and their loved one’s injuries.

Contact a West Palm Beach Nursing Home Wrongful Death Attorney Today

If you have lost a loved one because of a nursing home’s negligent and reckless actions, contact a West Palm Beach nursing home wrongful death lawyer today. A dedicated and experienced lawyer will investigate your loved one’s passing to look for the tell-tale signs of abuse and neglect.