Nursing Home Falls

Nursing home residents in New York and all over the United States are at high risk of falling and suffering broken bones and other life-threatening injuries. As a result, nursing homes are required to create a plan of care for residents, outlining necessary assistance based on the patient’s risk of falling. Nursing homes can be held accountable when this is not followed, and a fall occurs.

Nursing home falls are often the result of negligence on the part of the nursing home. If you have been hurt in a fall at a nursing home, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against the facility. Our New York nursing home fall lawyers will advocate for you and help you get justice for your losses.

At The Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC, our New York attorneys have protected clients from elder abuse for more than 40 years. We are well-prepared to hold nursing homes responsible for neglecting your loved ones. Concerned about your family member’s broken bones resulting from nursing home negligence? Contact us for aggressive and experienced representation. We offer a free initial consultation to discuss the specifics of your claim.

Dedicated Legal Team

For more than four decades, our attorneys have successfully handled complex personal injury cases. Lawyers Daniel Gallivan and Thomas Gallivan have an extensive background in investigating and pursuing actions for nursing home neglect and violations of patient rights. Our attorneys will review the residents’ daily charts to determine how often the patients are supervised. In addition, they will determine whether appropriate fall precautions (interventions) were put in place, including bed and chair alarms, low beds, chair locks, mats, and bed rails. Conducting such a detailed investigation enables us to determine the cause of the fall. 

Many falls in nursing homes occur as a result of the following:

• Wet floors
• Poor lighting
• Weakness resulting from malnutrition
• Malfunctioning wheelchairs and walkers
• Failure to use bed or chair alarms
• Failure to properly use restraints
• Failure to toilet residents
• Failure to have enough staff to help residents
• Objects in the walkway, such as cords or throw rugs
• Loose carpeting, broken tile, or other hazards
• Inadequate fall protection policies and procedures

Each of our cases begins with a full investigation of the facts surrounding the fall. We will interview witnesses, request incident reports, staffing data, and nursing home policy manuals,  review medical records, and analyze photos and videos of the area where the fall occurred. Our team will fully explore every avenue to determine why the fall occurred so that we can hold the responsible party liable for their actions.

We are committed to fully understanding the extent of your family member’s injuries. Our law firm employs two in-house nurses who work with our nursing home fall attorneys to properly represent victims of nursing home neglect. We will fight to obtain as much compensation as possible to cover medical costs and the pain and suffering associated with broken bones and other injuries.

Common Nursing Home Fall Injuries

Falls in nursing homes can lead to serious or even fatal injuries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2020 alone, there were 3 million emergency department visits for older adult falls. In the same year, 36,000 adults aged 65 or older died as a result of falls.

Falls do not always result in injuries. However, 1 in 5 falls does cause a serious injury. This may include:

• Broken bones, including wrists, arms, and ankles
• Hip fractures
• Cuts and abrasions
• Soft tissue injuries, such as sprains, strains, and contusions (bruises)
• Spinal cord trauma
• Head injuries, including traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and concussions
• Death

Even if a nursing home resident doesn’t suffer any serious injuries in a fall, it can have serious psychological impacts. Many people who fall become afraid of falling, which often causes them to limit their activities to avoid another fall. This leads to a vicious cycle, as people who are less active tend to become weaker, which increases their risk of falling. Many nursing home residents continue to experience falls after an initial fall.

Falls can take place almost anywhere in a nursing home. A resident may slip and fall on a wet or slick floor. They may trip on a curled-up carpet edge or a piece of broken tile. They may also fall down stairs if proper safety precautions are not taken. In some cases, residents may even fall from beds if bed rails are either not installed or not properly installed.

Some conditions make it more likely that an older person will suffer a fall. Risk factors for falls include:

• Difficulties with balance and/or walking
• Lower body weakness
• Lack of coordination
• Use of certain medicines, including sedatives, antidepressants, and some over-the-counter medicines
• Vision problems
• Foot pain
• Poor footwear
• Hazards, such as throw rugs, cords, or broken or uneven flooring or stairs

The more risk factors a person has, the higher the likelihood that they will fall and suffer injuries. Nursing homes should be aware of which patients have a higher risk of falling and should take precautions to ensure that their residents are safe. If a nursing home fails to take special care to protect residents from falls, it may be liable for any injuries that result.

Can You Sue for a Nursing Home Fall?

If a loved one – such as your mother, father, grandparent, aunt, or uncle – falls while living at an assisted care facility, you may assume that this is just a natural part of getting older and that no one was at fault. However, this isn’t necessarily true. If a nursing home or its staff were negligent in some way, then they may be sued for any losses suffered in a fall.

Negligence is a legal standard that essentially means carelessness. A person is said to be negligent if they failed to act in a way that a reasonable person would act in a similar situation. For example, in a car accident case, another driver may be considered negligent if they ran a red light or were speeding and caused a crash.

Of course, negligence in a nursing home setting is a bit different. When you make the decision to move to a care facility or to place a loved one in this type of home, you are entrusting the staff to keep them safe. The question of negligence is therefore based on what a reasonable nursing home or nursing home employee would do, which is evaluated in part against state and federal standards for care facilities.

There are a number of different ways that a nursing home’s negligence may lead to a fall. This includes:

• Lack of supervision, particularly of patients at high risk of a fall and/or those suffering from conditions like dementia;
• Unsafe environments, such as wet floors, clutter, uneven floors, poor lighting, faulty bed rails, and tripping hazards;
• Failure to assess fall risk to ensure that proper precautions are taken;
• Unsafe or defective medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, canes, and walkers;
• Lack of staff training to understand how to prevent falls and to know how to respond in the event of a fall.

In some cases, a nursing home fall case is based on intentional conduct, such as physical abuse. For example, a nursing home employee may be violent with a resident, such as by pushing them down, directly causing a fall. In other cases, physical abuse causes injuries or weaknesses that increase the resident’s risk factors for a fall.

If a nursing home fall was caused by the facility or its staff, then you may be able to file a lawsuit against the at-fault parties with the help of a New York nursing home abuse attorney. Through this type of personal injury claim, you can recover financial compensation for your full range of losses. This may include:

• Medical bills
• Future medical treatment
• Moving costs
• Expenses associated with a disability, such as therapy, mobility aids, and home renovations
• Loss of income for family members who had to care for their loved one after a fall
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress or trauma
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Scarring or disfigurement
• Punitive damages, if the nursing home or an employee acted recklessly or intentionally

To successfully resolve a nursing home abuse claim, your lawyer will gather evidence to prove that (1) the nursing home failed to meet the standard of care for your loved one; (2) the nursing home’s negligent or intentional conduct directly caused their injuries; and (3) they suffered losses as a result. Evidence may include medical records, photos and videos of the accident site and the victim’s injuries, witness accounts, and expert testimony.

Nursing home fall cases can be challenging to prove, particularly when your loved one may have already had risk factors for a fall. A skilled New York nursing home abuse lawyer will work with you to put together a strong claim for financial compensation. Most importantly, pursuing this type of claim can help you achieve justice for your loved one.

Most nursing home abuse and neglect cases are resolved outside of court. Our law firm will work hard to get you just compensation for your loved one’s losses. If the nursing home and its insurance company refuse to give you the compensation that you deserve, we will take your case to trial and ask a jury to return a verdict in your favor.

Can I File a Lawsuit for a Death Caused by a Nursing Home Fall?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1,800 nursing home residents die each year from fall-related injuries. While just 5% of all adults over the age of 65 live in a nursing home, nursing home residents account for 20% of all deaths from falls in this age group.

Death is unfortunately a real possibility when it comes to nursing home falls, particularly if a resident strikes their head or suffers another serious injury in a fall. If your loved one died as a result of a nursing home fall, you might be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility.

In New York, a wrongful death case can be brought in situations where a person dies as a result of the action (or inaction) of another person. Wrongful death cases can be brought in cases of intentional harm, such as nursing home abuse, as well as in situations involving accidents, like nursing home falls. The key is that a person (decedent) died because of another person’s intentional, reckless, or negligent conduct.

New York law defines a wrongful death as one where the decedent died because of a wrongful act, neglect, or default, and they could have filed a personal injury lawsuit if they had lived. In other words, if your loved one could have sued the facility had they survived a nursing home fall, then you can pursue a wrongful death action.

There are two types of lawsuits that may be brought after a person dies in a nursing home fall:

• A wrongful death claim can be brought to compensate surviving family members for their losses, such as loss of companionship and affection.
• A survival action recovers damages that the decedent suffered up to the moment of their death. Survival actions are brought in cases where a person did not immediately die from their injuries. For example, if your relative was severely injured in a nursing home fall and is in the hospital for several weeks before dying, a survival claim would compensate the decedent’s estate for all of their losses from the date of the fall until the date of their death. 

The main difference between these two legal actions is the purpose of the compensation. A wrongful death claim pays family members for their own losses, while a survival action seeks compensation for the decedent’s losses (which ultimately may be distributed to surviving family members through the decedent’s estate). Wrongful death and survival actions are often brought together as part of the same lawsuit.

Damages in a New York wrongful death case are designed to compensate surviving family members for their losses. This may include money for: 

• Funeral and burial expenses paid by the survivors
• Health care expenses for the decedent’s fall injury that were paid by the survivors
• The value of parental, nurturing care, and guidance to surviving children
• Financial support the decedent would have contributed to the family
• The value of household and other services the decedent would have contributed
• Lost inheritance

Under New York law, surviving family members cannot recover damages for their own pain and suffering or mental anguish. These damages may be pursued on behalf of the decedent in a survival action.

A wrongful death claim is brought by the personal representative (executor) of a decedent’s estate. All compensation in a wrongful death case will go to surviving relatives, who will share the money in the following order of preference:

• Surviving spouse and children
• Parents
• Siblings
• Grandparents, their children, and their grandchildren, and
• Great-grandchildren

Essentially, the money will be divided between the closest family members. This could be done through an agreement that will be approved by the court. Alternatively, the court may hold a hearing and decide how to split the compensation from a wrongful death case. Any money recovered by the estate through a survival action will be shared among heirs and beneficiaries according to the terms of the will or New York law (if the decedent did not have a will).

A wrongful death action will not bring your loved one back or make your family whole again. However, it can be a way to hold a nursing home accountable for its failure to prevent a fatal fall. If your loved one died in a fall at a nursing home, reach out to our law firm to schedule a free consultation with a New York nursing home fall attorney.

Hurt in a Nursing Home Fall? Contact Us Today.

Nursing home falls can produce devastating injuries. Victims of nursing home falls and their loved ones often struggle to get help after a nursing home fall. We are dedicated to proving fault and obtaining compensation for pain and suffering, as well as future medical bills associated with the traumatic slip-and-fall accident. We can also assist your family with pursuing a wrongful death and/or survival action if your loved one died in a fall.

Based in White Plains, the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan represents victims of nursing home falls, nursing home abuse, and nursing home neglect throughout New York. We offer free consultations and only charge a fee if we recover money for you. To learn more or to schedule a no-risk, no-obligation consultation with a New York nursing home fall attorney, give us a call at 866-932-3950 or fill out our online contact form.