San Francisco Bay Area Nursing Home Wrongful Death Lawyer

Losing a loved one is always a devastating experience, but the grief is compounded by anger and outrage when that death was preventable - a direct result of neglect or abuse in a facility you trusted. In the San Francisco Bay Area, families entrust nursing homes with the highest duty of care for their elderly relatives. When a facility breaches this duty and negligence leads to a resident's death, it is a wrongful death, and the facility must be held accountable.

Nursing Home Law Group has been representing individuals and families impacted by elder abuse and neglect for more than 20 years. Our award-winning lawyers understand the anger, mourning, and confusion you are experiencing, and we dedicate personal attention to every client to seek the justice and compensation you deserve.

Under California law, nursing facilities and their staff owe a fundamental duty of care to their residents. This duty includes properly assessing each resident's unique needs and risks, developing and rigorously following a personalized care plan, and providing necessary and appropriate medical and hygiene care.

When this duty is breached through neglect or intentional abuse, the consequences can be fatal. Negligence leading to a resident's death is a catastrophic failure of the facility's responsibility.

The death of a resident is often the final, tragic result of a series of careless actions or systemic understaffing. Preventable deaths often stem from:

• Injurious Falls and Fractures: Facilities have a duty to assess fall risks and implement preventative measures like bed alarms, low beds, and assistance with mobility. When staff fails to respond to call lights or improperly assists a resident, a fall can cause a catastrophic injury, like a traumatic brain injury or a fractured hip, that directly leads to death.
• Undiagnosed and Untreated Infections: Minor issues can quickly become fatal. A lack of proper hygiene or delayed medical attention can allow conditions like urinary tract infections (UTIs), pneumonia, or sepsis to become systemic and deadly.
• Choking Incidents: Residents with swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) require supervised meals and specific food textures as outlined in their care plan. Staff's failure to follow these instructions or to properly supervise a resident during feeding can cause a fatal choking incident.
• Pressure Ulcers (Bedsores) Leading to Sepsis: Neglecting to properly turn and reposition an immobile resident can lead to Stage IV pressure ulcers. If these wounds are not properly treated, they can become deeply infected, resulting in life-threatening sepsis.
• Dehydration and Malnutrition: Failure to monitor and assist residents with fluid and food intake—a common consequence of understaffing—can lead to severe dehydration and malnutrition, severely compromising the resident's health and ability to fight illness.
• Medication Errors: Administering the wrong dosage or the wrong medication can have fatal results, especially for elderly residents with complex medical needs.

Neglect is not always intentional malice; often, it is a failure of systems driven by corporate profit over patient safety. Examples include:

1. Chronic Understaffing: The most common cause. When a facility consistently employs too few nurses and CNAs, staff are overwhelmed, leading to long delays in answering call buttons (causing residents to attempt walking and fall) or insufficient time to perform essential tasks like turning patients or monitoring food intake.
2. Inadequate Training: Staff may not be properly trained to recognize the early signs of a serious infection, a worsening pressure ulcer, or the symptoms of a misplaced feeding tube, leading to delayed or improper treatment.
3. Failure to Follow Care Plans: A resident's care plan is their roadmap to safety. Neglect occurs when staff fails to adhere to critical instructions, such as using necessary assistive devices or ensuring a resident prone to wandering is supervised.

In one notable California case, a jury awarded a significant verdict to the family of a dementia patient who suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage after being left unsupervised, resulting in a fall that breached the facility's duty of care. This demonstrates that facilities are accountable when their systemic failures lead to death.

If you suspect your loved one's death in the San Francisco Bay Area was caused by nursing home negligence or abuse, you have the right to seek justice through a wrongful death claim.

The Nursing Home Law Group is prepared to immediately investigate the circumstances of your loss, secure critical evidence, and fight to hold the facility and its corporate owners accountable. We know that no financial compensation can replace your loved one, but it is a powerful tool for demanding accountability and preventing future harm.

Do not navigate this difficult, painful process alone. Contact a qualified San Francisco Bay Area nursing home wrongful death lawyer at the Nursing Home Law Group today for a compassionate, free consultation.