Some families in Ohio and elsewhere arrive at a state in life when an older family member takes up residence in a nursing home facility. Most care facilities operate under strict regulations and protocol, designed to protect residents and provide the highest level of appropriate long-term care. In a recent case, managers and owners of a facility have been accused of hiding nursing home negligence and abuse.
The Attorney General in a state east of Ohio announced the indictments and arrests of several people who serve in an official capacity of the care facility. In question are two incidents that allegedly occurred in May 2013, where issues of gross negligence were reportedly hidden instead of being reported. In one incident, a resident allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with another resident in an unsupervised community room. A serious medication error was the subject of the other incident.
The New York Attorney General’s office also claims that the owner of the facility in that jurisdiction criminally eavesdropped on an employee who was being interviewed by investigators in the case. The 45-count indictment further asserts that officials destroyed electronic evidence pertaining to the incidents. Four officials involved in the suspected cover-up were recently arraigned in a county court.
Ohio residents have reason to be concerned if they suspect that their loved one has suffered from nursing home negligence or abuse. It would be prudent for those involved to document as many details as possible regarding the negligence in order to present the information to a legal professional who has experience in handling these types of cases. A personal injury lawyer would be able to assess an individual case and offer advice as to how best to proceed with regard to filing a legal claim seeking monetary damages in a civil court. While this would be separate from any criminal proceedings that might arise from the same facts, a conviction earned by prosecutors may be of use in establishing financial liability in a related civil court proceeding.
Source: syracuse.com, “Nursing home owners, managers accused by state of covering up abuse, neglect“, James. T. Mulder, May 7, 2015
