Q: My 83 y.o. mother is in a nursing home. Yesterday, during lunch, her wheelchair rolled away from the table, my mother tried to get up but unfortunately fell and hit her head hard. Before that, we warned the administration of the nursing home that my mother has trouble walking and is often dizzy. Don’t you think that the administration is partial guilty for my mom’s fall?
A: It was not a partial guilt, they are actually fully responsible. Nursing homes take great responsibility before God and before the law to be attentive and to help our dearest and beloved old people in all aspects of their lives. Nursing homes work under the strict regulations and are closely controlled. Avoiding unnecessary details, I will just mention violations are obvious from the first glance of your mother’s case. The dining place, as well as any other place where elderly people are more active, are required to have additional attention from the nursing home staff. While your mother’s wheelchair was rolling away from the table and she was trying to get up, it was enough time for employees to intervene and prevent your mother’s fall. They didn’t do either because they did not pay enough attention or they were not there at all. Both of those actions, or lack thereof, are negligent and will involve legal penalties. Besides that, during lunch the staff had to stabilize the wheelchair with a wheel lock in order to prevent it from rolling back. Moreover, after your warning about your mom’s health problems, they had to fasten her to the wheelchair to limiting her unauthorized attempts to get up. Thereby, the administration of the nursing home violated their obligations (Patients’ Rights Statute, New York Public Health Law paragraph 2801-d) and should be penalized legally as well as financially. If you want the facility and the employees, whose fault it was that your mother fell, be penalized, you should hire an experience personal injury lawyer. For example, a lawyer from Yuriy Prakhin Law Office, who will help you bring to justice those responsible as well as help you get maximum compensation for your and your mother’s sufferin
