75-Year-Old Woman, Veronica Hoffman, Victim of Negligence

In an alarming story of nursing home negligence, Veronica Hoffman, 75, passed away from hypothermia on January 26th after wandering outside on a freezing winter night. The door alarms at her assisted living home were ineffective as one alarm was turned off and the other was turned down to an inaudible volume. Hoffman suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, which is exhibited through symptoms including memory loss, confusion of time or place, poor judgement, and challenges in problem solving. These symptoms were a clear indication of her increased need for supervision and the obvious requirement for door alarms in the building, as she is one of many elderly patients who would have displayed these types of judgement impairments.

This event, along with countless others, is an example of nursing home negligence wherein a patient is ill, hurt, or has passed on due to negligent care and inadequate precautions on the part of the nursing home. Our Indianapolis nursing home negligence attorneys at Wagner Reese understand how devastating and frustrating it is for the loved ones of these victims. We work with our clients to bring the responsible parties to justice, secure a fair settlement, and prevent others from the same fate.

What Does Nursing Home Neglect Look Like?

Although this incident is an example of neglect of safety or basic needs, there are multiple different kinds of neglect that you should be aware of.

Nursing home neglect may look like:

  • Emotional: Improper emotional care may include ignoring the emotional and mental needs of the patient, emotional abuse, yelling at patient, or leaving the patient alone.
  • Medical: Medical neglect is when a nursing home fails to provide the medical attention or medications that a resident needs, neglects provision of proper care for diabetes, or when their lack of care causes bedsores, infections, lacerations or mobility issues.
  • Hygiene: Failure to provide help with teeth brushing, laundry, bathing, nail trimming, or other types of hygiene practices is considered neglect.
  • Basic needs: Failure to implement safety measures for patients (as with the occurrence above) or provide a clean, hospitable living environment exemplifies basic needs neglect.

Your Loved One Has Rights: Protect the Standard of Care

If your loved one is suffering from pain, illness, or has passed away due to negligence in a nursing or assisted living home, you may have a case. Your peace of mind, your loved one’s care, and the safety of future residents may hang in the balance of a potential neglect case. You have a right to seek compensation and our team of Indianapolis nursing home negligence attorneys can help. Let us fight for those who sometimes cannot fight for themselves.

Contact our team today at (888) 204-8440.