fall related injuries

October 14, 2022

When is a Nursing Home Liable for Falls in San Bernardino County?

Older adults in San Bernardino County nursing homes are at greater risk of severe injuries from falls than younger adults. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls among adults aged 65 and older result in about 34,000 deaths yearly and three million emergency department visits. In terms of the economic costs of senior falls, the CDC reports that falls among older adults cost approximately $50 billion annually in medical care. There are many different reasons that older adults are more likely to fall and that those falls are more likely to result in severe injuries. Older adults are more likely to be on medications that make balancing difficult. Physical conditions can make it more challenging to get out of bed or shower without falling. In addition, older adults — and women in particular — may have bone density issues that can make a severe fracture more likely when a fall does occur.

When falls happen at nursing homes, is the nursing home liable? To determine liability, it will be important to have an experienced San Bernardino nursing home negligence lawyer assess your case. In the meantime, the following are some questions you can ask yourself to consider whether the nursing home could be responsible for damages resulting from a fall.

Did the Fall Result From a Hazard on the Nursing Home Premises?

May 27, 2022

Fall Prevention in San Bernardino County Nursing Homes

by Walton Law Firm

Fall prevention in San Bernardino County nursing homes is critical to avoid serious injuries among elderly residents. Nursing homes and assisted-living facilities have a duty to ensure that patients have the care they need to avoid a fall and that the premises are also safe for use. When a fall does happen at a San Bernardino nursing home, the facility could be liable.

Learning More About Falls in Nursing Homes

To understand prevention methods for falls in nursing homes, it is important to understand how often falls occur and why they happen in nursing homes. The following facts and figures come from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

February 18, 2022

What You Should Know About Hip Fracture Injuries in Riverside County Nursing Homes

by Walton Law Firm

Hip fractures can happen almost anywhere in Riverside County when an older adult falls or slips, but hip fractures can be particularly common in nursing home settings when seniors do not have proper care or when facilities fail to maintain the premises in a manner that is safe for its residents. While hip fractures often heal fully when they occur in younger people, a hip fracture in an older adult can be devastating. Indeed, hip fractures in the elderly can have disastrous consequences, resulting in decreased mobility and the need for care for the rest of a person’s life.

Our Riverside County nursing home neglect lawyers want to provide you with more information about hip fractures among older adults in Riverside County nursing homes.

Hip Fractures Happen Most Often Because of Falls

January 22, 2021

Los Angeles County Nursing Home Falls Could Increase During the Pandemic

by Walton Law Firm

Is a senior in a nursing home at greater risk of suffering a fall-related injury if that senior is more socially isolated as a result of the pandemic? Nursing home staff members are supposed to provide regular and frequent care to nursing home residents, and to ensure that older adults in Los Angeles County nursing facilities are not left unattended for a long enough period of time that a serious or even fatal fall-related accident could happen. Yet according to a recent article in The New York Times, not only can social isolation increase a senior’s risk of suffering a fall injury when that senior is living alone, but social isolation can also put a senior at increased risk of a fall-related injury in assisted-living facilities and nursing homes.

In short, having fewer people around—friends and family members—can make it more likely that an elderly adult will suffer a fall. Given that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significantly more social isolation for older adults, the pandemic ultimately could lead to more serious and fatal fall injuries among seniors.

New Study Shows Socially Isolated Seniors are More Likely to Fall

July 24, 2020

Five Things to Know About Nursing Home Falls in Orange County

by Walton Law Firm

Although nursing homes in Orange County and throughout Southern California are largely focused on issues pertaining to COVID-19 infections and methods of preventing illness and death among residents and patients, it is important to remember that long-term care facilities still have other duties when it comes to resident safety. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities in California need to provide a certain level of care to patients in order to prevent injuries from happening solely as a result of inadequate care. Many injuries in nursing homes happen because a resident tried to get out of bed herself after being unable to reach a nurse, or a resident fell because a staff member was not providing proper observation.

To be clear, many injuries in nursing homes do not result from bad intentions, but rather from a lack of care often due to inadequate staffing. As many staff members call in sick with COVID-19 and staff members are swamped with coronavirus mitigation duties, more residents could be at risk of a fall-related injury. The following are five things to know about falls in nursing homes.

Adults Aged 65 and Older Fall More Often Than You Might Think

July 10, 2018

Seniors with Cognitive Impairments are More Likely to Fall

by Walton Law Firm

When do falls among elderly nursing home residents in Escondido and throughout Southern California constitute nursing home negligence? Seniors are more likely to suffer a serious fall-related injury if they already suffer from a cognitive impairment, according to a recent article in Neurology Advisor. That information comes from a new review published in the journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and it makes clear that nursing homes and assisted-living facilities need to consider the cognitive impairment of each resident when determining the amount of care and monitoring that is required.

In other words, if a senior falls when a facility knows that individual has a cognitive impairment, the facility may be responsible for nursing home neglect.

Falls are More Likely When Cognition Suffers

June 12, 2018

Fall-Related Deaths and Nursing Home Negligence

by Walton Law Firm

Whether you have an elderly loved one in a Vista nursing home or in a skilled nursing facility elsewhere in California, it is important to understand the risk of serious falls as a result of nursing home negligence. We often think of nursing home abuse in terms of intentionally harmful behavior toward nursing home residents, yet many seniors get hurt because facilities are understaffed and nursing home neglect leads to serious and sometimes fatal injuries. According to a recent report in The Daily Journal, a California assisted-living facility is facing lawsuits after the deaths of two patients from falls last year. The family members allege that the facility was understaffed and that the falls resulted from nursing home negligence.

We want to discuss the recent case with you and then talk through some ways to prevent senior falls in nursing homes.

Assisted-Living Facility Faces Lawsuits for Fall-Related Fatalities

March 21, 2018

Teaching Seniors in Encinitas to Avoid Injuries in Falls

by Walton Law Firm

Many cases of nursing home neglect injuries in Encinitas and other parts of San Diego County result from falls. In certain situations, seniors are not monitored properly, and they suffer serious and sometimes life-threatening injuries after falling. In other scenarios, nursing home staff members may fail to provide the proper health aids, such as walkers, which can prevent a fall-related injury. According to a news release from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 29 million elderly Americans suffer falls each year, resulting in more than $31 billion in Medicare costs. Given the prevalence of falls among seniors, are there ways to improve preventive measures?

According to a recent article in The New York Times, Southern Californians may be able to take some senior safety tips from the Dutch, who “are living longer than in previous generations” with the help of “courses that teach them not only how to avoid falling, but how to fall correctly.”

Fear of Falling can Lead to Injuries Among Older Adults

December 23, 2016

More Fall Prevention is Necessary in Southern California

by Walton Law Firm

Has an elderly loved one mentioned a fall-related injury in a nursing home or assisted-living facility in San Diego County? Or, have you learned that an elderly parent suffered a fall while under the care of a nursing home staff? Falls often result from nursing home neglect, and it is important to ensure that our elderly loved ones are safe from preventable accidents and injuries. According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, fall-related injuries are becoming a more serious concern in California and throughout the country. One researcher in particular, Jon Pynoos, emphasizes that falls really are preventable. What should you know about falls among the elderly and learning about new methods of prevention?

Paying Greater Attention to Falls Among the Elderly

As the article notes, about “one-third of seniors over 65 fall each year, causing more than 2.5 million injuries treated in ERs, leading to 734,000 hospitalization and more than 30,200 deaths, with an annual price tag exceeding $40 billion.” Those rates will only increase as the U.S. population continues to age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC estimates that deaths from falls among the elderly will rise to around 100,000 per year—a number that is four times the current rate of fall-related fatalities. Given these numbers, both government and private funding sources to study fall prevention have helped to make new research possible.

October 7, 2016

Managing Fall-Related Risks and Nursing Home Neglect

by Walton Law Firm

When you have a loved one residing in a San Diego nursing home, it is extremely important to think about how the facility is managing fall risks. According to a fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), millions of seniors suffer injuries from falls each year, and about 25% of the elderly population will fall in any given year. As the CDC points out, about 20% of those falls among seniors result in serious injuries such as a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or broken bones. More than 800,000 older adults require hospitalization because of a fall-related injury each year, and around 300,000 seniors need to be hospitalized specifically because of a hip fracture. All in all, approximately 2.8 million elderly adults are treated in emergency departments each year due to falls. Of those seniors who get hurt, about 1,800 die as a result of their injuries.

Since falls are so common among older adults, and given that they often result in serious injuries, what should nursing homes do to help prevent falls from happening? If nursing facilities in San Diego do not take proper precautions when it comes to fall prevention, can they be liable for nursing home neglect?

Nursing Home Falls Occur in Many Different Contexts