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Dad falls out of a wheelchair at a nursing home and fractures his neck. How could this
have happened? Want to find out? I’m Brett Leitner, an attorney with Parker Waichman.
I recently handled a case involving a 90 year-old gentleman who had the beginning stages of
dementia. He was placed in a nursing home by his family. I recently handled a case on
behalf of a family of a 90 year-old gentleman who had just entered a nursing home. He was
no longer ambulatory, meaning he could no longer walk by himself. So he was placed in
a wheelchair. When he entered the nursing home, the nursing home – as they’re required
to – did what they can an assessment. And it determines whether he was at risk for falling
or whether he was at risk for accidents. Once the nursing home performs the assessment,
they’re required to implement interventions in order to lessen the risk of falling or
lessen the risk of injury. Here, in the course of approximately four months, my client fell
out of his wheelchair where the wheelchair fell over 5 times. The nursing home did not
do anything about this. On the 6th time, my client fell straight forward after his wheelchair
tipped over onto his forehead. He fractured his neck and he became paralyzed. He died
within a month thereafter. It was determined by us that for $100 the nursing home could
have bought or could have installed what they call a “wheelchair anti-tipping device”
which is essentially a metal rod that goes down from the seat of the wheelchair that
makes it that much more unlikely that the wheelchair will tip over. After bringing suit,
we wound up settling this case for a very significant amount prior to trial. Why is
this important for you to know? Well, if you’re watching this video, chances are that you
may have some concerns or you may have a relative or a friend in a nursing home and you have
some questions. Please call me, Brett Leitner at Parker Waichman. I’d be happy to speak
with you. I handle these types of cases every day.