ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Elopement (Wandering Off) A Serious Risk With Elderly Dementia Patients
Holding Nursing Homes Accountable
Elopement, also known as wandering, is a real risk with older persons suffering from any form of dementia. Fortunately, many wandering seniors are found right outside their home or care facility and taken back inside by their caregiver. If the patient wanders too far away however the results can be tragic. What’s more, some facilities that care for dementia patients are not equipped to handle eloping patients. In one recently reported case, a 65-year-old dementia patient was struck and killed by a car when he wandered out of the care home where he lived.[1] While investigating the death, authorities allegedly determined that the assisted care facility did not have a license to care for dementia patients. Nevertheless, according to allegations the owner/licensee admitted the dementia patient anyway. Arrests have reportedly been made in the case.
The Alameda County and California elder and nursing home abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. litigate against nursing homes and their owners and administrators for licensing violations, and neglecting statutory duties and standards of care required of them. Our litigators can represent you or a loved one injured as a result of any abuse or neglect in a care facility, including as a result of wandering or elopement. Our attorneys know how to investigate these cases and what remedies are available to victims and their families. If you or someone you love suffered nursing home abuse or neglect in Alameda County or elsewhere in California, call the elder abuse and nursing home abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm today at 415-441-8669, and we can help.
If you are looking for a care facility for a loved one with dementia be sure and check whether the facility is licensed for dementia care. If your loved one is staying in their home, be sure to check whether the in-home caregivers you hire are qualified. Also, do a background check. Whether your loved one is in a facility or still at home, check in frequently and unexpectedly. Report any suspicion of abuse to the authorities, but also seek counsel such as the elder abuse lawyers at Evans Law Firm in order to pursue all available remedies against those accountable for any injury your loved one suffers.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one is or has been injured wandering off from an assisted care facility, in-home caregiver or nursing home or been the victim of any other form of elder or nursing home abuse in Alameda County or elsewhere in California, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other elder and nursing home abuse attorneys at the Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, qui tam and whistleblower law, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the case in any way.
