ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Lawsuit alleges that dementia patient Kenneth Chin wandered the streets of San Francisco for ten days and died as a result of negligence by a shuttle bus company and its driver.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/the-evans-law-firm/elder-abuse-chin-case/prweb9160123.htm
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) February 08, 2012
San Francisco elder abuse attorney Ingrid Evans, The Evans Law Firm, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit (San Francisco County Superior Court, Case #CGC-12-518046) alleging that a shuttle bus company and its driver were negligent in the transport, care and death of an elderly dementia patient who went missing for ten days.
The lawsuit alleges that MEDSAM Enterprises, its driver, San Francisco Paratransit and Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) engaged in elder abuse and negligence in the death of 73-year old dementia patient Kenneth Chin, who went missing for ten days after he was allegedly dropped off in the wrong location and not taken directly to his assisted living facility.
According to the complaint, on February 24, 2011, Chin allegedly boarded a MEDSAM shuttle van, driven by Eugene Pearlman, for his regular shuttle ride from Irene Swindell’s Center for Adult Day Services to his home at Nacario’s Home #5. The complaint states that when Chin did not arrive at the assisted living facility at his scheduled time, his conservator, JFCS, was notified as required. However the lawsuit is alleging that JFCS hampered search efforts by negligently delaying notification to Chin’s family.
“The three-hour notification delay by JFCS was critical to Chin’s safety especially since his dead body was found approximately one mile from his house,” said Evans. “By the time the family was notified that Chin was missing, darkness had already set in and an approaching storm made search conditions extremely difficult,” added Evans.
The lawsuit states that despite an alleged awareness that Chin required special attention due to his dementia, the bus driver allegedly failed to ensure Chin’s safe delivery to his home in a manner consistent with Chin’s special needs. Chin suffered from debilitating mental and emotional conditions that required him to be escorted from his transportation to his residence.
“The bus driver had an obligation and a duty of care to walk Chin to the door and ensure his safe arrival due to Chin’s dementia,” said Evans. “Instead, no one knows for sure where Chin was dropped off. All we know is that he was left stranded in the freezing cold and wandered around San Francisco for days and died,” added Evans.
Chin suffered from dementia and required adult care, supervision and special transportation. The family believes that Chin was left to aimlessly wander for days without food or shelter and, as a result, he suffered a horrible death. Ten days after he disappeared, a man walking his dog found Chin’s body lying face down off the side of a path near the VA Hospital.
MEDSAM Enterprises, Inc. is a private shuttle van provider.
About Ingrid M. Evans
San Francisco elder abuse attorney Ingrid Evans is an aggressive advocate protecting the elderly from consumer fraud along with physical and insurance, banking and financial abuse. In more than ten years protecting senior citizens, Evans has litigated and successfully resolved multiple cases involving senior citizen financial abuse, particularly for the sale of insurance products.
Evans was honored by Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) for recovering approximately $5 million in restitution for 750 senior victims that were sold deferred annuities by AIG and its agents, and also recovered an estimated $100 million dollars in compensation for other senior victims against insurance companies in other legal actions.
