ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Wandering: A Real Danger With Alzheimer’s Sufferers
Deaths From Wandering/Elopement
Caregiver And Nursing Home Negligence
Wandering (also known as elopement) is a common behavior for older persons suffering from dementia. The result can be fatal. Dementia sufferers are often under the care of in-home caregivers or facilities charged with monitoring their whereabouts. The Marin County and California elder and nursing home abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent loved ones of patients injured or killed as a result of wandering/elopement due to lack of supervision by a caregiver or nursing facility. If you or someone you know was injured wandering or from other neglect or elder abuse in Marin, San Francisco, 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.
Caregivers and nursing homes may be held accountable for resulting injury if they failed to prevent the patient from wandering. Statistics indicate that the risk of patient elopement endangerment is increasing steadily. In the United States, elder advocates report more than 34,000 Alzheimer patients wander out of their homes or care facilities each year. Just last week, the body of 82-year-old Peter Beard, influential wildlife photographer and socialite who suffered from dementia, was found in a remote woods in the East End of Long Island a month after he wandered away from his home. There are no allegations of wrongdoing related to his death.
When, however, caregivers and care facilities are charged with supervision of dementia patients, they owe a duty of care to protect them from the dangers of wandering off. If you have a loved one injured when wandering off a facility or away from an in-home caregiver, report the injuries to the authorities but always seek counsel such as the elder abuse lawyers at Evans Law Firm in order to pursue all available remedies against those who should be held accountable for lack of supervision or monitoring. Our attorneys know how to investigate these cases and what remedies are available to the victims. The only way to impress upon healthcare providers the importance of keeping our loved ones safe is to hold those providers legally responsible when their negligence, neglect, or lack of supervision causes harm.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one is or has been injured wandering off from a caregiver or nursing home or been the victim of any other form of elder or nursing home abuse in Marin 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.
