The family of a disabled man is suing the nursing home where he lived for multiple counts of negligence in connection with the man’s death. 33-year-old Robert Young was a resident at Standifer Place (Tennessee) and required 24-hour care due to a brain injury he sustained as an infant. Last November, the facility rushed Young to a nursing home for reason’s listed as a seizure. In reality Young sustained a skull fracture. Local police are investigating this matter as a homicide.
In addition to the wrongful death count, the family’s lawsuit also claims the facility failed to notify them of his injury and subsequent death. Consequently, Mr. Young was buried in a pauper’s grave and his family was denied their ability to say a last goodbye.
If this story proves to be true, Standifer Place has not only violated the trust a family has in it when they placed their loved one in the facility, but also violated federal regulations regarding notification of family members when there is a change in their loved one’s medical condition.
The fact that this nursing home chose not to notify Mr. Young’s family both after he was taken to the emergency room and after they learned of his death is, at the very least, evidence that this facility was not following laws important to patient care.
Read more about this incident of alleged nursing home negligence here.