Broken Bones in Nursing Homes
- Reviewed By
Anthony C. Lanzone, Founding Partner
Broken bones in nursing homes often trigger a downward spiral of health complications that reduces residents’ quality of life and increases mortality by as much as 30 percent during the following 12 months. Nursing homes have a duty to provide a safe, hazard-free environment and care that promotes independence and a high quality of life. Broken bones in nursing homes are often a red flag for abuse or neglect.
Table of Contents:
- Broken Bones Are a Serious Problem in Nursing Homes
- What Causes Broken Bones in Nursing Homes?
- Compensation for Broken Bones from Nursing Home Abuse and Negligence
- Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Nursing Home Fracture?
- What Our Nursing Home Bone Fracture Lawyers Can Do for You
- Let Our Attorneys Help with Your Nursing Home Broken Bone Case Today
Broken Bones Are a Serious Problem in Nursing Homes
Due to underlying health conditions, age, and medications, elderly adults are often susceptible to incurred fractures in the event they are allowed to fall. For many families, preventing falls and fractures is the primary reason for placing someone in a nursing home. You should be able to trust a nursing home to protect your loved one. Still, nursing home residents are twice as likely to fall as the general population, with an average of 1.7 falls per resident per year, according to the Journal of the American Medical Directors’ Association.
Broken bones can cause serious long-term complications in older adults, including permanent disabilities, chronic pain, and death. Nursing homes have a duty to prevent falls and fractures. They must also provide appropriate therapy when these incidents and injuries occur so that residents can maintain their independence for as long as possible. Staff must assess a resident’s fall risk and health status upon admission and develop a care plan to prevent injuries such as broken bones.
After a resident falls, staff must contact emergency medical services if there is a potential for fractures. Staff should then update the care plan as needed to prevent similar incidents. Common fractures in older adults include the following:
- Wrist
- Legs
- Vertebrae
- Pelvis
- Hips
What You Should Know About Hip Fractures
Hip fractures are serious injuries that often trigger a chain reaction that precipitates permanent disabilities, rapid health declines, and premature death. The injured adult may develop an abnormal gait, fear falling again, and reduce their activity. Such inaction can create a loss of muscle and bone mass and increased frailty.
Quality of life following a hip fracture may be substantially lower, and many older adults never return to their previous level of function. The mortality rate in older adults who break their hips increases by 30 percent during the 12 months following the fracture and by 40 percent during the first three years, according to the Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research.
A nursing home’s duty to promote independence and the highest possible quality of life doesn’t change just because a resident fractures a hip. Residents with such an injury have the best chance of recovering if they receive rehabilitation, therapy, and counseling. Failure to provide these services may amount to negligence.
Most importantly, nursing homes are responsible for preventing hip fractures from even occurring through appropriate supervision, assistance, and medical treatment.
What Causes Broken Bones in Nursing Homes?
The most common cause of broken bones in nursing home residents is falling. Older adults are more likely to fall than younger people, and more likely to break a bone when it happens. Aging adults are more susceptible to broken bones because of hormonal changes during the aging process, reduced physical activity, and health conditions such as diabetes, which can cause osteoporosis. Some medications also contribute to bone loss, such as steroids and heartburn medications.
Health conditions and polypharmacy can also increase the risk of falling. Vision problems, reduced physical activity, muscle weakness, and arthritis are common health conditions among the elderly that increase the risk of falling. Medications can cause dizziness, blurred vision, and drowsiness, all of which can raise fall risks. Hypertension medications can increase fall risk by as much as 80 percent, and this effect is even more pronounced in residents with dementia.
Because nursing homes specialize in elderly care, they know these risks, yet they often fail to prioritize fall prevention.
How Can a Nursing Home Prevent Falls that Cause Broken Bones?
A nursing home must assess every resident upon admission to identify fall risks and implement a care plan to protect them from falls. An effective fall prevention plan should include the following:
- Supervision
- Assistance with activities of daily living
- An environment free of trip hazards
- Assistive devices for mobility
- A toileting program
- Restorative care
Establishing a care plan is insufficient if staff fail to consistently follow it. Also, the care plan needs to contain preventive measures reasonably calculated to limit a resident’s risk for falls.
One instance of straying from the care plan can cause a resident to suffer a life-altering fall. Our California nursing home neglect lawyers have often found that nursing homes are so understaffed that they cannot reliably follow fall prevention plans.
Common Scenarios that Cause Falls
One of the most common reasons nursing home residents fall is that they press their call button for assistance with a daily activity, such as using the restroom, but no one answers. Thus, they attempt to perform the activity unassisted, and they fall. Falls also arise from the following nursing home negligence:
- Wandering and elopement
- Failure to provide appropriate assistive devices
- Incorrect wheelchair transfer techniques
- Wet or slippery floors
- Poorly maintained floors
- Throw rugs
- Clutter in walking areas
- Poor lighting
- Overmedication, especially chemical restraints
Once a resident falls and breaks a bone, the risk of falling again increases. Older people do not recover from broken bones as well as younger individuals. They may suffer from chronic pain and weakness that never goes away, causing an abnormal gait and reduced balance.
Breaking a bone in a nursing home can also create a fear of falling, and some residents reduce their physical activity to protect themselves. This can result in weakened muscles, bone loss, and depression, increasing the risk of another fall. Nursing homes should provide physical therapy and counseling after residents fall to help them return to normal functioning.
Causes of Broken Bones Other than Falls
Broken bones in nursing homes may occur from various types of nursing home abuse and neglect, including the following:
- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Resident-on-resident violence
- Failure to assist residents with impaired vision
- Improper therapy or exercise techniques
- Improper transfer techniques
- Automobile accidents
- Inadequate care
A nursing home’s duty to promote the highest possible levels of independence and quality of life includes implementing exercise and physical therapy regimens to strengthen muscles and increase or maintain bone mass.
Proper medication management is also crucial. Polypharmacy is common in elderly nursing home residents, but physicians should choose a regimen that supports bone health to the fullest extent possible. They also should monitor medication side effects and make adjustments if bone loss occurs, particularly in residents who already have impaired bone mass.
Nursing homes are often evasive about the cause of broken bones. If your loved one has suffered a broken bone and the nursing home ghosts you or only gives you vague answers, the staff may be hiding something. We can get answers for you and hold the nursing home accountable for abuse or negligence.
Compensation for Broken Bones from Nursing Home Abuse and Negligence
You may be entitled to the following damages if your loved one suffers broken bone injuries in a nursing home:
- Economic damages: Compensate for the monetary costs of broken bones, including current and future medical expenses, lost wages, and costs associated with transferring to a new facility
- Non-economic damages: Compensate for the subjective costs of broken bones, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, impairment, and inconvenience
- Punitive damages: Awarded to punish the defendants and deter others from similar conduct when you can prove the nursing home injured your loved one through reckless, oppressive, malicious, or fraudulent conduct
- Wrongful death damages: Awarded to the family when a broken bone causes death, including funeral expenses, burial expenses, the surviving spouse or children’s loss of love and companionship. The survivors cannot collect for the pain and suffering of the decedent or the decedent’s medical expenses under the wrongful death claim. The survivors can only collect for their loss of love and companionship that they miss out on because of the wrongful death.
Total compensation available for broken bones is specific to your case details. The amount depends on the medical costs, the severity of the injury, the impact on the victim’s life, the nursing home’s misconduct, the strength of your evidence, and the skill of your attorney. At Lanzone Morgan, LLP, we fight for the maximum compensation available and will not settle for less.
Our Broken Bone Case Results
We have recovered over $200 million in compensation for victims of nursing home abuse and their families, including significant settlements and verdicts in cases involving broken bones, such as the following:
- $2.3 million verdict against Country Villa Wilshire Convalescent Center for nursing home neglect that caused the client to suffer a dislocated shoulder and fractured pelvis, resulting in chronic pain and permanent disabilities
- $1.3 million verdict against Pacific Coast Post Acute for a client who suffered a broken leg while showering her mother because the nursing home refused.
- $900,000 settlement for the family of an elderly man who died after he fell from his wheelchair in a transportation van because he was not properly strapped in
- $800,000 settlement for a client who developed an unexplained compound fracture at an assisted living facility
- $500,000 settlement for a client who suffered a fractured arm from multiple elopements and falls in a residential care facility
- $450,000 settlement for a client who fractured her hip from a nursing home fall and required surgery
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Nursing Home Fracture?
You may be able to hold the following parties liable for broken bones and related nursing home abuse injuries:
- Doctors
- Nurses
- CNAs
- Therapists
- Nursing home owners
When you hire Lanzone Morgan, LLP, we will conduct a thorough investigation to identify all the liable parties. This process ensures every responsible party faces accountability and pays full compensation. We are proven trial lawyers relentlessly committed to safeguarding the rights and dignity of the elderly through litigation.
“Our firm only represents residents of nursing homes, former residents, and their families. We are dedicated to representing the consumers and the victims of elder abuse. We are dedicated to holding nursing homes accountable and making sure that they provide quality care to their residents.”
What Our Nursing Home Bone Fracture Lawyers Can Do for You
Our California nursing home abuse law firm is one of the leading elder abuse law firms in the United States. Our attorneys have over 75 years of combined experience with a proven track record of holding nursing homes accountable. Anthony Lanzone and James Morgan founded our firm in 2008 to give vulnerable adults a voice and advocate for their right to quality care.
Anthony Lanzone started cultivating his commitment to vulnerable adults in childhood, when he became enamored with David versus Goliath stories in which good overcame evil despite nearly impossible odds. Vulnerable residents often accept abuse because they rely on their abusers for care. For Anthony Lanzone, there is no greater cause than standing up to wealthy nursing home corporations on behalf of these vulnerable individuals.
James Morgan has over 20 years of experience in multiple state and federal courts championing the cause of elderly and dependent adults. He is well-known for his remarkable ability to make clients and their family members feel comfortable and reassured.
Nursing home abuse is all we do, so we handle cases with extreme efficiency and a level of experience you won’t find in other law firms.
Let Our Attorneys Help with Your Nursing Home Broken Bone Case Today
If your loved one experienced one or more broken bones in a nursing home, it may be a warning sign of nursing home abuse or neglect. Our compassionate nursing home broken bones attorneys can help you identify and hold the responsible parties accountable. We charge no upfront fees, and you pay nothing unless we win.
Call (888) 887-9777 or contact us online to start your path to justice.
- Fact-Checked
This content has been legally reviewed and approved by nursing home abuse attorney, Anthony Lanzone. Anthony holds notable memberships with professional organizations including the American Association for Justice and Consumer Attorneys of California.
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- Fact-Checked
This content has been legally reviewed and approved by nursing home abuse attorney, Anthony Lanzone. Anthony holds notable memberships with professional organizations including the American Association for Justice and Consumer Attorneys of California.