Four Ways Authorities Miss Texas Nursing Home Negligence Deaths

This month we examined the issue of how cases of fatal nursing home neglect and abuse are simply not often caught by doctors, hospitals, and authorities. Although we’d like to think that our elder loved ones are examined thoroughly and accurately by physicians after their death, new evidence found by recent investigations shows that hundreds if not thousands of nursing home deaths caused by accidents, abuse, and negligence are categorized as natural.

How and why do these mistakes happen? Here are four reasons:

1. Hospitals no longer regularly perform autopsies on seniors. In fact, in the last forty years, the rate of autopsies performed on people over 65 has plummeted from 37 percent to just 17 percent. 
2. Physicians make far too many mistakes when it comes to stating the cause of death in seniors. In some cases, doctors may not even see the body of the senior before filling out a death certificate. 
3. Coroners rarely investigate cases that a doctor has categorized as natural. 
4. Both doctors and medical examiners often assume that seniors die of natural causes, especially if that senior has been living in a nursing home.

If your elder loved one has died while residing in a Texas nursing home, it is key that you understand the cause of death and the events that led up to the death. Was your senior loved one’s death the result of nursing home neglect or nursing home abuse? Talk to a Dallas nursing home neglect attorney today to discuss the specifics of your case.