Should All Nursing Home Deaths In Be Reported To Coroners?

Did you know that some states have laws that require all nursing homes and adult care centers to report resident deaths to the county coroner for review? And that in many cases, the county coroner is able to alert the correct officials when he or she suspects that an elderly nursing home resident died as a result of neglect or abuse?

Unfortunately, Texas is not one of those states. Here, we can assume that some deaths caused by nursing home neglect and abuse fall through the cracks simply because nursing homes are not required to report deaths to local officials. Though it is sad to say, many states, including Texas, assume that the elderly in our nursing homes are meant to die because they are older and it is natural – and that no mistreatment took place.

However, in other states that have instated laws requiring a coroner to be involved in nursing home deaths, they are already discovering that some deaths at nursing homes are prematurely caused by neglect and abuse. In one example, a coroner in Illinois found that a nursing home patient died because he choked on a piece of ham. A further investigation revealed that the man should have been on a special diet and that his care plan required a staff member to be in the room while he ate. In some states, the coroner is required to go to the nursing home where the death occurred and interview staff members and nurses who were involved with the patient. In other states, the nursing home is required to fill out paperwork and send it to the coroner following a resident death.

In Missouri, one coroner said that of the 30 to 40 nursing home deaths he investigates per year, about ten percent may involve abuse and neglect and are investigated further.