Nursing homes in Philadelphia, PA, have a duty to protect their residents from harm. They must provide a safe and secure environment. Elopement is a form of nursing home abuse and neglect that can significantly endanger a patient. If your loved one wandered from a facility and suffered harm, Zavodnick & Lasky Personal Injury Lawyers can help.
Our Philadelphia elopement lawyers have more than eight decades of combined experience. We’ve recovered tens of millions in personal injury settlements and jury verdicts for injured victims and their families.
If a nursing home failed to protect your family member and caused them injury, contact our Philadelphia personal injury lawyers at (215) 875-7030 for a free consultation. Let us help you hold the nursing home accountable for its negligence and wrongdoing.
How Our Philadelphia Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Can Help You With an Elopement Injury Claim
If a nursing home patient leaves the facility unattended, they can sustain severe injuries. In the worst elopement cases, the patient does not survive. Our legal team at Zavodnick & Lasky Personal Injury Lawyers has extensive experience handling nursing home negligence and abuse claims.
When you hire our top-rated nursing home abuse lawyers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, you can trust that we will:
- Investigate your loved one’s case to determine why they were allowed to leave the nursing home unattended
- Hire expert witnesses and investigators to assist when necessary
- Gather evidence to establish negligence and liability
- Examine government records and nursing home reports for prior occurrences of elopement, abuse, and neglect
- Prepare all documents to file a claim against the nursing home
- Assess the extent of your loved one’s damages to determine how much their case is worth
- Handle all communications with the nursing home, insurance company, and other parties
- Negotiate a fair settlement or take the case to trial if that is the best way to protect your family member’s rights
Our award-winning lawyers have been recognized by Super Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers, and The American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys. We’ll level the playing field when you are fighting for fair compensation for the damages you suffered. Our legal team will provide compassionate and seasoned advice and guidance as we help you navigate the claims process.
Protect your rights and the rights of your loved one by talking with one of our attorneys. Call our law firm to schedule your free initial consultation with a Philadelphia nursing home abuse attorney.
What Is Nursing Home Elopement?
Elopement occurs when a nursing home patient leaves the facility without the nursing home’s knowledge. A patient should never be allowed to leave the nursing home unsupervised.
Unsupervised nursing home residents can be seriously injured if they leave the facility. They may be taken against their will, become lost, be hit by a vehicle, or experience a serious fall.
Nursing home patients may wander away from a facility for many reasons, including:
- Medications the patient takes result in an altered consciousness, so they are unaware of what they are doing.
- The patient is unfamiliar with their surroundings, so they become confused and leave the building.
- The patient is sick, injured, or scared, and they are searching for help.
- The resident wants to go home or to see their family.
- The patient has dementia, Alzheimer’s, or another psychological condition.
- The resident is hungry, thirsty, or needs assistance with personal care.
Residents in a nursing home may wander the halls. However, the facility must take reasonable precautions to prevent the residents from leaving the building.
Why Does Nursing Home Elopement Occur in Philadelphia, PA?
Elopement occurs for many reasons, and negligence is often the root cause.
Examples of negligence in nursing homes that could lead to elopement include:
- Failing to assess the risks of elopement adequately
- Understaffing the nursing home, which results in a lack of patient supervision
- Failing to develop and enforce procedures that prevent patients from wandering around unsupervised
- Not having sufficient security measures, such as window and door locks, door alarms, exit procedures, and security cameras
- Failing to identify a patient with a high risk for elopement
- Providing inadequate care that encourages patients to search for help
Nursing homes should have an emergency plan in place for elopement events. Staff members need to act quickly to notify authorities and initiate a search to locate the patient.
Recovering Damages in a Philadelphia Elopement Injury Claim
If your family member was injured because they were allowed to leave a nursing home without supervision, they may be entitled to compensation for damages. Damages in an elopement injury claim could include economic and non-economic damages. Our Philadelphia nursing home elopement lawyers can help you fight for a fair settlement to provide for your loved one’s recovery and care.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Philadelphia Elopement Attorneys
Nursing home elopement claims can be complicated personal injury cases. Having an experienced lawyer to handle your case improves your chances of success. Call Zavodnick & Lasky Personal Injury Lawyers for a free case review with one of our Philadelphia nursing home abuse lawyers.