Losing a family member after something went wrong in a nursing home can leave you wondering whether their death was unavoidable or whether poor care played a part. When the explanation you receive does not answer those questions, it may be worth looking more closely at what happened.
Shore Law represents families dealing with serious nursing home abuse and neglect. A Toledo nursing home abuse lawyer can review the care your loved one received and help determine whether failures at the facility may have contributed to their death.
A Toledo Nursing Home Wrongful Death Lawyer can also examine records that are easy to miss in an ordinary chart review. Shore Law founder Megan Shore has a background in nursing home software consulting and forensic medical record auditing, allowing our team to look at electronic records and the data behind them as part of the investigation.
How Can a Toledo Nursing Home Wrongful Death Lawyer Help?
A wrongful death case begins with working out what happened before your loved one died.
A Toledo personal injury lawyer from Shore Law can review medical records, care plans, medication records, incident reports, staffing information, and other evidence surrounding the resident’s condition.
We then look at whether the care provided matched what the resident needed and whether any failure may have caused or contributed to the death.
When Can Nursing Home Neglect Lead to a Wrongful Death Claim?
A death in a nursing home does not automatically mean somebody was negligent.
Ohio law allows a wrongful death action when a person’s death results from a wrongful act, neglect, or default that would have allowed the injured person to bring a claim if they had survived. Ohio Revised Code § 2125.01 sets out that basic rule.
For a nursing home case, the question is usually whether poor care contributed to the resident’s death rather than whether the resident already had serious health problems.
What Evidence Can Show What Happened?
Medical records are an important starting point, but they are not always the whole story.
Care plans can show how much help a resident needed with mobility, food, hydration, medication, wound care, or supervision. Incident reports, hospital records, witness accounts, photographs, and staffing records may provide additional context.
Shore Law can also examine electronic health record data. Depending on the system and the records available, metadata may help show when information was entered or changed and which user accessed a chart.
Why Electronic Records Can Matter
A printed chart may not show everything that happened behind the scenes.
Electronic systems can sometimes contain audit information showing when an entry was created, updated, or accessed. That can matter when the timing of documentation does not appear to match the events described in the chart.
It does not mean that every late or changed entry was improper. The point is to understand how the record was created before drawing conclusions about what happened.
What Types of Neglect Can Contribute to a Resident’s Death?
Fatal nursing home cases can involve many different forms of care.
A resident who needs help changing position may develop serious pressure injuries if that assistance is not provided consistently. Problems with hydration, nutrition, medication, or wound care can also become serious when they are not noticed or addressed.
Falls, wandering, infections, aspiration, and delayed medical treatment may also need to be investigated depending on the resident’s condition and care plan.
A nursing home wrongful death lawyer serving Toledo can compare those events with the resident’s medical history rather than assuming that a poor outcome proves negligence.
Who Can File an Ohio Nursing Home Wrongful Death Claim?
Ohio does not generally allow each family member to file a separate wrongful death lawsuit.
Under Ohio Revised Code § 2125.02, the action is brought in the name of the deceased person’s personal representative for the benefit of qualifying family members and other next of kin.
A surviving spouse, children, and parents are generally presumed to have suffered damages from the death. Other next of kin may also have rights depending on the circumstances.
How Long Do You Have to File?
Ohio generally requires a wrongful death action to be started within two years after the person’s death.
That is the general wrongful death deadline. Other claims connected with the same events can have different timing rules, so it is important not to assume that every part of the case follows the same two-year period.
Starting the investigation earlier can also make it easier to obtain records, locate witnesses, and preserve electronic information.
Can Medical Negligence Claims Have a Different Deadline?
Yes.
Some nursing home claims qualify as medical claims under Ohio law, particularly when they arise from medical diagnosis, treatment, skilled nursing care, or a resident’s plan of care.
Ohio Revised Code § 2305.113 generally applies a one-year limitation period to medical claims and also contains a four-year statute of repose, subject to statutory exceptions.
That does not simply replace the wrongful death deadline. A case may involve a wrongful death claim as well as separate survival or medical claims, and each needs to be considered on its own timeline.
What Compensation Can Be Available in a Wrongful Death Case?
Ohio wrongful death damages focus primarily on what surviving family members lost because of the death.
Depending on the circumstances, recoverable damages under Ohio law can include:
- Loss of financial support and services
- Loss of companionship, care, guidance, protection, and other aspects of the relationship
- Loss of prospective inheritance
- Mental anguish suffered by qualifying family members
- Reasonable funeral and burial expenses
There is no fixed amount for these losses. The evidence needs to show how the death affected the individual family members involved.
What Happens to Medical Bills and Losses Before Death?
Not every loss belongs inside the wrongful death claim itself.
Ohio law also allows certain claims belonging to an injured person to survive their death. Ohio Revised Code § 2305.21 provides for the survival of causes of action involving injuries to a person.
Depending on the circumstances, a separate survival claim may address harm the resident experienced before death, including losses that are distinct from the family’s wrongful death damages.
A Toledo nursing home death claim lawyer can determine how those different claims fit together rather than putting every loss into one category.
How Shore Law Investigates Nursing Home Records
Shore Law takes a particularly close look at electronic healthcare records in nursing home cases.
Megan Shore has experience auditing medical records and metadata for issues involving late documentation, changes to records, and user access. The firm also reviews electronic systems to understand what information was available to staff at the time care was being provided.
That technical review can be useful when the timing of chart entries matters or when the written record does not fully explain what happened.
Our team has more than 40 years of combined legal experience and has recovered more than $250 million for clients. Past results do not guarantee the outcome of another case.
How Does a Contingency Fee Work?
Shore Law handles nursing home injury and wrongful death cases on a contingency fee basis.
You do not pay an hourly legal fee for us to begin investigating the case. Our legal fee is tied to obtaining a financial recovery.
We explain the agreement and how case expenses are handled before representation begins so your family understands how the arrangement works.
Talk to a Toledo Nursing Home Wrongful Death Lawyer
You do not need to know exactly what caused your loved one’s death before asking questions.
Shore Law can review the medical chart, electronic records, care plans, and other available evidence to determine whether nursing home abuse or neglect may have played a part.
Contact Shore Law for a free consultation with a Toledo nursing home wrongful death lawyer to discuss what happened and what options may be available to your family.
