Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney Blog | Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP

The father of a woman who died as a result of nursing home negligence has filed a lawsuit against Milwaukee-based Extendicare Homes, Inc, claiming that the company cheated thousands of residents out of promised care. The lawsuit seeks class-action status for all residents at Extendicare nursing homes in the state of Washington since 2004.

The man's daughter, a woman aged 49, was in one of the company's homes recovering from a stroke. After less than 24 hours in the hospital, she died when her tracheal tube clogged with mucus, causing oxygen starvation and brain death. The suit says she had been left alone for hours, and was insufficiently monitored.

The potential class action suit alleges that Extendicare was essentially running a fraudulent operation, promising care that it had no intention of providing. The 15 homes were cited for a total of 278 deficiencies in care in 2007, an average of almost 19 per home.

The lawsuit is an attempt to strike at the heart of corporatized elder care. As long as nursing home operators can count their profits from all residents, and their losses only from individuals whose families are able to successfully prove deficient care, it is possible for them to grind out their profit using an inhuman calculus of acceptable loss, but if lawsuits force companies to pay for the deficient care they provide to all residents, such an equation becomes impossible.

If you have lost a loved one as a result of deficient nursing home care, contact an experienced nursing home lawyer at Pomerantz, Perlbgerger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free initial consultation.