South Carolina Nursing Home Lawsuit Looks to be First of Many

It was one of those stories that was buried underneath other headlines. While Americans were socially distancing, wearing masks, and avoiding unnecessary outdoor activities, COVID-19 was spreading like wildfire in American nursing homes. How did this happen? In some cases, it was an act of government that placed run-off COVID patients into nursing homes. In other cases, it was simply a matter of poor infectious-disease control. A lawsuit against Loris Rehab and Nursing Center alleges that the facility allowed COVID-19 to spread throughout causing the deaths of several patients.

Eighty-year-old Patient Dies of COVID-19

The lawsuit filed in Loris was filed on behalf of an 80-year-old woman who contracted the disease while in the nursing home and subsequently died as a result of that infection. The lawsuit claims that the nursing home’s negligence allowed the disease to spread from one patient to another leading to “a facility-wide infection” that “claimed the lives of several residents”.

The lawsuit alleges that the nursing home failed to implement necessary infection-control strategies. Such strategies should have been in place prior to the COVID outbreak since infection is a major concern in nursing facilities where residents are recovering from recent surgeries and other medical events. In other words, there should have been infection-control measures in place already regardless of whether there was a global pandemic going on. Since there was a global pandemic going on, those infection-control measures should have been more aggressive and instead, there is little evidence of any infection-control measures being taken at all.

While this article is about one lawsuit filed against one nursing home, nursing home negligence lawsuits in the wake of COVID-19 will become more prevalent as we hopefully near the end of this awful pandemic.

Employee With Symptoms Not Allowed to Go Home

There is a lot of head-scratching over why an employee who was showing symptoms of COVID-19, had a temperature, and appeared ill was prevented from going home after informing supervisors of her condition. The lawsuit further states that many staff members walked around the facility without wearing masks and contributed to the spread of the illness.

In a negligence action against a nursing home, the plaintiffs are required to show where the staff failed to provide the prevailing standard of care for the industry. This is especially true in cases where medical malpractice is alleged. Florida permits medical malpractice lawsuits against nursing homes, but they are muddled by various legislative attempts to protect the medical industry from lawsuits. Florida also permits negligence actions against nursing homes which are much easier to prove. If this lawsuit was filed in Florida, it would not be considered a medical malpractice lawsuit since wandering around a facility spreading disease does not require a medical decision.

Talk to a Miami Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

The Miami personal injury attorneys at the office of Alan Goldfarb, P.A. represent plaintiffs only in lawsuits against negligent nursing homes. Call our office today to schedule a free consultation and discuss your situation in greater detail.

Resource:

wmbfnews.com/2020/12/16/lawsuit-loris-nursing-homes-negligence-lead-facility-wide-illness-deaths/

https://www.goldfarbpa.com/miami-nurse-accuses-doctor-of-deliberately-infecting-her-with-covid/