The California Department of Public Health has fined the Community Hospital of San Bernardino $80,000 over a nursing home patient's death. The state says that the resident died on February 2, 2008 because the tubes connecting him to a ventilator had detached. The patient, who was suffering from emphysema, stopped breathing and died.
Health officials say that nursing staff was not aware that the tubes had come off because the machine's alarms were not turned on. Per the state's report, the patient died from inadequate nursing care. With this type of finding, there is the possibility that the patient's loved ones might decide to file a San Bernardino nursing home negligence claim over his California wrongful death.
Administrators have been working with the staff to make sure that this type of accident doesn't happen again. The nursing home has also improved staff training on how to properly care for patients using ventilators and document that care.
A ventilator is used to help a patient breathe. If a patient becomes disconnected from a ventilator, he or she can die, which is why it is so important that he/she is properly hooked up to the machine (that should be working correctly). Nursing staff must make sure that a patient doesn't accidentally become disconnected from a ventilator. In the event of an accidental disconnect, there must be measures in place to warn of this immediately so that the mistake can be fixed. Patients also cannot be intentionally disconnected from a ventilator without the proper consent.
It is a tragedy to lose a loved one because nursing home staff made a mistake or were negligent in other ways. If you that your loved one died because he/she did not receive the proper care at an assisted living facility, you may have grounds for filing a San Bernardino nursing home neglect lawsuit. If the death happened because the ventilator or one of its parts failed, you may have reason for a California products liability case against its manufacturer.
SAN BERNARDINO: $80,000 fine in patient's death at nursing home, The Press-Enterprise, June 29, 2011
SoCal nursing home fined $80k in patient death, Contra Costa Times/AP, June 29, 2011
Related Web Resources:
California Department of Public Health
Ventilator Disconnect and Death (PDF)
More Blog Posts:
Los Angeles Bedsore Lawsuit Claims LAC Medical Center Attempted to Conceal California Elder Neglect, California Injury Lawyers Blog, June 25, 2011
Los Angeles County Nursing Home Negligence?: Santa Monica Assisted Living Facility Fined $100,000 After Resident's Choking Death, California Injury Lawyers Blog, February 23, 2011
Los Angeles Nursing Home Negligence?: 94-Year-Old Woman Discovered in Freezer of Calabasas Nursing Home, California Injury Lawyers Blog, November 17, 2010
