Wrongful Death in Nursing Homes

What is a wrongful death lawsuit against a nursing home?
Quick Answer: When a nursing home resident wrongfully dies due to negligence, the family can bring a nursing home wrongful death lawsuit. A nursing home wrongful death case can bring closure, justice, and monetary compensation for grieving family members. Common injuries resulting in nursing home wrongful death claims involve bed sores, falls, broken bones, and untreated infection. Nursing home wrongful death cases regularly settle in the range of $100,000 to $750,000 depending on case facts.

Our Nursing Home Wrongful Death Lawyers Can Help

A nursing home wrongful death case can bring justice and closure to grieving family members. Additionally, a nursing home wrongful death settlement can deter the negligent nursing home from harming other residents. A wrongful death claim against a nursing home is about righting a wrong and getting justice for neglected residents who have suffered. Our experienced nursing home wrongful death attorneys are ready to help you navigate the legal process to hold the offending facility accountable for their wrongdoing.

Free Wrongful Death Lawsuit Case Consultation

At Senior Justice Law Firm, our firm focus is on nursing home abuse litigation. This is our niche practice area.

Unfortunately, most of our nursing home negligence cases involve wrongful death allegations. Let our decades of experience assist you and your family in achieving justice today. Our team of experienced and compassionate attorneys have undoubtedly handled cases similar to the one you’ve experienced. Put our knowledge to work for your family.

Our nursing home wrongful death lawyers have helped thousands of families that are grieving, just like yours.

Live chat with our office now, or give us a call at 888-375-9998. All consultations are free, and if we accept your nursing home wrongful death case, we require no retainer or out of pocket payment from you. We work exclusively on contingency fee, meaning we only get paid if we make a financial recovery for you.

Let our firm help your family get answers, and justice. Contact Senior Justice Law Firm today for a free nursing home wrongful death case consultation.

Understanding Nursing Home Wrongful Death Lawsuits & Settlements

Nursing homes should provide adequate care for our elderly and vulnerable. Unfortunately, many suffer from poor care in long-term care facilities due to understaffing and a lack of appropriately budgeting.

When a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect dies, this does not mean the facility is judgment proof. Instead, the decedent’s family members are able to bring the case against the negligent facility in the form of a nursing home wrongful death case.

What is a Wrongful Death?

If a nursing home provides negligent care to a resident, and that negligent care causes their death, the resident’s family can bring a wrongful death case.

People often confuse wrongful death with intentional, deliberate actions, like murder. A nursing home wrongful death usually arises out of negligence, indifference, oversight, or reckless conduct. Simply put, a wrongful death does not have to arise out of an intent to harm a resident.

Most nursing home wrongful deaths occur due to preventable accidents and poor care.

Roughly 300,000 wrongful deaths in the United States occur from preventable nursing home or hospital injuries each year. Sadly, because of the age of nursing home residents, many wrongful death cases never get the justice they deserve because their death is dismissed as a result of old age or their underlying conditions.

If your loved one has suddenly died in the care of a nursing home, then it is very possible that their death could be considered preventable. As nursing home neglect lawyers, our firm routinely investigates facility wrongful death cases. Facilities will frequently withhold information from family members. We can leverage our experience and resources to get information that would otherwise not be available to family members with questions about their loved one’s treatment.

Below are some of the more common nursing home wrongful death cases that get litigated.

Examples of Common Wrongful Death Injuries in Nursing Homes

While there are many injuries that can occur at a nursing home, most wrongful death injuries fall into a few categories. The majority of these cases are a direct result of poor nursing home care, nurse negligence, or a lack of supervision and assistance.

Falls and Broken Bones

Deaths due to nursing home falls are the most common cause of nursing home wrongful death claims. Our attorneys excel in analyzing the preventability of nursing home patient falls.

In many cases, a nursing home wrongful death settlement amount is determined based on the severity of the fall and negligence that caused the fall.

Many nursing home falls can be prevented through appropriate fall preventative measures. The vast majority of nursing home residents are at risk for falls due to unsteady gait, confusion or a need for assistance with mobility.

While a resident’s fall might simply be an accident, it could also be the result of irresponsible nursing home care. Federal regulations require nursing homes to use fall prevention techniques to stop at-risk residents from falling. If the accident is found to be the fault of the nursing home and the resident dies as a result of their injuries, a wrongful death claim can be brought by the surviving family members.

Facilities will frequently lie to family members about how a resident fell. Any fall-related death should be investigated as a potential wrongful death matter. Click this link to learn more about nursing home liability for falls.

Weight Loss, Dehydration and Infection

Improper nutrition is one of the leading causes of wrongful death in nursing homes. Malnourishment and dehydration are caused by a lack of assistance with feeding and drinking in compromised residents.

Failing to appropriately react to a nursing home infection is another common cause of wrongful death. Infections occur regularly in skilled nursing facilities. However, if a nursing home misses obvious signs and symptoms of infection and allows the infection to worsen in a resident, a minor infection can turn into a fatal one.

Elderly, vulnerable residents at nursing homes experience malnutrition, dehydration, and infection more frequently than an average person. It is the facility’s job to monitor signs and symptoms of malnutriton, dehydration and infection, and respond appropriately. Failure to timely respond to these conditions can lead to a preventable death.

Medication Mistakes

Prescription drug errors are another frequent cause of wrongful deaths in nursing homes. Most nursing home residents take a variety of prescription drugs to address their medical conditions. Certain medications are deadly when mixed with other types, and sometimes, overworked staff may provide the wrong medication to the wrong resident, resulting in serious injuries. If a medication errors leads to the death of a resident, the family can pursue justice by means of a nursing home wrongful death lawsuit.

Any medication related wrongful deaths in a facility should be promptly investigated.

Bedsores

Another common cause of wrongful death in nursing homes is bed sores. Bed sores are caused by prolonged pressure on the skin and are unfortunately common in nursing home residents, particularly among bedridden residents who are not appropriately cared for.

Generally speaking, a bed sore should never develop in a healthcare facility. While bedsores are easily preventable, if they do develop, it is vital that they are treated during the early stages. If they are not properly handled, small bedsores can balloon in size and can lead to gruesome infections and premature death.

Bed sore wrongful death nursing home cases commonly involve sepsis, osteomyelitis, and other infection-related causes of death.

Red Flag Injuries Suggestive of Nursing Home Neglect

If your family member suffered any of the above injuries, live chat our nursing home wrongful death attorneys, or give us a call at 888-375-9998.

Suing a Nursing Home for Wrongful Death

While a lawsuit cannot bring back your loved one or take away the pain of their loss, bringing a case is a vital step towards ensuring that the families of the victims are not left to handle exorbitant costs left behind when a wrongful death occurs. It also holds nursing homes accountable for their behavior and can improve the care of other residents.

Well before a trial, our attorneys will provide an estimate to the victim’s family to help them decide whether they wish to continue with the case or reach a nursing home wrongful death settlement. It is ultimately the family’s decision, however, our attorneys will help you determine a reasonable range of compensation. If the case does not settle, the case will proceed to an arbitration or trial. At trial, the attorneys will present the case to a jury or arbitration panel, explaining the loss of the decedent and how it could have been prevented through appropriate nursing home care.

Available Damages in a Nursing Home Wrongful Death Suit

A nursing home lawsuit can award compensation for medical bills and other expenses that resulted from the injuries leading up to the nursing home resident’s untimely death. The compensation can also cover the costs that occurred as a result of the death, like funeral costs. Additionally, in many venues, the survivors of the deceased are able to claim pain and suffering for losing their family member. In some venues, a jury evaluates the pain and suffering of the decedent, and not the family members.

When analyzing compensatory wrongful death damages, most courts instruct the jury to consider the life expectancy of the decedent before the injury, and the survivor(s) relationship with the decedent.

Additionally, a court can award punitive damages as well. Punitive damages are awarded to the victim’s family to punish the long-term care facility. When the nursing home is responsible for the death of one of their residents, punitive damages incentivize future change by forcing nursing homes to consider the costs that further lawsuits would cause if they do not reform their methods. Punitive measures also provide a level of justice for the family members of the victim by ensuring that the nursing homes do not get off unscathed.

Settling Your Wrongful Death Nursing Home Lawsuit

Statistically speaking, nursing home wrongful death settlement amounts are usually determined through negotiations, rather than going to trial. Due to the expense involved in medical litigation, including expert witnesses, most nursing home negligence cases do not go to trial. Instead, the defendant agrees to pay the victim’s family a sum of money and the case settles.

In the event your case settles, the damages will not be apportioned in the above damage categories. Instead, the defendant nursing home will write a single, lump sum check to resolve any and all claims. These settlement awards ensure that family members of the victim are compensated fairly for their loss, but also prevents the family from having to go through the trial process.

Many families prefer to settle the case without a trial and our attorneys can usually accommodate this request.

Examples of Nursing Home Wrongful Death Settlements

Nursing home settlements can range from $30,000 to over $1,000,000. However, wrongful death lawsuits against nursing homes represent only a fraction of that figure, which also includes nursing home abuse and neglect. The severity of the lawsuit, however, can easily affect the overall settlement award. In the event of gross negligence or punitive conduct, a higher figure will almost certainly be met.

In recent history, there have been several wrongful death lawsuits against nursing homes that received settlements for well above the national average. Large settlements are not limited to a certain part of the country either. If the court finds that there has been a wrongful death, then the settlement will properly compensate for the loss.

Here are just a few examples of settlements throughout the United States where a nursing home was found liable in a wrongful death case:

In 2025, Senior Justice Law Firm obtained a jury verdict of $10.5 million for an assisted living facility wrongful death case. The decedent suffered a preventable fall due to the facility’s negligent care.

In 2023, Senior Justice Law Firm partners Michael Brevda and Will Sarubbi obtained a $12.5 million jury verdict for an assisted living resident that developed a cavernous stage 4 pressure ulcer. The medical evidence showed that the stage 4 bed sore was a significant contributing cause to the plaintiff’s wrongful death. This $12,500,000 is the largest pressure sore wrongful death case ever reported in Florida.

In 2019, a Westboro, Massachusetts nursing home was ordered to pay $1 million for the wrongful death of an 89-year-old resident who succumbed to her injuries after a fall. The resident had a history of falling at the facility, which had set up a system to alert the nursing home staff when the resident arose from where she was sitting. However, that system had not been activated when the resident fell. Furthermore, once her injuries were discovered, the nursing home was tardy in responding to the emergency, failing to promptly seek proper care. That nursing home had been sued previously for a similar death in 2015, where the facility was fined $75,000, implying that the large settlement four years later was a result of punitive action taken against the nursing home for failing to adapt safer nursing home procedures.

In 2019, a nursing home in Port Jefferson Station, New York paid $1 million after a resident choked to death when the nursing home forgot to put in the resident’s dentures. The resident had a specific list of foods he was able to eat (pureed foods), but the nurse in charge neglected that chart in addition to forgetting to put in his dentures. Shockingly, that nursing home attempted to sue the family of the victim for unpaid fees.

In 2012, a Georgia nursing home was ordered to pay $43.4 million after a wrongful death at their facility. The lawsuit was filed after an 80-year-old man died after a series of falls. The nursing home failed to alert a doctor or the man’s family of his injuries. The lawsuit revealed the nursing home’s poor ownership, which restricted much of the staff because of inadequate funding.

Seven years later, a California nursing home was hit with a similar penalty: $42.5 million for the wrongful death of one of their residents. Of the $42.5 million, $35 million was classified as punitive damages. The verdict came after a 77-year-old was routinely drugged without her consent. The drug made it difficult for her to eat, and she was found to be choking on food after she received the medication. She died of aspiration pneumonia, in which food is inhaled into the lungs, causing infection and inflammation.

According to litigation statistics, the average nursing home wrongful death settlement in 2022 is $140,000. Many of these nursing home wrongful death settlements are confidential, so their case facts are unable to be publicly shared.

Preventing Wrongful Deaths

Filing a nursing home wrongful death lawsuit can help prevent future incidents at that specific nursing home. In addition to compensation for the economic damages (like bills accrued because of the death) and non-economic damages (to compensate for things like pain and suffering), a judge might also levy punitive damages as well. Through punitive damages, poor nursing homes must adapt their behaviors or suffer immense financial pressure. While punitive damages cost nursing homes a considerable amount, the cost of a settlement as a whole might force a nursing home to reconsider how they run the facility and prompt them to make positive changes in an effort to avoid further payouts. These damages for wrongful deaths, however, only punish the nursing home after the fact.

Intentional Understaffing is the Cause of Most Nursing Home Wrongful Deaths in the U.S.

In long-term care facilities, wrongful deaths are often caused by negligence, when staff at nursing homes do not provide ample attention to their residents. The root cause of this negligence, however, is not disdain for the residents on the part of the staff, but rather a nursing home that is poorly staffed overall. Simply put, understaffing causes nursing home mistakes. Many facilities are for-profit, which leads to cost cutting measures to maximize profits. Staffing issues can arise when the nursing home chooses profits over paying for staff. If you suspect intentional understaffing has led to negligence, contact a nursing home wrongful death attorney to investigate and hold the facility accountable.

Additionally, poor staffing could be a product of poor training. When staffing is not sufficient, the individuals responsible for training new staff might not be able to take the time to properly demonstrate good behaviors and habits. Poor training can then lead to poor medical care. Additionally, lack of staff can cause an absence of proper supervision in the nursing home.

Wrongful deaths are a possible consequence of nursing home abuse and neglect. If you or a loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, pursuing a lawsuit early will help prevent worse outcomes and can levy punitive damages against the offending nursing home before a deadly outcome arises.

When choosing a nursing home, it is best to find a highly rated facility that is well-staffed. While no nursing home is perfect, a nursing home that has proper staffing will offer a much lower chance of negligence, abuse, or wrongful death. Even if your loved one enters into a well-regarded nursing home, it is important to remember that no facility is perfect. These are a few of the hallmarks of abuse or neglect to keep an eye out for:

• Unexplained injuries, like cuts and bruises
• Broken bones
• Dirty and unclean appearance
• Anxiety and fear around nursing home staff
• Restrictive caregivers and refused visits

Many wrongful deaths have occurred after abuse and neglect were allowed to go unchecked, so it is important to report any suspicious signs before the problem gets worse.

How Do I Prove a Wrongful Death in a Nursing Home?

In civil cases, the plaintiff (the party bringing the wrongful death lawsuit) must convince a jury by “the greater weight of the evidence.” This means you do not have to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, like in criminal court. Instead, you only must slightly tip the scales in your favor with evidence.

Many judges describe this burden of proof as “the difference between 51% and 49%, with the 51% representing the “more persuasive and convincing force and effect of the entire evidence in the case.”

Imagine the scales of justice. The plaintiff puts evidence on one scale. The nursing home puts evidence on the other scale. If the plaintiff’s scale tips more than the nursing home’s scale, the plaintiff wins.

This means you do not have to conclusively link the nursing home’s negligence to your family member’s wrongful death. Instead, you only need to prove that the nursing home’s inactions probably killed your loved one.

Senior Justice Law Firm utilizes some of the best nursing home expert witnesses in the country to make this causal link. Oftentimes, when experts interpret the medical records, they can offer an opinion that a patient’s death was more likely than not linked to nursing home negligence. This is generally enough to meet the greater weight of the evidence standard required in to prove wrongful death in nursing home abuse cases.

Contact a Nursing Home Wrongful Death Attorney

At Senior Justice Law Firm, we narrowly focus on nursing home abuse cases.

If your family has lost a loved one because of the unacceptable behavior of a nursing home, your best next step is to reach out for legal representation. While seeking justice for the wrongful death of a loved one is a difficult process, having an experienced attorney on your side will give you the best chance at ensuring you get the compensation and justice you deserve.

A monetary settlement cannot bring back your loved one, but it does help to mitigate the suffering as well as alleviate any unnecessary financial burdens that may have arisen because of the wrongful death. It also sends a message to the negligent nursing home — you cannot get away with this kind of recklessness. By filing a lawsuit, you not only help future residents and their families by forcing nursing homes to change how they operate, but also help yourself by securing compensation and leaving the most stressful parts of the process in the hands of a competent legal professional.

We Want to be Your Nursing Home Wrongful Death Attorneys

We know what you are going through. Just about every family that retains our firm is going through the same thing. For that reason, we’ve made hiring our law firm an easy process. You’ve been through enough. Getting the right law firm on board should not be scary or nerve-racking.

We do not charge any out of pocket charges for fees or costs. Simply explain the case facts to our intake team and we will review the case and get back to you. If we can help you, we will sign up the case and begin requesting records. From there, we can better evaluate the potential claim. Best of all, we only receive compensation if you do. Our attorneys fees range from 33 1/3% to 40% of the total recovery. Because we handle these cases on contingency fee agreements, if we accept your case, it means we feel you have a good chance of making a financial recovery.

Senior Justice Law Firm has years of experience in handling cases involving nursing home abuse resulting in wrongful death. We would be happy to help you navigate this process. Reach out to us through our chat feature or call our firm today at 888-375-9998. If you prefer, you can also submit your information below.

We are truly sorry for your loss and empathize with what you are going through. We hope we can help your family pick up the pieces after a preventable tragedy occurs inside a healthcare facility.