$2 Million Settlement Caused by Dangerous Nursing Home Bedrails

Mr. Doe, 84, suffered from advanced dementia and lived in a nursing home. One morning, a nursing assistant found Mr. Doe lying in his bed with his head caught between the bed frame and side rail. Shortly after he was discovered, Mr. Doe was pronounced dead. The nursing home allegedly falsely reported to the medical examiner that Mr. Doe had died of cardiac arrest related to his hypertension.

A lawsuit against the nursing home alleged that it chose not to use safe bedrails that allowed for 2 3/8 inches of space between the mattress and the bedrails. The Doe family charged that the space between Mr. Doe’s bedrails and mattress was 7 inches, which allowed him to slide in between the mattress and rails, becoming trapped and strangled.

The lawsuit also alleged that the defendant nursing home had wrongfully chosen not to report that the actual cause in Mr. Doe’s death was bedrail strangulation.

Before trial, the parties settled this case for $2 million.

The attorneys representing the Doe family in this tragic case were Andrew C. Meyer and Robert M. Higgins.

Doe v. Roe Nursing Home, Confidential docket.

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling nursing home abuse lawsuits, nursing home negligence cases, nursing home abuse lawsuits, and wrongful death cases for individuals, families and loved ones who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 45 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Lincolnwood, Northbrook, South Barrington, Wheaton, Lombard, Westchester, Western Springs, Hickory Hills, Palos Heights, Lockport, New Lenox, Lemont, Matteson, Chicago Heights, Sauk Village, Lansing, Chicago (Greater Grand Crossing, East Side, Hegewisch, Wildwood, Beverly, Chicago Lawn, Archer Heights, Lawndale, East Garfield Park, Lakeview, West Town, River North, Edison Park, Chinatown), Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect, Long Grove, Gurnee, Grayslake, Highland Park and Brookfield, Ill.

Robert D. Kreisman has been an active member of the Illinois and Missouri bars since 1976.