It is common to hear of the neglect and abuse of nursing home residents, but it is not often elderly suicide is addressed. While a significant amount of nursing home residents do not attempt or commit suicide, depression among the elderly in care facilities is rather prominent, ranging between twelve and fifty percent of those in care.
Pintas & Mullins, a Chicago-based personal injury law firm that specializes in nursing home negligence, explains that the nature of long-term care facilities is enough in itself to bring on depression. For example, the firm noted in a recent blog post that “residents are generally inactive, suffer from wide ranges of cognitive and physical ailments, lack personal autonomy, and are constantly confronted with sickness and death.”
In certain cases, the depression onset by the nature of nursing home facilities drives residents to exhibit suicidal behaviors. The blog post by Pintas & Mullins discusses the case of Del Rosa Villa v. Kathleen Sebelius, following the suicide of a nursing home resident resident who was pegged as high-risk for suicide. The Del Rosa Villa facility was eventually fined for prescribing the resident a sedative known to increase suicidal thoughts in elderly patients and neglecting to properly and regularly monitor his behavior.
To read more about Del Rosa Villa v. Kathleen Sebelius, advice for families with loved ones in long-term care, or reasons for liability in suicide lawsuits against nursing homes, please follow this link to our source.