In the early morning hours last Sunday, an 86-year old man,
reportedly suffering from dementia, rolled down a short flight of
stairs in his wheelchair at a nursing home and died.
The man went through at least one security door, eventually getting to the area
where he suffered his injuries.
Because
the man died from other than natural causes, his death is being
investigated by police, who are saying unofficially that the death was
almost surely an accident.
Police
say there is a very narrow timeline between the last time the
wheelchair-bound man was seen by attendants and his time of death — 20
minutes or less. They also say the alarm system the nursing home uses to let them know if a patient has left a certain area was working
and did perform as it was supposed to. For more, read the story.
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Robert W. Carter, Jr. is a Virginia attorney whose law practice is
dedicated to protecting the rights of the victims of nursing
home and assisted living neglect and abuse in Richmond, Roanoke,
Norfolk, Lynchburg, Danville, Charlottesville, and across Virginia.
