Choking & Aspiration Lawyers Alabama
People in a hospital, group home or adult day care, nursing home, long-term care facility, or other facilities can be injured or pass away because of a preventable choking or aspiration incident. Staff members at these facilities are responsible for identifying individuals who may be at risk for aspiration or choking and take steps to ensure they are protected.
If a care facility fails to properly monitor residents who have demonstrated a higher risk of choking or aspiration than others and implement appropriate safeguards, the facility and its staff members may be liable for injuries sustained if a resident chokes or aspirates. Such failures are considered negligence, and the facility and any negligent employees can be held legally liable for your loved one’s injury or death.
If you’re overwhelmed and don’t know what to do, just remember that you aren’t alone. Our Alabama choking and aspiration lawyers can evaluate your case and advise you of your legal options for seeking legal damages. At Marsh | Rickard | Bryan, LLC our lawyers have extensive experience working with families of choking and aspiration victims, and we’ll fight to help you get the compensation you deserve.
Alabama Care Facilities Have A Responsibility To Prevent Patient Choking
Facilities are required to have individual care plans for each resident. These care plans include details about which patients are at risk for aspiration or choking or who need assistance eating or drinking. Negligence that results in choking can involve a failure to indicate choking risk on a care plan or failure to update the care plan. Other forms of negligence include failure of the facility to provide enough staff to help residents eat (preventing choking) or failure to properly supervise and monitor residents who could choke or aspirate.
Some of the more common conditions that may increase someone’s choking or aspiration risk include cognitive issues, like dementia, stroke, intellectual disabilities, certain types of cancer, and Alzheimer’s Disease. Or, perhaps, the individual has been diagnosed with dysphagia. These patients have difficulty with swallowing, or oral intake of food or liquids, for a multitude of reasons that can include cognitive or physical impairments.
These at-risk patients may inhale substances that occlude or block their airway, causing brain damage due to a lack of oxygen. If the patient inhales the food, drink, or their own vomit, they could also aspirate or develop aspiration pneumonia. This condition is an inflammation of the lungs that happens after someone inhales a foreign substance, and can lead to infection.
Legal Help For Choking Or Aspiration Victims
If you or someone you love choked or aspirated because of someone else’s negligence, our Alabama choking and aspiration lawyers want to hear your story. We can review your medical records and evidence in the case and give you information about your legal options, including filing a suit for compensation. Contact Marsh | Rickard | Bryan, LLC, today for a free consultation.
