Does Your State Allow Elder Abuse Claims After Death?

In some states, elder abuse claims cannot be pursued after the victim has passed away.  In one recent case, a Minnesota nursing home was under attack after there were 15 alleged physical and/or sexual assaults of residents.  Many of the victims and their family members pursued lawsuits, but three years later, all of the lawsuits had been dismissed because the victims had died. This law known as Survival Law, mandates that a personal injury lawsuit can be dismissed if the victim dies of unrelated cases.  There are only three other states with this law.

Although this may appear unusual, the backers of this law claim that the law was created to compensate the victims for their suffering, not their family members.  Fortunately, Pennsylvania does not have any such law.  Personal injury lawyer Douglas Stoehr understands that family members suffer along with the victims when such incidents occur.

Attorney Doug Stoehr is a personal injury lawyer serving western and central Pennsylvania.  He takes cases for older Pennsylvanians who have been abused or neglected in nursing homes or hospitals.  For more information on his Altoona, PA area practice, please call his office at 814-946-4100 or visit his website at http://www.stoehrlaw.com.  Attorney Stoehr takes cases in Blair and the seven surrounding counties.