Visiting the doctor for regular check ups is important for everyone. For the elderly, it is vital to maintain their already vulnerable state of health. As elder abuse lawyers, we see many sad cases where the elderly were neglected and not given the proper medical attention leading to bedsores, infection, and often death. It is a caregiver’s responsibility to look after those under their care. Even if an elderly person is difficult, does not like doctors, or insists on skipping check ups, caregivers must get their subjects the necessary medical attention.
Son Goes to Trial After Mother Found Dead in Filthy House
Richard Lee Wallace, 57, is standing trial this month for charges of elder abuse and neglect of an incapacitated adult resulting in death. Paramedics found his 86-year-old mother, Elise Wallace, dead in the home they shared on April 18. They found her body on the couch of the messy home covered in maggot-filled bedsores, gangrene, and surrounded by hundreds of flies. The paramedics testified that she had been dead no more than an hour when they arrived. The cause of death was determined to be a bacterial infection in the blood caused by gangrene.
Richard had lived with his mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease, for most of his adult life. He assumed control of her finances in 2008 after he became aware that she “could be easily talked into things.” He was her primary caregiver but failed to get her any medical attention for years, even as her health deteriorated. His defense attorneys claimed that he was following her wishes because she hated doctors and hospitals. He told investigators that he put antibiotic cream on her bedsores but had not realized just how advanced the sores had become until the day she died. She has been unable to walk since November 2010 and spent a majority of her final months on the ratty couch in her home. She stopped speaking a week before she died but Richard still did not bring her to see a doctor. According to prosecutors, he only called for an ambulance because he was not able to move her body after she died.
Elder Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If your loved one is currently under the care of an individual or they are a resident of a nursing home or care facility and you are worried that the care they are receiving is negligent, abusive, or inadequate you should speak with our professional elder abuse lawyers. Contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.