Charity Organization Sued Over Death at Elder Care Facility
The Motion Picture & Television Fund, a charity organization created to help people involved in the movie and T.V. industry, has been sued over the death of an 89-year-old woman under the care of their elder care facility. Carrie DeLay was found at the bottom of a staircase at a long-term care facility owned by the MPTF. DeLay had apparently suffered a fall from her wheelchair and died a week after suffering the fall.
DeLay’s family is suing the MPTF for an unspecified amount for wrongful death, elder abuse, neglect, and Bill of Rights violations. Investigators were unable to find any witnesses to the incident. According to thewrap.com, critics of the organization argued that this accident came as a result of low staff and very little oversight over the patients that reside in the facility.
Low staffing is a problem that many elder and long-term care facilities face, especially with a growing population of elderly people in the nation. Low staffing can often be a major concern for some facilities and some facilities may be worse than others. However, low staffing is no excuse for negligence against any elderly individual. Unfortunately, as this incident demonstrates, low staffing causes serious problems in terms of the lack of oversight for elderly people. The lower the number of employees a facility has, the higher the chances are for an elderly resident to be “lost in the shuffle” and not given the proper amount of care they deserve to have.
