Twin Cities nursing home patient Mary Cleary sat 19 hours with two broken legs before being sent to the hospital for care. Less than 3 weeks later she died. Hip surgery patient Ineko Counters checked into Martin Luther Care Center for post-surgery recovery. While there, she fell, re-fracturing her hip. No doctor was called and no x-ray taken until a full day later. She died the following month.

Neither case underwent state investigation. These aren’t isolated incidents and the St. Louis medical malpractice attorneys want you to know.

No Investigation = No Public Record
When the state doesn’t do a full on-site investigation, incidents aren’t made public, leaving the patients and families in the dark regarding facilities prone to neglect.

How Many Cases are Ignored?
Of the 24,000 complaints reported in 2016 alone, 10% made by the public were investigated, and just 1% of those reported by facilities, leaving more than 23,000 cases hidden, like Mary and Ineko’s.

Short Staffed or Short Sighted?
Gil Acevedo of the Minnesota Department of Health noted, “No one should have to endure that level of pain for a long period of time,” but that ‘errors’ don’t necessarily mean mistreatment. With just 27 investigators, they are reacting to complaints, but unable to implement prevention strategies.

Don’t let the neglect of a loved one fall through cracks in the system. Contact the St. Louis medical malpractice attorneys at Hoffman & Gelfman today.