Hospice Patients Neglected

A recent article published by Kaiser Health News details the plight that some terminally ill patients and their families experience when they contract for hospice care. For instance, one woman described how she called the hospice provider twice, only to be told that the doctor was asleep and, later, that he was on vacation, even as she desperately tried to ease the pain from her husband’s cancer. The woman already had waited for four days to receive pain pills for her husband, but by then, he no longer could swallow them. Instead of providing liquid pain medication or assisting her, however, hospice employees simply told her to crush up the pills herself, mix them with water, and squirt the mixture into his mouth with a syringe. Rather than the caring, compassionate, 24/7 care that she had signed up for with this hospice company, she was left completely alone, trying fruitlessly to attend to her husband’s pain and medical needs.

Unfortunately, this woman’s story is far from uncommon. Families contract with hospice companies so as to lessen pain for their terminally ill members and properly care for them during their final days and hours. Instead, family members make phone calls that go unanswered, experience delays in receiving medication and other forms of assistance, and wait for hospice employees who simply don’t show up. According to the 20,000 government records that Kaiser analyzed, family members of the terminally ill filed over 3,200 complaints with the government against hospice companies, which led the government to actually investigate 759 hospices, over half of which the government cited for missing visits or failing to provide other services as promised.

The Wisconsin elder abuse lawyers of Boller & Vaughan know how devastating it can be when you entrust your loved one to the care of others, only to have that trust completely betrayed. Our attorneys are dedicated to protecting your rights and those of your loved ones in all types of circumstances. We handle nursing home abuse and neglect cases on a daily basis, and we know how to get the relief to which you may be entitled. Don’t hesitate to fight back against a neglectful or abusive hospice care, nursing care, and assisted living facility that has caused harm to your loved one. Contact us today and see how we can help.