Lawsuit: Woman, 85, dies after falling from Las Vegas nursing home bed, lying on floor for 15 minutes

by: David Charns

Complaint cites wrongful death, negligence as claims

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The daughters of a woman who died after falling out of her bed at a Las Vegas nursing home have filed a lawsuit against the facility, a lawsuit filed Monday said.

Pamela Rumel was 85 when she died on July 11, 2022, according to her obituary.

In June 2022, Rumel was admitted to Silver Hills Health Care Center, a northwest Las Vegas valley nursing home, the lawsuit said.

The morning of Rumel’s death, she fell out of her bed, causing “her to suffer a right distal femur fracture and hemorrhagic shock with generalized weakness, right lower extremity pain, right hip pain, back pain and death,” the lawsuit said.

Rumel lay on the floor of her room “in extreme pain begging for” help for 15 minutes, the lawsuit said. She was able to text one of her daughter for help while on the floor, the lawsuit said. Staff then transported Rumel to a hospital where she died that evening, the lawsuit said.

A doctor, whose declaration is provided in court documents, said Rumel was “assessed to be at significant risk for falls,” adding that “her underlying comorbidities” and the fall “proved overwhelming” to her body and led to her death, documents said.

“The standard of care was not met by the staff at Silver Hills Healthcare Center in development of a care plan with individualized interventions to prevent this fall with significant injury,” the doctor said in his declaration. “The fall led to severe pain in her bilateral lower extremities, particularly affecting her right leg and hip. She also experienced nausea, constipation, and chills as a result of the pain.”

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed by attorneys at Bighorn Law, cited claims of negligence and elder abuse. The civil lawsuit seeks a jury trial and a minimum of $15,000 in damages, which is standard in Nevada.

Representatives from Covenant Care, which owns the facility, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Full Article & Source:
Lawsuit: Woman, 85, dies after falling from Las Vegas nursing home bed, lying on floor for 15 minutes

Woman in Phoenix senior living facility dies after being beaten by another resident

Arizona assisted living facilities and nursing homes aren't required to track violent incidents among residents, leaving seniors vulnerable. Two women have been murdered and many more seniors have been injured in Arizona senior living facilities. These steps could help make them safer.

Source:
Woman in Phoenix senior living facility dies after being beaten by another resident

Woman Who Fell for Romance Scam Loses Home, Taken Captive, Dies—Family

By Giulia Carbonaro

A 70-year-old woman from Coeur d'Alene in Idaho who had fallen for a romance scam was kidnapped by the men who had "catfished" her and has now died shortly after being able to return home, according to her family.

Diane Webb had been introduced to dating apps three years ago by her granddaughter, the family told Spokane, Washington, TV station KHQ-TV, thinking the woman might find a spouse after being single for 40 years.

Diane Webb, 70, turned away from her family and sold her home for a man who didn't exist after falling for a romance scam three years ago. Getty Images

The idea initially seemed to prove successful, as Webb fell in love with a man named Michael, whom she met on an unidentified dating app.

Michael—who the family now knows wasn't a real person, but a fake profile created to trick women looking for love and companionship—was said to be based in Nigeria, so for three years the two did not meet in person.

But in three years of talking, Webb's family told KHQ-TV that the man would often ask the woman for money, for a variety of reasons that are often brought up by romance scammers —which usually range from paying for health fees resulting from a sudden incident to asking for support to afford a plane ticket.

According to Webb's daughter Monica Grimm, Michael had often told Webb he would come visit in Idaho, but "on the day he was supposed to show up he would tell her 'I'm at the airport, but I don't have money to get to you. Could you just give me a little?' He was in Africa the whole time," the woman told KHQ-TV.

Eventually, Michael convinced Webb to distance herself from her family, telling her they didn't value her as much as he did. According to the woman's family, Webb turned her back on her relatives and even sold her home under the pressing requests of Michael.

Then in March this year, according to the family, Webb traveled to Nigeria to meet Michael, aiming to stay for three months. But instead, the woman was held captive by the same men who had catfished her, was physically and mentally abused and fed only potatoes and beer, until July.

Catfishing is when a fraudster creates a false personal profile online to trick someone.

On July 9, Spokane Airport security called Webb's family and told them that the woman was back home after one of her captors, whom she had befriended, bought her a ticket back to the U.S.

"He felt bad for my mom being 70 and as sick [as] she was. He told her I'm getting you a ticket and sending you back home," Webb's daughter Melinda Thomas told KHQ-TV.

But Webb's return home was no happy ending to a frightful story, as the woman has recently passed away due to malnutrition.

Newsweek has tried to contact the FBI for comment.

Though Webb's story is an extreme example of the consequences of romance scams on the lives of those who fall prey to them, thousands of people report cases of catfishing and dating scams every year.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, reports of romance fraud hit record highs in 2021, with median individual losses at $2,400.

Between 2017 and 2021, people have reported losing $1.3 billion in total to dating scams.

The FBI recommends the following tips to avoid being scammed while dating online:

- Research the person's photo and profile online to see if their details match elsewhere;

- Go slowly and ask lots of questions;

- Watch out for people asking immediately to take it off the dating app and use other means of communication;

- Beware of any attempt by the person to isolate you from friends and family, request inappropriate photos or your financial information;

- If the person always promises to meet in person but then never does, coming up with some excuse why they can't, that's a red flag you should take note of;

- Never send money to anyone you have not met in real life.

Full Article & Source:

Woman Who Fell for Romance Scam Loses Home, Taken Captive, Dies—Family

91-year-old who wanted to ‘stay alive’ dies after being removed from life-support

January 17, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Arline Lester, the 91-year-old woman from Long Island whose son recorded a video of her pleading for her life, died yesterday after being removed from her ventilator and feeding tube.

The killing of Arline Lester was shrouded in secrecy after judge Julianne Capetola allegedly issued a secret gag order forbidding the parties, attorneys or witnesses from communicating any details of the case.

The gag order, which was never made public, was reported to have been issued out of concern for the privacy rights of Arline Lester, but sources close to the family tell LifeSiteNews that the gag order was simply a way to cover up the inevitable killing of a woman against her express wish to live. Attempts, including in-person visits to the court of Judge Capetola by the Personhood Alliance to obtain the gag order in order to verify its existence, content, and scope were unsuccessful.

LifeSiteNews can also confirm that the secret gag order was used to threaten pro-life organizations such as LifeSiteNews and the Personhood Alliance who had re-posted the video recorded by Ed Lester and first published by local NY media outlets. Neither the NY Post nor the Personhood Alliance took down the distressing video, not having been able to confirm the existence or scope of the alleged gag order. Parties, witnesses and attorneys related to the case that were contacted refused to comment for fear of the secret gag order.

Family sources, who refused to give any details of the court proceedings and who requested anonymity for fear of being held in contempt of court, told LifeSiteNews that Arline Lester died yesterday after having her respirator removed while being put on aggressive "palliative sedation," a term that refers to aggressive pain medication that inevitably leads to the death of the patient.

The case of Arlene Lester is especially alarming at a time when NY's Democrat control legislature is considering openly legalizing assisted suicide. Many pro-lifers worry that if the courts are willing to enforce an old "living will" against the express wishes of an elderly woman who was conscious enough to orally communicate them, then what guarantee will there be that people who change their mind at the last moment about assisted suicide will have their right to life respected and protected?

For the last weeks, Arline Lester's two sons had engaged in an acrimonious battle in the Nassau County Supreme Court over two competing "living wills". The first will, signed decades ago, directed that no life support be administered in case she was incapacitated. The second will was drafted recently after Arline suffered medical complications for which she required the insertion of a feeding tube and ventilator at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan.

The son who was taking care of Arline, Edward, told ABC7 NY that his mother had asked him for help to revoke her "living will" seventeen times after which he helped her hire a specialized attorney who drafted the new living will. In other comments to News12, Edward stated that "My mother's perception of a living will was, 'If I'm a vegetable, if I'm brain dead and I'm laying there...pull the plug,' but that's not the situation we have now." To support his claim that his mother's clear wish was to live, Ed released a video where Arline clearly communicates that she did not want to die, but instead wanted to live.

As the NY Post reported, the other brother, Kyle Lester initiated the lawsuit asking a judge in Nassau County Supreme Court to declare him Arline's sole guardian, acknowledging that he hoped to take her off life support — but maintaining this is what their mother wanted.

Once the dramatic video of Arline mouthing the words "I want to live" was published by the NY Post and other publications, the court issued the secret gag order, prohibiting any of the parties, witnesses or attorneys from sharing details of the case with the press.

From that point forward, the repeated attempts from the Personhood Alliance to be shown the gag order or be given any information on the status of the case or medical condition were denied by Judge Julianne Capitola's court.

Full Article & Source:
91-year-old who wanted to ‘stay alive’ dies after being removed from life-support 

See Also:
Son Pleads With NY Court: Let My Mother Live

91-year-old LI woman mouths ‘I want to live’ on video amid legal battle