Attorney Derek Merman Represents Victim of Attack at Houston Nursing Home

Derek Merman of the Merman Law Firm, in Houston, Texas, filed suit on behalf of a resident who was beaten to death by his roommate at a Houston area nursing home. Correa removed the armrest of his wheelchair and viciously beat both of his roommates to death while they slept – the nursing home staff did not discover the incident until they found Correa attempting to leave the facility. As the nurse returned Correa to his room, she found the room covered in blood and brain matter.

Correa had a long history of mental illness including depression, psychosis, and hallucinations that was ignored by the facility and the psychological service providers at the site. Correa exhibited severe paranoia and delusions for years - first that the staff was poisoning his food and later that his roommates were plotting against him. Both of his roommates and their families expressed concerns about Correa to the staff, but those fears were also ignored.

Lexington Place Nursing and Rehabilitation was investigated by the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (“DADS”) and was reprimanded over the incident for failing to properly train its staff, failing to meet professional standards and failing to protect its residents from mistreatment and neglect. DADS found, in addition to these violations, that the cameras in the facility did not work and that the nursing staff was ordered to alter records during the investigation. Despite the documented evidence of neglect, which culminated in the brutal killing of two residents, the Administrator refused to admit fault or apologize.

Mr. Lopez’s estate filed a civil suit against Pinnacle Health Facilities, the owners of the Lexington Place Nursing and Rehabilitation, as well as the two psychological services groups that provided treatment to Correa and Mr. Lopez. Mr. Merman, the lawyer in charge, stressed that the suit was brought to raise awareness of nursing home neglect and not merely for financial gain.

“As our ‘greatest generation’ reaches the age when independent living is more difficult, we all must be vigilant against this type of neglect.” Unfortunately, explains Merman, government agencies are understaffed and cannot adequately monitor all facilities. “We have to make mistakes like this expensive, because sadly, the bottom line seems to be the only thing these facilities care about. As long as the mistakes have no cost, these facilities will keep neglecting our loved ones.”

Tort reform has made nursing home cases both expensive and difficult. And because of caps on damages in these lawsuits, few lawyers are willing to take cases of nursing home neglect. The result is thousands of elderly and disabled residents neglected and mistreated without hope of remedy or vindication. The Merman Law Firm takes on cases that are important regardless of the cost or potential award because it is the right thing to do.

The Merman Law Firm specializes in personal injury trial law. Mr. Merman attended law school at the University of Houston Law Center where he graduated cum laude in 2004. As a practicing lawyer, Mr. Merman has been the lead attorney in dozens of trials and has won two verdicts in excess of $10,000,000 in the last five years.

Press Contact: Derek Merman
(713) 351.0679
info@mermanlawfirm.com
www.mermanlawfirm.com

This release was published on openPR.