Northampton County Coroner, Zachary Lysek, has ruled that Daniel Scanlan, an 84-year-old veteran and long-time resident of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, died on April 4, 2017 as a result of “complications of blunt force head trauma” which occurred at Arden Courts of Old Orchard in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania. The certificate of death from the coroner’s office states that Mr. Scanlan was “pushed by another resident causing him to fall and strike his head.” As a result, the coroner marked “homicide” as the “manner of death” on the certificate of death issued on September 14, 2017.
The children of Mr. Scanlan have retained Robert Sachs, Esquire, of Shrager, Sachs, & Blanco, a nationally-recognized nursing home and assisted living negligence lawyer from Philadelphia, PA, to investigate and pursue a claim against Arden Courts of Old Orchard. Arden Courts is owned by HCR Manor Care, Inc., which is owned by the Carlyle Group, one of the nation’s largest private equity groups.
Medical records obtained by Mr. Sachs contain conflicting stories in “witness statements” about whether Mr. Scanlan fell – as Coroner Lysek concluded – after being pushed, or whether he was violently struck in the head by a door at the hands of another resident.
The following is a statement by the family of Mr. Scanlan:
“We were deeply saddened to learn that our father died because of resident-on-resident violence at Arden Courts. We trusted Arden Courts to protect our father and keep him safe. He was placed in their memory care unit because of Arden Courts’ ads and website which promised a “safe and secure” environment. Sadly, it was just the opposite. This loss was even more distressing because we were contacted anonymously just before our father’s funeral, by someone claiming to be an employee of that facility, and we were told that Arden Courts knew of the violent tendencies of the assailant and nonetheless admitted the assailant and allowed her to reside in the memory care unit. We are gratified that Coroner Lysek undertook his careful investigation and reached the right conclusion about the manner of our father’s death.”
Mr. Sachs is the same lawyer who is representing the family of Audrey Penn, the 77-year-old woman who was able to leave the allegedly secure and locked memory unit of Woodland Terrace at the Oaks Senior Living Community in Lehigh County on August 23rd. Mrs. Penn was found deceased two miles from that facility on September 18, 2017.
About Attorney Sachs
Mr. Sachs is the past Chair of the American Association for Justice, Nursing Home Litigation Group, and focuses his practice on medical malpractice and nursing home and assisted living abuse and neglect throughout Pennsylvania. If you are looking to hire an experienced Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, fill out our online form to start out with a free case consultation.
