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Florida Aspiration & Choking Injuries in Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, Group Homes, & Adult Day Care Centers
Aspiration and choking injuries are serious, life-threatening events often caused by poor supervision, improper feeding techniques, or inadequate emergency response. At FIDJ, we advocate for victims and their families when these failures occur in Florida nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, or adult day care centers. If your loved one suffered or died from a preventable aspiration or choking event, we are here to help you demand accountability and justice.
What is Aspiration?
Aspiration happens when food, liquids, or vomit enters the lungs instead of the stomach. This can lead to aspiration pneumonia, a life-threatening condition that is especially dangerous for elderly or disabled individuals. Aspiration often results from poor feeding practices, such as feeding residents while not properly elevated, or from ignoring known swallowing difficulties, such as dysphagia.
General Causes of Aspiration
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Reduced swallowing reflexes: Age-related muscle decline can impair the muscles necessary for safe swallowing.
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Cognitive impairments: Dementia and Alzheimer’s hinder a resident’s ability to communicate symptoms or recognize swallowing difficulties.
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Sedating medications: Drugs that impair coordination or cause drowsiness increase the risk of aspiration during eating or drinking.
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Feeding while reclined: Improper body positioning during meals can lead to food or liquid entering the airway instead of the esophagus.
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Ignoring prescribed dietary modifications: Failing to serve texture-modified diets (like puréed foods or thickened liquids) can raise aspiration risks in residents with swallowing disorders.
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Rushing mealtimes or providing inadequate supervision: Speed-feeding or neglecting close monitoring increases the likelihood of food entering the lungs.
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Failing to monitor residents with known swallowing disorders: Residents with dysphagia need active supervision and tailored care during meals to prevent aspiration.
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Understaffing: A lack of trained staff means fewer caregivers are available to assist and monitor at-risk residents during feeding.
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Failing to follow physician's orders: Disregarding dietary, medication, or care instructions related to aspiration prevention puts residents at significant risk.
What is Choking?
Choking happens when food or another object becomes lodged in the airway, blocking a resident’s ability to breathe. Unlike aspiration, which may develop gradually, choking is sudden and often fatal without immediate intervention. Residents with neurological conditions, dementia, or weakened swallowing reflexes are especially vulnerable.
General Causes of Choking
Choking incidents in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, and adult day care centers are typically linked to:
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Inadequate supervision during meals
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Failure to follow dietary restrictions
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Poorly modified food textures
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Rushing residents during feeding
Warning Signs of Aspiration or Choking
Family members and caregivers should watch for these signs:
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Coughing or gagging during meals
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Difficulty swallowing or frequent throat clearing
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Wet-sounding voice after eating or drinking
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Sudden fever or respiratory symptoms
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Unexplained weight loss or dehydration
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History of aspiration pneumonia or prior choking episodes
Any of these may indicate that a resident or disabled individual is at risk and not receiving proper care.
Legal Accountability for Preventable Injuries
Aspiration and choking injuries are rarely accidents. When a nursing home, assisted living facility, group home, or adult day care center fails to follow safety protocols or physician orders—and a resident is harmed—those responsible can and should be held accountable. Florida law provides legal remedies for victims of negligence, including compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and wrongful death.
How FIDJ Can Help
At FIDJ, we fight for families who have been harmed by neglect. Our attorneys understand how aspiration and choking incidents happen—and how to prove when care facilities failed to prevent them. If your loved one suffered an aspiration or choking injury in a Florida nursing home, assisted living facility, group home, or adult day care center, contact us for a FREE case review.
*The information contained herein is not medical advice.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Aspiration & Choking
Are aspiration and choking injuries preventable in Florida nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, and adult day care centers?
Yes. Most aspiration and choking injuries are preventable when staff properly supervise meals, closely monitor residents known to place food or other objects in their mouths, and follow physician-ordered dietary restrictions. In residential facilities such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and group homes, staff must also provide texture-modified foods for residents with swallowing disorders, consider dietary changes for those without teeth, make appropriate arrangements for dentures if needed or lost, and promptly communicate with physicians if any signs or symptoms of aspiration or choking are present. In adult day care centers, staff must still be aware of resident food restrictions, supervise high-risk individuals, and ensure safe mealtime practices. When facilities cut corners, including understaffing, residents face unnecessary and avoidable risks.
How can I tell if aspiration or choking was caused by Florida nursing home, assisted living facility, group home, or adult day care center abuse or neglect?
There are often warning signs of abuse or neglect, though some may not be obvious to family members. Increased risks can arise when staff rush residents during meals, ignore dietary restrictions, leave residents unsupervised, delay emergency response, or fail to properly identify the nature of the emergency to emergency personnel. An experienced Florida attorney who handles nursing home, assisted living facility, group home, and adult day care center abuse, neglect, and wrongful death cases can investigate these issues and determine whether an aspiration or choking event resulted from negligence.
Can a Florida nursing home, assisted living facility, group home, or adult day care center be held responsible for choking or aspiration injuries, including death?
Yes. Nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, and adult day care centers may be held legally responsible if a resident suffers aspiration or choking because staff, among other things, ignored swallowing disorders, failed to supervise, neglected dietary modifications, delayed emergency care, or failed to properly relay the nature of the emergency to emergency personnel, thereby wasting precious minutes. These failures may constitute negligence or violations of Florida resident rights laws.
What compensation is available in nursing home, assisted living facility, group home, or adult day care center choking or aspiration cases?
Choking and aspiration cases can result in serious infections, permanent disability, or death. Depending on the circumstances, compensation may include economic damages (such as medical expenses, even if covered by Medicare or Medicaid), non-economic damages (such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of dignity, independence, or enjoyment of life), wrongful death damages for surviving family members, and in cases of reckless conduct, punitive damages designed to punish the facility. For a more detailed breakdown of the types of damages available, visit one of our nursing home, assisted living facility, group home, or adult day care center damage pages.
How long do I have to file a lawsuit for an aspiration or choking caused by nursing home, assisted living facility, group home, or adult day care center neglect in Florida?
Florida’s statute of limitations for nursing home, assisted living facility, group home, and adult day care center abuse and neglect cases is generally two years from when the injury is discovered, but specific circumstances may extend this period. It’s important to speak with an attorney as soon as possible. For more information about statutes of limitation, check out our blog titled, "The Deadline to File a Florida Nursing Home, Assisted Living Facility, Group Home, or Adult Day Care Center Abuse or Neglect Case".
Why should I hire a Florida lawyer experienced in aspiration and choking cases?
Aspiration and choking cases require attorneys who understand both the medical complexities and the unique Florida laws that protect residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, and adult day care centers. A skilled lawyer can obtain medical records, work with the necessary medical and nursing experts, and trace how the facility’s failures led to the aspiration or choking event and caused injury or death to your loved one. This experience is critical to proving liability, building a strong case, and securing full compensation for the resident or his or her grieving family.
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