Robert E. Meyer, 84, died two days after entering hospice care; an exhumation and second autopsy led the Hamilton County Coroner to amend his death certificate to list physical elder abuse as the cause
CLEVELAND, Ohio (September 01, 2026) – The family of Robert E. Meyer, an 84-year-old Forest Hills Healthcare Center resident whose death the Hamilton County Coroner has ruled a homicide caused by physical elder abuse, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas (Case #: A-2604779). Trial Lawyer Jeffrey M. Heller of Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy Co., LPA, filed the suit on behalf of Meyer’s daughter, Tammy Maham, and his estate. It names the nursing home and its corporate owners and operators, treating physicians, a hospice provider, a medical transport company, and a funeral home.
Meyer was bedbound and dependent on others for daily care when he was admitted to the Anderson Township facility in July 2025. In the weeks that followed, the complaint alleges, he lost about 30 pounds, developed severe malnutrition, and endured unmanaged pain. Emergency records cited in the lawsuit show he personally called 911 from the facility at least four times, including once to report that staff were “not taking care of” him.
On September 1, 2025, Meyer was discharged from Mercy Health Anderson Hospital with no documented injuries to his neck or chest. Within hours of his return to the nursing home, a nurse documented bruising on his neck. The complaint alleges the injury was never meaningfully investigated and was never reported to authorities as suspected abuse, as Ohio law requires.
Meyer died on September 6, 2025, two days after he was transferred to hospice care. The hospice doctor certified his death as natural, attributed to malnutrition, and the hospice doctor permitted him to be buried without notification to the Medical Examiner for an autopsy.
His family refused to accept that conclusion and pressed for an investigation. Meyer’s body was exhumed, and the autopsy that followed found severe contusions of his neck and upper chest with internal bleeding extending to his spine, a fractured sternum, rib fractures on both sides of his chest, and severe protein and calorie malnutrition. The coroner’s report describes injuries “appearing less than 24 hours after being discharged from a hospital where no injury was present.”
The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office then amended Meyer’s death certificate. It now lists physical elder abuse as the cause of his death, homicide as the manner, and a nursing home as the place of injury. No criminal charges have been filed.
“Robert Meyer picked up the phone and called 911 himself, more than once, and said he wasn’t being taken care of,” said trial lawyer Jeffrey Heller. “He was buried as a natural death, and if his family hadn’t pushed for an exhumation, that is how the record would have stayed. The coroner has now called it a homicide. We filed this lawsuit to find out what happened to him and to hold the people responsible for his care accountable.”
The lawsuit asserts claims for wrongful death, violations of Ohio’s nursing home residents’ rights law, medical negligence, failure to report suspected abuse or neglect, and reckless and willful misconduct. It alleges that the failures to investigate and report Meyer’s injuries before his burial compromised the ability to determine who caused them.
About Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy
Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy has represented injured Ohioans since 1928. The firm’s track record of success during the past nine decades has made them the top personal injury law firm in Ohio. The firm handles incredibly complex cases and pursues accountability against some of the largest and most powerful corporations, hospitals, manufacturers, and trucking and aviation companies in the world. Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy is also dedicated to promoting a culture of giving, and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation has recognized it as a regional leader in community outreach and involvement.
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