Are Falls In Assisted Living And Memory Care Preventable If So How
More than 75% of our lawsuits against assisted living facilities involve falls. Most of the time, they are not isolated occurrences.
While it is true that a one-time fall may not be preventable, most of the time, our attorneys discover that the resident suffered multiple falls. When we see a pattern of falls in assisted living, we analyze what nursing staff did to stop the cycle of falls. Most of the time, no fall preventative measures were put in place. This allows the pattern of falls to continue, and eventually- result in a serious fracture, brain injury, or wrongful death.
Nursing Home Negligence Case Examples
Understanding whether your situation meets the legal elements of a valid nursing home negligence claim can be a difficult matter without an understanding of the laws in place, the responsibilities of nursing homes, and your rights as a victim.
At Morgan & Murphy, our nursing home injury lawyers can help evaluate your potential case and discuss whether you have grounds to seek legal action. Although every case is different, weve provided some examples to help you understand the types of situations, negligent acts, and injuries that commonly lead to nursing home injury claims:
- Nursing homes which fail to address potential hazards that lead to slip, trip, and fall accidents, such as wet and slippery floors, exposed cords, unsafe handrails, and more
- Failures of nursing homes to protect residents against third-party assaults, especially assaults and confrontations from fellow residents who have a history of violent behavior
- Nursing homes that negligently hire or retain unfit or unqualified employees, including employees with a history of negligence, abuse, or financial exploitation
- Negligent supervision of residents and employees, including cases where residents suffer injuries unattended when they should have been under the care or supervision of an employee
- Failures in properly transporting, lifting, or moving elderly residents from one location to another
- Failures to abide by adequate health and safety policies, including sanitary conditions in rooms and common areas
What Is Considered Nursing Home Neglect
occurs when residents are not provided with adequate care, leading to serious injury or wrongful death.
The federal government requires nursing homes receiving Medicare or Medicaid to meet a basic standard of care. Adequate care standards are determined by .
Despite variations, most jurisdictions recognize some commonly reported forms of nursing home neglect.
Common types of nursing home neglect include:
- Neglect of basic needs
- Neglect stemming from medical malpractice
- Social or emotional neglect
Any form of nursing home neglect that harms a resident may be considered abuse. As a result, you may be able to sue a nursing home for negligence and retrieve compensation.
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What Damages Can I Seek In A California Assisted Living Facility Lawsuit
If you are able to prove that the assisted living facility abused your loved one or acted in a negligent manner that led to an injury, you will next need to determine how much in damages you should seek in the lawsuit.
The damages vary between cases because there are different circumstances surrounding each case. However, damages are commonly divided into two categories: economic and non-economic.
Economic damages provide compensation to the family of the victim for expenses the loved one or the family paid out of their own pockets. These expenses include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Costs for rehabilitation
- Expenses for surgery, medication, doctor visits, and other medical needs
It is easy to prove to the court when you seek economic damages in a lawsuit against an assisted living facility because all you have to provide are the receipts. The more challenging type of damages to prove are the non-economic damages because they cannot be quantified. These damages are related to abuse, both physical and emotional, and neglect. You can seek the following non-economic damages in a lawsuit against an assisted living facility in California:
- Limitations placed on the victim to live their life in the manner they did prior to their injury
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
Nursing Home Abuse And Neglect
Injury Attorneys Compassionately Helping Individuals in the Decatur Area
Having made the difficult decision to place a loved one in a nursing home, you may make the shocking discovery that he or she has been abused or neglected by the people entrusted with his or her care. If you are in this situation, you should enlist an experienced injury lawyer who can help assert your rights against a facility in Decatur or elsewhere in Alabama. Founded in 1992, the law firm of Burney & Burney offers a free consultation to discuss your concerns and explore the details of your case.
People who are confined to nursing homes, assisted living centers, and other long-term care facilities are among the most vulnerable members of our society. Many residents are elderly, frail, and in need of assistance with both their medical and basic living needs. Unfortunately, it is increasingly common for nursing home residents to be neglected or abused physically, emotionally, or sexually. The reasons for this are numerous but can include inadequate staffing, a failure to properly supervise interactions between fellow residents, improperly trained medical personnel, or even intentional abuse. Common signs of neglect we often see are bed sores, urinary tract infections , infections, infected bed sores, sepsis, unexplained broken bones, malnutrition and dehydration.
Holding Nursing Homes Liable for a Loved Ones HarmDiscuss Your Negligence Claim With a Decatur Lawyer
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What Is Nursing Home Neglect In California
Under Californias Elder Abuse Law, neglect is defined as the negligent failure of a nursing home to provide a reasonable standard of care to an elder or dependent adult in their custody. This means that nursing homes and assisted living facilities have a legal obligation to provide their residents with appropriate care and treatment.
Although many nursing homes fulfill this obligation, skilled nursing facilities are often run by corporations that put profits ahead of their patients. At times, nursing homes attempt to cut costs by having inadequate staff or by hiring workers who lack experience and training. No matter the reason, nursing homes must be held to account for injuries caused by their negligence. At J& Y, we have the skills and resources to fight nursing home neglect and to help injury victims obtain just compensation.
Lawyers For People Injured At Assisted Living Facilities
Assisted living facilities provide a viable option for elderly patients who do not quite need the constant care and supervision offered in a nursing facility setting but still require some form of assistance.
ALFs allow residents to receive care in a comfortable home-like setting while giving up only moderate independence and privacy.
Negligent caregivers might fail to provide the supervision or quality of care promised, leading to severe injuries.
The personal injury attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center LLC represent the interests of anyone who has suffered the consequences of negligent or irresponsible care.
Did your loved one suffer an injury due to an accident or neglect at an ALF? If so, you might have grounds to pursue a claim or assisted living lawsuit against the long-term care center.
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Failure To Adhere To All Food And Health Department Requirements
Assisted living facilities often have dining halls and health centers. Therefore, they are required to follow all food and health safety protocols not only for their food license but any health department regulations required as well. If a patient were to become ill due to poor food storage, for example, then the facility would be responsible for that foodborne illness.
The Quiet Rise Of Assisted Living Negligence
Many people with elderly relatives in long-term care facilities fret about the problem of abuse in nursing homes thanks to the publicity from scores of news investigations and a wealth of data from government reports. But assisted living facilities, which offer residents relative independence and a lesser degree of care and supervision compared to nursing homes, have received little public scrutiny compared to their more care-intensive counterparts.
However, the lack of attention focused on assisted living facilities doesnt mean that elderly residents in these settings dont face potential dangers. In fact, assisted living negligence lawsuits have been growing in recent years according to a number of investigations.
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Prevention Methods For Nursing Home Neglect
Nursing home neglect is very serious, but it can often be prevented. This can be done by staying part of your loved ones lives when they are in a nursing home. Staying engaged can also help you catch neglect early on before it causes serious harm.
Heres what you can do to prevent nursing home neglect:
- Communicate
Stay engaged with both residents and nursing home staff. If a resident has concerns or complaints, take them seriously. Make sure the staff knows you are aware of the issue and will be watching to see how it is resolved.
Learn what neglect in an assisted living facility looks like and spread the word to friends and family members. By raising awareness and keeping an eye out, you increase the likelihood that neglect will be noticed and corrected early.
Ask questions before choosing a facility, such as: What is the vetting process for staff members, and what are their qualifications? What is the staff-to-resident ratio? Can residents voice their concerns and have them addressed? Does the facility have a history of abuse or neglect?
Frequent visits are an excellent way to check on the condition of both residents and the facility itself. A lack of contact with friends and family can leave elderly nursing home residents vulnerable to nursing home neglect.
Suing A Nursing Home Or Assisted Living Facility For Negligence
Many cases involving negligent falling in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are built on inappropriate behavior by doctors, nurses, nursing aides, and the administration.
Sometimes, administrators failed to follow established hiring practices or the Director of Nursings negligence in supervising the staff led to the residents harm or wrongful death.
Staff members could be negligent when caring for residents by not keeping all areas clutter-free, administering the wrong medication, or creating potential slip and fall accident hazards.
According to the CDC , nearly a fourth of all falls occur in nursing homes and assisted living areas, resulting from gait or walking problems and muscle weakness.
More than a fourth of all falls injuring residents are caused by environmental hazards, including slippery surfaces, improperly maintained or fitted wheelchairs, low lighting, and broken handrails. Taking the wrong medication or the wrong dosage could also increase the potential risk of falling, suffering fall-related injuries.
Prescribed drugs affecting the central nervous system may cause drowsiness, muscle weakness, and confusion, including anti-anxiety medications and sedatives.
Other challenges involved in creating a safe environment include staff that fails to follow established protocols when transferring a resident from a wheelchair to a bed or shower chair to a wheelchair.
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How Long Do I Have To File A Michigan Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit
In Michigan, you must generally file a nursing home lawsuit is generally two years from the date of injury. The deadline is the same for cases against assisted living facilities. This is referred to as the statute of limitations and is strictly followed by the courts.
In cases involving the death of the resident, the time deadline can often be extended beyond two years and even up to five years under certain circumstances.
To avoid missing any deadlines, you should contact our nursing home abuse attorneys immediately so we can start our investigation of your case.
Attorneys With Experience Prosecuting Claims Against Negligent Assisted Living Facilities
Our nursing home neglect and abuse lawyers have also encountered instances of abuse at assisted living centers that are inexcusable. There should be no reason any resident is subjected to physical, sexual, or financial abuse, but the lack of proper supervision often allows predators to get away with these acts unnoticed.
Here are all the forms of abuse that might be encountered at an ALF and the warning signs.
Financial abuse â Identity theft is a growing concern for elderly patients who are often targeted for financial abuse. Workers could steal business documents or embezzle money directly from their patients.
They often threaten ALF residents or take advantage of those suffering from neurological disorders to get financial information or money. Monitor your loved one’s credit for any suspicious activity and question any changes made suddenly to your loved one’s insurance policies or will.
Physical abuse â
Often patients are afraid of their abusers and will not quickly come forward with allegations, so if you notice that your loved one has bruising, open bedsores, broken bones, or poor hygiene, make sure to ask questions.
Emotional abuse â Caregivers could insult or threaten the ALF’s older adults, raise their voices, or harass them while providing care. The caregiver’s utterly unacceptable behavior should be recognized as abuse, as any physical or sexual assault would.
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Nursing Home Abuse Justice Team
Nursing Home Abuse Justice was founded to shine a light on nursing home and elder abuse. Every day, thousands of people in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are abused. Our team helps educate seniors and their loved ones on the common causes, signs and preventions of nursing home abuse. We report on real-world studies and current events from respected news outlets to expose this national problem.
How To Determine Damages In A Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Perhaps the clearest way to understand damages in a nursing home wrongful death lawsuit is to break them into two categories. For the purposes of the courts awarding damages or an insurance carriers making an offer to settle the suit, damages are either quantifiable or qualitative. This basically means the lawsuit demonstrates the financial impact and quality of life losses inflicted on loved ones. These types of damages usually include the following:
- Hospitalizations and Medical Expenses
- Loss of Income and Earning Potential
- Pain and Suffering of Family Member before Death
- Loss of Protection, Love, Companionship, Mentorship
- Pain and Suffering of Grieving Family Members.
Placing a dollar amount on things such as mental anguish can prove elusive for inexperienced people who attempt to seek justice through civil action. Thats why its essential to work with a legal team that knows how to secure a judgment or settlement families deserve.
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Can I Sue Someone Personally For The Abuse And Neglect Of A Loved One At An Assisted Living Facility
Home » Frequently Asked Questions » Nursing Home Abuse » Can I Sue Someone Personally for the Abuse and Neglect of a Loved One at an Assisted Living Facility?
In most cases, you cannot sue someone personally for the abuse or neglect of your loved one at an assisted living facility. However, if your loved ones injuries resulted from the negligent or malicious actions of that person during their employment, you can hold the facility accountable for the abusive behavior of their staff.
Abuse and neglect of assisted living residents can occur in many forms, and victims can suffer serious and even fatal injuries as a consequence of mistreatment. If your family is dealing with the long-term physical, emotional, and financial impacts from this lack of adequate care, a lawyer from our team can help you seek compensation from the facility.
Assisted Living Abuse Lawyers
Our attorneys are here to help you through life’s most difficult chapters.
We are a highly experienced team of lawyers dedicated to meet and exceed our clients’ expectations. Let our decades of experience litigating against nursing homes, assisted living facilities, insurance companies and hospitals assist you in achieving justice.
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You Need Negligence And Damages
Many potential clients contact us following near miss cases. These cases may demonstrate terrible incidents of negligence. However, they lack significant damages. These cases may not warrant the filing of an assisted living negligence lawsuit.
For example, our assisted living negligence lawyers may receive a call about a dementia resident who escaped from the facility and was found a mile down the road. This is obviously negligent. But the follow up question is, what damages did he sustain as a result of eloping from the facility? If he was luckily uninjured from the wandering incident, this likely does not rise to the level of bringing an ALF lawsuit.
Contrast this to a family who discovers that their family member was diagnosed with a broken hip and bruising on her right side. The facility has no explanation as the resident was discovered in her wheelchair with the injury. Here, we are not entirely sure how the resident fell, but clearly, she has catastrophic damages. This is a common fact pattern that our assisted living facility abuse law firm routinely litigates. This kind of case clearly rises to the level of bringing a claim.
How To Report Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect In Michigan
You can file a complaint about nursing home neglect and abuse by another resident or by a nursing home employee with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
If the complaint warrants an investigation, the enforcement team will go to the facility and perform a detailed investigation. When concluded, you will be able to obtain the investigation report.
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Which Michigan Nursing Homes Have The Most Violations
According to Nursing Home Inspect, 124 of the 444 Michigan facilities were determined to have serious deficiencies and were assessed penalties of more than $13 million last year.
The homes with the most violations of neglect and abuse last year according to Nursing Home Inspect are:
- Medilodge of Southfield: 112
- Spectrum Health Rehab: 88
- Laurels of Coldwater: 87
Many other nursing homes have dozens of violations for serious deficiencies that resulted in neglect, abuse, and injuries to residents and exposed others to potential harm.