CLINESMITH NURSING HOME ABUSE & NEGLECT LAW

BED SORES

Why are bedsores common in nursing homes?

Nursing home neglect can lead to bedsores or pressure ulcers that may entitle you to file a claim on behalf of your loved one.

What are bedsores and pressure ulcers?

When a certain part of the body has had pressure placed on it for too long, blood flow to that area can be slowed or cut-off. This leads to a sore or an ulcer on the skin, often found near the shoulders, elbows, spine, ankles, and heels.

It’s rare to see bedsores on people outside of nursing homes because most people move around or adjust themselves when sitting or laying. Many elderly residents in nursing homes are disabled or lack the ability to adjust themselves, causing such sores and ulcers.

Upon placing your loved one in a nursing home, you are trusting that home will take good care of them. It is the responsibility of the nurses and providers to assist your loved one in moving and adjusting themselves so these bedsores and ulcers don’t develop. Still, many residents in these homes are simply neglected by the home’s staff. As a result, these residents end up in painful and even life-threatening situations from their bedsores and ulcers.

This is wrong and can be fought against.

Neglect on behalf of the nursing home is a likely cause for bedsores. This can occur as:

• The medical team fails to check your loved one for sores, allowing the sores to only get worse. Additionally, you as a family member are often left uniformed of early development of sores.
• The medical team fails to move your elder or disabled loved one, allowing them to sit in the same position repeatedly for long periods of time.
• The home staff hasn’t properly changed bedding, diapers, and other related items that can lead to a neglectful amount of moisture build-up around the skin.
• Malnutrition – If your loved one is being left malnourished by the home, they are at increased risks for sores as they are not receiving the proper amounts of food and fluids.

Without notifying you, as a family member, of the sores, you are unable to inform the doctors at the home on how to proceed with your preference of care. This can leave your loved one untreated, only worsening their health as it can lead to horrific problems such as gangrene. If your loved one hosts a bedsore, chances are that they have been neglected or even abused. Furthermore, it is likely that the nursing home has neglected them in many other ways from health, to nutrition, to many other factors.

Here at the Clinesmith Firm, we will review all potential cases that have resulted from bedsores and ulcers upon your loved one. We will further investigate to see if any further neglect or abuse has occurred with your loved one. These lawsuits not only offer monetary compensation but also serve as punishment for homes that are not following ethical, moral, and legal standards.

If you believe your loved one developed a bedsore while at or in a nursing home, contact us as soon as possible. We will look over your case FOR FREE to see if you are entitled to any claims of injury or neglect. You will not be billed for any fees unless we take on your case and compensation is obtained. Contact us today as the window to file your claim may close sooner than you think.

ASSAULT AND ABUSE

If you think a nursing home abused or assaulted your loved one, contact the Clinesmith Firm as you may be able to receive compensation.

As bad as some other forms of nursing home neglect may be, there are few things more disgusting and disturbing then the abuse and assault that can take place within some of our nursing home communities.

Residents have been intentionally confined to their rooms, physically abused, assaulted, yelled at and harassed, and been punished by failing to receive their meals and medication. The occurrence of nursing home abuse or assault is one of the most disgraceful aspects rendered to our elderly in many facilities. Serious and potentially life threatening injury could be caused by an intentional assault, physical punishment, confinement, intimidation or depriving the resident of essential food, water or medicine.

There are thousands of cases of abuse within nursing homes each year. Much of this abuse can stem from negligence on behalf of the home. This can occur when the homes fail to:

• Hire appropriate employees who are trained and have passed background checks
• Train and watch over employees
• Have adequate staff levels
• Reprimand and monitor employee behavior

Here at the Clinesmith Firm, we will review all potential cases that have resulted from abuse or assault upon your loved one. We will further investigate to see if any further neglect or abuse has occurred with your loved one. These lawsuits not only offer monetary compensation but also serve as punishment for homes that are not following the ethical, moral, and legal standards.

If you believe your loved one is being abused or assaulted while at or in a nursing home, contact us as soon as possible. We will look over your case FOR FREE to see if you are entitled to any claims of injury or neglect.

You will not be billed for any fees unless we take on your case and compensation is obtained. Contact us today as the window to file your claim may close sooner than you think.

WRONGFUL DEATH

A practice or injury that leads to death in a nursing home is often linked back to the home’s negligence or abuse. It is common that the staff was either untrained or not following procedure. Additionally, problems with equipment, medication, and other items may also be the responsibility of the nursing home. In these cases, the nursing home may be blamed for the premature death of your loved one.

This means that if your loved one has died from abuse or neglect on behalf of the nursing home, you may entitled to wrongful death compensation, benefits, and appropriate punishment for the home.

Some common scenarios leading to a wrongful death:

• The resident was neglectfully malnourished or received a lack of appropriate fluids
• The resident was abused physically, verbally, or emotionally
• The resident suffered from falls that could have been prevented
• The resident was improperly supervised, leading to cases such as wandering
• The resident was improperly or illegally restrained, medically or physically

Wrongful death cases are often complicated. Even if the stated reason of death may be linked to something such as a stroke, other factors may have been at play. If you suspect in the slightest that neglectful factors on behalf of the nursing home may have occurred, it is responsible and appropriate to investigate further to find out what may have actually happened to your loved one.

These cases can be amazingly complex, meaning that you need the best lawyers to assist you. Here at the Clinesmith Firm, we will review all potential cases where the nursing home may be to blame for the wrongful death of your loved one. We will further investigate to see if any further neglect or abuse has occurred with your loved one. These lawsuits not only offer monetary compensation but also serve as punishment for homes that are not following the ethical, moral, and legal standards.

If you believe your loved one suffered from a case of wrongful death due to the nursing home’s negligence or abuse, contact us as soon as possible. We will look over your case FOR FREE to see if you are entitled to any claims of injury or neglect. You will not be billed for any fees unless we take on your case and compensation is obtained.

Contact us today as the window to file your claim may close sooner than you think.

SLIP AND FALL

Many nursing home residents are frail and physically weak, meaning even the smallest physical trauma can lead to horrific amounts of harm. Additionally, these residents are prone to the dangers of falling as their muscles are weakened, their mental state occasionally disoriented, and their body tired. While elderly residents face these difficulties on their own, neglect from the nursing home staff can also often be to blame. It is the responsibility of the nursing home to make sure all precautions have been made at the home to ensure that such accidents don’t happen. From an observant staff to an on the ball cleaning crew, there are many things the home is responsible for.

These neglectful ways can lead to falls and place blame on the nursing home:

• Slippery Floors
• Obstructions such as empty wheel chairs or appliance cords in the walkway
• Failure to assist residents out of bed, inappropriate bed elevations, and a lack of proper bed railing
• A lack of bath mats in the shower or drying mats next to doorways
• Non-working call-assist buttons that can leave residents stranded when trying to move on their own
• Untrained staff who are not there for their residents or, even worse, drop or lose control of the resident while assisting them

Under federal law and regulation, it is the nursing home’s obligation to know the updated physical health of all residents, including their risk of falling. They must then adjust their supervision and assistance methods to aid those at a falling risk. Failure to do so can lead to a claim of compensation against the home.

Here at the Clinesmith Firm, we will review all potential cases that have resulted from falls of your loved one. We will further investigate to see if any further neglect or abuse has occurred with your loved one. These lawsuits not only offer monetary compensation but also serve as punishment for homes that are not following the ethical, moral, and legal standards.

If you believe your loved one has fallen while at or in a nursing home, contact us as soon as possible. We will look over your case FOR FREE to see if you are entitled to any claims of injury or neglect. You will not be billed for any fees unless we take on your case and compensation is obtained.

Contact us today as the window to file your claim may close sooner than you think.

IMPROPER RESTRAINT

Sadly, there have been many cases of excessive and abusive restraints that have led to harmful injuries and death. Under certain circumstances, restraints may be necessary to prevent a nursing home resident from injuring themselves or others. Restraints can be physical ones or medications to sedate. Improper or excessive use of nursing home restraints can result in serious injuries to the resident and even death.

The rate of restraint and strangulation levels in nursing homes has reached disturbing levels. Physical abuse can occur when restraints are applied too forcefully, leading to broken or fractured bones as well as bruising, head trauma, and internal bleeding. Improperly trained employees have also been known to inappropriately apply restraints, leading to strangulation. Such occurrences, as well as excessive use of sedative drugs, has also led to death.

Part of the problem occurs as many nursing homes are abusive not only in their restraints but also in their excessive use of restraints. By federal law, restraints may only be used with written consent of a physician and only in circumstances which are to aid the safety of the residence.

No resident should be, or is legally allowed to be, placed under physical or medical restraints for any other reason, especially as ‘punishment,’ which can be a common occurrence. If a nursing home has gone against the strict and expressed orders of a physician, including the amount of time allowed for the resident to be under the restraints, the nursing home should and must be held responsible.

Here at the Clinesmith Firm, we will review all potential cases that have resulted from inappropriate and excessive restraint or strangulation upon your loved one. We will further investigate to see if any further neglect or abuse has occurred with your loved one. These lawsuits not only offer monetary compensation but also serve as punishment for homes that are not following the ethical, moral, and legal standards.

If you believe your loved one is being inappropriately restrained or strangled while at or in a nursing home, contact us as soon as possible. We will look over your case FOR FREE to see if you are entitled to any claims of injury or neglect. You will not be billed for any fees unless we take on your case and compensation is obtained. Contact us today as the window to file your claim may close sooner than you think.

INADEQUATE SUPERVISION

This wandering, also called ‘elopement,’ can often lead to falls that can result in fractures and bruising as well as hypothermia, exhaustion, and heat stroke as the residents venture out into conditions that are dangerous to their frail bodies. When no one from the nursing home staff is there to help, there is an escalation of risk of harm. Each resident, under federal law, is required to have a file that states their ability to move around independently. Thus, each resident is required to have an appropriate amount of supervision according to their abilities and needs. Residents who venture out on their own and are at risk without supervision, should not be in such circumstances if the nursing home was doing its duty under the law.

With the mental distortion that can be found in many elderly residents, it is not uncommon for them to suffer from dementia or memory loss. This can lead to their venturing outside, away from the home. While there, they can often find themselves in danger as they are confused and unable to protect themselves. It is the obligation of the nursing home to, in accordance with the resident’s health assessment, appropriately monitor these at risk residents before they end up in situations where they are helpless.

Neglect can be found on behalf of the nursing home in these cases if:

• The resident was not appropriately supervised
• A lack of appropriate sounds or alarms are placed on exit doorways
• A lack of security exists
• The resident was placed in a room that allowed them to wander off too easily, for example, a room right next to an exterior door
• Exterior doors are left inappropriately unlocked in areas where more high-risk elders can be found
• The staff is inappropriately trained to handle a wandering patient or the monitoring devices used to help prevent wandering

Here at the Clinesmith Firm, we will review all potential cases that have resulted from your loved one’s wandering and ensuing injuries. We will further investigate to see if any further neglect or abuse has occurred with your loved one. These lawsuits not only offer monetary compensation but also serve as punishment for homes that are not following the ethical, moral, and legal standards.

If you believe your loved one has been harmed or injured while wandering due to nursing home neglect, contact us as soon as possible. We will look over your case FOR FREE to see if you are entitled to any claims of injury or neglect. You will not be billed for any fees unless we take on your case and compensation is obtained.

Contact us today as the window to file your claim may close sooner than you think.