Nursing Home Abuse

The right New York Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer makes all the difference in the world.  Bedsores and falls in nursing homes in New York has reached epidemic proportions.

Nursing home falls are very common among residents in nursing homes and can cause serious injuries and death among the victims. The frail and sick conditions of nursing home residents warrant extra special caution and care on the part of nursing home personnel and doctors.  For the reasons stated above it is clear why they difficulty walking compared to other older adults living in the community. Moreover, nursing home residents also tend to have problems with thinking or memory, or have difficulty with the tasks of daily life causing the percentage of nursing home falls to be large.  This creates an atmosphere ripe for injuries.

The number of falls for elderly people in nursing homes is significant and the injuries from those accidents are often severe and can sometimes cause wrongful deaths. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, each year, about 1,800 elderly people living in a nursing home die from fall-related injuries. Other statistics on nursing home falls include:

-About 5% of adults 65 and older live in nursing home, but nursing home residents account for about 20% of deaths from falls in this age group.

-Each year, a typical nursing home with 100 beds reports 100 to 200 falls. Many falls go unreported.

-About 10% to 20% of nursing home falls cause serious injuries; 2% to 6% cause fractures.

-As many as 3 out of 4 nursing home residents fall each year. That’s twice the rate of falls for older adults living in the community.

There are certain situations and circumstances that create a higher risk for a nursing home resident to fall. These include:

-Muscle weakness

-Gait or balance problems

-Environmental hazards (i.e., wet floors, poor lighting, incorrect bed height)

-Medication intake

-Difficulty moving form one place to another

Individuals who suffer injuries due to a fall in a New York nursing home do have legal rights. Many of times, the fall is caused due to the negligent care of the nurse or caregiver, not enough supervision, or environmental hazards such as incorrect bed height. If the resident falls due to those circumstances or any other negligent act from a nurse or caregiver in a New York nursing home, it can give rise to a New York nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuit.

The person, or most typically a concerned family member, should contact a New York nursing home neglect and abuse lawyer immediately after a fall accident in a nursing home to investigate the cause of the accident. These injuries are often not well-documented and it is necessary to do a full investigation, especially because the person does not always have the ability to remember or describe the incident. An injured person may be entitled to monetary compensation for the injuries in a fall if the fall took place in a nursing home and the nursing home failed to take proper preventative fall measures.

This country has a nursing home care crisis currently brewing.  We are one of the few countries that seems to discard the elderly.  The psychology behind this can be talked about and debated until the cows come home.  One thing is for certain, the elderly need a champion, a group of individuals that will fight and protect them.  Those individuals are nursing home neglect/abuse lawyers.  The need to champion the rights of the elderly abused and neglect has never rang so clear as in the case below.

A jury in New Mexico recently awarded $54 million to the family of a nursing home resident who died of untreated internal bleeding. 

This huge verdict is a message and testament to the grossly negligent care that one typically gets in American nursing home facilities.

The award is the state’s largest ever in a case involving nursing home neglect, say attorneys in Albuquerque.

According to the lawsuit, in 2004 78-year-old Barbara Barber died of internal bleeding at a nursing home owned by ManorCare Inc. Attorneys for Barber’s family argued that employees at the Albuquerque nursing home failed to seek treatment for Barber, who bled to death over several days.

The lawsuit also accused ManorCare employees of attempting to cover up the manner of Barber’s death. The family’s attorneys said employees at the facility disposed of blood-stained pillows and sheets in Barber’s room without notifying the health department.

Following the trial, ManorCare issued a statement expressing sympathy for Barber’s family. The company, however, denied any wrongdoing and said it stands behind the care Barber was provided.

Barber’s daughter, Lori Keith, said the verdict will allow her to begin the process of grieving the loss of her mother.

What we should all be thinking about in this case is this: you work hard your whole life, raise a family and try and do the right thing only to have your remaining days composed of pain and anguish, and, in this case, neglect tantamount to torture simply because a nursing home looks to cut corners and not hire the proper skilled staff.  Capitalism does not work here and needs to be put in check. 

Thank god for nursing home neglect/abuse lawyers.  If you have any questions please call a nursing home neglect lawyer today for free at 1(800)WE-FIGHT or email us for a free online consultation.