Protect Your Loved Ones
Few things are more distressing than discovering that your loved one has been the victim of elder abuse at the very hands of the professionals who should be caring for him or her.
Even the slightest suspicion of elder abuse can cause a great deal of stress and sleepless nights. If you have reason to believe that you or a loved one is experiencing abuse or neglect at a nursing home, residential care facility (RCFE), or assisted living facility, it is essential that you take immediate steps to protect yourself or your loved one.
Helping Elder Abuse Victims in San Diego and Las Vegas
Elder Abuse Attorney Services
Elder and dependent adult abuse is not only prohibited by law, but also morally wrong. Seniors, elders, and dependent adults deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. However, there are some unscrupulous people who fail to respect the dependent and aging members of our community and neglect them, take advantage of them, and even inflict harm, suffering, or pain. If this is happening to your loved one, you need the assistance of elder abuse attorneys.
If an elderly loved one has been abused by a caretaker, a nursing home staff member, or any other persons, the experience can be saddening, shocking, and often infuriating. At such a time, you need to work with experienced elder abuse attorneys that will strive to protect your loved one, and put your family’s interests first. Our elder abuse attorneys are dedicated at protecting elders who can’t protect themselves in Las Vegas, Nevada and San Diego, California. They have the skills and knowledge to help your family during such difficult times, and will compassionately help you seek justice and compensation for the harm caused by the perpetrators of elder abuse.
Pursuing claims of elder abuse and neglect not only serve to hold individuals and facilities accountable, but also help ensure residents/patients in similar situations will not suffer similar forms of abuse/neglect.
What is Elder Abuse?
Elder abuse refers to the physical, emotional, or psychological abuse, sexual mistreatment, financial abuse, and caregiver neglect against individuals aged 65 years or older. Being a victim of such abuse can lead to embarrassment, physical injuries and even death. The victim might be in denial that the abuse/neglect happened. Sometimes, some may not even realize that the abuse/neglect is occurring, especially if they suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
This makes it quite difficult to identify cases of elder abuse/neglect, since the warning signs can be very subtle. Based on the kind of abuse/neglect perpetrated on the victim, there might be no physical evidence that the abuse or neglect occurred. Moreover, seniors who don’t see their family members often might be unable to express their concerns of possible neglect.
Some of the ways that abuse and neglect can be identified include the following:
- Malnutrition evidenced by frequent infections and bedsores
- Dehydration from failure to provide the resident with adequate water
- Falls that result in different kinds of injuries
- Pressure ulcers or bedsores resulting from failure to turn the resident adequately
- A sudden weight loss, especially if the resident needs some help with feeding
- Alterations in their personal hygiene and appearance
- Failure to sustain a friendly interaction with fellow residents
- Presence of hazards in their environment, such as bad lighting, slippery floors, unsafe furniture, and even unsafe walkers and/or wheelchairs
- Abnormal changes in the behavior or withdrawn behavior in the victim
What Makes an Elder Vulnerable to Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect?
People go to nursing homes because they have special care needs, by reason of medical condition or age, that they are unable to manage from home or on their own. In most cases, the circumstances that prompt the elder to go to a nursing home, rehabilitation center, or assisted living facility are also what makes them quite vulnerable to neglect and abuse. Sometimes, medical conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s may make them unable to recognize their loved ones, let alone recognize abuse/neglect and report it.
There might also be physical limitations that could prevent them from taking care of themselves, thereby making them totally dependent on the nursing home staff to provide for their every need. And since their family members can’t be around them all of the time, they have to trust the nursing home to provide the care they need.
On the other hand, nursing homes typically have the financial incentive to overwork and underpay their workers. The less money they spend on overhead costs, such as training of staff and salaries, the more profits they make. Many nursing homes across the country are operated with fiscal and budgetary controls that are specifically set to maximize profits at the expense of their vulnerable elderly residents.
The staff members are often afraid to complain about the working conditions as they could lose their jobs. Moreover, the nursing home might falsify their records, which makes it difficult to prove that they did anything wrong.
Types and Examples of Elder Abuse and Neglect
Physical Abuse
- Signs of overmedication, slurred speech, drowsiness, drooling, altered consciousness, disorientation, and lethargy
- Unexplained soreness
- Complaints about being kicked, hit, punched, slapped, grabbed, or pushed
- Unexplained skin discoloration and bruises
- Mood changes
- Scratches, cuts, burns, and lacerations
Sexual Abuse
- Bloody undergarments, clothes, or sheets
- Complaints about being sexually abused or touched inappropriately
- Unexplained or unusual avoidance of physical forms of affection that the person is normally comfortable with
- Unexplained sexually transmitted diseases
Caregiver Neglect
In this context, a caregiver can either be the caregiving staff at residential care homes, hospitals, convalescent hospitals, rehabilitation centers, assisted living facilities, and residential care facilities for the elderly, or an in-home care provider or nurse.
Caregivers should help to make sure that every basic need of the senior or dependent adult such as nutrition, hygiene, hydration, and access to medical care are met appropriately. So, if the caregiver fails to address these needs reasonably, they have committed elder neglect.- Dehydration
- Malnourishment or weight loss
- Falls
- Respiratory or skin infections
- Bedsores
- Choking incidents
- Hospitalization
- Abrasions and lesions
- Loss of prosthetics, dentures, walkers, canes, glasses, and other assistive devices
Emotional or Psychological Abuse
- Unexplained anger or agitation problems
- Unusual changes in mood
- Biting, sucking, or rocking
- Unexplained incontinence
- Complaints about being emotionally or psychologically abused.
All Nursing Homes Have a Duty to Offer Proper Care for their Residents
Nursing homes are obligated to provide for the needs of every resident, which entails properly assessing the health and personal needs of each resident, and to come up with, implement, and follow a care plan. They should prepare a “minimum data set” on entry, and have a care plan, which should, along with other things, prevent injury while meeting their needs. Additionally, the nursing home needs to be staffed adequately.
Failing to reassess the needs of each resident and to adjust the care plan or to follow the processes that a care plan prescribes is outright negligence, and can be a basis for a legal claim against the nursing home. Moreover, the nursing home has a contractual duty to offer a safe, appropriate, and reasonable care to all of its residents, which are provided in exchange for the payment made to the nursing home.
No family member or an elder should expect abuse or injury from a care facility. But these still do happen. In case an elder was abused or injured in a nursing home or a care facility, you have every right to be angry. Our legal team of elder abuse attorneys can help you in fighting for the rights of your loved one, and can help you in pursuing compensation for all the pain and suffering that your elderly loved one was forced to endure.
Pursuing these types of serve several purposes, including: 1) seeking justice for a loved one; 2) holding the wrongdoers accountable; 3) helping to ensure residents/patients in similar situations will not suffer similar forms of abuse/neglect.
Our elder abuse attorneys are fully equipped to handle all kinds of personal injury claims, elder abuse and neglect, nursing home abuse, residential care abuse, abuse in rehab facilities, nursing home injuries, violations of patient rights, personal injury, and medical malpractice cases. Our team of professional attorneys have an extensive trial and courtroom experience, and they have successfully won millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for clients. So, if your elderly loved one suffered from any type of emotional, physical, psychological, or financial abuse, contact us today.
Call Our Elder Abuse Attorneys Today. We Can Help
Why
Hire Us
Our office’s founding lawyer, Lukas I. Pick, has been named a Super Lawyer Rising Star and named Best of the Bar by the San Diego Business Journal. He has assisted clients in recovering millions of dollars in settlements and jury verdicts.
Elder abuse and personal injury cases can be complex and emotionally draining for families. As soon as you turn to us for help, you can be sure that we will begin working on your case and launch an exhaustive investigation into the situation.
We can review the details of your case during a free case evaluation so we can begin taking measures to protect your loved one from further harm. Stand up to nursing home abuse and neglect – Pick Law will be right behind you.
For the compassionate and results-driven legal representation you need, please do not hesitate to contact us as soon as possible.
Ready For Your Free Consultation?
Elder abuse and personal injury cases can be complex and emotionally draining for families. As soon as you turn to us for help, you can be sure that we will begin working on your case and launch an exhaustive investigation into the situation.
We can review the details of your case during a free case evaluation so we can begin taking measures to protect your loved one from further harm. Stand up to nursing home abuse and neglect – Pick Law will be right behind you.
For the compassionate and results-driven legal representation you need, please do not hesitate to contact us as soon as possible.
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Ready For Your Free Consultation?
