Nursing Home Neglect

What constitutes Nursing Home Neglect?

Neglect is the failure to meet an older adult’s basic needs. These needs include food, water, shelter, clothing, hygiene, and essential medical care. — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Federal reporting rules require nursing homes to report allegations of mistreatment, neglect, exploitation or abuse, and misappropriation of resident property made against any employee or contracted staff.

TYPES OF NEGLECT

• Medical
• Social/Emotional
• Neglect of Basic Living Needs – food, water, shelter, clothing, hygiene, and essential medical care
• Personal Hygiene

How to file a complaint: NC Division of Health Service Regulation/Complaint Intake and Health Care Personnel Investigations

What should I do if my loved one or I have been hurt in a nursing home?

Call or email our office to set up an initial consultation.

What should I expect from our first meeting?

• Meet either in person or over the phone
• Tell us what happened, where it happened, when it happened
• Tell us how it’s affecting you today

What should my next step be after meeting with you?

• We need to have the medical records reviewed by someone who the court would consider an expert (generally, a doctor or nurse) before we can file a lawsuit
• Either before or after meeting with us, you’ll need to obtain all the medical records from the nursing home and/or hospital

How do I get the medical records?

You are legally entitled to your medical records. However, the healthcare provider can make you pay for a complete set.

Call the healthcare provider and tell them you want a complete set of your or your loved one’s medical records

How do I get my loved one’s records?

If your loved one is still living and you have power of attorney, you can obtain their medical records

If your loved one has died, the executor of their estate (if they had a will), or the administrator (if they didn’t have a will) can order the medical records. If your loved one died without a will, you need to set up an administrator by contacting the Estates Clerk office in the county where s/he died. They can assist you in setting up the Letters of Administration.

I’ve got the records, what do I do now?

• Call our office and let us know.
• Send them to us via email or mail or drop them off.
• We’ll go through the records and determine next steps.

You’ve decided to take my case. What now?

• We’ll have a meeting to discuss next steps.
• We’ll send you a client questionnaire to fill out.
• We want to get to know you and your family well. This is for both you and us.
• You’ll sign a fee agreement. We handle most cases on a contingent fee basis. This means that we will retain a portion of the total recovery – usually one-third – as our legal fee. If there is no recovery, we will not be paid a fee. We also offer other flat fee arrangements. We do not charge hourly fees.

What is Discovery?

• After a lawsuit is filed, Discovery begins. This is the process in which each side is allowed to ask questions and obtain documents from the other side.
• We’ll work with you to answer written questions called Interrogatories.
• You’ll likely have to give a deposition. This is a witness’s sworn out-of-court testimony to be used in a court of law. We will work with you to prepare you so you feel comfortable and supported throughout this process.

What’s a Mediation?

Before a case can go to trial, it has to go through a mediation where each side sits down with a mediator (a neutral third party) to see if they can come to a settlement before the trial. We’ll walk you through the entire process and be with you every step of the way.

Will my case go to trial before a jury?

We can’t answer that now, but if it does not settle or is not dismissed, it can go to trial before a jury. We’ve tried many cases to verdict and will walk you through the process if and when it occurs.

I or my loved one signed an Arbitration Agreement before they entered the nursing home. What can I do?

If you or your loved one signed and Arbitration Agreement before entering the nursing home, we’ll work with you to figure out if we can fight it or agree to go to Arbitration. An Arbitration is a lot like a jury trial, however, instead of a jury, there is a neutral panel of arbitrators who decide the case.

Types of Cases We Handle

Pressure Ulcers

What is a pressure ulcer?

• Often referred to as bed sores
• Can occur when constant pressure is applied to an area of the skin for too long. The pressure lessens the blood flow to the area, which can damage the tissue
• Laying in a bed or sitting in a chair for too long can cause this
• Turning and repositioning a patient every two hours can help prevent pressure ulcers, but nursing homes are often too short staffed to make sure all residents are turned frequently
• Responsible nursing homes are on the lookout for pressure ulcers and taking steps to prevent them
• Pressure ulcers are painful, sometimes large enough to fit your fist through, and often smell
• They often form on the tailbone or buttocks or other places considered “boney prominences”
• Nursing homes may say pressure ulcers are part of the “dying process” and caused by the body shutting down, but they are often caused by the nursing home’s neglect

More information on pressure ulcers.

Falls & Broken Bones

My loved one fell in a nursing home, what can I do?

• The elderly are very susceptible to falls, and if that fall leads to a broken hip or other broken bone, it can have deadly consequences.
• Nursing homes have to watch out for residents who are at risk of falling and plan accordingly
• We’ll have our experts determine if the nursing home could have prevented your loved one’s fall and its consequences with proper training

Medication Overdoses & Errors

My loved one received the wrong medication/medication dosage. How did this happen?

• While it should never happen, we have seen this happen numerous times
• Nursing homes aren’t following their own policies and procedures to make sure they’re giving out the correct medication

Urinary Tract Infections

My loved one seemed confused and out of it, but did not have any problems with dementia before entering the nursing home. How did this happen?

• As people get older, confusion can be a sign of a urinary tract infection.
• Nursing homes should be monitoring for changes in a resident’s behavior or mental state and alert his/her doctor immediately to any changes in condition.
• Nursing homes often lack the staff to correctly monitor these changes so they go unnoticed
• If a urinary tract infection goes unnoticed and the resident does not get the proper medication, it can turn deadly

Assaults

My loved one was assaulted by someone in the nursing home. What can I do?

• Whether it was at the hand of a resident or staff member, it is devastating to learn that a vulnerable loved one has been assaulted while under the care of a nursing home.
• We are here to listen and help you through this painful time

If you’re wondering if we take your type of case, please fill out the form below and/or click to schedule a 15-minute call with us so we can hear the details and advise you.