The Villages Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
As a 55+ retirement community, The Villages has its fair share of care facilities. When you came to the decision to place your parent or spouse in a nursing home, you likely did your research, toured facilities, asked the necessary questions, and only then did you decide to trust them with someone so important to you.
When you find out or suspect that your loved one is suffering abuse or neglect, you may be feeling angry, guilty, helpless, and betrayed. Your loved one deserves justice and we’ll fight for it.
Call our nursing home abuse lawyers in The Villages at Meldon Law today: (352) 373-8000.
Recoverable Damages
Every case is different, but the following are common damages in nursing home abuse cases:
- Medical bills, such as treatment for infections, bedsores, broken bones, or sexually transmitted infections; medications; ambulance transportation; doctor’s visits; physical therapy; and assistive devices
- Miscellaneous expenses, such as the costs of transferring your loved one to a new facility
- Pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other non-economic damages (These damages can be high due to the emotional and physical impact of abuse.)
Our personal injury lawyers in The Villages will fight for every dollar you and your family deserve to help you seek justice and ensure your loved one can be housed in a safe place. If you lost a loved one to abuse or neglect in a nursing home, our wrongful death lawyers are ready to help.
What Our Team Can Do for You
We pride ourselves on seeking justice for nursing home residents who suffered abuse and neglect. When you enlist our help, we will:
- Gather evidence to prove abuse or neglect
- Determine what damages are recoverable
- Build a robust case against the abuser and facility
- Be fully dedicated to you and your family
- Protect your loved one from having to speak to their abuser
Nursing homes are often insured by large corporations and backed by intimidating legal teams. But they know they can’t intimidate us. They know we’re a force to be reckoned with who won’t back down from a fight. We’ll take the fight to them, whether that’s in court or in negotiations.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse
Unfortunately, our loved ones can suffer various types of abuse in nursing home facilities, including:
Physical Abuse
Physical elder abuse can include:
- Physical violence (e.g., hitting, punching, slapping, shaking, or kicking)
- Spitting on residents
- Unnecessary physical or medical restraint
- Refusing to give residents their medication
- Purposefully giving too much medication
- Refusing to give residents food and water
- Refusing to change a resident’s sheets or diaper as punishment
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse is not as obvious but can have serious effects. It can include:
- Screaming at or threatening residents
- Isolating residents
- Humiliating or degrading residents
- Ignoring residents
- Placing a resident’s assistive devices out of reach (e.g., a walker, wheelchair, or help button)
- Placing dentures or glasses out of reach
- Intentionally making a resident wait for medications, water, food, or care
Sexual Abuse
Examples of sexual abuse include:
- Showing a nursing home resident pornography without their consent
- Taking suggestive photos of a resident
- Any sexual activity, forcible or not
Financial Abuse
Financial abuse occurs when someone takes advantage of a vulnerable person in their care. Examples of financial abuse include:
- Convincing or forcing someone to change their will
- Convincing or forcing someone to change their Power of Attorney so the caregiver can make financial decisions on their behalf
- Stealing cash or valuables
- Forging or cashing checks from the person’s account
- Improper use of funds
- Billing for services that were not completed or ordered
- Identity theft
Neglect
Neglect can be intentional or unintentional. It can include:
- Failing to follow a fall prevention plan (e.g., having two staff members help a resident out of bed, to the bathroom, or to the lunchroom)
- Failing to move bed bound residents to prevent bedsores
- Failing to change residents or their linens
- Failing to give residents the attention they need
- Failing to clean a resident after an accident
Signs of Abuse
The signs of nursing home abuse differ based on the specific type of abuse, but include:
Physical Abuse
- Bruises
- Restraint marks
- Fear of a particular caregiver
- A caregiver refusing to allow you to be alone with your loved one
- Broken bones
- Bleeding, cuts, or burns
Emotional Abuse
- Mood swings
- Fear of a particular caregiver
- Anxiety
- Withdrawal from activities
Sexual Abuse
- Bruising around the thighs or genitals
- Bed wetting
- An unexplained infection
Financial Abuse
- An unexpected will or Power of Attorney change
- Missing checks or money
- Unpaid bills
- Changes in spending
Neglect
- Bedsores
- A smell of urine or feces
- Soiled sheets
- Soiled underwear
- Falls (these can be an example of neglect if your loved one tried to get to the bathroom on their own because no one had checked in on them)
- Allowing a resident to leave the facility alone
- Medication errors (e.g., too much or too little medication, wrong medication)
This list is not exhaustive. If you notice any of these signs (or anything that makes you uncomfortable), call our nursing home abuse attorneys: (352) 373-8000. We can help you determine your next steps.
What to Do if You Think You Loved One Is Being Abused
You never want to think that your loved one is suffering abuse in a facility you trusted. However, it occurs more often than you think. If you believe your loved one is suffering abuse, there are things you must do to ensure their safety:
- Speak to your loved one. Even if they deny abuse or neglect, remain watchful. They may be afraid to tell you. This is good practice, even if you don’t think they’re being abused. This can ensure you catch issues before they become much bigger problems.
- Call 911 if they are in immediate danger. This will keep them safe and prevent the abuse of other residents.
- Take notes of anything that makes you uncomfortable/anything your loved one tells you and take photos of any injuries. If your loved one is regularly suffering injuries in falls, remain watchful. While falls happen, this may be indicative of neglect or a cover-up of abuse.
- File a complaint with the Long-Term Care Ombudsman. They can investigate your claim.
- See if you can make other arrangements (e.g., another nursing home, take them home with you).
- Consult with a nursing home abuse attorney. We can help you explore your options.
How Long Do I Have to File a Lawsuit for Nursing Home Abuse?
Per Florida Statute 95.11, you have two years to file a lawsuit for nursing home abuse. You may also have other deadlines to abide by. Our team will manage these deadlines.
If you don’t file within that time, you could end up recovering nothing and be unable to seek justice for your loved one.
How Much Does a Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Cost?
Hiring a lawyer for your nursing home neglect or abuse case costs you nothing upfront. We handle your case with no retainer or hourly fees. You only pay us if and when we recover compensation for you.
The initial consultation is also free.
Who Can I Hold Liable?
There are several potentially liable parties in a nursing home abuse or negligence case, including:
- The abusive caregiver
- The facility
- A doctor
- An abusive resident
- An abusive visitor
Why Nursing Home Abuse Occurs
Elder abuse is far too common. According to statistics presented by the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), at least 10% of “community-dwelling older adults” experienced elder abuse in the past year. However, global estimates are much higher with one out of every six elders experiencing abuse in the past year.
Emotional abuse is the most common type of elder abuse in facilities, followed by physical abuse. However, it is estimated that for every report of abuse, approximately 24 cases are unreported.
While abuse and neglect are never acceptable, there are things that may make abuse more likely:
- Understaffing (According to a June 2020 survey by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL), 94% of nursing homes and 81% of assisted living facilities were short staffed.) This can lead to neglect and short tempers.
- The presence of dementia or other conditions (Residents with dementia are more likely to suffer abuse because they may be unable to recognize the abuse or remember that it occurred. They may also be more difficult to care for which can lead the caregiver to react with anger.)
- A failure to perform a proper background check
- Improper training (This can be due to overlooking someone’s lack of training or a failure to train due to understaffing or negligence.)
- No accountability (Some managers don’t hold abusers accountable for their behavior, which can allow the abuse to go on unchecked.)
Get Help from Our Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyers in The Villages Today
Sometimes, the facilities we trust don’t treat our loved ones with the respect they deserve. If you have seen any signs of nursing home abuse, our team can help you fight for justice. The Meldon Law team can help you explore your options and protect your loved one and other residents of nursing homes throughout The Villages.
Call our personal injury lawyers today for a free consultation: (352) 373-8000. We’ll listen to your story and help you hold a negligent or abusive nursing home facility liable.
