If your loved one was injured as a result of nursing home abuse, an experienced personal injury attorney from Wade Law can help you understand the process of seeking compensation from the facility for the expenses and impacts that were incurred as a result of the injury.
What Is Nursing Home Abuse?
Nursing home abuse occurs when the staff members at the facility fail to maintain the standard of care required in the treatment of residents of long-term care facilities as prescribed by law. The acts that result in abuse can be intentional or unintentional in nature and can involve abuse at the hands of staff members, other residents, or even guests of the facility.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse
When individuals think of nursing home abuse, the image that most often comes up is one of a staff member physically abusing a resident by punching, slapping, or pushing them. In truth, this type of abuse does occur in nursing homes. However, there are other types of treatment that can result in injury to a resident and give rise to a nursing home abuse lawsuit, including:
- Sexual abuse
- Physical or chemical restraint
- Neglect, which is depriving the resident of basic needs
- Emotional abuse, such as humiliation or bullying
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Can You Sue a Nursing Home For Abuse?
If you or your loved one suffered abuse of any sort that resulted in injury while residing at a nursing home, you can seek compensation for the expenses and psychological impacts of your injury through a personal injury lawsuit. This is a legal claim that is filed first with the facility’s insurer in order to afford them the opportunity to pay the claim in full or work on a negotiated settlement with your attorney.
At any time before the statute of limitations on your nursing home abuse claim expires, if negotiations fail to produce a fair settlement offer, you and your attorney can make the decision to file the claim as a lawsuit in court. It should be noted that settlement negotiations can continue even after the lawsuit is filed. In fact, even after your trial has begun, the at-fault party’s insurer is free to make settlement offers as long as a decision has not been reached by the court.
How Do You Prove That the Nursing Home Is Liable for the Abuse?
In order to show that a nursing home is liable for you or your loved one’s injuries, you must be able to prove:
- The facility and its employees had a legal duty to provide reasonable care to the resident as required by federal and state laws.
- There was a breach in this duty of care when a staff member of the facility took actions that were contrary to the duty owed to the resident.
- The breach resulted in a resident becoming injured and incurring financial and psychological costs.
What Compensation Can You Receive Through a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit?
You or your loved one can seek to recover both economic and non-economic damages through your legal claim. What this means is that:
- You can seek to obtain compensation (recover damages)
- for the expenses (economic damages)
- and impacts (non-economic damages) of your injury.
Some expenses and impacts that are commonly claimed in nursing home abuse lawsuits include:
- The cost of medically treating the injury that occurred as a result of the abuse, including hospitalization, prescription medication, surgery, physical therapy and rehabilitation, and even placement in a different long-term care facility that is better suited to meet the needs of the resident.
- Physical pain and suffering as the result of physical or sexual abuse or neglect.
- Emotional pain and suffering resulting from emotional or other types of abuse or neglect.
What if a Resident Dies as a Result of Nursing Home Abuse?
If your loved one died as a result of nursing home abuse, a personal representative of their estate can file a claim on your behalf, seeking the loss of love, affection, or guidance, as well as seeking to recover expenses such as funeral and burial costs or the medical treatment of the deceased’s final injuries
Do You Need an Attorney to File a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit?
An attorney is an extremely important piece of having a successful outcome to your claim, as they are able to provide extensive understanding and guidance not only into the legal process of seeking compensation, but also knowledge of abuse injuries and cases that can help them properly value the claim. Additionally, your attorney has a legal team to assist them as they gather and organize witness testimony and evidence that will be necessary to prove your claim in court.
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If You File a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit, Will You Have to Go to Court?
The vast majority of personal injury claims – including nursing home abuse lawsuit – are resolved by settlement before they reach the courtroom. However, some cases do wind up in court and an attorney can never guarantee that yours won’t. This is why it is important to ensure that the legal team you have assisting you with your nursing home abuse claim is prepared to fight for your compensation, whether through negotiations or litigation.
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If You Have Questions About Filing a Nursing Home Abuse Claim, Wade Law Has Answers
The legal team at Wade Law understands that being injured or having your aging mother or father injured as a result of nursing home abuse is a terrifying and confusing experience. We also know that obtaining timely and legally correct answers to the questions you have about your claim is crucial. Let us give you some answers through a free case evaluation. Contact us today.
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