New York Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Lawyers – What Constitutes Nursing Home Neglect or Abuse?
Nursing homes and long-term care facilities have a legal duty to take proper precautions to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of residents. When facilities fail to meet the required duty of care, they can be held liable for the injuries and damages suffered by residents.
Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
It’s unconscionable how seniors are sometimes abused and neglected in nursing homes and long-term facilities. Abuse and neglect can result in:
- Bedsores. “Bedsores” are a form of ulcer that can develop on the pressure points of those who are bedridden if they are not properly cared for. They are also referred to as pressure sores or pressure ulcers. Bedsore prevention usually requires turning bed-ridden or limited mobility residents on a prescribed schedule. If not treated, bedsores can lead to life-threatening physical complications, including sepsis (a blood disease that can be fatal) and cellulitis (skin and soft tissue infection).
- Falls and Fractures. Often those in nursing home and long-term care facilities are injured in falls. Typically nursing home falls occur when a resident who should have an attendant while walking does not have such an attendant. In some cases, because of their condition, residents should not be allowed to walk, as there may be a high risk of falling, even when there is nothing on the floor that may cause a trip or fall.
In other cases, residents may fall from tripping, or may slip on wet surfaces. Some residents may require rails for a bed; if these are not used, the resident may fall out of bed. It’s important to fully understand a resident’s condition when a fall occurs in order to be able to assess potential liability.
- Choking. Some residents are unable to swallow solid food, often as a result of a stroke or other medical condition. When these residents are not served the proper food for their condition, choking in a nursing home can occur, which can lead to trachea damage or death.
- Malnutrition or dehydration. To a person in declining health, malnutrition or dehydration can lead to serious consequences quickly.
- Medication Errors. Medication errors can include being given the wrong medication, being given the wrong dosage (either too much or too little medication) or not being given the required medication at the required times. When medication errors occur, severe consequences can result, including seizures and death.
- Injuries from Wandering (“Elopement”). Lack of supervision (allowing residents to wander from a nursing home facility), can lead to injuries and death when residents leave nursing homes. Such wandering is often referred to as “elopement.”
- Physical and Sexual Abuse. Tragically, in some cases nursing home residents can be hit, slapped, tied down, wrongfully restrained, or even abused sexually. Nursing home abuse should never be tolerated.
- Mental Abuse. Threats, harassment, and intimidation are some of the types of abuse that may be suffered by nursing home residents. Those entrusted to care for our seniors can easily manipulate them into believing that they can not report bad treatment; otherwise, they will suffer retribution.
- Dignity. Residents of nursing home and care facilities have dignity rights that must be respected. Hygiene, answering call bells, and being treated with respect are all a part of dignity rights. When these rights are not respected, New York statute provides the residents may bring a lawsuit for violating a resident’s right to be treated with dignity.
- Abandonment. Residents should not be left unattended for long time periods in which their needs are unmet.
- Theft of Money or Personal Property. Residents may be the victims of unscrupulous caretakers who steal their property.
- Unsanitary Conditions. Unsanitary conditions can lead to infections, disease, and other ailments, not to mention the affront to personal dignity.
- Bed Rail Suffocation. Sadly, residents in nursing homes and care facilities sometimes die from suffocation when they are trapped between a bed rail and a mattress.
- Contracture. Contracture is a type of rigidity brought about by a shortening and hardening of muscles, tendons, and skin. Contracture can develop when residents of nursing homes and care facilities are neglected.
- Other Injuries. Other maltreatment can results in conditions including:
- Weight gain or loss
- Septic shock
- Aspiration pneumonia
- Wrongful Death. Tragically, each year nursing home residents die from injuries, neglect, abuse, and other preventable events. Those responsible need to be held accountable.
Dad left that facility in an ambulance and was dead 31 days after arriving there for basic rehabilitation. Refusal by the staff doctor to follow my Fathers hospital discharge orders, nurses and aids not following standard care procedures resulted in daily errors and problems. All of my requests for doctor consultation were ignored. The staff discarded daily notes from me.
How could this happen? Why?? After spending weeks of sleepless nights, I consulted a friend who gave me countless reasons to just accept my Fathers death and heal.
I couldn’t let it go. I heard my Dad’s painful screams from the skin being eaten off his legs due to poor hygiene from the Nurses. I saw the hopelessness in his eyes when I explained there were no other facility openings to transfer him. I watched his dignity and will to live diminish. NO ONE DESERVES that type of treatment.
I was then referred to Bill Friedlander Esq., Friedland & Friedlander Law Firm.. We met and after explaining how difficult it is to prove my allegations, Bill miraculously accepted the case. Bill discovered cover-ups, lies, corporate mishandlings, state regulation violations, ineptness – he just kept investigating even after their insurance company filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Every legal filing was delayed, counter filed, this case dragged on for years, with no remorse or acknowledgement. I was discouraged, but Bill and his associate Dave Hoey convinced me that the nursing home was trying to break me by dragging this out until I would just give up.
After a 13 day trial and hung jury, Bill continued fighting for my Father – He and Dave Hoey were relentless. Finally the Nursing Home and their Doctor caved (3 weeks prior to the next scheduled trial). William Friedlander Esq. and David Hoey, Esq. had won Justice for my Dad and the case was settled.
I will never be able to express my gratitude to these two Attorneys who fought so hard for my Dad. The passion and kindness shown to me during this 7 year ordeal will always be with me.