When the elderly cannot complete daily living tasks without support, they sometimes go to nursing homes to improve their quality of life. When you discover your loved one is being neglected or abused at the hands of their healthcare providers, you may be devastated and enraged. Fortunately, our dedicated injury attorneys have extensive experience handling nursing home abuse and neglect cases.
Your loved one’s abuser and the parties that facilitated the abuse should be brought to justice. Otherwise, your family member and other nursing home or assisted-living facility residents could continue to be subjected to abuse and neglect. Our compassionate McDonough nursing home abuse lawyers at T. Madden & Associates, P.C. can help you navigate these claims and demand justice. Contact an experienced nursing home attorney at our firm to request a free consultation and learn more about where to report nursing home abuse, the potential consequences the abuser will face, and how much your nursing home abuse lawsuit could be worth.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse
One of the primary reasons nursing home abuse continues to be a serious cause for concern across McDonough and the rest of Georgia is that it can take a variety of forms. Not every type of abuse or neglect is obvious. It is important to understand the different types of nursing home abuse so you can protect your loved ones.
Sexual Abuse
Any type of unwanted sexual contact in a nursing home is abuse. Unfortunately, some nursing home staff members, healthcare providers, and even other nursing home residents sexually abuse residents. If you notice signs of depression, social isolation, or fear, this may be an indicator that your loved one is suffering from sexual abuse in a nursing home.
Physical Abuse
When healthcare providers physically harm a nursing home resident, this is considered abuse. Nursing home residents can be subjected to physical abuse by other nursing home residents, visitors, janitorial staff, and other third parties. You might notice unexplained welts, bruising, broken or fractured bones, and other physical injuries if your loved one suffers physical abuse.
Emotional Abuse and Verbal Abuse
Emotional abuse can be difficult to identify. This is because there are no physical signs. Abusers intimidate, harass, name-call, belittle, and shame nursing home residents, which can cause extreme emotional distress and mental anguish and lead to substance abuse, self-harming behaviors, and even suicide.
Financial Abuse
You may begin to suspect your loved one is being financially abused if you notice money missing from their accounts, sudden changes to power of attorney, or an excess of spending from healthcare providers. Generally, financial abuse is easier to prove once it is uncovered due to the trail of personal financial documents.
Nursing Home Neglect
Neglect is one of the most common types of nursing home abuse. When healthcare providers fail to properly care for your loved one, they can develop bedsores, become dehydrated, and suffer from malnourishment, which can lead to severe medical conditions that can become life-threatening.
Who Can Be Sued for Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect?
Nearly anyone within the nursing home or assisted living facility can be sued for neglect or abuse. In most elder abuse cases, the nursing home resident’s primary caregiver will be found responsible. However, other parties have also been known to abuse nursing home patients, including kitchen and janitorial staff, nursing home staff, administrative staff, other nursing home residents, and visitors. You might also have grounds for legal action against your family member’s physician, primary care doctor, nurses, and you can even hold the nursing home accountable through the wrongful death legal process. If the nursing home has a parent company, you may have the right to pursue a claim against them for failure to protect your loved one and prevent nursing home abuse and neglect.
Where to Report Nursing Home Abuse in McDonough
It is not enough to report the nursing home abuse to your personal injury attorneys. If you want to protect your loved one and other nursing home residents who may be enduring elder abuse, the appropriate authorities must be notified. Some of these individuals and agencies include:
- The McDonough Police Department
- The Georgia State Police
- Georgia Adult Protective Services
- Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services
- The Department of Community Health
- Your nursing home abuse lawyer
How to Make the At-Fault Parties Pay
Abusers and facilitators of abuse need to be held accountable. They need to be made an example of so others know how seriously abuse and neglect in nursing homes will be taken. Fortunately, Georgia law allows for multiple opportunities to ensure abusers and abuse facilitators are brought to justice.
File a Medical Malpractice Insurance Claim
All healthcare providers are usually protected by medical malpractice insurance coverage. Abuse and neglect could be considered medical malpractice when healthcare providers fail to uphold the medical standard of care. When you file a medical malpractice insurance claim, you are seeking compensation from the insurance company.
However, this may not be enough to fully cover your loved one’s damages. The insurance company and other involved parties may be willing to settle outside of court for fear of how much they could be ordered to pay if your case goes to trial. This may give you some negotiating power if the insurance company makes you a low offer.
File a Report With the McDonough Police Department
While your family will not receive compensation for filing a report with the McDonough Police Department or the Georgia State Police, the proper authority should be notified in instances of sexual assault. Law enforcement officials can then investigate and determine whether criminal charges should be filed against abusers and facilitators of nursing home abuse. If the at-fault parties face criminal charges, they could face fines, jail or prison time, and even have professional licenses revoked.
File a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit in McDonough
Our nursing home abuse lawyers are ready to help you if filing a civil lawsuit is in your best interests. This is going to be your best opportunity to hold the at-fault party accountable to the fullest extent of the law. When you file a personal injury lawsuit for nursing home abuse or neglect, the defendants can be ordered to compensate your loved one for how they have been affected by the injuries and abuse they suffered. Examples of potentially recoverable compensatory damages in nursing home abuse lawsuits include:
- Medical expenses
- Ongoing mental health counseling
- Surgical treatment
- Disfigurement
- Co-pays
- Cost of relocating to a new nursing home facility
- Nursing home room costs
- Embarrassment, indignity, and shame
- Money stolen through financial abuse
- Permanent disability
- Diminished quality of life
- Personal property damages
- Loss of consortium
- Pain and suffering
- Fear, shock, and apprehension
Punitive damages could also be awarded. This is often seen in nursing home abuse cases where defendants have engaged in intentionally malicious or grossly negligent conduct. With nursing home negligence and abuse cases, punitive damages may be more likely, as there is the assumption of intentional malice.
Essential Deadlines in McDonough
After everything your loved one has been through, taking on a personal injury case can seem overwhelming. You may not be sure whether moving forward with a claim is in your family member’s best interests after they have endured such a traumatic experience. However, it is important to act on your claim quickly. The state limits the amount of time you have to file a claim to two years.
The exact deadline the statute of limitations expires can vary on a case-by-case basis. For some, it might expire two years from the first instance of abuse. For others, it may be the date the victim discovered they were being abused or neglected. Working with our nursing home abuse attorneys is the best way to get your claim filed before time runs out. If your claim is not filed before the deadline, you will be prohibited from advocating for your loved one’s rights before a judge and jury. Our nursing home abuse attorney will ensure your claim is filed so we can commence with your legal proceedings and recover fair compensation for your medical bills and other damages.
Contact a Compassionate and Aggressive Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer in McDonough, GA For Help Today
Your loved one’s abuser and anyone who allowed the abuse or neglect to continue should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The at-fault party should not only face legal action in civil court but be subjected to a criminal investigation depending on the circumstances of your case. Your family member may be physically, emotionally, and financially traumatized by the abuse and neglect they endured.
With help from our empathetic and experienced nursing home abuse attorneys at T. Madden & Associates, P.C., you can get your loved one to safety, get them settled into an environment that will improve their quality of life, and recover the compensation they deserve. Advocate for your relative’s right to justice. Meet with our personal injury lawyers as soon as today when you fill out our quick contact form or call our law office to request a no-cost, risk-free consultation.