Full Answer
These lawyers can take legal action if an older adult was harmed while living in a nursing home. The nursing facility had a legal duty to care for the victim. Nursing home staff members harmed a resident through negligence and/or intentional acts of violence.
There are several situations where a nursing home could be sued for a resident or patient injury. Please answer a few questions to help us match you with attorneys in your area. By clicking “Submit,” you agree to the Martindale-Nolo Texting Terms. Martindale-Nolo and up to 5 participating attorneys may contact you on the number you provided.
Personal injury lawyers that specialize in handling nursing home abuse cases are the best option for those looking to file. These lawyers have the experience, resources, and dedication needed to maximize the value of your case.
Nursing home staff is expected to uphold a particular standard of care for all of their residents, and when this standard of care is breached or neglected, they can be held liable for the ensuing damages.
Nursing home abuse lawyers handle much of the work that comes with a lawsuit. They can file a lawsuit on behalf of a victim or their family and rep...
Personal injury lawyers that specialize in handling nursing home abuse cases are the best option for those looking to file. These lawyers have the...
Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency basis. This means they charge no upfront fees for their work. They will only get paid if they se...
Nursing home abuse lawyers can take on many different nursing home abuse cases. This includes ones involving physical abuse, financial exploitation...
Call our team today at (855) 264-6310 to see if you can speak with a nursing home abuse lawyer. Our caring patient advocates can assess your case a...
Nursing home neglect lawsuits — which claim that the inactions of a staff member harmed an elderly resident — can award millions of dollars. For ex...
Factors affecting nursing home lawsuit compensation include your evidence and the decisions of a jury. If you have solid evidence of nursing home a...
Each nursing home abuse lawsuit is different, so the time it takes to reach a conclusion can vary. Some lawsuits may be settled in a few months, wh...
Our Patient Advocates can help connect you with a skilled nursing home lawyer in your area if you qualify. Call (800) 896-7040 to speak to one of o...
If the nursing home fails to comply with these regulations and a resident is injured, the nursing home might face liability in a civil lawsuit.
When a resident is injured at a care facility, it is not always obvious what exactly went wrong, and who might be legally responsible. The evidence available is often incomplete and may be self-serving for the defendant (the nursing home). In cases like these, your best first step might be discussing the situation with a personal injury lawyer.
Regulations On The Standard of Care. If a nursing home accepts Medicare, the nursing home must follow Federal Regulations that set forth the required standard of care. One of these regulations is 42 CFR sec. 483.25 (h) which says such facilities must ensure that:
The court found that leaving the resident unwatched, for even a short period of time, was an invitation for the resident to fall.
There are countless accidents, intentional acts, and failures to act that may leave a nursing home or other care facility on the legal hook for injuries or preventable health problems, either based on the conduct of an employee or based on a policy or ongoing practice at the facility . Here are a few examples:
A nursing home, convalescent home, rest home, or long-term care facility can be held legally responsible—meaning that a personal injury or medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed —when an act of negligence, neglect, or abuse on the premises ends up causing harm to a patient or resident.
If you are reading this, a bad nursing home probably hurt someone you know.
Regardless of what state you are in, before you can bring a lawsuit against a nursing home, you have to get certain ducks in a row.
The first substantive step in a nursing home lawsuit investigation is getting your case reviewed by a medical expert.
However, it’s a good idea to conduct advanced investigation into the nursing home to unearth additional support for your claims of negligence and nursing abuse.
Nursing home litigation discovery- done after the lawsuit is filed – will involve the following core forms of discovery (investigation tools) that will need your involvement as the client:
Lawsuits against nursing homes for negligence take a very long time to resolve.
Unlike car collision cases, nursing home litigation has unique hurdles. Some of those include:
In a civil lawsuit, the plaintiff (the victim of nursing home abuse or their family members) must show that the defendants (senior living facilities or staff members) are liable for causing harm. Liability in civil lawsuits can be established by showing: Negligent supervision.
A nursing home lawsuit can be filed to obtain compensatory damages for the pain and suffering the victim has already endured. This is monetary compensation paid out to the nursing home resident. At a bare minimum, nursing home abuse lawsuits should help recover the costs of medical care or recoup stolen money.
After each side has built its case, they will usually meet to try and settle the lawsuit before it goes to trial. A successful nursing home abuse settlement occurs when the defendant’s lawyers agree to pay the plaintiffs. In exchange, the lawsuit concludes.
Tort Nursing Home Lawsuits. A tort lawsuit is filed when a resident suffers harm or loss and claims that the resident’s health care fell beneath a reasonable standard. Nursing homes usually have insurance for negligence and medical malpractice, meaning victims can often collect more money through a tort lawsuit.
Nursing homes can be found negligent if the victim can prove: The owner or employees of the facility breached an appropriate standard of care. The victim’s injury was caused by the breach. The owner’s or employee’s conduct caused the personal injury or wrongful death.
Nursing home neglect in which the services fall below those outlined in the contract. There also may be limits on the amount of money a nursing home resident can receive through a breach-of-contract lawsuit.
Appeal. If either party does not agree with the jury verdict, they may choose to appeal the decision. The civil lawsuit will then be presented to an appellate court, each party submitting a brief and record of evidence from the trial. The court will look for legal errors made in the pre-trial or trial proceedings.
When a family decides to place a loved one in a nursing home, the family trusts that the facility will provide their loved one with appropriate medical care, in addition to managing their loved one’s daily needs.
Medical malpractice in a nursing home is different from abuse or neglect of a nursing home resident. Nursing home medical malpractice refers to instances when the nursing home and its staff have agreed to provide a resident with medical services and fail to provide that care and treatment within an appropriate level of medical skill and care.
If you suspect someone you love was the victim of medical malpractice in a nursing home, it is important that you act quickly. Start by reporting your suspicions to the nursing home director or another facility administrator.
To succeed in a medical malpractice case, a victim of medical malpractice must prove the following four elements of a negligence claim:
Because nursing home residents often are already in a state of fragile health, a medical mistake can have devastating consequences and, tragically, often lead to the death of the patient.
At Robenalt Law, our experienced nursing home negligence and medical malpractice lawyers have extensive experience representing the families of people who have been injured or killed by medical malpractice in a nursing home.