Little Known Facts About Neglect And Abuse Claims

Despite occurring in places we should be able to place out ultimate trust in, nursing home neglect and abuse cases are a harsh truth that many choose to ignore, either because the problem is perceived as less severe than it is, or the realities of these cases are too sensitive to research or talk about.

However, ignoring these conditions doesn’t make their negative effects any lesser; nursing home abuse is a serious problem in the United States, far more widespread than many accept or realize, and can often lead to serious injury, or even death. Despite their direct responsibility for the care and safety of nursing home residents, nursing home employees are found guilty of care negligence with unsettling frequency.

The Types and Forms of Abuse Vary

When it comes to nursing home neglect and abuse, there are no universal conditions under any circumstances; all abuse cases are unique, just as their resulting conditions, severity and warning signs are.

Fortunately, there are compassionate attorneys who will fight for the victims’ rights in these cases, against any of the many types of nursing home neglect and abuse. These types of abuse include:

Physical abuse, which is the intentional harm or use of force on a nursing home resident. These often result in pain or impairment, and involve everything physically harmful, from the obvious hitting or shoving to more complicated abusive restraint, or confinement.

Beyond physical abuse, but just as harmful, is emotional abuse. This encapsulates anything psychologically abusive, including:

• Humiliation
• Yelling and threats
• Isolating the victim from activities, friends or family

Common nursing home abuse types are not limited to the two above, unfortunately, as sexual abuse, malnourishment, financial fraud and even medical malpractice and ignorance are reported annually, at alarming rates. These horrendous abuses, while most often the result of understaffing or poor training, can also come from nursing home caregivers with malicious intent.

The reasons for nursing home abuse, and conditions that lead to it, do not matter in the slightest; these cases concern the wellness of human beings, and the reasons behind neglect change nothing.

If you or a loved one has experienced this neglect or abuse in the state of Florida, contact a passionate nursing home abuse attorney right away. These professionals can effectively tie causation back to the nursing home, making them answer for their harmful treatment and giving you and your loved ones the financial compensation needed to get through these hard times.

The Signs May Not Always Be Clear

Unfortunately, identifying nursing home neglect and abuse is not always clear, which is a major part of why the problem remains underreported. In addition to the different types of nursing abuse, it’s crucial for those who suspect an abuse may be taking place to consider all of the signs that point to these abusive situations.

These warning signs include:

• Bed sores, bruising and significant, sudden weight loss, indicative of physical abuse and abandonment
• Over-controlling behavior from caregivers, including refusal to visit residents with little or poor reasoning, or increasing tension between caregivers and residents
• Sudden changes in resident behavior, or, in extreme cases, feigned dementia
• Memory loss, or increased forgetfulness
• Unsanitary living areas, which will often feature unattended to soiled clothing, dirt, pests and filthy clothing
• Unsafe conditions, including lack of safe running water, heat and air conditioning, and poor wiring
• Over- or under-medication, or repeat billings for a single medical service, which are indicative of financial fraud
• Items inexplicably missing from a residents living area, such as jewelry or cash

In 2007, almost 40,000 official complaints were filed on poor nursing home conditions; this number is very likely a low number, as thousands of nursing abuse problems go on every year undetected. Federal investigators found that 94% of nursing homes had violated safety and health regulations in 2008, providing a much more complete number to the nursing home abuse epidemic.

Don’t let these signs go on unnoticed. While it may be extremely unsettling to know that such behaviors not only exist today, but are as widespread as they are, there are things you can do right now to directly help those you know affected by nursing home negligence.

What You Can Do to Stop the Abuse

If you are a victim of nursing home abuse, or expect a loved one to be the victim of malpractice by their caregivers, you may feel lost, alone and without direction as to how to stop this treatment; fortunately, nursing home abuse cases are one of the many types of cases the expert attorneys at Lowman Law Firm have experience in resolving.

For these types of cases, we find that it’s often the smaller legal firms that hold the victims and their rights with the utmost compassion. The attorneys in these groups handle nursing home abuse cases with personal attention as a top priority, and will often offer free consultations prior to a case, and offer their services on a contingency basis. This assures you that there will be no legal fees or up-front costs until your case succeeds in court. This makes getting the help you so desperately need possible under any financial situation.

Don’t let the pain of nursing home negligence go unanswered. Act today, and you can both stop the abuse, and help yourself or your loved ones receive the compensation needed. Contact Lowman Law Firm to learn more about how nursing home neglect and abuse cases play out in court, and what you can do now to put a stop to these horrible conditions.