Nursing Home Abuse, Neglect, and Malpractice
Advocating for some of the most vulnerable patients.
Unfortunately, nursing home abuse, negligence, and neglect does occur, leaving families to deal with the consequences.
Almost every family has had to make the difficult decision of sending a loved one to a nursing home so that he or she can get needed around-the-clock care or recover from an injury or illness. We expect that the medical staff will treat our loved ones with the utmost care and provide them with the medical treatment and services they need. Just as with infant children and toddlers, the elderly require a higher degree of care and supervision than a typical patient in a hospital.
At its heart, a claim arising out of nursing home abuse or neglect is a medical malpractice claim alleging that the nursing home and its medical staff were negligent by failing to render proper care to a nursing home resident/patient, i.e., the nursing home and its medical staff failed to comply with the applicable standard of care. Proving a nursing home abuse or neglect case is not, however, an easy endeavor. Many patients injured in nursing homes have been residents of the facility for several years so there are often mountains of medical records to review – a process that can sometimes amount to finding the proverbial needle in the haystack.
Families whose loved ones have been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect need to find a personal injury law firm with extensive experience in investigating these claims – a law firm that has the resources and capabilities to meticulously comb through the record to gather the precise information necessary to bring a lawsuit for nursing home abuse or neglect. SUGARMAN’s personal injury attorneys have extensive experience investigating and litigating nursing home abuse and neglect cases.
If you or a loved one have been a victim of nursing home abuse, the malpractice lawyers in Massachusetts at SUGARMAN are here to help.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse, Neglect, & Malpractice
Bed Sores/Pressure Sores/Decubitus Ulcers
Elderly patients in nursing homes may often be bed-bound, which substantially increases the risk of developing pressure sores. Without vigilant skin monitoring and position changes initiated by the staff, pressure sores can progress quickly and can even resulted in death.Learn More
Pressure sores cause patient’s death
A patient at very high risk for pressure sores developed several pressure sores just days after being admitted to a nursing home. The nursing home’s medical staff failed to properly implement and follow the patient’s careplan for preventing pressure sores. The patient developed numerous complications as a result of the pressure sores, requiring a below knee amputation of his left leg, and eventually died. The case was settled before trial.
Failure to Provide Proper Care
Patients in nursing homes or long-term rehabilitation centers deserve the same care and treatment they would if they were in a hospital. There are a variety of other instances of medical malpractice that can give rise to a nursing home abuse or neglect case.Learn More
Choking death of nursing home resident
Nursing home staff allowed an elderly patient with a history of swallowing difficulties to eat a sandwich while unsupervised. The patient subsequently choked while eating the sandwich and was found unresponsive. SUGARMAN attorneys obtained a settlement on behalf of the nursing home resident’s family.
Nursing home negligence in care of 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient
Wrongful death settlement against a nursing home for the family of an Alzheimer's patient who was allowed to wander outside at night and died as a result.
Nursing home resident suffers fracture during routine procedure
Settlement against a nursing home for fracturing the resident's femur during a catheter replacement in violation of the established Plan of Care. The resident required orthopedic surgery and suffered post-surgical decompensation and death.
Fall Prevention
Many elderly patients have stringent measures in place to protect them against falls. Most have a history of falls, have a condition that makes them unsteady on their feet or have dementia. Many times, these fall prevention protocols are not followed, which can result in serious injury.Learn More
Failure to follow fall prevention protocols causes patient’s death
A nursing home resident at high risk for falls sustained a hip fracture when she fell as a result of the nursing home medical staff failing to follow the appropriate fall prevention measures when assisting the patient to the bathroom. Rather than reporting the incident, the medical staff placed the patient back in her bed with a fractured right hip. The patient subsequently suffered a heart attack due to the trauma and died.