As your parents or loved ones get older, they may not be able to take care of themselves as they once did. You may decide that the best option is to put them in a nursing home, where you trust that they will be tended to with proper care. However, that is not always the case.
Unfortunately, the recent explosion in the elder care industry has made sub-standard nursing facilities all too common, even in Arkansas. These institutions maximize profits by cutting corners in both staffing and procedures, which can have your elderly loved ones paying the price.
If you or a loved one has suffered abuse in a nursing home or by an in-home care provider in Jonesboro, legal recourse may be available. At Morgan & Morgan, our Jonesboro nursing home abuse attorneys have the resources and experience needed to help abuse victims and their families recover compensation for their mistreatment.
In Arkansas, damages available in nursing home abuse claims include, but are not limited to, the cost of medical bills, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. There is a time limit on filing a claim, so it is in your best interest to consult with an attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney can help compile your claim for damages, and more importantly, seek an end to the abuse.
If someone you love suffered abuse in a nursing home, we may be able to help. To find out what our Jonesboro nursing home abuse attorneys may be able to do for you, fill out our free case evaluation form today.
How We Handle Nursing Home Lawsuits
Morgan & Morgan prides itself on being a trial law firm. This means that, unlike some other firms in Jonesboro, our attorneys are expected to take cases to court on a regular basis to ensure we best represent our clients’ needs. If an offer to settle a case is unacceptable, we are not afraid to take our cases to trial. To strengthen your Jonesboro nursing home abuse claim, our attorneys can:
- Work alongside medical experts to determine the exact cause of your loved one’s injuries;
- Review your loved one’s medical records;
- Help ensure the nursing home does not attempt to block access to relevant information;
- Gather photographic evidence and review security videotape from the time of the abuse;
- Review business records to determine the legality of the nursing home’s hiring practices;
- Interview other employees and residents of the nursing home;
- Interview witnesses to the abuse, if possible;
- Work alongside medical experts to determine the projected future cost of living after the abuse; and
- Determine the cost of non-economic damages from the abuse.
When a nursing home in Arkansas is charged with abuse, it will likely enlist legal counsel to help deny or minimize instances of misconduct. Therefore, it is important that you obtain an attorney to advocate on your behalf and help you recover fair and just compensation for your losses.
Elder Abuse and Neglect
Elder abuse can take many forms, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, negligence by an in-home caregiver, financial exploitation, and/or health care fraud. In the event that a resident is injured as a result of a caregiver’s negligence, he or she may be able to file a nursing home abuse claim with the help of an attorney in Jonesboro.
According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, nursing home abuse can be divided into three categories:
Domestic: Maltreatment of an older person by someone who has a special relationship with the elder, including a spouse, sibling, child, friend, or caregiver. The abuse can occur in the elder’s home, or in the home of a caregiver.
Institutional: Any abuse that occurs in residential facilities for older persons such as nursing homes, foster homes, group homes, or board and care facilities. Perpetrators of institutional abuse are usually persons who have a legal or contractual obligation to provide the elderly with care and protection.
Self-neglect: Behavior of an elderly person that threatens his or her own health or safety. Self-neglect generally manifests itself in an older person as a refusal or failure to provide himself or herself with adequate food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, medication, or safety precaution. This excludes a situation in which a mentally competent older person, who understands the consequences of his or her decisions, makes a conscious and voluntary decision to engage in acts that threaten his or her health or safety as a matter of personal choice.
Financial Abuse of an Elder
The low wages received by many nursing home employees in Jonesboro, combined with the fact that the elder’s personal information is on file at the facility, makes the financial exploitation of the elderly an unfortunately common occurrence. One study found that over 1 in 10 cases of abuse suffered by the elderly were material/financial exploitation.
The following are some signs that our elder abuse attorneys believe could be indications of financial abuse:
- Sudden bank account changes including withdrawals of large sums of money;
- Addition of unexplained names to the victim’s bank account;
- Missing funds or valuable possessions; and
- Sudden transfer of assets or changes in a will.
If you suspect financial exploitation is occurring, our lawyers can help investigate suspicious behavior, and if needed, pursue the recovery of the funds lost to abuse.
No elder should ever have to deal with abuse. If you or someone you love is a victim of nursing home or elder abuse, our attorneys can put a stop to it. You may also be entitled to compensation for the pain and suffering endured. Fill out our free case evaluation form today to learn what a Jonesboro nursing home abuse attorney may be able to recover for you.