Establishing Legal Responsibility for Wrongful Care in a Nursing Home
According to national studies, up to five million senior citizens may be victims of abuse or neglect in the United States every year. Some estimates suggest that as many as one of every 10 persons over the age of 60 has been subjected to physical abuse or neglect. When you consider that experts believe that less than one in every 10 incidents of such abuse or neglect are even reported, the scope of the problem comes into focus.
When your loved one has suffered needlessly because of inappropriate behavior or care in a nursing home or other care facility, you can bring legal action to recover damages for their losses. One of the challenges, though, is determining exactly who is potentially liable for the abuse or neglect. Though you may be able to identify an employee who has engaged in wrongful conduct, that person may not have any financial resources, so you may not be able to meaningfully pursue monetary damages. However, the facility typically carries liability insurance, so it’s customarily to your benefit to identify ways that the owners or operators of the nursing home participated in the wrongful conduct.
A nursing home facility may have liability if the actions that caused injury were the result of:
- Inadequate or inappropriate staffing—That may involve understaffing or staffing certain positions with unqualified or unskilled workers
- Negligence in hiring—Failure to ascertain whether potential employees had the experience, skill or training to properly perform their duties
- Negligence in training or supervision—Failure to ensure that workers had the requisite skills and knowledge to ensure the safety of residents
- Violation of laws or regulations governing the nursing home business
- Medication errors—The facility may have liability if proper protocols were not in place to ensure proper administration of drugs
Contact the Law Offices of David J. Karbasian, PC
Send us an e-mail today or call us at 856-667-4666 / 856-600-HURT to schedule an appointment.
Evening and weekend meetings can be arranged upon request. We’ll come to your home or the hospital to meet with you, if necessary.