Nursing Home Abuse and Negligence – Safe or Sorry?
Nursing homes are meant to be a safe place where the elderly are taken care of by professionals who care and will treat your family members with respect. Staff members of the facility are presumed to abide to strict codes of conduct. However, that is not always the case. Some residents of nursing homes are subject to physical abuse, mental abuse, and neglect. The Pennsylvania nursing home lawyers at the Philadelphia law firm of Reiff and Bily have been researching and handling thousands of nursing home abuse and neglect cases since 1979.
CBS news reported that a congressional report in 2001 says 5,283 U.S. nursing homes, nearly one-third, have been cited for abuse. The report says more than 40%, or 3,800 abuse violations, were only reported after formal complaints from residents, their families or community advocates. Over 1,000 homes were cited for more than one abuse violation in a two-year period, 305 homes were cited for three or more abuse violations, and 192 nursing homes were cited for five or more abuse violations.
To help reduce costs, nursing homes hire people with minimal qualifications and insufficient training, inadequate staffing for the homes, and have low wages with a high employee turnover. Nursing home neglect can be a failure to: provide a safe and clean environment, provide proper nutrition (food and water), proper administration of medicine or medical services, proper care for injuries or sores, assisting with personal hygiene, or provide appropriate supervision and to help prevent accidents. Nursing home abuse can be described as: assault and battery, sexual assault or rape, unreasonable physical constraint or use of an non-authorized restraint, prolonged or continual deprivation of food or water, over-medication or failure to give medication, unexplained injuries such as cuts or bruises, and reports of mistreatment such as slapping, pushing, shaking, or beating.
Watch for the signs of nursing home abuse. These include unexplained bruises, cuts, burns, sprains, or fractures, unexplained diseases or infections, sudden changes in behavior, staff refusing to allow visitors to see residents or delays in allowing visitors to see residents, staff not allowing residents to be alone with their visitors, resident being kept in an over-medicated state, loss of resident's possessions, sudden large withdrawals from a resident’s bank account or an abrupt change in a resident’s wills or other financial documents.
The Philadelphia law firm of Reiff and Bily had a tragic case where a nursing home resident was being transported and the staff dropped them, breaking all of their bones. They even tried to cover up the incident by lying about the injuries. The untrained staff and their professional negligence caused a horrible injury, which could have been avoided with proper training, and lied about it.
The best way to prevent nursing home abuse and negligence is to visit frequently. Vary your visits to different times of the day and week to assess the care provided at all times. Talk to the staff and make sure they care about your concerns and help fix issues. Talk to the doctors, directors, social workers, or the administrators. If you suspect any abuse, file a complaint with state Licensing and Certification or the state’s Department of Health.
The Pennsylvania nursing home and personal injury lawyers at Reiff and Bily work on a contingent fee basis, charging a small percentage of the recovery. They will not get paid one cent unless there is a successful recovery. They have handled many nursing home cases and have successfully recovered in excess of $150 million dollars from their opponents for physical injuries and emotional damages.
If you are in need of an attorney because you or someone you love has suffered a serious injury as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect, please call the experienced Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at the law firm of Reiff and Bily.
