Aug
19

Nursing Home Neglect or Abuse

The last thing you want to think about when you entrust your loved one to a nursing home is that your relative will become the victim of elder abuse or nursing home neglect. Yet all too often the elderly do become victims of improper negligent care.

You don’t have to sit idly by if you suspect that your elderly loved one is being neglected in a nursing home.  Nursing homes are required to meet federal and state regulations and standards. The lawyers at Rich & Rich, P.C are experienced advocates in New York City nursing home law and can advise you on the best path to follow to achieve justice for your loved one.

Here is a list of warning signs that your loved one may be the victim of nursing home negligence, neglect, or abuse:

Bedsores or decubitus ulcers Unexplained bruises or injuries Inappropriate use of restraints Failure to turn patients in bed or move them from wheelchairs, causing ulcers or bedsores Slip and fall accidents due to staff inattention Malnutrition Dehydration Unexplained injury such as fracture Failure to use bedrails, resulting in falls Medication Errors

Needless to say, nursing home neglect is a dangerous situation that should be addressed as quickly as possible. Put your nursing home negligence case in the steady and caring hands of Rich & Rich. The firm has years of experience with New York City nursing home law.. We also experienced in handling wrongful death actions against nursing homes.

Don’t wait. Contact Rich & Rich, P.C., and speak with a nursing home negligence lawyer in New York City .  Let our NYC nursing home negligence attorney fight to obtain the compensation your loved would is entitled to.

Aug
04

When Should You Contact a Kansas City Personal Injury Attorney?

The best time to contact a Kansas City personal injury lawyer is when you have first received injuries from an accident.  This will help preserve any evidence or witness statements before they get stale.  If you aren’t familiar with circumstances that constitute personal injury, this article will explain further.

Sometimes, injury or death caused by someone else’s negligence happens.  If this is the case for you or a loved one, you should know your rights.  Getting compensated fairly for your injuries, pain and suffering is certainly deserved.  You may not know what types of accidents fall under the personal injury category.  Here are a few examples.

Automobile and motorcycle accidents commonly occur, and prompt plaintiffs to contact a Kansas City personal injury attorney.  Other accidents include unsafe consumer products, boating accidents, work place accidents and nursing home injury.  Medical malpractice also accounts for a few cases.  Any time you are injured by a person or company’s carelessness, you should contact an attorney.

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What can you expect to gain if you file a lawsuit?  You will usually be compensated for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering.  Occasionally, you can be reimbursed for repair costs if your automobile was severely damaged in an accident.  If your injuries are permanent, you may also be compensated for disfigurement or disability.

You may believe you don’t need a lawyer.  If you have been seriously injured, you absolutely need to contact your Kansas City personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.  He will be able to determine whether you have grounds for a lawsuit, and if you will be eligible for compensation.  Most attorney’s offer a free consultation, so you should take advantage of this.

A competent kansas city attorney will help you get all of the compensation you deserve.  Personal injury lawyers are extensively knowledgeable in this field, and know how to get every dime you deserve.  A good lawyer will be compassionate, and fight in and out of the courtroom for you.

Why should you seek out the advice of an attorney immediately?  The preservation of evidence is extremely important in cases like these.  Witness statements, photographs and other evidence has a tendency to get stale or forgotten if not handled in an expedient manner.  Also, your claim must be filed within a certain time period or it will be terminated.

An experienced personal injury attorney can explain the various time limits that are placed on personal injury actions.  He can discuss with you any limitations that apply to your case specifically, along with special limitations that may apply to workers’ compensation or government cases.

Have you or a loved one been seriously injured by the negligence of a third party?  Don’t put it off.  Contact a Kansas City personal injury lawyer immediately to learn if you may seek monetary rewards for your pain and suffering.

Jan
04

Signs of Nursing Home Abuse

When you have had to make the terribly difficult decision to put your loved one into an assisted living facility, you trust in the patience, kindness, and competence of the staff. No one wants to think that their parents or grandparents would be the victim of negligent or abusive actions from their caregivers, but sadly, this is now an all too common reality.

If your loved one has started to complain of abuse, or to show signs of distress, it is important to know how to determine if they are being victimized. Once nursing home abuse has been determined, removing your loved one from the situation and hiring an experienced nursing home injury lawyer will help you and your family get on the path to recovery.

Signs of Physical Abuse and Neglect in Nursing Homes

Abuse in a nursing home can take on several forms. Easily the most recognizable is physical abuse and neglect. Signs of this type of abuse are:

• Dirty, torn, or bloody clothing
• Bruises, cuts, or broken bones
• Poor hygiene
• Bed sores
• Medications not being administered
• Malnourishment

These injuries are easily visible, but others may be less easy to identify.

Signs of Emotional and Sexual Abuse in Nursing Homes

Perhaps less physically damaging but no less sinister and ugly are emotional and sexual abuses at the hands of nursing home employees. Your loved one may be suffering from these abuses if they:
• Seem nervous or frightened around nursing home staff
• Talk about being yelled at or humiliated by the staff
• Have bloody undergarments, or blood around their genitals
• Have bruises around their breasts or genitals
• Have contracted a venereal disease

These abuses may require more investigation than merely viewing your loved one’s outer appearance. Making sure to spend time listening to them, and asking questions about their experiences are necessary to discover emotional and sexual abuse.

Nursing home abuse can take on other forms as well, from financial abuse, to exploitation. Keeping track of your loved one’s finances and making frequent, unannounced visits remain the most effective way to safeguard against these, and all other types of nursing home abuse.

May
29

In A Nursing Home, Elder Abuse Can Be Overlooked

One of the easiest places to overlook elder abuse is in a nursing home. This is largely due to the fact that elder abuse and nursing home neglect are more likely to happen in a place where there are many elderly people – and often not enough individuals available to take care of them.


While it is unfortunate that this is taking place, it is a reality, and one that will likely continue. Elder abuse can come from two specific areas. First, the people that are supposed to be taking care of the elderly person can abuse that person. Second, the other residents of the nursing home or other elder care facility can be the cause of the abuse, which often goes unnoticed by the staff. Where nursing home neglect is concerned, that is usually only the people that are charged with the duty of taking care of the elderly person.


A nursing home abuse lawyer is able to make a determination as to whether someone has a case for elder abuse. This individual can investigate the issue thoroughly if he or she feels that there might be a case, and from that point a decision can be made as to the next steps to take. People can sue and go to court, or they can try for an out of court settlement.


Either way, a nursing home negligence attorney or elder abuse lawyer is generally needed, because the intricacies of the court system are very confusing to most people. By hiring an elder abuse lawyer, a person is able to get the best compensation that he or she can for the injury that was inflicted on him or her, or a loved one.


The largest problem is not whether a person can receive compensation, however, but whether the abuse is noticed and reported. Because there are so many elderly people in care facilities, and because there are so few people to care for them in many of those same facilities, the instances of elder abuse and nursing home neglect continue to rise.


However, unless this abuse and neglect is actually seen by someone willing to report it or unless it becomes so severe that there are actual injuries that cannot be overlooked, most of the time nothing is done. Elderly people deserve respect and fair treatment, and sometimes the only way to give them that is to retain an elder abuse lawyer and fight for their rights.

May
01

Getting the Right Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

Once an individual determines that he or she has enough evidence of nursing home neglect or elder abuse to probably make a case for it with an elder abuse lawyer, he or she must then determine which nursing home abuse lawyer the case should go to. Virtually any qualified nursing home negligence attorney would be a good choice and would also be willing to take the case.


Though, many of these individuals have different skill sets as well as different aptitudes, educations, and experiences. They have all been through law school, and they have all passed the Bar examination in their state. Beyond that, though, there are many different paths that they could take. Some lawyers spend a lot more time doing research, some attend more continuing education than others, and some are simply more personable. All of these factors play into a decision when it comes to hiring a nursing home abuse lawyer.


For an elder abuse or nursing home neglect case, the experience of a particular lawyer with that subject is certainly important. Some lawyers specialize in those areas, and others include it as part of being an injury lawyer, which is a bit more general. There is nothing wrong with that, though, as long as the individual hiring the attorney feels comfortable with him or her.


The personality of the attorney and the way an individual feels around that nursing home abuse lawyer is probably one of the most important things to look at. A nursing home negligence attorney should be a professional, but he or she should also be someone that can be worked with.


All of the experience and education in the world will not mean much to a client that finds a particular lawyer completely impossible to work with. The experience and education that an individual has should match well with personality and become an all-encompassing package that puts the potential client at ease.


Reassurance is an important issue for an elder abuse lawyer. This does not mean that an attorney should say that everything would be all right when it clearly will not be. Though, an attorney should be realistic about the chances of success and the compensation that one can expect while still being reassuring about what is being done on the case. This balance will help an individual feel as comfortable as possible while going through the legal proceedings for an elder abuse or nursing home neglect case.