Nursing Home Neglect Cases
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When a family makes the tough decision to place a loved one in a nursing home,
that family must also place its trust in the nursing home. Although it is frequently a difficult decision,
families should be able to take comfort in believing the promises of the nursing homes to take care of their residents.
But all too often, nursing homes abuse this trust and don’t keep their promises to take care of a person’s family member.
When can you sue a nursing home for negligence or abuse?
Despite promises by nursing homes to care proper care of its residents, family members might notice indications of a deterioration in care. The nursing home might not be answering a call light quickly enough. The nursing home staff might not be keeping a resident clean, or they might be letting a resident stay in the same position in bed for too long, resulting in skin ulcers.
What can seem at the time like minor lapses of care can be indications of something far more serious. There could be an issue with understaffing, or the nursing home management might not have properly trained the nurses and staff to plan and care for each resident professionally and adequately. Few people are as helpless as those confined to live in a nursing home.
If the nursing home does not have adequate staff, the residents will suffer with the following:
What can I do if I think my loved one is being abused or neglected?
The first thing you should do is talk to your loved one. However, be aware that sometimes abuse victims deny the abuse for fear of the repercussions from the abuser.
If you still have concerns after talking to your loved one, refer to these resources and contact the proper authorities:
- File a complaint directly to the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s Long Term Care Service here (near the bottom of the page, above the Contact Information).
- File a complaint directly to the Oklahoma State Department of Human Services here.
- The Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative provides resources specifically for Oklahoma.
- The National Center for Victims of Crime’s Financial Crime Resource Center can help with identity theft and other financial crimes.
- FINRA has a Securities Helpline for Seniors with investment or brokerage accounts.
- Call Lloyd & Lloyd directly at 918-246-0200 or contact us here and let us help you get the justice your loved one deserves.
Nursing home abuse can show up in many different ways. Frequently, nursing homes fail to provide their residents with even basic services — from hygiene care to proper diets. What begins as minor lapses often worsen to the point of failure to properly turn and reposition bed-bound patients, resulting in bed sores and causing ulcers to erupt. Other times, the nursing home fails to prevent a patient from falling and seriously injuring themselves. A nursing home sometimes fails to tailor an individual care plan to the individual resident to keep them safe from falls and other harms.
The Oklahoma legislature passed strict laws to regulate the nursing home industry, which include a Resident’s Bill of Rights. However, nursing homes frequently disregard these laws and regulations.
Lloyd & Lloyd has years of experience helping victims and their families to recover damages for nursing home abuse and neglect. In fact, Lloyd & Lloyd took one of its nursing home cases to the Oklahoma Supreme Court and won a vital victory for nursing home residents. Recently, many nursing homes have dropped insurance coverage in an attempt to increase profits. Lloyd & Lloyd’s case established that the shareholders of nursing homes — who many times have made millions of dollars in the nursing home business — can be held personally liable when they decide to drop insurance coverage for the nursing home residents.
GET THE EXPERIENCE YOU NEED FOR YOUR CASE
If you have been injured due to the fault of others, contact Lloyd & Lloyd. Our record of success in the courtroom and in the courts of appeal, combined with our commitment to giving personal service, enable us to provide exceptional legal representation. You can fill out an online case review form by clicking here, or by calling us at 918.417.6580.