Georgia Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

Georgia Nursing Home Abuse Attorney

Nursing homes are responsible for daily care and medical treatment for elderly residents, and the families of those residents expect their loved ones to receive safe and effective care free of abuse and neglect. If you have discovered that your elderly loved one has been mistreated by their caregivers, it is vital to consult a skilled Georgia nursing home abuse lawyer, such as Pleasant Law, PLLC, as quickly as possible. Their expertise can help you navigate the legal process and ensure that your loved one receives the justice and compensation they deserve.

Seniors and other individuals with preexisting health conditions often need physical assistance to complete daily activities and may require routine medical attention throughout the day. Families are not always able to provide their loved ones with the attention and physical and medical assistance that they require, so many of them rely on nursing homes to care for their elder or disabled family members.

Nursing home abuse statistics show a troubling trend.  Families trust nursing homes to care for their loved ones with consideration, dignity, and respect. Nursing homes should evaluate the physical and mental abilities of new residents and form care plans based on these evaluations. Facilities should employ trained staff to regularly check on patients and ensure they have everything they need according to their care plan. When necessary, staff are expected to change residents, move them, encourage them to eat or drink (or assist them), responsibly administer their medications, and assist them with other regular daily activities. They should also be attentive to changes in the physical and mental conditions of residents and either provide medical services or seek external medical care, depending on the situation.

The reality is that many nursing homes attempt to maximize profits by keeping staff numbers low and resident numbers high. They also tend to hire significantly fewer qualified nurses. In these nursing homes, it is the residents who suffer. Limited and overworked staff divide their attention among all the nursing home’s residents, sometimes leading to resident neglect and elder abuse. Negligence can lead to injury and, in the very worst cases, wrongful death.

Has your loved one suffered because of neglectful nursing home practices? If so, contact the Georgia nursing home abuse & neglect lawyer at Pleasant Law, PLLC, by calling (919) 867-5575 or sending a message.

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Filing Nursing Home Neglect Lawsuits in Georgia

Many large corporations and private investment groups that own nursing homes have effectively pressured federal and local governments to change laws and regulations to be more friendly to nursing homes. This makes it easier for nursing home facilities to get away with neglectful and even abusive practices without fearing legal consequences. Additionally, most states allow nursing homes to ask residents or their legally authorized representatives to sign arbitration agreements that waive the right to pursue damages through a jury trial and verdict.

It can be very difficult to pursue lawsuits against nursing homes, and many lawyers are unwilling to take these cases at all – much less to trial.

This will not be your experience with Pleasant Law, PLLC. Pleasant Law, PLLC, takes nursing home lawsuits to jury trial and verdict when necessary to get justice for victims of nursing home abuse. We take on a limited number of cases at a time, so each case gets focused attention, and each client gets personalized service.

Why Choose Pleasant Law, PLLC For your Nursing Home Abuse Case?

When you are searching for a legal representative, it is not only crucial to evaluate a potential attorney’s overall legal experience, but also the level of proven experience they have in handling cases like yours. Pleasant Law, PLLC, focuses exclusively on nursing home claims. We understand the challenges the average person is likely to face when pursuing legal recourse against a nursing home and how to help them overcome them.

Our firm can listen carefully to your story and identify your greatest areas of concern for your impending case. We can highlight the challenges and opportunities your case presents and assist you in gathering any evidence and witness testimony you may need to substantiate your claim. We have years of experience successfully handling cases like yours.

We can develop an individualized legal strategy that aims to ensure accountability for those who have harmed your loved one and secure compensation for your family’s damages. A successful claim may not only yield a sizeable case award but also provide a valuable sense of closure to the situation after you have discovered that people you trusted took advantage of that trust and caused serious harm to someone you love. Special focus nursing homes, which cater to specific medical or personal care needs, can sometimes have unique challenges in maintaining quality care, making it even more critical to hold these facilities accountable when abuse or neglect occurs.

Neglectful Elder Care in Nursing Homes

One of the most challenging aspects of any nursing home abuse or neglect case is accurately identifying when such mistreatment has occurred. It’s possible for a pattern of abuse and/or neglect to manifest over time, and some elderly residents will be medically incapable of conveying their experiences to their loved ones. It is important that if you visit an elderly relative in a nursing home, be vigilant for any signs of abuse or neglect.

Nursing home neglect includes but is not limited to a failure to perform the following actions:

• Assist residents who need help eating and drinking
• Change residents, when necessary
• Check residents for a change in conditions
• Encourage movement and physically move residents, when necessary
• Help residents walk or stand, if necessary
• Hire trained staff
• Maintain hazard-free property conditions
• Report falls and fall-related fractures
• Report infections and other injuries
• Respond to resident calls for assistance
• Responsibly administer medication
• Seek external medical attention, when necessary
• Take steps to prevent falls and other accidents
• Take steps to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases

Nursing homes have a legal obligation to provide adequate care and treatment to residents. Residents also have the legal right to be free from physical abuse. Proper and attentive care is what patients, their families, and the nursing home agreed to when the patient entered the nursing home facility.

Severe nursing home bedsores generally indicate a failure on the part of the nursing home to fulfill the duties owed to the patient. Typically, the root cause of this negligence is a lack of staffing. However, this is no excuse. No person should be left to live with bedsores. They can be extremely painful and can cause a serious infection, which can lead to death. In severe cases, these ulcers may take many months to heal through a rigorous treatment regimen. Cases involving Stage 3, Stage 4, Unstageable or Deep Tissue Injury pressure injuries are almost always worth a full investigation of the medical records.

Building a Nursing Home Abuse Case

There is an important distinction between neglect and abuse when it comes to nursing homes and their residents. While neglect pertains to negligence in the handling of the duties owed to a resident and causing harm, abuse is intentional and can manifest in various ways. While most neglect is the result of poor staff training and negligence, intentional neglect would qualify as nursing home abuse. Nursing home abuse can also manifest in other ways.

It’s possible for a nursing home abuse case to pertain to physical abuse of an elderly resident, such as intentionally striking or being overly rough while repositioning them. Sexual abuse can include any unwanted touching or sexual battery of any kind. Verbal and emotional abuse can be incredibly damaging to a victim’s mental health.

If you visit a loved one in a nursing home and notice any fresh injuries, or if they have signs of injuries and cannot explain how they happened, these are major red flags. Nursing homes are required to document all injuries to their residents, and if they cannot produce such a report in your case, it is a major warning sign. Also, pay close attention to your loved one’s demeanor and mannerisms to see if they appear nervous, depressed, worried, or hesitant to speak.

One of the biggest challenges facing many claimants in nursing home abuse and neglect cases is the fact that employers will sometimes go to great lengths to protect employees who have abused or neglected patients. This is done less out of a desire to protect the employee from legal recourse but more to preserve the reputation of the business and avoid penalties from oversight agencies. Your attorney can help you determine whether you have grounds for a case.

Recovering Compensation in a Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect Case

Once you and your family have ascertained that your loved one has been mistreated by their caregivers, you will likely have grounds to pursue a personal injury suit against their abuser and/or their employer. Success with your claim will require identifying the parties responsible for the harm the victim suffered, proving the full extent of the harm done, and identifying all the various damages you can secure from the at-fault party.

The plaintiff in a personal injury claim has the right to seek compensation for economic and non-economic damages a defendant caused. Each state has different statutes for filing personal injury claims and the damages available, and your Georgia nursing home abuse lawyer can explain what you can expect when it comes to filing your case in your state.

Generally, economic damages include any direct financial losses suffered because of a defendant’s negligence or illegal misconduct. These may include property losses, medical expenses, and lost income. For example, if your loved one suffered physical harm or their medical condition deteriorated from abuse and/or neglect, it is possible to hold the defendant accountable for all related medical treatment costs.

If you or a family member were forced to miss work to address this situation, it is also possible to hold the defendant accountable for any income lost during this time. Your Georgia nursing home abuse lawyer can help you accurately calculate all of the economic damages you and your family can include in your civil suit.

When it comes to non-economic damages, these are more subjective and difficult to assign a monetary value to. A plaintiff has the right to seek compensation for pain and suffering, and there are no statutory limitations on the amounts a plaintiff may claim in most personal injury cases. You have the right to seek whatever amount you believe reasonably reflects the severity of the harm the victim experienced.

Punitive Damages in Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Cases

While a personal injury suit seeks compensation for the losses a defendant inflicted on a plaintiff, it is also possible for a defendant to face additional penalties when they have broken the law in causing a personal injury. As the name implies, punitive damages intend to punish a defendant for illegal or egregiously negligent behavior that results in harm to a victim. The amount the defendant must pay typically hinges on the severity of their actions and their financial status.

Nursing homes and their parent companies can also face official legal penalties from government oversight agencies if an investigation discovers that they actively concealed abuse and/or neglect, failed to uphold applicable industry regulations, or failed to properly vet and train their employees, resulting in patient harm. Your successful case may not only yield substantial compensation but could also prevent others from having similar experiences.

What to Expect From Your Georgia Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

The right attorney in Georgia can be a tremendous asset to you and your family once you have discovered that an elderly loved one has suffered abuse and/or neglect at the hands of their caregivers. This will be an understandably emotional case and one that you may have trouble approaching with clarity if you do not have the right attorney representing you.

Pleasant Law, PLLC, can work closely with you and your family through each stage of your case, from gathering the evidence and witness testimony you may need to hold the defendant accountable for the harm done to the victim to help you accurately assess the full scope of the damages you are eligible to claim from the defendant. They will also help you present your case in a manner most likely to encourage the defendant to seek a swift settlement.

Many personal injury claims can be settled outside of court as long as the parties involved are willing to compromise on mutually acceptable terms. During settlement negotiations, the parties meet privately with their respective legal advisors to negotiate the settlement. However, if settlement negotiations fail or a defendant refuses to settle, the case will need to be resolved through litigation.

Start Building Your Nursing Home Abuse Case Today

If you have determined that an elderly loved one has been subjected to any kind of abuse or neglect, it is imperative that you remove them from their dangerous environment as swiftly as possible, report the incident to the police, and contact an experienced Georgia nursing home abuse lawyer as quickly as possible.

You have a relatively limited time in which to build and file your case. It is important to start gathering evidence and supporting witness testimony as quickly as possible to ensure its reliability. The sooner you connect with a legal team, the more time and flexibility they will have in handling your case.

Contact our Skilled Lawyers to Handle your Nursing Home Abuse Case

Pleasant Law, PLLC, has the expertise to evaluate the details of your case and determine whether a lawsuit should be brought. During your initial consultation with our team, we can listen to the details of your situation, help you determine whether you have grounds for a lawsuit, and explain the steps you will need to take to have the greatest chance of success with the claim. Our goal is maximum recovery in the shortest possible timeframe in every case we accept.

Call (919) 867-5575 to speak with someone about your situation. A Georgia nursing home abuse & neglect lawyer will evaluate the details of your case and determine how Pleasant Law, PLLC, can help you pursue justice. Pleasant Law, PLLC, accepts clients from North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee.