Washington DC Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

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In recent years, a significant number of deficiencies have been spotted in Washington DC nursing homes, assisted living centers, and long-term care facilities.

A thorough research study published by the University of California-San Francisco reveals that twenty-six percent of all nursing home patients developed bed sores due to neglect in 2008.

Further, thirty percent of all Washington DC nursing homes failed to provide a quality of life in line with the dignity of residents in 2008.

According to Medicare's information, there are eighteen nursing homes in the District of Columbia that are monitored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

This data is gathered through inspections, surveys, and investigations into complaints filed by residents, family members, and employees. The federal agency identified serious deficiencies and violations at three (17%) of these facilities that provide substandard care.

Was your loved one harmed, injured, abused, mistreated, or died unexpectedly from neglect while living in a Washington DC nursing home?

We urge you to contact a Washington DC nursing home abuse lawyer at Nursing Home Law Center today. Let us begin processing your claim for compensation on your behalf during a free case evaluation.

An overwhelming sixty-three percent of the Washington DC nursing homes had deficiencies in maintaining sanitary nursing home residents' premises. When nursing homes have unclean floors, bedding, and common areas, the residents suffer most and can be more likely to suffer from infection or illness.

Nursing homes must be held accountable for these dangerous unsanitary conditions, and DC nursing home abuse lawyers are here to help in any way possible. Any family member can sue a nursing home for unsanitary conditions that have resulted in the illness of a loved one with Washington DC nursing home abuse lawyers' help.

District of Columbia nursing home lawyers provide family members with the legal guidance that they need to sue nursing homes for damages resulting from elder abuse or neglect.

Get in touch with a Washington DC nursing home abuse attorney from our law firm today to begin the investigation process of your claim.

Washington DC Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

District of Columbia Nursing Home Abuse & Injury Laws

In the District of Columbia, family members only have a limited time in which to file a nursing home abuse and neglect claim. Under the Statute of Limitations for nursing home negligence claims in the District, family members must report an injury of a loved one within three years of discovery.

There is also a Statute of Limitations for medical malpractice claims, and family members must report medical malpractice within three years of the original malpractice event.

There is no cap for damages on negligence claims in Washington DC, so family members can collect an unlimited amount of funds from nursing homes, assisted living centers, and long-term care facilities liable for abuse, or negligence that results in injury to a loved one.

For wrongful death claims in the District of Columbia, family members only have one year from the date of death to file. There is also no damages cap for wrongful death claims in Washington DC.

Family members who have lost a loved one due to neglect or abuse of nursing home staff members should get in touch with a Washington DC nursing home abuse lawyer who will file the claim as soon as possible.

Family members do not want to miss the deadline for filing a wrongful death claim and holding a nursing home accountable for neglect and abuse.

When family members have reports of abuse or neglect in the District of Columbia, they should make reports to the Washington DC Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. Ombudsmen will research and investigate claims of abuse to help family members resolve their claims.

Washington DC Nursing Home Negligence Attorney

Know the Signs of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Every nurse, nursing aide, employee, or healthcare contractor has a duty of care to report wrongdoing. Family members must recognize the signs of nursing home abuse and neglect to file a report to the Ombudsman Program.

The following are both obvious and subtle signs that a resident is a victim of nursing home abuse and family members can report to the Ombudsman Program:

  • Unexpected bruises, open wounds, or another skin injury
  • Scratches
  • Pain and suffering
  • Sleeplessness
  • Anxiety and depression
  • Broken bones and fractures
  • Crying and emotional disturbance
  • Bed sores (pressure ulcers, decubitus ulcers)
  • Infection
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Malnutrition and dehydration
  • Bleeding
  • Desiring isolation from others
  • Erratic behaviors

Nearly any condition listed above could result in life-altering changes in the resident's health or wrongful death. Degrading bed sores and broken bones caused by falling could claim the resident's life if the injury doesn't heal properly.

Nursing home staff workers have a legal duty to report these signs of abuse and more to the Ombudsman Program in the District of Columbia. Any individual aware of a resident's severe injury and fails to make a report may be criminally liable.

Washington DC Nursing Home Abuse Attorney

Preventing Abuse and Neglect in a Washington, DC Nursing Home

Nursing home abuse and neglect happen in all forms, where some mistreatment is more apparent than others. Families with loved ones in nursing homes must serve as advocates to avoid others' abusive behavior or negligence that could cause harm or wrongful death.

Steps to consider include:

  • Visiting your loved one routinely
  • Paying attention to their appearance, behavior, emotional state, and words
  • Noticing the cleanliness and safety features in the environment
  • Recognizing how well the loved one's hygienist managed

Taking Action If Something Isn't Right

If you have noticed anything out of the ordinary, or your loved one is telling you something is wrong, what to do next could protect their health and safety.

If you suspect any mistreatment, take the following steps.

  • Capture photographic evidence of any potential injury or damage
  • Make notes describing any elder abuse and neglect you suspect
  • Ask the medical team for your loved one's medical records and care plan and make copies
  • Speak with the facility administrator or Director of nursing about your suspicions and asked for their help
  • File a formal complaint with the Washington DC nursing home
  • File a formal complaint with the state department, local Ombudsman, or Medicare/Medicaid investigators

If you are unsure about handling the abuse case on your own or do not understand what to do, contact a nursing home abuse attorney to work on your behalf.

Washington DC Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer

Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Injury FAQs

Is There a Risk for Infection in Nursing Homes?

According to the National Institute of Aging, every senior citizen has a higher risk factor for contracting infections in nursing homes, assisted living centers, and rehabilitation facilities.

The proximity to other residents in the easy spread of infection between the nursing staff and residents can cause significant harm to patients.

As individuals age, the body's immune system becomes significantly more susceptible to disease and less responsive to a vaccine's protection. If the individual has an implant device, like a pacemaker are prosthetic joints, their risk of infection rises significantly.

Comorbidities also a determinate risk factor of developing severe infections. Patients who undergo multiple courses of heavy antibiotics can over time resist the healing effects once they acquire an infection.

Typical nursing home infections include:

  • Intestinal diseases associated with diarrhea, including Clostridium difficile (C. Diff), norovirus, bacterial/viral gastroenteritis,
  • Urinary tract infections, including those associated with using urinary catheters,
  • Respiratory infections, including influenza, aspiration pneumonia, and ammonia,
  • Soft tissue and skin infections, including scabies, pressure ulcers, bedsores, and wound infections
How Do You Prove Nursing Home Negligence?

A Washington DC nursing home abuse attorney working on behalf of their client must show evidence of negligence when building in resolving a civil lawsuit.

The factors necessary to prove negligence includes:

  • The nursing facility had a legal duty to provide the resident care,
  • The administrator, medical team, or nursing staff breached their duty of care,
  • The breached the duty of care to provide the resident services lead to the patient’s damages,
  • The patient’s damages were real and identifiable.

Nearly all nursing home abuse civil cases are resolved out of court through a negotiated settlement between the plaintiff and defendants. However, the case may go to trial by jury and be resolved through guilty or innocent pleas, plea-bargaining, and dismissals.

A Washington DC nursing home abuse lawyer working on behalf of the victim (plaintiff) may show their client’s personal injury was caused by nursing home neglect.

Can I Sue a Nursing Home for Neglect?

Every nursing home, rest home, convalescent center, or long-term care facility has a legal responsibility to ensure the resident's well-being. Any breach of their duty in providing care could result in a personal injury claim or medical malpractice lawsuit.

The victim or surviving family members who lost a loved one through wrongful death may file a civil case against all those responsible for causing the harm.

If the case is successfully resolved, the victim or surviving family members (plaintiffs) could receive financial compensation through various means, including:

  • Trial verdict – If the case goes to trial and the jury finds the defendant at fault for causing harm, they are legally liable to pay the plaintiffs financial compensation. This verdict is different from a criminal case where the jury would find a defendant innocent or guilty of their crimes.
  • Negotiated settlement – Compensation could be obtained through a plaintiff and defendant's negotiated agreement and how much financial compensation the victim deserves. The settlement is recorded through a legally binding document that either prevents or ends a trial.
  • Financial restitution – Nursing home abuse victims could receive financial restitution in a criminal case where the defendant has the guilty party pays the victim as compensation for damages they have caused.
What is the Importance of Suing Nursing Homes for Abuse and Neglect?

Financial compensation obtained through a civil lawsuit often benefits victims while discouraging nursing homes of future mistreatment of their patients. The compensation also helps pay for hospitalization costs, medical bills, rehabilitation expenses, pain, suffering, and mental anguish.

Many victims receive justice by filing and resolving a lawsuit using the civil tort system that holds defendants accountable.

These nursing home lawsuits are based on various factors, including:

  • Abuse
  • Medical malpractice
  • Negligence
  • Wrongful death
Nursing home neglect cases are typically settled through liability coverage from the facility's insurance company. These cases are typically built on malpractice and negligence, providing more compensation through tort law instead of an ordinary breach of contract claim.

What Nursing Home Behaviors Could Lead to a Civil Lawsuit?

All types of accidents, incidents, failures, and intentions could place a nursing facility in legal jeopardy if the resident is harmed or died through wrongful death. A patient may be injured through a preventable health problem caused by the staff's negligent actions or harmed through a lack of supervision from a fall that could have been avoided.

Common examples of legal problems nursing homes face when residents are abused or neglected include:

  • Failing to ensure the property is free of hazards
  • Negligent hiring practices by employing a nurse or nurse's aide that neglect, abuse, or intentionally harms a resident
  • Negligent supervision when a patient Falls in suffers injuries like a fractured hip, broken bones, or traumatic brain in
  • Failing to develop, implement and enforce adequate safety and health policies to ensure the environment remains clean and sanitary
  • Failing to provide residents sufficient medical treatment based on established standards of care creating medical malpractice problems
  • Negligence where the nursing staff's actions or inactions harm the resident through preventable facility-acquired pressure wounds, medical issues, or health conditions
  • Restraining the resident through chemical or physical means without proper authorization based on state and federal regulations

Proving liability to resolve a nursing home abuse case can be complicated. Families may need the skills of a personal injury attorney who specializes in abuse cases to stop the mistreatment quickly and obtain compensation to pay for damages.

Washington DC Nursing Home Abuse attorneys

Contact a District of Columbia Nursing Home Lawyer Who Can Help You

Get in touch with a Washington DC nursing home abuse attorney to begin the process of filing a legal claim against a nursing home. Nursing home abuse attorneys have the strength and legal knowledge to fight nursing home entities and know how to navigate the system.

They can instantly detect signs of abuse or neglect and hold administrators accountable for this unscrupulous behavior.

Protect your loved one today with Washington DC nursing home abuse attorneys. Our law firm can provide immediate legal intervention to stop the mistreatment now.

Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys Washington DC

District of Columbia Nursing Home Pressure Sore Attorney

Adult children are often shocked and overwhelmed when they learn that their parent or grandparent residing in a nursing home is suffering a debilitating pressure sore. In many incidences, the nursing facility or doctor tells the adult child that pressure sores are the result of their loved ones' medical condition or a natural part of aging.

However, nearly every type of pressure sore (bed sore, pressure ulcer, decubitus ulcer) is preventable.

So, when a loved one suffers a pressure sore, it is usually the result of negligence, inattentiveness, or abuse at a Washington DC nursing home.

In many incidences, families have limited options to provide quality health care to a parent or grandparent and are often forced to place them in a nursing facility.

As a result, they move their loved one into the home with the expectation that only competently trained staff will provide quality care.

The family entrusts the medical professionals with the responsibility of taking care of their loved one’s medical, hygiene, and nutritional needs.

It is no wonder when families are upset when they have been told their loved one has acquired a pressure sore while at the facility.

Washington DC Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Lawyers

Contact our Personal Injury Law Firm Today

Are you, or a loved one, the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect? If so, the affiliate network of nursing home abuse attorneys can help. Contact us, the Nursing Home Law Center, today at (800) 926-7565 for immediate legal advice and schedule a free consultation.

Your Washington DC nursing home abuse lawyer will help you file a compensation claim on your behalf to ensure you receive the justice your family deserves. Our personal injury law firm accepts abuse cases in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

All information your family shares with our abuse attorneys concerning personal injury remains confidential through an attorney-client relationship.

To ensure your health and safety, a D.C. lawyer from our nursing home abuse law office will follow CDC COVID-19 (coronavirus) guidelines on social distancing.

Resources:

Nursing Home Negligence Attorney Washington DC

Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Resources

Client Reviews

★★★★★
Jonathan did a great job helping my family navigate through a lengthy lawsuit involving my grandmother's death in a nursing home. Through every step of the case, Jonathan kept my family informed of the progression of the case. Although our case eventually settled at a mediation, I really was impressed at how well prepared Jonathan was to take the case to trial. Lisa
★★★★★
After I read Jonathan’s Nursing Home Blog, I decided to hire him to look into my wife’s treatment at a local nursing home. Jonathan did a great job explaining the process and the laws that apply to nursing homes. I immediately felt at ease and was glad to have him on my side. Though the lawsuit process was at times frustrating, Jonathan reassured me, particularly at my deposition. I really felt like Jonathan cared about my wife’s best interests, and I think that came across to the lawyers for the nursing home. Eric