In Kentucky, eldercare abuse is a widespread problem affecting the health of thousands of nursing home residents every year.
Family members must watch out for the well-being of senior home residents. However, this is not always possible, especially given that many elder facility residents suffer from cognitive conditions that keep them from being able to describe abuse or neglect.
Nursing Home Lawyers Helping Families
Do you suspect that your loved one is the victim of neglect or mistreatment in an eldercare center?
If so, contact a Kentucky nursing home abuse lawyer at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 today. When you contact us, you can schedule a free consultation to discuss your compensation case.
Loved Ones Suffer from Nursing Home Negligence
Statistics reveal that caregiving abuse or neglect are societal issues growing more problematic every year. Instead of providing optimal care, many eldercare homes try to skirt around federal and state laws to exploit residents for their financial gain and provide them with inadequate staffing levels.
According to Medicare, 287 Kentucky eldercare homes are regularly monitored through inspections, surveys, and investigations. The federal agency states that 115 (forty percent) of all statewide nursing facilities are below average with identified serious violations and deficiencies than all other nursing homes nationwide. This is far worse than the average national rate in other states.
Helping When Your Family Member Is a Victim of Nursing Home Abuse
Was your loved one injured, abused, mistreated, or died unexpectedly from a lack of proper care while residing in a nursing home? If so, we encourage you to contact the KY personal injury attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 to discuss your claim for compensation during an initial case review.
Let us begin working on your case today to ensure your family receives monetary recovery for your damages.
Nursing Home Abuse Laws in Kentucky
The primary source of authority for handling senior home abuse and neglect claims is the Protection of Adults Act. This Act outlines the reporting methods, definition of abuse, and obligations that caretakers have in treating elder care facility residents.
The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Human Services also has an Adult Protection Branch that exclusively deals with complaints of abuse and neglect. Family members can also call the Adult Abuse Hotline at 1-800-752-6200 if they suspect that a loved one has been the victim of neglect.
The KY Office of Ombudsman is also available to assist you during this difficult time. If you are a family member who feels that you have not had your issue resolved, then the Office of Ombudsman might be the last resort for you.
Emergencies involving abuse and neglect must be reported to the local law enforcement authorities. As soon as this neglect is reported, law enforcement authorities will determine how to proceed. Nursing home residents might need to be transported to new facilities as the alleged abusers are investigated at an eldercare facility.
Pay Attention to Signs of Neglect and Abuse
Families should always trust their gut feelings and intuition regarding suspicion of abuse or neglect. A gut feeling is usually right on point, and the family can prevent any further abuse by filing a report and removing the vulnerable adult from the harmful situation.
Even if there are no physical signs of abuse, there might be other types of abuse impacting a resident. They might be the victim of verbal abuse and display signs of anxiety or depression. Employees might be stealing the personal belongings of an older adult.
Further, administrators or other caregivers might be exploiting the individual by taking away his or her financial assets from an account. These are all unfortunate scenarios in which abuse, and exploitation could become realities for an elder care resident.
It is up to family to stand up for what is right and seek legal help immediately. Seeking legal help will ensure that the rights of a loved one are always protected.
Specific Signs of Kentucky Nursing Home Abuse
There are indicators that a loved one is the victim of physical abuse, emotional abuse, or sexual abuse.
Family members should pay attention to these physical signs of abuse and take action as necessary.
Contact Kentucky Senior Home Abuse Lawyers Today
Louisville eldercare abuse attorneys are available to meet with you to discuss your injury case today and provide legal advice. Take the time to speak with a lawyer about scheduling an initial consultation for your concerns.
Our attorneys are here to help families and residents throughout the state in areas including:
It might only take a few weeks to have your serious issue resolved in a way that is beneficial for you and your loved one. End the abuse and see how a Louisville nursing home abuse lawyer can help your case today.
Legal Options After Developing Skin Ulcers at a Louisville Elder Home, Hospital, or Assisted Living Facility
One common area where nursing homes are negligent is when residents develop pressure ulcers. This is when the skin and surrounding tissue break down after the skin has been in contact with a hard surface for too long. Eldercare facility staff should rotate the patient frequently and take extra care if a pressure ulcer develops.
Hiring a KY pressure ulcer attorney can help stop the negligence immediately. A reputable attorney specializing in malpractice cases can report the abuse to caregiver regulatory agencies. The law firm can assist the family in hiring medically trained specialists dedicated to treating debilitating pressure sores.
The lawyers can also file a claim or lawsuit against the long-term care facility for financial compensation to cover the cost of essential treatment along with recompense for the family and victim's pain, suffering, and grief.
If you are looking for an attorney to assist with the investigation or prosecution of a Kentucky nursing home neglect or abuse case involving pressure sores or another injury, visit the pages below:
Eldercare facilities are duty-bound to provide the best care to patients through highly trained attending physicians and staff members.
When the eldercare home is slow to respond to the medical needs of treating your loved one's pressure ulcer, it is essential to contact a nursing home abuse lawyer before it is too late.
Complete the form to contact the reputable legal professionals listed below. These law firms handle nursing home negligence cases on contingency, where their services are paid through an out-of-court settlement or trial award.
Nursing Home Residents Abuse Injury FAQs
Here are the answers to some common questions that families will ask about their loved one who has been a victim of nursing home abuse:
What Is Nursing Home Abuse?
According to the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ), the seven different forms of elder abuse include physical assault, emotional abuse, sexual assault, neglect, self-neglect, abandonment, and financial exploitation. Individually, these abusive cases involve:
Physical assault where the victim is injured and requires hospitalization or emergency treatment due to broken bones, fractured hips, cuts, lacerations, traumatic brain injuries, and contusions
Emotional abuse where the victim is reluctant to speak in the presence of staff members, administrators, family, friends, visitors, or other residents
Sexual assault involving unexpected sexually transmitted diseases, rape, sodomy, inappropriate touching, shared pornography, unexplained bleeding of the genitals or anus
Neglect where the victim develops facility-acquired pressure sores, experiences rapid weight loss/gain (malnutrition), dehydration, asphyxiation, elopement (wandering away), or lives in unclean, unsanitary conditions.
Abandonment when the caregiving staff, family , or staff members fail to provide the resident with everyday necessities, including shelter in a safe environment
Self-neglect where victims choose to isolate themselves from others or are reluctant to speak to nursing staff. However, the isolated seclusion might be the result of unreasonable physical restraints or heavy use of unauthorized psychotropic medications
Financial abuse where caregivers, nursing center employees, visitors, other residents, friends, and family have unauthorized or illegal access to the victim's belongings, bank accounts, cash, or credit cards.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for Nursing Home Abuse?
Legislators in every state have enacted laws, including the statute of limitations, to restrict the length of time victims could file a civil lawsuit against those that caused them harm.
Typically, the statute of limitation mandates that all civil action must be initiated within two years from the date of the harm.
However, specific circumstances could extend the statute of limitations time frame based on the case's unique circumstances. Only an attorney specializing in personal injury cases can determine if there is still adequate time to seek compensation.
What Is Passive Neglect?
Nursing staff could harm residents through passive and active neglect. The differences between the two include:
Passive Neglect is defined as the caregiver's wilful failure to meet the patient's needs because of inadequate training, knowledge, infirmity, or dispute over what services should be provided.
Active Neglect is defined as the caregiver's willful failure to meet the resident's needs that might involve not providing food, shelter, clothing, medical care, long-term services, a safe environment, or help with daily living activities.
Can Elder Homes Take All Your Money?
Residing in a nursing facility without supplemental insurance could quickly drain a resident's lifetime-accumulated savings.
According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), nearly 1.5 million Americans live in nursing facilities, with an estimated growth to twenty-seven million patients by the middle of the century.
Assisted living patients can seek help through Medicare and Medicaid services to offset the costs of daily care. However, forming a life estate and establishing a revocable trust could help ensure that a loved one's property and assets are protected, no matter what the future holds.
What is the Most Common Form of Nursing Home Abuse?
According to the National Institutes of Health, the most common types of elder negligence in assisted living facilities include:
Physical abuse that might involve pushing, slapping, burning, shaking, shoving, hitting, bruising, broken bones, or battery
Sexual assault involving rape, sodomy, unwanted touching, sexual battery, or assault, unexplained anal or vaginal bleeding, coerce nudity, sexually transmitted disease, sexual intimidation, torn or stained underwear
Psychological/emotional abuse involving humiliation, threats, intimidation, verbal assault, harassment, insults, pain, and discomfort caused by verbal and nonverbal acts
Neglect involving a failure to provide the resident with life's necessities, including food, liquid, clothing, shelter, hygiene assistance, medical care, and prescription medications
Financial exploitation where staff, family, friends, and other residents have illegal access to the victim's bank cards, savings accounts, credit cards, cash, and belongings
The statistics indicate that Louisville eldercare facilities have ongoing food sanitation issues, care plan development issues, and accident-prone environments. Over thirty-eight percent of all Kentucky nursing centers serve unsanitary meals to patients every year.
About thirty-seven percent of statewide elder facilities create a hazardous environment, and twenty-four percent of caregiving centers fail to develop adequate care plans for residents.
If you feel that your elderly loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse or exploitation, then you can speak with a KY nursing home abuse lawyer today about the rights of your loved one.
What Can Families Recover in Abuse or Neglect Cases?
Families of residents may receive damages in their cases from the nursing home in a number of different areas. The compensation that trial lawyers can help make sure that you recover includes:
Pain and suffering
Emotional trauma
Wrongful death damages
Loss of consortium
Possible punitive damages
How Can My Lawyer Prove that the Nursing Home Was Negligent?
The first thing that you will need to show is that the facility failed to exercise reasonable care when fulfilling (or not fulfilling) their obligations to their residents.
This may be easier to prove when there are things like infected pressure ulcers, dehydration or unsupervised falls. Other than that, you would have access to detailed records of their medical plan.
Our trial lawyers work with experts to show that the facility departed from the standard of care with their actions or inactions towards the resident.
Can I Afford a Kentucky Skilled Elder Care Facility Neglect Lawyer?
You absolutely can afford legal help in your time of need because it will not cost you anything out of your pocket.
You can and should get a lawyer when your loved one has been abused or neglected because you will not need to write a check upfront. Instead, your attorney will work on a contingency basis.
This means that they are only paid from the proceeds of your settlement or jury award. If you do not receive one, you will not owe the lawyer for the work that they did on your case.
Hiring an Attorney to Seek Financial Compensation
At Nursing Home Law Center, we have attorneys throughout the state who can help you.
The attorneys will take every necessary action to stop the negligence immediately and ensure that your loved one receives the best medical management provided to heal their wounds.
Submitting the form is the initial step to schedule a no-obligation consultation to discuss every available legal option to stop the nursing home staff and facilities negligent actions.
Contact our personal injury lawyers today or through the contact form to schedule a free consultation. All discussions with our law office about taking legal action remain confidential through an attorney-client relationship.
Our attorneys follow social distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19 (coronavirus).
Call (800) 926-7565 Toll-Free for a No Obligation Consultation
Nursing Home Neglect and Negligence
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
1 year with Discovery Rule. (KRS §413.140 – Actions to be brought within one year)
Medical malpractice – 1 year with Discovery Rule. (KRS §413.140 – Actions to be brought within one year; KRS §413.135 – Action for damages arising out of injury)
DAMAGES CAP
None. (KY Constitution §54 – No restriction on recovery for injury or death)
Wrongful Death
STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
1 year from the appointment of a personal representative. If none appointed within 1 year from death, then 2 years from the date of death. (KRS §413.140 – Actions to be brought within one year; KRS §413.135 – Action for damages arising out of injury)
DAMAGES CAP
None. (KY Constitution §54 – No restriction on recovery for injury or death)
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
Kentucky Nursing Home Injury Attorney Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home