New York City Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

Throughout New York City, abuse and mistreatment occurring in nursing facilities have been steadily increasing. Personal injury cases, nursing home neglect, medical malpractice, and nursing home abuse are just some examples of all the wrongdoing that is happening to many nursing home residents in New York assisted living facilities.

Unfortunately, the assisted-living facilities and nursing homes entrusted to provide quality care for our family members often fail to properly care for their residents at their weakest and most vulnerable moments.

Do you have an elderly loved one residing in a New York nursing home or long-term care facility? Recognizing the warning signs of abuse and how to fight back by contacting a nursing home abuse attorney is essential.

The affiliate New York personal injury attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center, LLC provide legal help to many victims of gross negligence injured by those in charge of providing their care.

Call our New York City nursing home abuse lawyers at (800) 926-7565 (toll-free phone number) today for immediate legal advice and schedule a free consultation of your case. All confidential or sensitive information you share with our legal team remains private through an attorney-client relationship.

Do you have an elderly, infirm, or disabled loved one in a New York nursing home or assisted living facility who is the victim of abuse or neglect?

We hold nursing homes to a high standard of care. When nursing facility staff abuse takes advantage of the residents, legal action can (and should) be taken. The most common forms of elder abuse and nursing home neglect involve:

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse in a nursing home can often result in a personal injury, worsen existing medical conditions, or even create new ones.

Warning signs of physical abuse are:

• Unexplained injuries such as bruises, cuts, and burns
• Broken bones with no known cause
• Using physical force to move your loved one
• Pushing, shoving, or hitting.

Emotional Abuse

The injury by emotional abuse does no always raise any apparent red flags in the resident’s behavior. However, it causes mental anguish and suffering. Every family member should pay special attention to their loved one’s attitudes and responsiveness when visiting.

Assisted living facility emotional abusers may also engage in physical, sexual, or financial exploitation.

Emotional abuse often includes:

• Threats, harassment, and intimidation
• Isolation
• Verbal abuse, which causes humiliation and embarrassment

Emotional injury could result in a sudden personality change unrelated to a medical condition, or fear or avoidance of a particular person

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse can occur when the resident is forced to participate in any sexual activity without consent.

Seniors living in nursing homes are more vulnerable because they may be living with physical or mental disabilities. Results of being sexually abused or assaulted could include:

• Bruises or other signs of abuse around the breasts and genitals
• Unexplained sexually transmitted diseases
• Unwanted romantic or sexual conduct
• Fear of intimacy with partners
• Fear of medical procedures
• Contemplating or attempting suicide or self-harm
• Newly developed depression or anxiety

Financial Abuse

Financial exploitation occurs at nursing facilities. Your loved one has the right to manage their money or choose who will do it for them. In some situations, however, your loved one may not realize they are victims of financial abuse until much of their money has been stolen. 

In some nursing home abuse cases, a trusted person takes advantage of a person’s weakness or cognitive impairment to steal their money or personal property. Within the nursing home setting, financial exploitation typically refers to any caretaker, visitor, family member, employee, or another patient who:

• Steals a resident’s personal property
• Withdraws money from the resident’s bank account.
• Takes cash or valuable assets
• Uses checks, bank cards, or credit cardswithout authorization
• Causes a sudden change to a will or other estate planning document

Financial exploitation can also mean charging the resident for medical care expenses that don’t exist

Neglect

Neglecting a resident’s basic needs can be damaging to their health and psychological well-being.

Nursing home residents often need assistance with simple daily tasks such as eating, drinking, bathing, and using the bathroom. When family members entrust their relatives to nursing homes, they believe that at least their basic needs will be met, and they will lead a comfortable life.

New York nursing home caregivers failing to provide proper and minimal care could lead to a reduced quality of life, and serious health issues, including:

• Pressure ulcers (bed sores)
• Infection and illness
• Soiled clothes or sheets and other hygiene issues
• Medication errors, such as skipped medication or use of too much medication
• Incontinence issues
• Restraints

Nursing home residents have the right to reside in a safe facility free from nursing home neglect and abuse of all types. They should feel safe in their nursing facility and experience the best care.

According to CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) guidelines, nursing homes residents must:

• Be treated with respect: You have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and participate in your chosen activities. You have the right to decide your sleeping schedule, what time you take your meals, freedom to make decisions that affect your life..
• Participate in activities: You have the right to participate in an activities program designed to meet your needs and give you the best possible quality of life.
• Be free from abuse and neglect: You have the right to be free from verbal, sexual, physical, and mental abuse. New York nursing homes can’t keep you apart from your loved ones.
• Make complaints: You have the right to complain to the nursing home staff, or any other person, without fear of punishment. The New York nursing home must address the issue promptly. The facility must investigate and report all suspected New York nursing home abuse complaints and any injuries of unknown origin within five working days of the incident to the proper authorities.

Protecting a loved one in a nursing facilities requires understanding who could be liable for damages.

Who can be liable for a New York nursing home abuse:

• The nursing home administrators

In most facility abuse and neglect cases, the nursing home will bear some responsibility for injuries. Under New York law, nursing home residents have rights that include rights to quality of care and a comfortable living environment.

Nursing homes have a duty to protect patients from harm, which means adequately training and monitoring staff members, conducting background checks before hiring, and ensuring that nursing home staff members have the necessary skills.

• Staff members at the nursing home and other health care providers

In some cases, staff members at nursing homes may be directly responsible. It happens when the caretaker deliberately acts to harm the patient or ignore them.

• Manufacturer of defective nursing home equipment designer or manufacturer

If the medical equipment is found defective or dangerous, the designer or manufacturer of the equipment may be liable for the injury.

• Third parties who performed maintenance at the nursing home

The maintenance worker, laundry employee, housekeeper or other outsourced worker could be at fault if they perform negligent supervision on the property, especially when poorly installing handlebars, fixing parts of the floor that may cause falls, or a piece of medical equipment.

Unfortunately, many nursing home abuse and neglect cases go unreported. Often, residents and other eyewitnesses may be intimidated and afraid to speak out in fear of retaliation.

Our New York nursing home abuse lawyers can help you prove abuse through an investigation and evidence-gathering to ensure a successful outcome of your nursing home negligence lawsuit. The lawyer will:

• Obtain the victim’s medical records
• Review facility records for patterns of treatment and care
• Identify all specific individuals involved in management
• Approach other witnesses like friends and relatives
• Demand access to the facility and physical objects for inspection
• Speak to the victim in a safe environment to discuss how their injuries happened
• Investigate prior acts and a pattern of behavior by staff and other workers

In allowing the abuse or neglect to occur, the nursing facility breached the standard of care that it was its duty to uphold.

Have you noticed suspicious bruises or cuts that appear with no explanation? File a formal complaint with the facility administrator, and contact an attorney who can investigate your concerns.

Be aware of the statute of limitations concerning filing a financial compensation claim or lawsuit. Once the statute of limitations has expired, you may not be able to recover compensation on your family’s behalf through injury claims or hold the responsible care facility accountable for their actions.

Did a family member suffer nursing home negligence, report it to the authorities as soon as possible. Doing so can prevent further harm to your loved one and other assisted living facility residents.

Left untreated, health problems stemming from neglect can lead to depression, permanent disability, or even death.

The Department reviews all complaints received about nursing homes through the Centralized Complaint Intake Unit, and appropriate action is taken.

The New York State Department of Health, Division of Nursing Home, and ICF/IID Surveillance are responsible for investigating complaints about nursing home abuse, neglect, mistreatment, and incidents occurring in nursing homes in New York State that are related to a State and Federal regulatory violation.

You can call the Nursing Home Complaint Hotline at 1-888-201-4563.

The affiliate lawyers at Nursing Home Law Center, LLC have represented many elderly residents victimized by caregivers and other residents at their care facilities.

Our team of affiliate dedicated, experienced nursing home abuse attorneys provide legal assistance to stop nursing home neglect or abuse. Our specialized nursing home abuse law firms have handled many cases in the practice areas of mistreatment and elder abuse in nursing homes.

With our extensive experience and access to every resource possible, our New York City nursing home abuse attorneys will gather evidence, documentation, incident reports, doctor's notes, nursing notes, intake/outtake records, and care plans. Our nursing home abuse lawyers practice areas on elderly abuse extend to New York and Westchester County areas.

Our affiliate New York City nursing home abuse attorneys are committed to aggressively fighting for your family’s rights. Contact our New York state abuse law firm today by calling (800) 926-7565 to schedule a nursing home abuse case review through a no-obligation, free consultation.

All information you share with a New York City nursing home abuse lawyer within our law offices remains confidential. We provide immediate legal representation, advice, and counsel without upfront fees. All our legal services are paid after your New York City abuse lawyer negotiates an acceptable out-of-court settlement or wins your case at trial.

Resources:

• CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
• New York State Department of Health
• State Office for the Aging