If you suspect that someone you love who is in a nursing home is being abused, then you can consider filing a lawsuit by talking to an attorney. Keep in mind that you’re going to need to gather evidence and possibly talk to other residents in the nursing home or people who work in the facility to put a case together.
Investigation
The first step in the process of filing a lawsuit against a nursing home is an investigation. You don’t want to file a claim over a simple misunderstanding. Although it might take a few weeks or months to gather enough evidence to support your claims, it will likely be worth it in the end. You’ll thus have rock-solid evidence to support the abuse claim rather than merely relying on a hunch that abuse took place.
If you don’t feel comfortable talking to witnesses, then consider working with an attorney, such as one of the experts at Dansker & Aspromonte, so that you have someone who knows what he or she is doing on your side who can gather the necessary evidence to build your case. The information that an attorney will collect should include the type of abuse that has taken place, how often it has been taking place, and who has been committing the abuse.
You can talk to employees who worked at the facility while the abuse took place or who worked there and might know of abuse that might have occurred and that have been fired due to reporting to authorities another instance of nursing home abuse. These employees can offer valuable information about how tasks are performed in the facility and how workers interact with the residents.
Attorney assistance
There are a few things that your attorney can do that you might not have access to complete, including:
- Accessing prior records of the facility
- Obtaining details about employees
- Talking to other residents.
Your attorney can usually work with the nursing home to gather information about your loved one’s medical records that you might not be able to view. The medical records’ details could include how often your family member has received medications and if any doses have been missed.
An attorney can usually find out if there has been a lack of treatment for any medical conditions or any missed appointments with doctors. Nutrition issues can generally be found in these records.
Negotiations
After all the information is gathered, your attorney can work with you to file a claim against the nursing home if there is enough evidence present. And if there is enough information to support your claim, you can negotiate with the nursing home to have your family member moved to another facility.
A formal letter is usually sent to the nursing home from your attorney that details the evidence discovered to give the nursing home a chance to respond.
If the nursing home fails to respond or disagrees with the findings, then you can proceed to the negotiation process in order to figure out the best solution for your family and your loved one so that your family member is in a safe environment.
A nursing home abuse attorney can take the evidence to court or seek a fair settlement on your behalf to obtain compensation for any medical bills that your family has accrued because of the abuse and for moving the abused family member to a new facility.
Story by Martin Buz
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