San Diego Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys
The skilled and experienced San Diego Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers at Bisnar Chase fight vigorously for the rights of elderly residents who do not receive the care they need and rightfully deserve. Our Law Firm has over 40 years of experience dealing with abuse and neglect cases amongst injury victims.
Nursing homes that shortchange the elderly and vulnerable residents in the quest for higher profit margins must be held accountable for their actions. No exceptions.
If your loved one has suffered from elder abuse, neglected or even wrongful death case caused by negligence in a San Diego nursing home, please contact the San Diego elder abuse attorneys of Bisnar Chase now for a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.
Our Southern California personal injury attorneys will fight for you. Call 1-800-561-4887 for a Free Consultation.
Protecting the Elderly in San Diego Assisted Living Facilities
If elder abuse is taking place at the San Diego facility where your loved one is living, there are steps you can take now that will make a difference.
If you are sure that physical and/or sexual abuse has taken place, you should call the police as soon as possible. However, if you are concerned and do not have proof, you should discuss your concerns with the manager or administrator of the facility.
The Process of Filing a Nursing Home Abuse Report
If you feel as though your loved one is in immediate danger contact the police right away. For family members that are suspicious but are not quite sure if their loved one is being abused contact Elder Protective Services.
Elder Protective Services investigates elder abuse cases for seniors from ages 65 years old and older. A caseworker will then be assigned to the senior citizens' elder abuse case and then proceed to investigate the problem.
When the caseworker confirms that there was a crime of elder abuse committed they will then give the nursing home resident legal options they can potentially choose from.
If you wish to hold the facility accountable for nursing home neglect or elder abuse, it would be in your best interest to retain the services of an experienced lawyer such as Bisnar Chase.
What are Your Legal Options as an Injury Victim?
As an injury victim, you may feel as though you are protected by federal laws. While this remains true what the law does not guarantee is that you will indeed retrieve all the compensation you need for your losses.
What most people are also not aware of is if the nursing home victim waits too long to file a claim, they can lose their chance to gain any amount of compensation and or justice. California statute of limitations requires any victim of elder abuse to file a claim within two years.
Types of Elder Abuse at San Diego Nursing Homes
Choosing the right San Diego nursing home is often stressful and frustrating. When you select a care facility for a loved one, you expect the employees who provide care to be professional, trained, attentive and kind to your loved ones. Unfortunately, we hear many horror stories about workers who physically, sexually, emotionally and financially abuse vulnerable, elderly residents.
According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, 1 in 10 American senior citizens over the age of 60 have experienced some form of elder abuse.
It is crucial and of the utmost importance that San Diego nursing home residents and their family members clearly understand their legal rights and options if they have been the victims of nursing home abuse or neglect.
San Diego elders are less likely to stand up to bullying or to even report wrongdoing as these elders become weaker and more vulnerable with age according to the National Council on Aging (NCOA).
They may fear retaliation or simply be intimidated by the abusive nursing home staff. Elderly nursing home residents can suffer significant injury or harm when they are subjected to neglect or elder abuse in a nursing home setting.
Some of the most common forms of nursing home abuse include:
- Physical abuse: Physical elder abuse is an intentional, non-accidental use of force that results in physical pain and/or injuries. It is unacceptable under any circumstances to hit or shove elderly patients. It is also a form of physical abuse to unnecessarily sedate patients with powerful drugs or binds them with restraints.
- Emotional abuse: It may not leave a bruise or any type of physical mark, but emotional abuse can cause just as much, if not more, damage as physical abuse. It is all too common for elderly patients to suffer emotional stress through intimidation, humiliation and habitual blaming. In other cases, elderly victims are ignored, isolated, confined or even threatened.
- Sexual abuse: All unwanted sexual conduct is illegal and wrong under any and all contexts. Sexual abuse may involve showing an elderly person pornographic material, forcing the patient to undress or asking them to perform sexual acts.
- Financial abuse: Financial exploitation is the unauthorized use of an elderly person's funds. Examples of financial abuse include check forgery, credit card fraud, stealing for personal items such as jewelry or household good and modifying legal documents such as wills.
- Neglect and abandonment: We expect nursing homes in San Diego to provide quality care for our loved ones and for the elderly. Neglect is when there is a failure to fulfill a care taking obligation. An example of neglect is when elderly patients are allowed to remain in soiled clothing or bedding for an extended period of time without care or attention.
There are also elder abuse cases in nursing homes where rooms are not properly maintained and residents do not receive proper nourishment.
Common Nursing Home Negligence and Abuse Injuries
If your loved one has suffered from elderly abuse in a nursing home, you may be able to hold that facility accountable for the wrongdoing that has occurred there.
Unfortunately, proving liability could prove difficult if there is a cover-up already taking place. Has your loved one suffered an injury that is not on his or her medical records? That could be a sign that elder abuse is taking place.
Signs of physical abuse may include:
- broken bones
- sprains
- dislocations
- marks on your loved one's wrist from the use of restraints
- irregular amounts of missing medication
- bedsores or pressure sores
Signs of emotional or psychological abuse:
- withdrawn
- anxious
- depressed
- mood swings
- sleeping patterns are abnormal
There are many red flags for which loved ones can watch out. Did you witness caregivers at the facility yelling or making threats? Perhaps your loved one is exhibiting a sudden and dramatic change in personality. If sexual abuse has taken place, it could result in bruises, sexually transmitted diseases or unexplained bleeding.
Negligence can result in weight loss, malnutrition or bedsores.
Signs of financial exploitation may include unexplained bank withdrawals, missing items or suspicious changes in your loved ones will.
Proving Elder Abuse in San Diego, California
Nursing home abuse and elder abuse is a tragic reality for too many California and San Diego families.
In a recent report conducted by a Florida-based advocacy group, California received a C-rating for nursing home care of the elderly.
California ranked 28th in the nation of the 50 ranked states.
California nursing home residents on an average spent only 43 minutes a day with a professional nursing home staff member and nine out of 10 California facilities cited a deficiency.
Only 10 percent of California nursing homes cited a severe deficiency, but many cases of elder abuse never get reported.
According to the New York State Elder Abuse Prevalence Study, for every case of elder abuse reported to the authorities, there are 24 unknown cases. For more information on protecting the elderly please visit aginginplace.org for free resources and support.
Contact our Bisnar Chase San Diego Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers at 1-800-561-4887 for more information and to understand whether you have a legal claim and are entitled to compensation.
If you feel as though your reasons to sue a nursing home are valid and catastrophic do not wait to protect yourself or family member. The San Diego elder abuse attorneys at the Law Offices of Bisnar Chase believe that wrong-doers should be held accountable.
When you call today you will receive a free case evaluation with a top-legal team expert.
