A nursing home abuse lawyer in Dallas must be an experienced personal injury lawyer.
Personal injury law is our specialty at Street & Ragsdale. We have handled thousands of personal injury cases, including nursing home abuse cases. A Street & Ragsdale personal injury lawyer will fight to recover the compensation you deserve if a loved one has suffered personal injury or wrongful death due to nursing home abuse. Contact an experienced personal injury lawyer today and we will evaluate your Dallas nursing home abuse case absolutely free!
Nursing Home Abuse In Dallas and The U.S.
(Click here for Texas nursing home abuse information)
People are facing difficult decisions about nursing homes. The decision to move a loved one into a nursing home raises very real questions about how the resident will be treated at the nursing home, and if the possibility of nursing home abuse exists. This is, unfortunately, becoming an increasingly legitimate concern. Studies have suggested that the problem of abuse in nursing homes may be far more prevalent than the public generally recognizes. In 1986, a landmark report by the Institute of Medicine found widespread nursing home abuse.
This widespread nursing home abuse led Congress to pass comprehensive legislation in 1987 establishing new standards for nursing homes.This law requires nursing homes to "provide services and activities to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident."
The 1987 law and the implementing regulations limit the use of physical and chemical restraints on nursing home residents. They require nursing homes to prevent pressure sores, or bed sores, which are painful wounds or bruises caused by pressure or friction, that can become infected. They also establish other health standards for nursing homes, such as requiring that residents are properly cleaned and bathed, receive appropriate medical care, and are supervised to prevent falls and accidents. The regulatory requirements are at 42 C.F.R. Part 483.
Recently, investigators have begun to examine whether nursing homes are meeting the requirements of the 1987 law and its implementing regulations. The results have not been encouraging. Certain nursing home abuse documented by the Institute of Medicine in 1986, such as the improper use of physical restraints and antipsychotic drugs, have been reduced, but health violations appear to be widespread. In a series of 1999 reports, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), an investigative arm of Congress, found that "more than one-fourth of nursing homes had deficiencies that caused actual harm to residents or placed them at risk of death or serious injury"; that these incidents of actual harm "represented serious care issues . . . such as pressure sores, broken bones, severe weight loss, and death"; and that "[s]erious complaints alleging that nursing home residents are being harmed can remain uninvestigated for weeks or months."
Abuse of Residents Is a Major Problem in U.S. Nursing Homes
Abuse violations are among the most serious violations that can occur in nursing homes. The elderly and disabled residents of nursing homes cannot protect themselves from physical attack or sexual assault. Sometimes they cannot even communicate to family members that they have suffered from abuse. Residents and their families are almost entirely dependent upon nursing homes to ensure the safety of residents.
5,283 nursing homes, almost one out of every three U.S. nursing homes, were cited for an abuse violation in the two-year period from January 1, 1999, through January 1, 2001. This amounts to almost 9,000 nursing home abuse violations during this two-year period. All of these violations had at least the potential to harm nursing home residents.
Federal health and safety standards protect the vulnerable residents of nursing homes from physical, sexual, and verbal abuse. To enforce these standards, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services contracts with the states to conduct annual inspections of nursing homes. These inspections assess whether nursing homes are meeting federal standards of care, including the prohibitions on abuse of residents. In addition, when an individual files an abuse complaint, state inspectors are required to investigate these allegations and assess whether federal standards of care were violated by the nursing home.
Many of these abuse violations caused harm to residents
Over 2,500 of the abuse violations in the last two years were serious enough to cause actual harm to residents or to place residents in immediate jeopardy of death or serious injury.
In total, nearly 10% of the nursing homes in the United States were cited for nursing home abuse violations that caused actual harm to residents.
Many of these nursing home abuse violations are discovered only after the filing of a formal complaint.
Nursing home abuse violations increasing
The percentage of nursing homes with abuse violations is increasing. As a matter of fact, the percentage of nursing homes cited for abuse violations has increased every year since 1996. In 2000, over twice as many nursing homes were cited for abuse violations during annual inspections than were cited in 1996.
Types of nursing home abuse:
- Physical abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Neglect or Negligence
- Verbal abuse
Stop Nursing Home Abuse
The best way to stop nursing home abuse is to make sure violations are adequately punished. If a loved one has been injured by nursing home abuse, or by nursing home negligence, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer that has handled nursing home abuse cases as soon as possible.The personal injury lawyers at Dallas law firm Street & Ragsdale are experienced in nursing home abuse cases, and will evaluate your nursing home abuse case at no cost to you. If we determine you have a personal injury claim, we will handle your case aggressively, and you pay absolutely nothing unless we win your personal injury case.
Nursing Home Abuse Links
http://www.medicare.gov/nhcompare/home.asp
Tool that provides detailed information about the past performance of every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country.
Medicare.gov - Nursing Home Overview
Medicare.gov - Nursing Home Resident Rights
Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home
Finding the Right Nursing Home
Should you consider a nursing home?
What kinds of services can a nursing home offer?
Who are the providers of primary services in a nursing home?
Who pays for nursing home care?
What does every good nursing home have?
Consumer Guides to Nursing and Assisted Living
A Consumer Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home