When someone gets their parents into a nursing home, it's for them to have peace and get the care they need. They trust they will get help and attention to their needs, and that's what must happen. Unfortunately, nursing home abuse is more common than it should be.
Whether it's nursing home negligence or direct abuse from the facility's personnel, the elderly suffer a lot when that happens. They could even die there without their family members knowing why. It's difficult to notice signs of nursing home abuse, but people need to legally act on it when they do.
How can people get justice when nursing homes mistreat the elderly? They need to file a lawsuit against the facility. If victims win the case, they can use the compensation money to cover any medical treatment they may need or get into a better healthcare facility.
People reading this page will learn how to file a nursing home lawsuit and how the legal process works in general. Being quick is essential in this kind of problem, so victims should hire a lawyer as soon as they notice something's wrong.
Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Attorneys focuses on personal injury cases. That includes suing nursing homes. This law firm has offices in many states, and Texas is one of them. Victims there should contact it now to schedule a free consultation and discuss case details. They can also advise on how to file a lawsuit for product liability in Texas.
What Is Nursing Home Negligence?
Nursing home negligence refers to the moments when nursing homes fail to give their residents the level of care they need to live or directly abuse them. That negligence, of course, leads to emotional or physical damage.
Similar to other personal injury cases, Texas nursing home negligence includes actions or inaction that cause serious injuries to the victim.
There are many examples of nursing home negligence. One of them is when they breach their duty of care. If nursing homes don't ensure their residents' safety, basic needs, and doctors' orders', they are liable for any injury they get.
Medication errors, bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration, falls, hygiene issues, and social isolation are common examples of nursing home negligence. Apart from being negligent, people can also sue these facilities for abuse.
Nursing home personnel often use their position of power over the elderly to emotionally, physically, financially, or sexually abuse them. While these things could end up with criminal charges, people can still seek compensation for them.
Most Common Nursing Home Injuries
Apart from financial and emotional abuse, there are many injuries victims of nursing home abuse can go through. It's the job of Texas attorneys to perform an in-depth investigation and seek justice for them.
Below is a list of the most common physical injuries victims of nursing home abuse develop:
Repetitive strain injuries
Head injuries
Bruises and skin tears
Bedsores
Fractures
Broken bones
Wrongful death
What Is the Process to File a Texas Nursing Home Lawsuit?
In Texas, the family of the elderly can file a nursing home lawsuit for abuse on their behalf. The process to do it is the same as if they were the main victims of abuse or neglect.
Here, people will get a rundown on how to file a nursing home abuse claim to get compensation for the victim and their family. Regardless of that, this is not something people should do without help from a professional.
Get Out of the Nursing Home and Seek Medical Attention
As mentioned before, noticing nursing home abuse is difficult, so it's important for the family of someone living in a healthcare facility to keep an eye on it. If they notice something's wrong, they need to take their loved one out of that nursing home and get proper medical attention.
Even if the person doesn't show any signs of physical damage at first sight, doctors will perform a thorough examination to determine if there was any harm or sexual abuse. This will allow people to act quickly on any health problem the victim may develop in the future.
The reason it's difficult to notice elder abuse is that, in most nursing home abuse cases, the wrongdoers threaten their victims to not say anything and deny all the allegations people may have. Why? Because they think things will get worse if they say what happened.
Medical records are excellent evidence for a nursing home abuse lawsuit, so going to a doctor is also a good opportunity to get a legal advantage. Patients shouldn't worry about how expensive medical bills may be at the moment since they can recover all that with compensation money.
Get Legal Help
Once the victim gets medical attention, they need to start looking for experienced and skilled nursing home abuse attorneys. This is the first step to start looking for financial compensation for what happened.
Lawyers play a key role in this process because they are the ones in charge of building the right strategy to win the case. Nursing home attorneys are used to this, so they will already know what they need to watch out for in the future.
They will handle paperwork, evidence, negotiations, and trials. When talking about personal injuries, attorneys often focus on specific legal matters. People could find, for example, lawyers that only deal with car accident cases or a Texas nursing home neglect lawyer.
Victims should always go for a lawyer who focuses on nursing home abuse or negligence. When they find one, a nursing home abuse attorney in Dallas will schedule a first case evaluation with them. When they get there, both the victim and the lawyer will talk about legal fees, evidence, and case details.
Gather Evidence
Anyone who wants to file a nursing home abuse lawsuit needs to first look for strong evidence that proves what they are saying. What do they need to prove? The negligence or abuse of the health care facility.
Even if it was only a person who did all the abuse, the facility should keep control of those situations, so it's still liable for nursing home negligence. Lawyers are in charge of gathering evidence, so they will talk to the institution directly, look for security camera footage there, and deal with witnesses.
Facility records can be evidence in a nursing home abuse case because they are the way for the nursing home to keep track of everything that happens there. If what happened to the victim is missing, it's a blatant sign of negligence.
File a Complaint
If the victim gets enough evidence of any sexual, emotional, financial, or physical abuse in the facility, they can file a nursing home negligence lawsuit. The claim needs to include all the grounds for the suit. That means the details of the abuse, when it happened, how many times, and the injuries it left behind.
The legal grounds for the nursing home negligence lawsuit should also be there. However, if the state wants to press criminal charges for what happened, it will happen as an independent legal process.
Discovery Phase
When a lawyer sends a nursing home abuse claim to court, the judge will read it and tell a process server to send it to the defendant. After that, a process server will send the defendant all the legal papers related to the case. This often consists of a complaint outlining the victim's allegations and a summons notifying them of the lawsuit.
When the process server sends that to the defendant, people legally say they are served. After that, they generally have 20 days or a month to respond. They can deny the allegations, raise defenses, or submit a counterclaim.
After all that happens, both parties will get to the discovery phase. There, they will share evidence and case information. They can also ask for all the depositions they need for the case.
Mediation Phase
Before going to trial, there is room for the mediation phase between the parties in a nursing home abuse claim. This is a series of negotiations between the nursing home resident, their lawyer, and a representative of the health care facility.
If they want, they can discuss how much compensation the victim can get for the physical or sexual abuse the victim went through. The idea of these negotiations is to get to a middle point where victims get enough for the damages but not as much as they asked for.
Nursing home neglect cases include staff members, particular contractors, and anyone who worked for the nursing home facility, so proving that it happened is often tricky. Hence, legal agreements are often a good chance for victims to cover what they need without going through the hassle of a trial.
Regardless of that, they should accept any deal that doesn't get them enough money to cover the injuries the nursing home neglect left behind.
Trial Phase
If the nursing facility and the victim don't get to a fair settlement, they will go to trial. Nursing home lawsuits can last a lot of time and require skilled and passionate lawyers. Once there, it's up to the resident's attorney to win the case. They can also explain how to file a lawsuit for mesothelioma in Texas.
Appeal the Settlement
Victims of nursing home facilities can appeal the decision of a judge who didn't give them the compensation they were asking for. There, they can submit further information about physical abuse or nursing home neglect. If they want, they can hire other lawyers for this process.
Final Thoughts - Schedule a Free Consultation Now!
Medical care is highly expensive, so victims of nursing home neglect often struggle to cover all medical expenses of a case. However, even if they could cover it, they shouldn't do it just because the staff members of the facilities they were in made them victims of physical and psychological abuse.
Getting legal assistance and filing a lawsuit against those staff members is a good way of getting justice. It may encourage other residents to do the same.
Anyone looking forward to suing a negligent facility in Texas should contact Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Attorneys and schedule a free consultation now.