Nursing home negligence cases

By Muhammad Saleem

If a stranger asks you to leave your loved ones with them for a while, you would never go along with it. Yet, you end up doing just that when you take them to nursing homes for their treatment.

You simply hope that, as professionals, the staff at these nursing homes will look after your loved ones. However, this is not always the case, and due to the negligence of the nursing home staff, you and your family may confront the consequences and suffer an irreparable loss.

In today’s interview, we will discuss the shortcomings of such nursing homes to help you understand how to ensure the safety of your loved ones in these places.

We will also guide you on how to seek legal help if you face their negligence.

Colton Leung handles a lot of the nursing home cases at Iacobelli Law Firm.

Andrew Iacobelli: Colton, why don’t you tell us a little bit or just introduce what is a nursing home negligence case or an assisted living negligence case all about?

Understanding Nursing Home Negligence Cases

Colton: So, a lot of clients come to us for various reasons in terms of nursing home negligence cases. For example, they have loved ones, or know of individuals who are in nursing homes for the purposes of, you know, peace of mind, that someone’s taking care of them.

Whenever these clients come to us, it’s for some sort of negligence on part of, let’s say, the nursing home staff, the nursing home agency; where they, for example, they’ve breached some sort of plan of care, resulting in personal injuries such as: slip and falls, bed sores, negligence in terms of transfer of care at times.

And whenever these issues come up, then the clients come to us to see whether or not there is a case to make against the nursing home and its agents and/or staff for compensation for their loved one’s injuries.

Common Injuries in Nursing Home Cases

Andrew: What kind of injuries do you typically see from nursing home cases?

Colton: These injuries include broken bones, broken hips, even sometimes to the extent that, you know, the fall causes death at times. Other injuries include bed sores, head injuries after a fall, things like that.

Recognizing Negligence in Nursing Homes

Andrew: How does the family member know that it was negligence or how do they suspect that it was negligence?

Colton: So, oftentimes, the family members come to us and tell us that, you know, a slip and fall occurred at the nursing home, or they physically see some sort of injuries to their loved ones, such as bruising, or the nursing home advises them that an accident occurred within the premises of the nursing home itself. 

So, oftentimes after they are made aware of these situations, then they would try to find a lawyer to try to assist them in a claim if they do have one.

Compensation for Nursing Home Injuries

Andrew: And what kind of compensation can a family recover if their loved one gets injured in a nursing home?

Colton: When there’s a claim for nursing home negligence cases, of course, the recovery is for the compensation for what the injured person went through. So, for example, you know, the pain and suffering they endured. Any future care costs that might be required to rehabilitate their ongoing needs for their recovery.

Information Needed for a Successful Claim

Andrew: So, what type of information do you need as the lawyer to be successful in representing a family after a nursing home injury?

Colton: Generally speaking, there is some sort of incident report that would be very beneficial, along with any pictures of visible signs of physical injuries. 

There are also regulatory bodies that the nursing homes are regulated by. These regulatory bodies often set up certain codes that the nursing home has to adhere to.

Whenever there is some sort of breach of code, the bodies themselves often will set up these investigations to determine what kind of code was breached by the nursing home. 

These reports are very, very helpful in establishing what sort of code has been breached, what remedies that the nursing home needs to correct or adhere to, which is very, very helpful in terms of having a case to establish against the nursing home themselves.

Nursing Home Insurance Coverage

Andrew: And are nursing homes, are they typically covered by insurance?

Colton: So, nursing homes are typically covered by insurance. They do have their own insurance policies for any, you know, violations that might occur on behalf of themselves, on behalf of its agents, its staff.

Filing a Claim Against a Nursing Home

Andrew: If a family member’s making a claim against the nursing home for the injury to their loved one, really at the end of the day it’s an insurance claim.

Colton: Correct. So, if there’s any claim for personal injury or negligence on part of the nursing home, the nursing home does have valid insurance. More often than not, they do have insurance responding to any allegations for negligence.

Types of Compensation for Injured Individuals

Andrew: So, what kind of compensation can people expect if they were injured as a result of the negligence of a nursing home?

Colton: So, when there is a claim for nursing home negligence, the individual themselves can claim for pain and suffering that they endured as a direct result of the negligence being alleged. 

Any out-of-pocket expenses that the individual has incurred, such as medical treatment or prescriptions, for example. Sometimes if the injuries are serious, resulting in death, the family members themselves also might have a claim against the nursing home personally.

Addressing Pre-existing Conditions in Nursing Home Claims

Andrew: And what about the fact that some people might be thinking, “Okay, my loved one probably was injured in a nursing home, but they were already in pretty poor health. 

That’s why they were in there in the first instance.” Can those kinds of people, starting off already in a really compromised state, still have a right to recover money if they’re injured in a nursing home?

Colton: So, individuals that are already in a compromised state prior to the injury also do have a valid claim. Oftentimes, that’s the reason why they are even put into the nursing home themselves, and the family and loved ones really wanted that peace of mind so that they don’t have to worry about them. 

Individuals who have, you know, various pre-existing medical conditions, they have a plan of care for the nursing home and its staff to follow. 

I’ve seen many cases where, unfortunately, the staff don’t follow the plan of care, which causes and leads up to the injury in question.

Uncertainty in Claims and Next Steps

Andrew: What if a family member is unsure if they have a claim or not? They, their loved one was injured, but they’re just not sure of the circumstances of how it happened? 

Maybe their family member has some dementia or communication problems, and so they can’t get a clear picture. What should they do in that case?

Colton: Well, in that situation, I would highly urge them to contact a lawyer so that we can better assess the situation, and a lawyer can also guide you as to the next steps that a family member should take in order to start a claim against the nursing home.

Timing and the Importance of Early Action

Andrew: How soon after an injury should a family member reach out to a lawyer if they suspect there may be negligence on the part of the nursing home?

Colton: Contact a lawyer as soon as possible. The earlier, the better, so that we can start gathering more information that we require. Start requesting clinical notes of records.

Investigating Nursing Home Negligence

Andrew: You mentioned also the regulatory bodies and the possibility of having them conduct an investigation. Is that something you can assist the family with initiating that investigation?

Colton: Of course, so when clients call us, more often than not, we will let them know as to the steps that they need to take so that we can assist them in getting an investigation started. 

Nursing home matters are generally more complex because they have a whole lot of factors. The individuals themselves are already in a state of compromise in terms of their medical health generally. 

So, having an investigation conducted earlier ensures that all the proper documentation is recorded, proper documentation is requested, so that an assessment for the individual’s claim is made earlier on. You know, maybe six months after the initial injury occurs, it’s a lot harder to preserve evidence or get important information. That is very, very crucial and beneficial for their claim.