Huntsville Nursing Home Lawyers

Do You Need a Nursing Home Lawyer?

When your loved one is hurt while living in a nursing home, you don’t jump to the conclusion that you need a lawyer. Instead, you rightfully prioritize your relatives and their needs. But once your relative is on the mend, it’s best to think about what to do next.

Do you know why your loved one suffered an injury, whether it was a fall, bedsore, or string of UTIs? Do you think the nursing home is responsible?

If you have questions or suspicions about your relative’s injury, call a Huntsville nursing home attorney right away. To protect your relative, you need to find out what happened and why.

The nursing home might not be forthcoming with information. It wants to avoid a complaint and an investigation. We aren’t concerned with what the nursing home wants. We’re concerned with what your relative needs and deserves.

As an experienced nursing home neglect and abuse law firm in Huntsville, we know how important it is to hold facilities responsible for the degree of care they provide or fail to provide. Only by requiring high standards can we reduce the risk of your loved one or another resident getting hurt in the future.

One of our nursing home attorneys will investigate and may find evidence of negligence, medical malpractice, or elder abuse. That evidence may give your relative or your family the right to sue and demand compensation.

Why Belt, Bruner, & Barnett P.C. Is Right for You

Investigating possible elder neglect, elder abuse, or malpractice at a nursing home can be challenging. It’s not something we recommend families do themselves. Instead, we advise notifying the appropriate authorities of the incident and calling our Huntsville nursing home lawyers.

Our attorneys have decades of experience handling personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases involving seniors and nursing homes. We’ve handled many claims in Madison, Limestone, and Morgan Counties, and we know the signs of elder abuse and elder neglect. They can be subtle, but they’re there. Our experience and insight mean we overlook nothing during our investigation.

We carefully gather evidence of the care – or lack thereof – that your loved one received. We may also talk with other residents about their experiences. When a staff member neglects or abuses one resident, they may be victimizing another, too.

Reviewing your relative’s medical records is an important step, and we may hire a medical expert. Medical records often reveal whether a senior in a nursing home received appropriate medical care and daily assistance.

After our in-depth investigation, we can advise you on your rights. We’ll talk with you about the strength of a potential legal claim and the compensation your relative or family may rightfully demand. When you decide to pursue a legal claim, we work tirelessly to win you the best possible results.

Schedule a free consultation at our office, 521 Madison St., SE, Suite 200, Huntsville, Alabama.

Elder Rights in Nursing Homes

Seniors do not lose their rights as they age and become less physically and/or mentally capable of taking care of themselves. Moving into a nursing home for assistance and care is not a suspension or revocation of their rights. Instead, elderly individuals maintain their right to:

• Privacy
• Be treated with respect
• As much independence as possible
• Manage their own money and finances
• Be free from discrimination
• Receive appropriate medical care
• Be free from neglect and abuse

If nursing home residents’ rights are being violated in any way during their time in a nursing home, they also have the right to complain. They may make a complaint with the facility, and if their situation does not change, they can move on and filing a complaint with state authorities. If they have been or are continuously being harmed, elderly nursing home residents also have the right to an attorney to determine their legal options.

Types of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

There are many ways nursing home staff members can neglect or abuse elderly patients. However, there are some common types of nursing home abuse and neglect that seniors often experience that leads to physical and psychological injuries:

• Emotional abuse- This may involve both nonverbal and verbal behavior, such as name calling, that causes the victim emotional distress and/or mental anguish.
• Physical abuse- Abuse can go beyond words. In nursing homes, it often becomes physical. Staff members may hit, kick, shove, restrain, and spit on their elderly patients, causing physical injuries, pain, and emotional suffering.
• Sexual abuse- Both male and female seniors are at risk for sexual harassment, non-consensual sexual contact, and sexual assault. The risk is particularly high when an elderly person is immobile in any capacity, or has difficulty speaking.
• Financial abuse- Nursing home staff members may improperly take control of a senior’s money, assets, or real estate through coercion, fraud, or force.
• Neglect- Staff members may fail to take care of senior’s basic needs, including providing food and water, maintaining their personal hygiene, cleaning their living quarters, and providing necessary and appropriate medical care. Neglect can lead to both physical and psychological injuries.

Common Nursing Home-Related Injuries

When elderly nursing home residents are abused or neglected, they often experience common nursing home injuries such as:

• Falls
• Broken bones
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Serious infections
• Bed sores
• Malnutrition
• Dehydration
• Asphyxiation
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Cognitive impairments

Seniors who are abused can see their condition quickly and drastically worsen. For example, seniors with diabetes who do not receive appropriate care may face a greater risk of nerve damage, a reduction in eye sight, and amputations. Elderly nursing home residents may also experience new injuries that are unrelated to their previous medical conditions. For instance, despite only suffering from age-related physical weakness and limitations, a preventable fall could lead to a broken hip, resulting in a great deal of pain and additional mobility difficulties.

These injuries can greatly alter your life or the life of your elderly loved one, so it is vitally important to retain the counsel of Belt, Bruner & Barnett P.C.’s Huntsville nursing home lawyers.

Medical Malpractice in Huntsville Nursing Homes

Elder abuse and neglect often coincide with medical malpractice. The physicians who treat elderly patients in nursing homes have a legal duty to uphold the medical standard of care, defined by Alabama’s Medical Liability Act. Section 6-5-548(a) states that health care providers must “exercise such reasonable care, skills, and diligence as other similarly situated health care providers in the same general line of practice” would in similar circumstances.

When a senior is injured because a physician fails to provide adequate medical care, they or their family should speak with a Huntsville medical malpractice lawyer about filing a medical malpractice claim.

Pursuing Compensation

Elderly individuals who are harmed by neglect, abuse, or medical malpractice can seek compensation for their physical, psychological, and financial injuries. This compensation may include but is not limited to:

• Medical expenses
• Physical pain
• Mental anguish
• Disfigurement
• Loss of enjoyment of life

Calculating the value of a nursing home claim can be difficult. If you are unsure of how to value and total your damages after being hurt by negligent care or abuse, contact our Huntsville nursing home lawyers at Belt, Bruner, & Barnett P.C. as soon as you can.

Alabama Wrongful Death Law

In many cases, elder neglect, abuse, or medical malpractice do far more than harm seniors. Instead, they lead to the senior’s early death. If you lost a loved one due to the neglect or abuse they received at a nursing home, contact Belt, Bruner, & Barnett P.C.’s Huntsville wrongful death lawyers right away. Alabama does not allow family members to file wrongful death claims; this is the job of the personal representative for your loved one’s estate. The state also has a number of other nuances surrounding wrongful death law. Let us help you understand your rights and options in this situation.

Let Our Huntsville Nursing Home Lawyers Help You

Whether you are a senior who has suffered at the hands of a nursing home staff members or you lost a loved one to nursing home neglect or abuse, our Huntsville nursing home lawyers at Belt, Bruner, & Barnett P.C. want to help you seek justice. We will thoroughly review your situation and go over your civil rights, including the possibility of filing a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.

We will also go over criminal charges nursing home staff members or owners may face in regard to your injuries or your loved one’s death. Depending on the other person’s actions, we may notify state or federal prosecutors. They may choose to charge the responsible party with a misdemeanor or felony.

To learn more about your rights in regard to elder abuse or neglect occurring at a nursing home during a free case consultation, contact our Huntsville nursing home lawyers through our online form, or by calling (205) 933-1500.