As people age, the risks associated with their health change. Unfortunately, moving into a nursing home environment can increase the chance of physical, emotional, and financial abuse. When caretakers negligently or maliciously harm elders in their care, they may face legal repercussions for their actions. At Fiol & Morros Law Group, our Tampa nursing home abuse lawyers represents elders and their families in claims against individual caretakers, nursing home facilities, and physicians.
In Hillsborough County, FL, 2015 statistics from the state Department of Elder Affairs indicated that just over half of all residents are 60 years of age or older. The numbers may have changed slightly since then, but the Tampa Bay area is still home to a large population of retired and aging adults. A portion of these elders, sadly, will face some type of abuse in later life.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse
In the legal sense, abuse may refer to unwanted physical, emotional/verbal, and sexual acts. Nursing home cases may also include acts of neglect and manipulation or exploitation. Our Tampa trial lawyers represent individuals in all types of nursing home cases. Some of the most common types of nursing home abuse we represent in the Tampa area include:
Bedsores
A form of neglect, bedsores (also known as pressure sores) can only form when a patient lays in one position for an extended period of time. When caretakers fail to move, change, or bathe an elder, bedsores can develop. The condition most often happens in areas of the body that experience constant pressure with an outside surface. They may appear near the hips, tailbone, ankle, or other areas on the body.
This condition takes time to manifest – often weeks or months. Physicians diagnose bedsores as one of four stages. Mild bedsores appear red and painful while stage IV bedsores can damage tissue, muscle, and bones. Painful at every stage, later stage bedsores may require surgery and constant medical attention to heal.
Basic hygiene prevents bedsores, making them a deplorable form of neglect in a nursing home setting. With even a basic level of care, facilities can avoid these injuries. A visitor or loved one may recognize the following signs of bedsores including:
- Unusual pain near a location on the body that comes into prolonged contact with a bed or wheelchair
- Visible redness or an ulcer at the site of pain
- Foul smells coming from underneath a patient
If you notice any signs of bedsores in a nursing home patient, act. The sores are very painful and a clear sign of neglect and other kinds of abuse.
Nursing Home Falls
As people age, the risk of injuries from falls increases. A fall in the wrong way and the wrong location may lead to death. In nursing home environments, you may think caretakers will prevent the risk of falls. In reality, environmental hazards, inadequate care, poor oversight, and poor training contribute to dangerous and deadly falls. A broken bone or hip in an elderly patient can lead to hundreds or thousands of dollars in medical expenses.
Typically, our Tampa nursing home abuse lawyers look into facility maintenance, training, and oversight practices to prove negligence in falls. If a loved one falls in a nursing home under suspicious circumstances, ask questions. Talk to residents, ask the elderly individual about the situation, and ask for a second medical opinion. Falls can happen accidentally. However, if it happened as a result of negligence, an experienced Tampa trial attorney can help you protect your loved one’s rights.
Dehydration and Malnutrition
Nursing homes may not offer the best food, but they do bear a responsibility to keep their patients hydrated and well-fed. In a nursing home setting, getting an elder to eat and drink enough requires adequate staffing, charts, and alternative nourishment therapies. When caretakers fail to pay attention to elders’ eating and drinking habits or knowingly ignore them, they contribute to poor overall health. Poor nutrition and hydration exacerbate anemia, osteoporosis, low blood pressure, and more.
Unlike other forms of abuse, dehydration and malnutrition deteriorate an individual’s health over time. Recognizing the signs and symptoms may require a studied eye. While an elder’s appearance may naturally change over time in a nursing home, unreasonable weakness, weight loss, and illnesses associated with malnutrition may indicate professional neglect. Other signs may include canker sores, muscle atrophy, cognitive difficulties, and dull skin. A dry, red tongue along with cracked, pale, or dry lips can signal a lack of hydration. If a person’s mouth is too dry, he or she might even have trouble speaking properly. Dentures that previously fit well and all of a sudden do not should be looked into and may provide clues. Thinning hair and dry or loose skin may also be telltale symptoms of dehydration, as can a wound that will not heal.
Talk to your loved one about meals, observe eating habits, and ask questions if you suspect malnutrition.
Nursing Home Violence
Some caretakers threaten and/or strike patients in their care. A caretaker need not actually harm an elder to commit an act of assault. Verbally or physically threatening violence constitutes assault, while battery describes striking, pushing, or forcefully grabbing a patient. Hiring and training practices vary among nursing homes. Some do a great job of training all employees, while others try to move employees into the field as soon as possible.
If you notice any unexplained bruising, soreness, lacerations, or behaviors in an elder at a nursing home, dig deeper for answers. Dementia and other illnesses may contribute to some personality changes, but physical evidence clearly signals some type of mistreatment. An elder should never feel unsafe or afraid in a nursing home.
Medication Errors
Medication errors. In nursing homes, few if any residents manage their own medications. Instead, caregivers manage and administer all medications throughout the day. They are responsible for accurately and consistently managing medication guidelines under the supervision of a qualified medical professional. When caregivers purposefully or negligently mishandle medication and patients suffer, they may face liability for the errors.
Some medications may not cause serious side effects if mismanaged to a certain extent, while others can cause life-threatening conditions or death. For example, mismanaging blood pressure medication can spike or lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. Many medications that elders take require careful monitoring including insulin and blood thinners. Always ask questions about serious health incidents to determine if medication mismanagement may have contributed to complications.
If abuse resulted in the death of a loved one, please contact our Tampa wrongful death attorneys. If you have any questions or concerns about a loved one in a nursing home in or around Tampa, FL, contact our office for a free case evaluation. Let us fight for your rights in the wake of a nursing home abuse incident.
Elder Abuse Laws in Florida
In Florida, defendants can face both civil liability and criminal charges for abusing an elder. At Fiol & Morros Law Group, our nursing home abuse lawyers focus practice on representing the families and individuals injured in nursing home abuse claims. Criminal charges may put a negligent or malicious caretaker behind bars, but they cannot compensate victims for their losses. In a civil claim, we can hold individuals and nursing home organizations financially accountable for their actions.
We cannot undo the harm an elder experienced, but we will fight for fair compensation or injuries, pain and suffering, and loss of quality of life. No one deserves to suffer at the hands of a supposed caretaker at their most fragile.
The state of Florida enforces specific laws regarding the care of elderly residents. Our laws require anyone who knows about or suspects elder abuse to report the information to proper authorities. Under statute §415.1111, a vulnerable elder who suffers abuse retains the right to compensation for losses as well as punitive damages (fines meant to punish the wrongdoer). The statute covers individuals who suffer physical and/or emotional abuse, neglect, or financial/property/knowledge exploitation at the hands of another.
An elder may file the action himself or herself. If unable to do so, a guardian or estate representative may file a claim on the elder’s behalf. An individual can face abuse claims for both actions and omissions that endanger or harm elderly individuals. Any caretaker may face a civil claim, including at-home caregivers, nursing home caregivers, nurses, hospice caregivers, assisted living caregivers, and volunteers.
Reporting Nursing Home Abuse in Tampa, FL
If you suspect an instance of nursing home abuse, you must report the instance to the elder abuse hotline at 1-800-962-2873. We also strongly suggest reaching out to our Tampa nursing home abuse lawyers to discuss your rights and options regarding a civil claim. An attorney can evaluate the situation, investigate your claim, and represent you in front of nursing home representatives and the state during abuse proceedings.
At Fiol & Morros Law Group, we believe every instance of abuse represents an opportunity to stop a widespread problem in nursing homes. Not only does taking legal action bring you closer to a sense of justice and closure, but it may also prevent instances of abuse from happening again. A caretaker or facility that must pay for its wrongdoing may change caretaking policies, hiring standards, and more to prevent future incidents. Let us help you obtain compensation and justice for your loved one. Call us now at (816) 223-6773 or (866) 921-7560 in Tampa, FL for a free case evaluation. We handle all nursing home abuse lawsuits on a contingency fee basis, meaning your family only pays attorney fees if you win your case.
Warning Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
Uncovering nursing home abuse warning signs often takes a practiced eye. At Fiol & Morros Law Group, our Tampa nursing home abuse attorneys highly recommend every adult child and visitor scrutinize the facility, personnel, and patient health at every nursing home visit. Some warning signs are very subtle, while others indicate a blatant disregard for a patient’s health. Common warning signs of abuse may include:
- Changes in personality or emotional health
- Outward signs of fear in the presence of nursing home staff members
- Sudden and unexpected weight loss
- Refusal to eat, take medications, or engage in basic hygiene
- Foul smells, unclean linens, and unclean rooms
- Frequent infections
- Scratches, cuts, or bruising
Nursing home abuse and neglect are crimes that affect one of the nation’s most vulnerable populations. When nursing home staff members berate, beat, humiliate, or carelessly overlook residents, serious to fatal injuries and emotional harm can occur. Sadly, family members of those in Tampa Bay nursing homes cannot blindly assume the facility will take good care of their loved ones. Nursing home abuse goes widely underreported. It is often up to the friends and family members of nursing home residents to detect abuse and neglect.
Hire a Tampa Nursing Home Abuse Attorney
At Fiol & Morros Law Group, we take nursing home abuse claims very seriously. Some of the most common root causes of nursing home abuse that we see include poor hiring practices, inadequate training, poor management practices, and high rates of turnover. We understand how to approach nursing home abuse cases of all kinds, and our nursing home abuse lawyers will pursue each claim to the full extent of the law. Nobody deserves to feel dehumanized or forgotten in a nursing home.
Taking action provides families with much-needed compensation to cover medical expenses and the pain and suffering that a loved one endures. It also plays a larger role in the fight against nursing home abuse. Everyone who comes forward to fight against malicious and negligent acts of abuse may prevent someone else from suffering from the same fate. At Fiol & Morros Law Group, we want to create a better future for everyone who lives in nursing home environments.