Miami Elder Abuse & Nursing Home Attorney
Florida Elder Abuse and Nursing Home Litigation Lawyers
Choosing to place a loved one into a nursing home situation can be a tough choice, but many families have to make such a decision. When you place a loved one in a nursing home or care facility in Southern Florida, you expect for your loved one to be cared for a treated with respect. However, in many nursing homes across the state, this is not always the case for the helpless and vulnerable residents that live there. Each year hundreds of elder persons are abused, neglected and exploited by family members, professional caregivers and others. Many victims are people who are frail and vulnerable and cannot help themselves and depend on others to meet their most basic needs. Elder abuse occurs when someone knowingly or unknowingly causes harm or a risk of harm to an older adult. Elder abuse can take several forms, including:
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Physical abuse such as hitting, pushing, shaking or burning, with the intention of causing pain or injury
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Sexual abuse such as inappropriate touching, rape or pornographic photography
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Emotional abuse that includes psychological or emotional abuse such as harassment, insults, intimidation or threats
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Financial abuse that involves financial or material exploitation such as stealing, trickery or inappropriate use of financial power
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Neglect such as failure to provide adequate food, water, shelter or personal care or abandonment
Nursing Home Abuse Takes Many Forms
The trouble with nursing home abuse is that it is often difficult to detect, and thus it can go on for a long period of time before someone does something about it. Victims of nursing home abuse are often elderly people who are mentally incapable of understanding what is happening to them (they might have a cognitive disability or illness, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease), or the victim is too terrified to say anything to anyone who can help them. These residents make for easy victims since they will not put an end to the abuse themselves.
Unfortunately, nursing home abuse is a real thing that happens to too many elderly Floridians who are supposed to be enjoying their golden years. Many forms of nursing home abuse and neglect are hard to detect because of how they are executed. For instance:
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Many cases of nursing home sexual abuse happen behind closed doors, to victims who are unlikely to remember that it occurred at all.
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Dehydration and malnutrition are common forms of abuse and neglect that occur in nursing homes. Food and water can be deliberately withheld from residents who depend on others to provide them with such sustenance. Dehydration and malnutrition are particularly difficult to detect in a fragile and thin elderly person.
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Some residents are abused by the use of chemical restraints on them (i.e., a nursing home staffer gives the resident prescription medication to calm or subdue the resident).
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Residents could be locked in their rooms and neglected by staff for hours without anyone’s knowledge.
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Residents could be denied medical care when they need it.
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Residents develop bed sores on their bodies when they are bedridden and cannot move themselves regularly. When the sores develop, if pressure is not relieved, the sores will get worse. It can be difficult to detect bedsores on an obese elderly person.
- The abuse could be psychological in the form of threats, which leave no physical marks.
Only once a family member or loved one notices the signs of abuse and becomes suspicious does something get done. Once a report is filed, an investigation is conducted into the allegations of abuse. If evidence is found that abuse or neglect is occurring, appropriate action will be taken by the nursing home to correct the situation. But that does not make up for the harm that you loved one had to endure. Filing a personal injury lawsuit can get your loved one the financial compensation that he or she deserves for the harm that was suffered at the hands of his or her care providers.
If you are a concerned relative or friend of an elderly person you believe is suffering from abuse, we recommend that you contact our office and speak with a member of our legal team.
At the law offices of Alan Goldfarb, P.A., we bring extensive experience to personal injury victims throughout South Florida. Our firm has more than 50 years litigating medical malpractice claims and knows how to maximize the resources available to obtain optimal results. Our Miami elder abuse attorneys provide a full-service approach to each client and his or her needs. We combine thorough preparation with aggressive advocacy, using our knowledge and experience to help you seek full and fair compensation for your losses.
Contact Our Miami Nursing Home & Elder Abuse Attorneys Today
Alan Goldfarb, P.A. will advise you and your loved ones of your legal options. Contact our office at 305-371-3111 or toll free at 866-936-9761 to schedule a FREE consultation with our legal team today!
