Preventing Nursing Home Injury of a Loved One

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One of the best ways to protect your loved one from abuse or neglect in a nursing home is frequent and unplanned visits to the facility to see the patient. This will allow you to see how care is provided by a number of the staff members at various times of the day and night. And although it is often difficult, a physical exam of the family member can often reveal injuries that have been hidden by clothing or blankets. Unreported cuts, bruises and bed sores are often discovered by the family member during a physical exam. If the patient has gauze, patches or other coverings of the skin, you should ask why it is there and ask to be present the next time the covering is changed.

Help your loved one by being aware of these signs of abuse and neglect and being attentive to their care. Contact us if we can help assist you in any way.

What is an ERISA Qualified Plan and Why Do I Need it for My Bankruptcy Case?

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Signs of Nursing Home Abuse

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Too often nursing home abuse or neglect takes place in a nursing home but is never detected until it is too late.

One of the unfortunate realities about growing old is that your body and mind begin to deteriorate. That is a fact of life. However, the excuses that injuries and conditions are caused by old age are too common in nursing facilities. No matter what someone’s age is they should not suffer the consequences of a staff that fails to provide the care that they are being paid to give.

The best way to protect your loved one in a nursing facility is to stay engaged and active in their care. Don’t ever hesitate to ask questions or demand answers if you believe they are not receiving the appropriate care. However, below are some common examples of nursing home neglect and abuse:

Rapid loss of weight without a change in medical treatment

Untouched food on trays that are out of patient’s reach

Extreme hunger when eating with or fed by family

Extreme thirst when fluids are provided by family

Overly medicated, despondent and generally not acting themselves (unless there is a medical reason)

Suddenly fearful or easily spooked

Excessive number of or frequent occurrence of cuts, bruises and other wounds

Frequent hospitalizations

Hesitancy of nursing home to send your loved one to the hospital

Hesitancy of nursing home to seek physician opinion when requested by patient or family

Rarely gets patient out of bed or rarely turns the patient (unless medical condition requires non-movement)

Lack of safety restraints when sitting in a wheelchair

Frequent or unexplained broken bones

Smell or odor coming from the patient may be a sign of bed sores or decubitus ulcers

If you believe your loved one is suffering some form of nursing home neglect or abuse it is important that you contact a nursing home injury lawyer.

What is the Standard of Care?

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What is the “standard of care” in a medical malpractice case in North Carolina? Many people have asked us this question at Duncan Law.

In North Carolina to be successful in a medical malpractice action, you must prove to a jury or judge that the defendant healthcare provider deviated from or violated the standard of care. This is usually done by testimony of an expert witness, usually another healthcare provider in the same specialty as the defendant healthcare provider. The North Carolina legislature has defined the standard of care in North Carolina General Statute 90-21.12. The law states:

“In any action for damages for personal injury or death arising out of the furnishing or failure to furnish professional services in the performance of medical, dental, or other healthcare, the defendant shall not be liable for the payment of damages unless the trier of the facts is satisfied by the greater weight of the evidence that the care of such healthcare provider was not in accordance with the standards of practice among members of the same health care profession with similar training and experience situated in the same or similar communities at the time of the alleged act giving rise to this cause of action.”

You are probably asking what does all of this legal jargon mean?

Basically, the law states that a doctor, dentist, nurse, etc. must act within the same standards as other persons in their profession within the same or similar community at the time of the alleged medical malpractice action. In other words, a heart surgeon should practice and use the same guidelines and procedures as other heart surgeons in similar communities. As an exaggerated example, all heart surgeons do not use chain saws to open a patient’s chest. If a heart surgeon were to use a chain saw and injure the patient, then that doctor would had violated the standard of care. He should have known the use of the chainsaw was not within the standards for heart surgeons.

I have had many clients express to me that if there was a bad outcome for a medical treatment then the doctor must had made a mistake and therefore violated the standard of care. Not necessarily!

An example- sometimes patients are put under anesthesia and they never wake up and die. Did the anesthesiologist violate the standard of care by allowing the patient to die? The key question will be did the anesthesiologist do anything different under the same conditions and circumstances as another different anesthesiologist would had done? Sometimes, under no fault of anyone, patients have a reaction to the anesthesia and die. This would not necessarily be a violation of the standard of care. However, if the anesthesiologist forgot to turn on the oxygen for the patient and the patient died from lack of oxygen, then the failure to turn on the oxygen for the patient is a violation of the standard of care and the anesthesiologist probably committed medical malpractice.

We hope this helps you in understanding the requirement of deviating or violating the standard of care in North Carolina that is required for a successful medical malpractice case. If we can help you with a possible medical malpractice case that you may have contact us today.

Does Bankruptcy Wipe Out Child Support or Alimony?

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Unfortunately, alimony and child support cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy.  Alimony and child support are considered “priority” debts that must be repaid.  In other words, the bankruptcy laws view alimony and child support as very important debt that one cannot just wipe out with a bankruptcy.

However, if you are behind on your alimony or child support payments, bankruptcy can be helpful for you.  If you are behind and have been threatened to go to jail, you could file a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, which is a repayment plan.  In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you repay a portion of your debts over a period of three to five years.  At the end of your bankruptcy, you will no longer owe any unsecured debt (credit cards, medical bills) and will be caught up on any debts that you were behind on, such as child support.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is helpful for a person who is behind on alimony or child support payments because it helps you get caught up on your payments and will avoid any potential jail time.  Other than completing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy you cannot wipe out alimony or child support in bankruptcy.

Timeline for a Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect Case

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Many people who are considering pursuing a lawsuit against a nursing home on behalf of a loved one are curious as to how long a lawsuit will last.  Civil lawsuits can be complicated but the Attorney will be doing most of the work on your behalf.  You will have to gather certain documents and appear at mediations and court.  Here is an example of a possible timeline for a nursing home abuse case.  Remember, though, that no two cases are ever the same.

Day 1 – Patient and/or family meet with Attorney to discuss the case.

Days 2 – 90 – Once the Attorney agrees to accept your case, an expert in the field of nursing home administration, nursing and/or a physician are usually hired to review the case and determine that the standard of care has been violated. An expert or experts must be retained to testify in a nursing home abuse and neglect case prior to filing a lawsuit in North Carolina.

Days 91 – 120 – Lawsuit is prepared by the attorney.

Day 121 – Lawsuit is filed with the Court.

Days 122 – 240 – Discovery occurs in the case. This provides both the parties in the case an opportunity to question the other sides’ experts as well as any witnesses in the case.

Day 241 – Mediation is scheduled. This brings the parties in the nursing home abuse and neglect case along with a third-party mediator together to review and attempt to settle the case. Often the case will not be settled at mediation.

Day 280 – Case will be tried in front of a jury. The length of the trial may vary from 3 days to two weeks.

It is important to understand that no two nursing home abuse and neglect cases are the same. Some cases are more complicated and will take much longer to get to trial. In addition, the number of pending lawsuits in each county in North Carolina varies and will impact how long it takes to get a case to trial. As a result, the timeline associated with a nursing home abuse and neglect case varies from approximately 10 month to over two years.

What If You Suspect Nursing Home Abuse or Injury?

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Unfortunately, all too often, our loved ones are injured or neglected while in a nursing home or assisted living facility. Nursing Homes often times are understaffed and are unable to provide the resources necessary to protect our loved ones. These insufficiencies naturally lead to preventable injuries and even deaths.

Our firm has seen too many cases where elderly loved ones have suffered from fractured bones, dehydration, urinary tract infections, sepsis, sexual assault and other injuries due to the neglect or abuse of nursing home employees. The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1,800 people die every year in nursing homes due to fall-related injuries.

If you believe that a loved one is being neglected or abused while in the care of a nursing facility then there are certain steps that should be taken:

First, if appropriate, contact local law enforcement to notify them of the abuse and neglect.

Second, contact your local Division of Aging and Adult Services and follow the process that they will lay out.

Third, after contacting the appropriate authorities, a nursing home abuse and neglect attorney may be able to help you pursue further courses of action against the nursing home.

In addition to taking these steps it is always a good idea to take good notes of what is occurring, who you have spoken to, their responses, and actions taken. Be sure to include dates and times of the day. Also, pictures of the injury caused by the neglect of the nursing facility are always helpful.

How to Find a Good Nursing Home for a Loved One

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Finding a good nursing home is sometimes one of the most difficult things to do for our elderly loved ones. There are several ways to narrow down the choices as to which nursing home you will place you loved one in. Below are some things you can do to find a good nursing home and to make sure your loved one is being given the care they deserve.

Do not be fooled by flashy brochures provided by the nursing home. Most nursing homes are owned by large corporations and no matter what the brochure states the main job of the nursing home is to make money for its parent corporation. If the nursing home is understaffed and under supplied, the parent corporation makes more money, but patient care may suffer. You may want to do internet research on the parent company.

You can check with the state in which the nursing home is located. Most states have regulatory agencies that oversee the nursing home. Some things you will want to learn more about include:

1. Getting references from others who have had loved ones at the nursing home.

2. Finding out the staff-to-patient ratio. You want to make sure the nursing home is not understaffed.

3. The rights of the patients at the nursing home.

4. Make sure you visit the nursing home to see for yourself what the living conditions are.

You can find even more valuable information on how to find a good nursing home here at the North Carolina Division of Aging and Health Services website. If you suspect that a loved one is suffering from nursing home abuse, neglect, or injury, contact Duncan Law today to find out how we can help.