Should you place your loved one in a Waterbury, CT, nursing home? What type of facility should you choose? How can you be sure that your relative will be cared for properly away from home?
Asking these questions shows that you care about your family members, and we do too. The lawyers at Gould Injury Law want to support you. If your loved one has been hurt, we can help you to seek justice fast.
Reach out to us at 888-WIN-FAST for a free consultation. You have limited time to make a case after a nursing home incident, so act fast to start your proceedings.
Types of Nursing Homes
Nursing homes and care facilities have a long history throughout the US. The first American nursing homes operated as early as the 1820s. That Philadelphia facility housed single women and widows.
Today, nursing homes come in many forms. The ages of the population of a nursing home may differ. For example, a teenager with disabilities may live in a Waterbury, Connecticut residential facility to benefit from nursing care.
In Connecticut, you have quite a few care options. A working caregiver may drop off a family member at an adult daycare center during the business day. Or an adult with disabilities may apply for assisted living services in order to continue living independently.
Home health care and hospice aides may visit homes to care for sick or terminally ill patients.
Even residential facilities come in various forms:
- Chronic and convalescent nursing homes
- Continuing care retirement communities
- Residential care homes
- Rest homes with nursing supervision
Often, residential facilities provide meals, physical therapy, and daily living support if required. The purpose of nursing support agencies is to care for and supervise people with physical or mental conditions. Has your loved one suffered harm in a Waterbury, Connecticut nursing home or at the hands of a caregiver?
Personal Injury Accidents
Have you or someone you are responsible for had an accident? You may have burns, cuts, broken bones, or other kinds of physical traumas that cause pain and suffering. You are not alone.
Consider these statistics:
- Every year, more than 60 percent of nursing home residents fall
- Serious falls may result in fractures or brain injuries
- Falls account for 87 percent of all fractured bones
- Falls are the second leading cause of spinal and brain injury
How do you know whether you have a personal injury case? If your elderly mother falls in the hallway of her nursing home and a doctor diagnoses her with a concussion, whether you can seek damages on her behalf depends on the circumstances of the accident. Injury lawyers can help you determine if someone is at fault.
Contact the Gould Injury Law firm immediately for a free consultation if you or a love done has had a personal injury accident at a Waterbury nursing home. Call us toll-free at 888-WIN-FAST or email us using our online contact form. We will act fast to help you get the compensation your family is due.
Physical Abuse
Approximately 10 percent of elders have experienced abuse. If your loved one is among this group, you can sue the nursing home for the physical abuse of your loved one.
Have you noticed scratches, burns, or cuts on your loved one? Or has your relative told you an unsettling story? If he or she complains about being intentionally hurt, you may consider taking legal action.
Imagine your sister with Down’s Syndrome lives in one of Waterbury’s residential care homes. One day, you notice that she has a mark on her arm. She says the security guard grabbed her. You ask her what happened. She explains that the guard grabbed her to protect her from falling down the stairs.
Things aren’t always what they seem.
That doesn’t sound like abuse. But, what if your sister says that the security guard shook her by the arm to punish her? You might conclude that she has suffered physical abuse.
Cases such as the one described above are not uncommon. Adult women are particularly vulnerable to physical abuse in institutions. An adult woman with a disability is 12 percent more likely to experience interpersonal violence than a non-disabled woman.
To shield your loved one from nursing home abuse, you should explore your legal options as soon as possible. Contact Gould Injury Law at 888-WIN-FAST. We offer free consultations for Waterbury residents who want to take fast action against nursing home abuse.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse is any unwanted sexual activity. Your loved one may not always tell you directly that a caregiver has abused him or her.
Family and friends need to be aware of the following warnings signs that may indicate something is wrong:
- Bruises around the breasts or genitals
- Torn, stain, or bloody undergarments
- Unexplained vaginal or anal bleeding
- Unexplained sexually transmitted diseases or genital infections
According to an elder abuse prosecutor, “Perpetrators claim that what they did was within their right, that the victim consented.”
Mental illness, dementia, or mutism (the inability or unwillingness to speak) may prevent a victim from expressing disapproval. If your loved one is incapable of consenting, then sexual contact of any kind is abuse.
The law protects people with severe conditions that affect their ability to consent to sexual acts. It matters whether your loved ones could “adequately know what it was they were consenting to and give permission to it.”
Get legal help if this has happened to one of your loved ones. The attorneys at the Gould Injury Law firm want to help you get justice. Contact us by phone at 888-WIN-FAST or send a message online.
Negligence
Neglect occurs when nursing home staff don’t respond to the needs of the residents. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) reports the following signs of neglect or abuse:
- Depression or confusion
- Unexplained weight loss
- Symptoms of trauma, such as rocking
- Uncharacteristic agitation or violence
- Social withdrawal
- Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities
- Bedsores or other preventable conditions
- Unwashed hair or dirty clothes
- Unexplained scars, bruises, or burns
Negligence can contribute to personal injuries. To illustrate, you may have told nursing home personnel about your loved one’s severe peanut allergy. It would, therefore, be the nursing home’s responsibility to record the allergy in their files and provide care in accordance with this information.
If your loved one got sick because he or she failed to record or adhere to his dietary restrictions, you might be able to recover damages.
Is the facility in a messy condition? Sloppy surroundings can pose dangers to residents of a care facility. For instance, a person could slip on a wet floor or trip over a pile of dirty clothes.
Everyone wants their loved ones to be taken care of properly. If you feel a Waterbury nursing home is neglecting your family member, consider taking legal action.
If you are wondering if you have a nursing home negligence case, contact Gould Injury Law for a free consultation with one of our Connecticut nursing home abuse lawyers. The phone call may be the first step in stopping Waterbury, CT, nursing home abuse.
Wrongful Death
In some cases, the outcome of abuse and neglect is wrongful death. One study found that abused older adults had a 300 percent higher risk of death than non-abused elderly people.
Wrongful death lawsuits seek damages from the party that caused the death. Wrongful death claims require immediate action so you need to act fast, starting with gathering evidence. The book Litigating the Nursing Home Case, published by the American Bar Association, recommends getting an autopsy done after all nursing home deaths. Meanwhile, a pathologist can search for evidence of care home neglect, abuse, or a preventable accident. His or her opinion can help you prove your claim.
There’s another reason to act fast. The State of Connecticut has set a statute of limitations; you have limited time to file a wrongful death claim.
Contact us at 888-WIN-FAST to find out how to pursue a wrongful death claim. We provide free, no-obligation consultations to residents of Waterbury, Hartford, and Bridgeport, CT, and to anyone in our state. To schedule an appointment, call us today.
Nursing Home Abuse Damages
Damages are the amount of compensation that responsible parties must give to the plaintiff (the person suing.) There are no guarantees when it comes to damages, though. If you will receive compensation, how much you get, and how fast you get it, depends on many factors. Compensation may include economic or non-economic components.
Economic damages are medical expenses, lost wages, and loss of financial support. Litigating the Nursing Home Case gives a couple of examples to help explain economic damages:
- A steelworker gets hurt and spends a month recovering. He would have made $5,500 in a typical month. So, he can sue for $5,500 in lost wages. He’s in pain during his recovery so he can seek non-economic damages. In the example, he petitions for twice his economic damage award—$11,000.
- In comparison, the second example features an 85-year old nursing home resident. A nurse carelessly drops her. The woman fractures her hip and suffers a concussion. Why would she be ineligible for lost wages? Well, she wasn’t actively working, so “no wages are present as the baseline.”
In the second case, the judge or jury wouldn’t have wages to consider in the calculation of non-economic damages. But, they may take into consideration her loss of mobility and reduced cognitive ability. They may consider her quality of life previous to the accident, physical and mental suffering, and other factors in order to determine the monetary amount she deserves.
A Health Affairs study of 8,300 claims revealed an average payout of $406,000 per nursing home abuse case. About half of the study’s claims involved wrongful death, pressure ulcers, bedsores, dehydration, weight loss, improper use of restraints, and falls. Wrongful death lawsuits averaged the highest amount of paid damages.
Defendants (the people or company being sued) may propose a settlement to avoid going to trial. A lawyer can help you decide if a settlement offer is fair for your loved one’s situation.
In Connecticut, our law firm works fast and fights tirelessly to represent victims of Waterbury nursing home abuse. If you want to work with an attorney you can trust, call us at 888-WIN-FAST or visit us in our New Haven office.
Waterbury, CT, Nursing Homes
According to the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, there are dozens of nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Waterbury, CT, and surrounding areas, which are greatly needed. Across America, nearly 10 million people needed long-term care in the year 2000.
If you are like most people, you want the best for your loved ones. Finding out about personal injuries, neglect, or abuse can leave you feeling upset and helpless, but you are not without options. The experienced trial lawyers of Gould Injury Law want you and your family to benefit from our years of experience in the legal practice.
Would you like to discuss your case of Waterbury nursing home abuse? Our law firm welcomes calls to any of our Connecticut offices.
You should never tolerate abuse or neglect. Contact us today at 888-WIN-FAST. We are ready to fight by your side to protect your loved ones who have been harmed in CT care facilities.
Gould Injury Law
#1 Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys in Waterbury, Connecticut
228 Meadow St Suite 401, Waterbury, CT 06702
Phone
(203) 773-0817
(888) 946-3278
