California Personal Injury Blog

In the final article of this series, Orange County nursing home attorney Samer Habbas will discuss three more issues that are commonly encountered in nursing home neglect/abuse cases: medical errors, inaccurate clinical records, and pressure sores.

Medical Errors

Due to financial considerations, nursing homes sometimes hire staff members who are poorly educated and poorly trained. It is bad enough when these people are in charge of feeding residents and making sure they are hydrated, but the situation gets much worse when they are in charge of handing out medications that can cause injury or death if inappropriately administered. In a case involving medical errors, your Orange County nursing home attorney will first want to get the name and qualifications of the person dispensing medication and try to find out if any supervision exists.

Inaccurate Clinical Records

Nursing homes need to maintain patient records, just like hospitals do. However, nursing home records are frequently inaccurate, either due to record-keeping mistakes or deliberate errors. In some extreme cases, records will be so bad as to show treatment occurring several days after a patient has passed away. Your Orange County nursing home attorney will want to carefully review any records in your case, looking for possible inaccuracies.

Pressure Sores

Decubitus ulcers, commonly called “pressure sores,” are lesions caused by unrelieved pressure to one part of the body. They can result in severe damage to underlying tissue. Federal regulations require that patients be cared for to avoid pressure sores, but understaffed nursing homes do not always take the appropriate precautions. Patients should be repositioned at least every two hours, using pillows, cushions, or blankets. Measures should also be taken to keep their blood circulating. Nursing home staff need to take extra precautions to make sure that incontinent patients are kept clean and dry.

An Orange County Nursing Home Attorney Can Help

If you or a loved one have been injured due to medical error, inaccurate record-keeping, pressure sores, or any other form of nursing home neglect or abuse, you may be able to recover damages for your medical costs and pain and suffering. Please contact Orange County nursing home attorney Samer Habbas at (888) 848-5084 for a free case evaluation.

Go back to <Different Types of Orange County Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect, Part 3>.

In <parts one> and <two> of this series, we discussed some of the different types of claims that can be brought against nursing homes, including claims for willful misconduct, medical malpractice, and simple negligence. In this article, we will discuss two more issues commonly encountered by Orange County nursing home attorneys: malnutrition and dehydration.

Malnutrition Caused by Nursing Home Neglect

“Neglect” refers generally to the failure to prevent physical harm, mental anguish, and emotional suffering. In the nursing home context, the most common signs of neglect are malnutrition and dehydration. Nursing homes must carefully monitor a patient’s body weight and administer a diet that provides required vitamins and minerals like potassium, magnesium, vitamin D, and vitamin B6.

The most obvious sign of malnutrition due to neglect is significant weight loss. People who are most at risk for malnutrition are those who are unable to feed themselves and those who have psychological or emotional problems. Nursing home understaffing sometimes leads to a failure to distribute food to patients on time. Additionally, patients who are unable to feed themselves may not receive the assistance they need. Patients whose medical conditions or medications can cause loss of appetite need to be given extra careful attention.

Dehydration Caused by Nursing Home Neglect

Dehydration occurs when nursing home residents do not receive enough fluids on a daily basis. In hospitals, fluid intake and output is carefully monitored, and patient records reflect this. In nursing homes, residents do not always get as much fluid as they require. Dehydration manifests itself in a number of ways, including sunken cheeks, dry mouth, dry or inelastic skin, weight loss, hypertension, and confusion.

An Orange County Nursing Home Attorney Can Help

If you have a loved one who has been injured due to nursing home neglect, please call Orange County nursing home attorney Samer Habbas at (888) 848-5084 to discuss what compensation may be available.

Continue to <Different Types of Orange County Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect, Part 4> or go back to <Different Types of Orange County Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect, Part 2>.

Different Types of Orange County Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect, Part 2

In <Different Types of Orange County Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect, Part 1>, we discussed two categories your nursing home abuse or neglect case might fall into and what special considerations your Orange County nursing home attorney will need to make for each. In this article, we will discuss two more situations that may apply.

Willful Misconduct Cases

The damages you can recover in a willful misconduct case are potentially greater than those in a case involving neglect or medical error. This is because you may be able to collect “punitive damages” (damages intended to deter the defendant from engaging in similar bad conduct in the future). If willful conduct is especially egregious, a jury will be likely to award higher damages than in a case they believe involves an honest mistake by the defendant.

Simple Negligence Cases

Simple negligence cases are one of the most common kinds of nursing home cases. Nursing home slips and falls generally belong in this category. Unlike willful misconduct cases, they don’t involve outrageous behavior by the defendant. Sometimes, the defendant may even be able to successfully place some or all of the blame for the injury on the plaintiff. Some nursing homes have learned to “cover their tracks” to make it appear that these injuries are not their fault. These cases can be harder to prove, so it is especially important that you hire an experienced Orange County nursing home attorney if your case falls into this category.

An Orange County Nursing Home Attorney Can Help

If you or a loved one have been injured in a nursing home, you may be eligible for a financial award to offset your medical expenses and to compensate you for your pain and suffering. Please call Orange County nursing home attorney Samer Habbas at (888) 848-5084 for a free case evaluation.

Continue to <Different Types of Orange County Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect, Part 3> or go back to <Different Types of Orange County Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect, Part 1>.

Nursing home neglect and abuse cases fall generally into a few different categories, including medical malpractice, willful misconduct, neglect, and pressure sores. Each of these different types of cases has different considerations, and how your Orange County nursing home attorney approaches your case depends in large part on the type of abuse or neglect that is alleged. Here are some of the different types of cases nursing home attorneys encounter, and what issues they must consider for each.

Medical Malpractice Cases

Some injuries, though they take place in nursing homes, fall more accurately under the category of “medical malpractice” or “professional negligence” rather than nursing home neglect or abuse. If your case involves medical malpractice issues, your Orange County nursing home attorney will need to take into consideration the federal and state laws relevant to medical malpractice claims, which may set statutes of limitations, notice requirements, and filing deadlines that are different than those for normal nursing home abuse or neglect.

Elder Abuse Act Cases

California has a special law intended to protect elderly people from abuse and neglect. Its full name is the “Elder Abuse and Dependent Adults Civil Protection Act,” but it is commonly referred to as the “Elder Abuse Act.” As with medical malpractice cases, Elder Abuse Act cases have their own standards for what constitutes abuse and neglect, what needs to be proven, and what damages are available.

An Orange County Nursing Home Attorney Can Help

If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of nursing home abuse and neglect, you may be eligible to receive financial compensation. Please call Orange County nursing home attorney Samer Habbas at (888) 848-5084 for a free case evaluation.

Continue to <Different Types of Orange County Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect, Part 2>

Juries are often reluctant to side with plaintiffs in personal injury cases. Bombarded with stories of “frivolous” lawsuits and media reports blaming sue-happy malpractice victims for runaway medical costs, jurors will sometimes even view the defendant in a personal injury case as a victim because he or she is being sued.

Injuries resulting from simple negligence often involve no malice and great remorse on the part of the defendant. Additionally, the plaintiff may have some degree of fault for the accident that caused the injury.

Nursing home negligence cases are better-received by jurors. In many such cases, the plaintiff is perfectly innocent and has been very badly mistreated. Unlike in the case of the auto accident plaintiff who failed to signal or the slip-and-fall plaintiff who was wearing bad shoes, the jury will not be receptive to an argument that the financial necessity of inadequate staffing justified an elderly person being neglected. Juries also frown on arguments that only low damages should be awarded because the plaintiff doesn’t have long to live.

We all hope that in our later years, we will be treated with dignity and care, but too often, financial hardships thrust us into a living situation that is less than ideal. Jurors will sympathize if your Orange County negligence lawyer presents arguments along these lines. Everyone deserves a certain basic standard of care, and nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable members of society.

If you or your loved one have been injured due to nursing home neglect or abuse, financial compensation may be available. Please call (888) 848-5084 to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with Orange County nursing home lawyer Samer Habbas.