When your loved one requires nursing home care, you hope that they’ll be safe, and that they’ll be treated with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, as statistics show, the incidence of abuse and neglect at nursing homes across the country is staggering—more than two million allegations of elder abuse are made every year. Officials estimate that approximately 10% of all seniors will be victims of some type of abuse or neglect in their declining years.
If you have a loved one in a nursing home, how can you be proactive to make certain they’re not being victimized? Here are some of the telltale signs of abuse and neglect in nursing home care:
- Signs of physical abuse—Does your loved one have cuts, bruises, burns or other injuries that no one can explain? Is there evidence that they’ve been restrained? Do they have bedsores or ulcers or other medical needs that have not been handled? Is there evidence that they’re being denied prescribed medications? Does it appear that their bedding or clothes have not been regularly changed?
- Signs of emotional abuse—Are nursing home workers always present when you visit your loved one, preventing you from being alone with that person? Has your loved one become withdrawn or less talkative? Is there evidence of depression, anxiety or fear? Does your loved one refuse to see you? Are there unexplained changes in personality?
- Financial exploitation—Is there money (or other items) missing from your loved one’s room? Has your loved one suddenly acquired a roommate? Is your loved one not getting medical care, even though the resources are there to pay for it?
Contact Attorney Howard D. Popper
To learn your options when you have been injured in the workplace, contact our office online or call attorney Popper at 973-993-8787. We have offices in Morristown and Newton, but will come to your home or the hospital, if necessary. There is no charge for your first consultation.
We handle all workers’ compensation claims on a contingency basis. You won’t be charged any legal fees unless attorney Popper recovers compensation for your losses.
According to a federal government audit, more than 25% of instances of physical and/or sexual abuse in nursing homes across the country go unreported. The study, part of a Medicare audit, allocates most of the blame to Medicare officials for failing to abide by legal requirements that they notify law enforcement officers. 
Over the past few decades, hospitals in New Jersey and across the United States have instituted significant measures to reduce the risk of injury and death to newborns during the delivery process. But many professionals warn that the focus on infants has led to an unacceptable risk to the other party to the process—the birth mother. In fact, statistics show that between 700 and 900 women still die every year giving birth—and that more than 60,000 suffer nearly-fatal consequences.
Whistleblowers in two different states testified that a nursing home chain with 146 facilities in the United States had systematically engaged in fraud, inflating therapy bills and billing Medicare for services that were never performed. The company was also accused of providing substandard care. In a deal worked out with the federal government, Extendicare Health Services, Inc., and its subsidiary Progressive Step Corporation, have agreed to pay $38 million in damages–$10 million for overbilling and $28 million for poor patient care.
