When Can You Seek Compensation for the Wrongful Acts of a Nursing Home Operator?
According to statistics gathered by Nursing Home Abuse Justice, an industry watchdog, as many as 5,000,000 older Americans are victims of neglect or abuse every year. Nearly one of every two nursing home patients across the country fall atleast once each year, and the average number of falls per nursing home patient is three. Of the more than 14,000 complaints filed in a recent year, more than one in four involved physical abuse by employees of a nursing home.
The Most Common Personal Injury Claims Arising Out of Nursing Homes
Though there are many claims for intentional harm to patients in nursing homes, most nursing-home-neglect-and-abuse claims involve allegations of negligence based on failure to use reasonable care when working with patients or residents. Common allegations of negligence include:
- Failure to take reasonable steps to ensure that rooms, hallways, and other locations are free from clutter or hazards that can lead to falls;
- Failure to monitor the actions and behavior of residents, leading to patient-on-patient attacks, slips and falls, or access to areas or things that pose a risk of injury;
- Failure to monitor residents or patients to ensure that they get proper nutrition or hydration;
- Carelessness in the hiring, training, or supervision of workers, resulting in inadequate care;
- Failure to move bedridden patients, leading to bedsores (decubitus ulcers); and
- Carelessness in the administration of medication, including wrong doses or incorrect drugs.
Contact the Law Office of Howard D. Popper
For a free initial consultation to discuss any personal injury claim, contact our office online or call 973-993-8787 to set up an appointment. We have offices in Morristown and Newton but can also meet with you in your home or at the hospital.
We handle all nursing home abuse claims on a contingency basis. You won’t pay any attorney fees unless we recover damages for your losses.
The federal government recently reported that it believes about one of every four nursing homes in America—that’s more than 15,000 facilities—has been directly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Medical rights advocates say that nearly 50% of all COVID-19 related deaths have been nursing home residents. Federal officials say that, even though nursing homes are required to report all suspected instances of infectious disease to state and local regulators, many have not.
The statistics are staggering—
When your loved one requires care late in life, you want to know that they’ll be safe and that their needs will be met. Unfortunately, with the increasing emphasis on profit and efficiency, the quality of care often takes a backseat to cost-cutting measures. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities frequently operate with less than adequate staffs, and often fail to take the necessary measures to ensure that employees are qualified and trained. Sadly, that’s a recipe for abuse.
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.