Aggressive Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in the Texarkana Area
Protecting Victims of Nursing Home Neglect in Texas and Arkansas
Individuals reside at nursing homes or long-term care facilities to ensure that they are well cared for. Patients may be any age; however, most are elderly persons who need assistance with basic care. Nursing homes provide basic necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, and medical care. Along with basic necessities, we expect residents to be treated with dignity and respect. Dignity and respect include the right to privacy, communication with loved ones, visitors, control over medical decisions and records, and a good quality of life. However, sometimes nursing home residents do not have a good quality of life and are mistreated while in the care of a long-term facility. Mistreatment may be in the form of abuse, neglect, or exploitation by a staff member or other individual in the care facility. If your loved one has been harmed in a nursing home, contact an experienced and compassionate nursing home attorney to learn about your legal options.
Proven Ark-La-Tex Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Attorneys
Over the past decades, the public has been made aware of the growing problem of nursing home abuse. As a result, federal and state legislatures have enacted laws to protect nursing home residents. Statutes protect against mental and physical abuse, neglect, and exploitation. There are legal options for a victim of nursing home abuse or loved one of an abused resident. Legal options include civil actions, breach of contract claims, and criminal liability for those guilty of abuse. Each option has different objectives. A civil action is a claim for monetary damages, and a breach of contract action also can include redress damages. Alternatively, criminal prosecution does not compensate the victim of abuse but instead punishes the person or persons guilty of committing the harmful conduct. If a care facility is found liable for abuse, it can be sanctioned as well. Sanctions may include stripping the care facility of its license to operate, loss of federal and state Medicaid revenue, and fines for violating state and federal regulations.
Legislatures also have created patient and nursing home resident rights. If a long-term care facility wants to receive government funding, it must provide these rights. The Patient Bill of Rights differs from state to state; however, the basic rights include financial, medical, social, safety, and administrative rights. Nursing Home Resident Rights focus on quality of life, dignity, respect, and the ability of the resident to make their own choices. The intent of state and federal statutory protections is to give patients a voice in their care, an outlet for grievances, and protection for those who cannot voice their grievances.
Why Has Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Become a Significant Problem?
Multiple factors have contributed to the increase in nursing home abuse in recent years: staffing issues, inaccurate record-keeping of incidents, care facilities’ focus on profit, the growing number of elderly persons in our country, and the general lack of concern for our nation’s elderly population. There are not enough healthcare facilities to meet the ever-growing number of potential patients, and standards fall through the cracks as facilities scramble to meet demands. One such standard concerns the staffing of long-term care facilities. Many nursing homes are understaffed due to low wages, high employee turnover, and lack of job satisfaction.
Nursing homes may provide care, but they are also businesses. Often, facilities run by corporations make decisions based on what’s good for the bottom line and not the well-being of residents, attempting to increase profits by understaffing and providing patients with less care. Cost-cutting also can lead to inaccurate record keeping. Regulatory authorities require written reports of abuse incidents, and the reports can affect funding. Facilities often alter their records and report inaccurate numbers in order to continue receiving funding.
Over the years, the United States has seen a decline in respect for and care of the elderly. In nursing homes, this decline shows in conscious disregard or wanton conduct by employees. Long-term care facilities also find that family members leave loved ones and forget about them. When this occurs, nobody is watching for signs of abuse, neglect, or exploitation. When families don’t hold the facility accountable, residents who are dependent on caregivers become easy targets. They may be frail, mentally incapacitated, or easy to intimidate, which can lead to unreported cases of abuse. If your loved one is harmed in a nursing home, contact an experienced and compassionate nursing home attorney to learn about your legal options.
Schedule an Appointment with an Experienced Texarkana Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer
At Bailey & Galyen, we will take your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Contact our offices online or call us at 844-402-4530 to arrange a free initial consultation. We litigate all Texarkana nursing home neglect claims on a contingency basis. We won’t charge you any legal fees unless we recover a monetary award.
We represent injured people across Bowie County and Miller County in the Texarkana regions in Texas and Arkansas, including Mount Pleasant, Marshall, Longview, Kilgore, and Paris in Texas; and Hope, Magnolia, Camden, Arkadelphia, and El Dorado in Arkansas.