Nursing home residents may suffer serious health consequences and even death because of malnutrition and dehydration. If doctors diagnosed your spouse, parent, or another loved one with malnutrition and they do not associate it with another existing medical concern, nursing home neglect may play a role in their condition. Let a Chicago nursing home abuse attorney from Pintas & Mullins Law Firm review your case for free.
We can help you understand the possible causes of your loved one’s condition and the strength of your case against the nursing home administration. We may help you take legal action to pursue compensation and hold the nursing home accountable.
Call us now to get started with your complimentary consultation with a Chicago malnutrition lawyer.
Malnutrition in Nursing Home Residents
According to The Journal of Nursing Home Research, numerous studies suggest about 25 to 60 percent of elderly residents suffer from malnutrition while living in a nursing home. One out of every four residents—or more—can have malnutrition. This same study states that providing proper nutrition therapy to the affected residents could reduce mortality and other conditions caused by malnutrition.
The residents rely on nursing home staff to ensure they receive adequate nutrition. According to the January 2015 issue of Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care, the conditions consistently associated with dehydration and malnutrition in the nursing home setting include:
- Cognitive conditions, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Functional impairments, including those that limit mobility or self-feeding.
- Swallowing difficulty.
- Depression.
Nursing homes should have a plan in place that delivers personalized, adequate nutrition to every resident. Whether staff follow these plans and uphold the strict standards necessary to ensure each resident receives proper nutrition rests entirely on their shoulders.
Understaffing, inexperience, and lack of training can all lead to problems ensuring every resident receives adequate nutrition. During severely understaffed shifts, one caregiver with little experience and no special training may need to ensure too many residents get their meals.
If your loved one suffered malnutrition or preventable dehydration while living in a Chicago nursing home, the attorneys from Pintas & Mullins Law Firm may review your case for free. Call us today.
Our Chicago Malnutrition Attorneys Do Not Shy Away From Tough Cases
At Pintas & Mullins Law Firm, our Chicago-area nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers make it our mission to hold those who abuse and neglect nursing home residents accountable and discourage them from letting it happen again. We may also be able to help victims and their families recover compensation through an out-of-court settlement or civil trial.
If we take on your family’s nursing home abuse and neglect case, we may:
- Protect your loved one’s right to pursue a civil lawsuit.
- Gather evidence to support our neglect claims.
- Work with experts when necessary to help prove our case.
- Collect paperwork to document the related expenses and losses.
- Represent your loved one’s interests in settlement negotiations or during a civil lawsuit.
If we believe your spouse, parent, or another loved one suffered malnutrition because of neglect, we may pursue compensation to help cover their financial, physical, and emotional damages. We do not have an unlimited amount of time to file a lawsuit, though. Illinois code 735 ILCS 5/13-201 sets a strict deadline in these cases. It generally allows you to file a suit within five years of the incident.
Malnutrition and the resulting issues may take time to observe, so the sooner you call us, the sooner we may begin evaluating if you have a malnutrition nursing home neglect case.
Call us today to discuss your case.
For a free legal consultation with a Malnutrition Lawyer serving Chicago, call (800) 794-0444
Recoverable Damages in a Chicago Malnutrition Nursing Home Neglect Case
We believe your family should not lose any money as a result of your loved one’s malnutrition. They suffered a serious condition and possibly serious complications by no fault of their own or of yours. The nursing home administrators who failed to ensure the residents received adequate nutrition should pay for their medical care and losses.
As a part of building a case on your loved one’s behalf, we will document the financial, physical, and emotional losses they suffered because of the neglect. This may help us put a fair settlement value on the case. This value should include awards such as:
- Medical care costs related to malnutrition.
- Any additional long-term care costs stemming from their medical needs.
- Mental health counseling, if necessary.
- Relocation expenses if they moved to a new facility.
- Other related out-of-pocket expenses.
- Pain and suffering, mental anguish, and other non-economic damages.
- Wrongful death damages, if your loved one passed away as a result of the neglect.
In addition to the cost of medical care and other expenses, we may consider factors such as the severity of your loved one’s physical and emotional pain and previous neglect claims against the same facility when calculating a fair settlement value in your case.
Chicago Malnutrition Lawyer Near Me (800) 794-0444
Hire a Chicago Malnutrition Lawyer for Free
If your loved one suffered malnutrition, dehydration, or both in their Chicago nursing home, we can help you understand the strength of the case against the nursing home. With a strong case indicating neglect, we may represent you during settlement negotiations or a civil suit.
Our attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. We handle all nursing home abuse and neglect cases without accepting any money upfront from our clients and their families. You will pay nothing out of pocket if we handle your case. We will take our fee from the settlement or court award we may recover on behalf of your loved one.
Find out what a Chicago malnutrition lawyer from Pintas & Mullins Law Firm may be able to do for your case by calling us.
Call or text (800) 794-0444 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
