According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2011, there were 1.5 million residents living in 16,000 nursing homes across America. Those individuals had around two million infections a year.
Nursing homes are supposed to be a place where residents can peacefully live under medical supervision and support. Family members put their trust in these facilities to care for their loved ones when they cannot do it themselves. Unfortunately, many nursing homes can quickly turn into breeding grounds for disease, neglect, and abuse.
The responsibility to care for residents falls not only on the shoulders of staff members, but the owners of the nursing home itself. When they fail to do their part, victims may be entitled to compensation for their pain and suffering. The Phoenix area has seen many outbreaks of infectious diseases in nursing homes over the years. These cases rob families of precious time with their loved ones. Many of these cases could be prevented if staff members had taken the time to practice better sanitation, cleanliness, and hygiene.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an infectious disease or other health concerns after staying in a nursing home, it could be due to the staff’s negligence. Contact Pintas & Mullins Law Firm to see if you could be entitled to compensation. Together, we will work to reach a settlement so you can take the steps you need to get back to a happy life.
Some of the types of awards you might be able to recover through a lawsuit might include compensation for:
- Past and future medical bills
- Transportation costs
- Pain and suffering
- Legal fees
- Emotional suffering
- Punitive damages
To learn more about how our team of Phoenix infections outbreak and disease lawyers may be able to help you, contact a representative today for your free consultation.
Common Infectious Diseases Seen at Nursing Homes
Under Arizona Law, ARS 46-451 one definition of abuse is an injury caused by negligent acts or omissions. Nursing home abuse being so widespread, these facilities see many needless cases of ringworm, bedbugs, pneumonia, and more every year. Ultimately, many factors can cause these diseases and infections to spread. It could also be due to the staff members not isolating sick patients or maintaining high standards of cleanliness among residents. As these conditions can spread quickly, early intervention could have prevented countless innocent people from being exposed to dangerous and debilitating conditions.
When Arizona nursing homes do not properly attend to their older residents, residents can quickly become susceptible to infections of these kinds due to their weakened immune systems. Even if a resident is perfectly healthy, the negligence of nursing home staff can greatly increase the likelihood that they will be exposed to these illnesses when cases begin to manifest. There are also other forms of negligence that contribute to the spread of the disorders, such as allowing patients to become malnourished, thus making them more susceptible to infectious diseases in their weakened state.
Other common forms of infectious outbreaks and diseases seen at nursing homes can include, but may not be limited to:
- Skin infections: Scabies, ulcers, infections surrounding diabetic wounds or other injuries, and simple forms of herpes. Many nursing home abuse cases have to deal with mites, or “bed bugs,” which come about when staff do not change residents’ sheets regularly, causing infections.
- Stomach viruses: Gastroenteritis is a leading variation of these conditions in nursing homes. Additionally, there are also flu outbreaks of varying intensity that residents may be forced to deal with.
- Lung diseases: Pneumonia and other lower respiratory tract infections cause the most deaths in nursing home residents.
- Urinary tract infections: Brought on by poor health standards or improper sanitation of catheters. When left untreated, these infections can not only be very painful, but dangerous for patients with weakened immune systems.
As many of these nursing homes are very crowded, proper hygiene and preventative measures are necessary to keep people’s loved ones safe during their stay. When staff refuse to do their due diligence, they may be held accountable in a court of law.
If your loved one got an infectious disease due to the negligence of their nursing home, you may be able to receive compensation for your loved one’s suffering. First, seek the medical attention your loved one needs for their urgent injuries. This will ensure that the infection is documented to protect your loved one’s legal rights. To learn more about our Phoenix infections outbreak and disease lawyers, contact one of our Pintas & Mullins Law Firm team members for your free consultation.
Infections Outbreak and Disease Lawyers Can Help
Nursing home abuse in Arizona takes many forms. It not only encompasses any physical abuse that happens at the hands of nursing home staff, but it also involves neglect and negligence on virtually every level.
We know how much your loved ones mean to you, and we know how irresponsible it is for staff members to take advantage of your trust in them. That is why we continue to fight to protect our client’s rights to compensation in these cases.
Your Arizona nursing home abuse lawyer might be able to work to gather evidence in your case, including having medical tests run on the victim, examining video evidence, interviewing eyewitnesses, obtaining medical documents, bringing in industry experts, and more. To learn more about your legal options in these cases, contact a Pintas & Mullins Law Firm representative for your free consultation.
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