When you chose a nursing home for your loved one, you did so with an assurance that your loved one would enjoy a safe, peaceful, and happy life there. When you visit, and you discover bruises, cuts, or burns that your loved one cannot explain, you may suspect they are suffering abuse in the facility.
Do not let suspected abuse go unchecked at your loved one’s nursing home. This abuse has or will cost you and your loved one financially, physically, and emotionally, and the responsible party should cover these costs. A Stickney unexplained bruises or cuts or burns lawyer can represent you in your fight for compensation.
The team of attorneys at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm will work to get you the settlement or award you deserve. Call us today.
Filing Reports of Abuse
If you witness abuse at a nursing home, or even if you just suspect abuse, you can notify a few different people, including:
- Law enforcement: Abuse may result in criminal charges against the abuser, and law enforcement will need to investigate.
- Nursing home administration: Those who operate and run the facility should receive a notification if any resident suffers abuse.
- State authorities: You can report potential abuse to government authorities that regulate nursing homes in the state of Illinois, such as the Illinois Department of Public Health.
- Federal authorities: Federal government agencies like Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also play a role in overseeing nursing homes and in preventing elder abuse.
Reporting Abuse of Another ResidentProtecting anyone who suffers abuse at a nursing home is the most important consideration in a case of suspected abuse. If you spot abuse of a nursing home resident while visiting your loved one, you should report the abuse.
You would want someone else to report it if they witnessed your loved one suffering abuse, and you should do the same for other residents. If some residents do not receive regular visits from family members, their signs of abuse could go unreported for weeks, so it is important for you to help.
How an Attorney Can Help
By hiring a Stickney unexplained bruises or cuts or burns lawyer from Pintas & Mullins Law Firm, you can receive help in a number of areas related to your case for compensation, including:
- Investigation: We will study the facts in the case, read police reports, interview witnesses, study training procedures for nursing home staff, and review video surveillance to determine all of the parties responsible for the abusive situation.
- Understanding the law: We can navigate Illinois’ sometimes confusing laws regarding the responsibilities of the nursing home to care for its residents in a safe manner.
- Showing negligence: We will argue that the facts in the case show that the nursing home administration or staff could have taken steps to prevent the abuse.
- Negotiating: Our lawyers will negotiate a settlement with the nursing home’s insurance company on your behalf, freeing you up to take care of your loved one.
- Helping you receive compensation: Our lawyers can file a lawsuit on your behalf, helping you recover awards that your family needs and deserves for pain and suffering, emotional trauma, and medical bills for treatment related to the abuse.
Count on the team at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm to protect the rights of your loved one and to fight for your right to receive compensation for injuries suffered in an abusive situation at a nursing home. Call us for a free consultation.
For a free legal consultation with a Unexplained Bruises or Cuts or Burns Lawyer serving Stickney, call (800) 794-0444
Risk Factors for Abuse
According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, some residents of a nursing home stand a greater risk of becoming an abuse victim than others. Some of the risk factors include:
- Dementia: The abuser knows the administration may not believe the resident, should he or she try to report the abuse.
- Poor health: An abuser knows that a resident who is weak from illness or poor health cannot fight back against abusive behavior.
- Inability to communicate: A resident who has lost the ability to communicate after a stroke cannot report abuse.
- Isolation: The signs of abuse for a resident who does not have frequent visitors or who has no family may go unnoticed for weeks or months.
- Gender: Female residents of the nursing home stand a greater chance of abuse than male residents.
- Disabled residents: A resident with a physical disability that prevents them from moving may become a target of opportunity for the abuser because the victim cannot escape.
Regardless of why the abuser injured your loved one, it is always important to remember that the victim did nothing wrong. Your loved one deserves to receive the safe care promised to you when you chose to move your loved one into the nursing home.
Stickney Unexplained Bruises or Cuts or Burns Lawyer Near Me (800) 794-0444
Defending the Rights of Elderly Victims
Abuse of a nursing home resident, regardless of who commits the abuse, is a disturbing crime. The nursing home’s staff, administration, and owner promise to take care of residents and provide a safe environment. When they behave in a neglectful, reckless, or irresponsible manner, the residents may suffer. As the resident’s loved one, you may bear much of the cost of their abuse. You deserve compensation.
At Pintas & Mullins Law Firm, we will stand by your side throughout the case, ensuring your concerns receive the respect they merit. We take on tough cases without reservation.
Call Us TodayWe know how to present the facts in the case to show where and how the abuse occurred and how staff could have prevented it. Count on a Stickney unexplained bruises or cuts or burns lawyer from Pintas & Mullins Law Firm to protect you and your loved one’s rights.
Call us as soon as possible. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means we do not charge legal fees unless and until you receive a settlement or award.
Call or text (800) 794-0444 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
