West Virginia Nursing Home Abuse Attorney

Filing Injury Claims for Elder Abuse in West Virginia

When our loved ones get older, they can have physical conditions and needs that we are unable to properly care for. We carefully search out a nursing home that we believe will care for them, treat them with the dignity and compassion they deserve, and protect their health. Unfortunately, certain facilities fail to train their staff, or hire unqualified personnel that have abused or neglected innocent victims. Often, the elderly person is unable to communicate the abuse, or is frightened or over-medicated. If you suspect that your loved one has been abused or neglected while in a nursing home, contact a West Virginia attorney from Mani Ellis & Layne PLLC. We advocate for the rights of elderly victims of abuse, and will help you take legal action. With more than 35 years of combined experience, and many millions in settlements and verdicts, our accomplished legal team knows how to fight for justice and compensation.

We offer our services and dedicated representation in all types of nursing home abuse and neglect cases, and we have taken the time to discuss some of these cases below. Please call our firm immediately if you suspect that your loved one is suffering from any of these situations.

Types of Elder Abuse

Abandonment
Elderly people are placed in nursing homes for a reason; they need special supervision and care by those who are medically trained. When nursing homes are understaffed, patients may be abandoned for long periods of time and may be without the food or water they need.

Assisted Living Facilities
Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) often charge top-dollar prices for the quality services they promise. These special living arrangements are supposed to provide elderly people with more freedom than conventional nursing homes, but residents are still supposed to be provided with assistance and supervision on a daily basis.

Failure to Treat
Without careful supervision, residents in nursing homes can start to develop a variety of health conditions. When staff members fail to administer medication, treat wounds, and address medical conditions, the health and wellbeing of residents will continue to decline and may result in lasting injury.

Fall Accidents
When an elderly person falls, they are far more prone to suffer serious injuries that require extensive rehabilitation. Falls can occur for a number of reasons, such as over-medication, improper lighting, improperly fitting slippers, obstacles obstructing walkways, and more; and some falls may be caused by the negligence of nursing home staff.

Handling Abuse
How should you react if you suspect that your loved one is the victim of nursing home abuse or elder abuse? There are certain steps that you can take to protect your loved one's rights and seek justice on their behalf. Learn more about what steps you should take first.

How to Report Elder Abuse
It is a tragedy when our elderly loved ones suffer from physical, mental, emotional or financial abuse. Every year, there are thousands of victims of elder abuse and many of these cases go unreported. Learn more about how you can report elder abuse in a way that ensures you are successful with your claim.

Lack of Proper Care
There is a certain standard of care that must be provided to the residents of nursing homes. Nutritional meals, clean environments, medical supervision, and interesting activities are all promised to be provided for our elderly loved ones, and when there is a lack of proper care serious injuries

Medication Errors
Most every medication has the potential to harm a consumer when it is the wrong amount or the wrong medication for a certain symptom. Medical professionals are expected to know the dangers that come with administering too much medicine, and elderly people usually take medication on a more frequent basis than the rest of society. Medication errors can bring about harm and bad side effects, and you may be able to seek compensation for your injuries.

Nursing Home Abuse FAQ
Find out the answers to commonly asked questions about nursing home abuse when you review our FAQ page, and call our firm for personalized answers to your specific questions.

Neglect
Many nursing homes today are understaffed or have staff that are undertrained. Your elderly loved ones deserve the high standard of care that they are promised, and any signs of neglect should be treated seriously.

Nursing Home Reform Act
The Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 protects the rights of our elderly loved ones and was an immense improvement in the level of care that they are supposed to be provided. As a result of the Act, nursing homes must take care to provide residents with social services, nursing services, rehabilitation services, and other services as well.

Physical Abuse
One of the most devastating types of abuse that takes place in nursing homes today is physical abuse. Elderly people can suffer abuse when nursing home staff members do not know how to cope with the various types of behavior that they may exhibit. Some common types of physical abuse include yelling, slapping, pinching, pushing, and beating elderly residents. Action must be taken immediately to seek justice and put a stop to this type of abuse.

Sexual Abuse
Nursing homes are supposed to take measures to provide adequate supervision of staff members in order to detect and prevent inappropriate touching or other forms of sexual abuse. Learn more about how to detect the signs of sexual abuse.

Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
Detecting the signs of nursing home abuse can be difficult, and you may not know what to do once you have detected nursing home abuse. Read more about bedsores, broken bones, dehydration, malnutrition, and some of the other type of nursing home abuse that take place in West Virginia.

It can be a shocking and horrifying situation to discover that your parent or other relative is being abused. It is important that you are aware of the indicators of abuse, many of which are emotional. If your loved one is withdrawn, flinches when you come near, has bruises, or is always sleeping when you come to visit, it may be necessary to look more closely at the situation. Some facilities have been found to have used restraints illegally, and bruising around the wrists and ankles can be evident in such cases.

A nursing home facility should be providing the level of care that the resident needs, including providing them with good nutrition, medical care, and watching over them so that they are not in danger of wandering off or falling. Ronald Reagan signed the Nursing Home Reform Act into law in 1987. This legislation mandated that facilities that received payments from Medicare or Medicaid were required to provide services for residents that allowed them to "attain and maintain her highest practicable physical, mental and psycho-social well-being." Sadly, many of these facilities are falling far short of this goal, and endangering the lives and health of the residents through neglect, sub-standard care or abuse.

Legal Protection for Elders: West Virginia Nursing Home Abuse Attorney

If you have observed that your loved one is not clean, is always in bed, has developed bedsores, is losing weight rapidly, or appears to be over-medicated, it is vital that you act quickly. Elderly people are physically fragile and their health can decline rapidly if action is not taken to halt the abuse or neglect. Our legal team fights for justice and the rights of the elderly. We can assist you to take action against any nursing home that has allowed abuse to take place. Contact our office from our firm for more information.