Nursing Home Abuse in Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale Nursing Home Attorneys
Fort Lauderdale nursing home neglect and nursing home abuse in Fort Lauderdale are extremely serious violations of trust. Families placing their loved ones in a nursing home believe the patient will get better care from professionals, who are subject to state regulations. When nursing homes fail to meet basic standards, or allow bad employees and bad policies, they violate patients' dignity and put lives in danger. When they're caught, our Fort Lauderdale injury attorneys are proud to help bring them to justice.
Cases of physical, verbal and even sexual abuse have surfaced at nursing homes in Fort Lauderdale. These are among the most serious cases, because they mean one or more nursing home employees have failed in their most basic duties as caregivers. Physical nursing home abuse in Fort Lauderdale includes actual physical blows to the patient as well as abusive behaviors like overuse of physical restraining straps; and misuse of prescription drugs as "chemical restraints."
Often times watchdogs find cases of severe nursing home neglect in Fort Lauderdale. Every nursing home patient has the right to basics like adequate water and food, adequate hygiene and attention to medical needs. Nonetheless, nursing homes often fail to meet these elementary standards of care, with catastrophic results for patients. For example, bedsores (also called pressure sores and decubitus ulcers) form on bed-bound or wheelchair-bound patients who cannot change positions on their own. The solution is simple: Turn the patient every two hours. Nonetheless, because so many nursing homes can't or won't do this, bedsores are among the most common preventable health problems caused by nursing home neglect in Fort Lauderdale.
In some cases, Fort Lauderdale nursing home neglect or nursing home abuse in Fort Lauderdale is caused by one bad employee in an otherwise good home. When this is true, it doesn't mean the nursing home is not implicated in the abuse. Nursing homes have a legal responsibility to carefully select and train the people entrusted with the lives of vulnerable patients, and to supervise them on the job. Failure to do this makes the nursing home in Fort Lauderdale liable for the abuse. However, in the experience of our Fort Lauderdale nursing home abuse lawyers, nursing home abuse and neglect in Fort Lauderdale often stem from widespread bad attitudes or bad conditions at a nursing home. In addition to failure to correctly hire, train and supervise, nursing homes may create these conditions by looking the other way or even encouraging abusive policies, or so severely understaffing that employees cannot keep up with basic caregiving.
Nursing home abuse in Fort Lauderdale would be bad enough if it just robbed patients of their dignity. But it also has severe health consequences. Physical injuries can complicate an existing health problem, as can the consequences of neglect like dehydration. Needless use of powerful prescription drugs can lead to side effects that create new health problems. This can land the patient in the hospital and sometimes trigger death or a health decline that ultimately ends in death.
Our Fort Lauderdale injury attorneys serving the tri-county area including Palm Beach, Broward, and Dade County's are proud to help patients and their families hold abusive nursing homes legally liable. When major nursing home negligence in Fort Lauderdale is detected, victims and their families are often hit with huge medical costs and the practical problem of arranging safer alternative care. When this is the result of a Fort Lauderdale nursing home's failure to provide basic care, you have the right to pursue those costs with a nursing home neglect or nursing home abuse lawsuit. At J. Scott Gunn, P.A., we aggressively pursue justice and a fair settlement with nursing home companies that allow or encourage negligence in nursing.
If your family is struggling with nursing home abuse in Fort Lauderdale and you'd like to talk about your case with an experienced Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney, call J. Scott Gunn, P.A., today. You can reach us for a free consultation at 1-866-286-4530 or send us a message online.
