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When someone places their loved ones in a nursing home, they expect them to receive care, peace, and safety.
Sadly, not all nursing homes live up to this promise. In some cases, nursing home residents suffer from long-term torture, which includes physical abuse, poor hygiene, neglect, and emotional abuse.
Proving fault in these cases can be overwhelming. Missouri law protects nursing home residents, but to get justice, families need to understand how to prove abuse in the first place.
Spotting the Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
Before you can prove fault, you must recognize the signs of torture. Nursing home abuse can be physical, mental, or emotional.
Family members may notice bruises, cuts, or broken bones - all of which suggest physical abuse. Residents may act scared, anxious, or depressed, which can be signs of emotional abuse.
Other forms of abuse include poor hygiene, weight loss, and bedsores, which point to nursing home negligence.
Who Can Be Held Responsible?
In Missouri, nursing home staff and management can be held accountable for abuse. Proving responsibility means showing the assisted living facility failed to provide adequate care.
This could be due to rough treatment by staff, lack of proper medical attention, or unsafe living conditions.
Under Missouri law, a nursing home must ensure the safety of its residents. When it fails, the facility's authority can be sued for medical malpractice or nursing home negligence.
The Steps to Proving Nursing Home Abuse
To prove liability in a Missouri nursing home abuse case, families need to collect evidence. Here’s a step-by-step guide plaintiffs can follow:
Documenting Everything
Families must keep track of any signs of abuse, such as bruises or changes in behavior. They should take photos and keep records of conversations with staff.
Getting a Medical Examination
A doctor can confirm whether injuries are consistent with abuse. A thorough treatment plan can pinpoint the causes of the bruises and infections suffered by the nursing home resident.
Filing a Complaint
Plaintiffs can report abuse to the Missouri Department of Health. This is often the first step in building a nursing home abuse lawsuit.
Hiring an Attorney
The most important step is to consult and hire an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer. They can work to collect vital evidence against negligent staff members.
The attorneys at Powell Law Firm offer free consultation sessions, so clients can discuss their cases without worrying about upfront costs. They can also help with how to prove fault for a work injury in Missouri.
Nursing Home Neglect Can Lead to Various Infections
Abuse in nursing homes goes beyond just physical harm. Many residents suffer mental anguish.
They feel scared, trapped, and helpless. Families, too, experience deep emotional pain as they see their loved ones suffer.
Nursing home abuse is nothing short of torture for the elderly, who rely on these facilities for safety and care.
On top of that, the lack of proper care, poor hygiene, and unsanitary conditions can also create the perfect environment for infections to spread.
Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)
If residents aren’t given proper care with catheters or aren’t helped to the bathroom, they can develop UTIs. These infections are very common in neglected residents.
Skin Infections and Bedsores
Residents who are not moved regularly can develop bedsores. If these sores are left untreated, they can become infected, leading to further complications.
Respiratory Infections
Poor ventilation, lack of cleanliness, and failure to treat colds or the flu can lead to pneumonia and other severe respiratory infections.
Missouri nursing home residents deserve a clean and sanitary environment to live in. However, understaffed facilities may fail to uphold such high standards.
Gastrointestinal Infections
Dirty food preparation areas and contaminated water can cause foodborne illnesses or stomach infections - thus causing the elderly to fall severely sick.
Statute of Limitations in Nursing Home Abuse Cases
The statute of limitations sets a deadline for taking legal action in a nursing home abuse case.
Medical Malpractice
In Missouri, the time frame is typically two years from the date of the abuse or neglect due to medical malpractice. After this period, it becomes much harder—sometimes impossible—to file a lawsuit.
Wrongful Death
On the other hand, family members of nursing home patients may have to file a lawsuit within three years from the date of the incident if the case resulted in wrongful death.
Personal Injury
Lastly, the statute of limitations extends to five years from the incident date for nursing home neglect that results in personal injury.
Discovery Rule
There are a few exceptions to Missouri’s statute of limitations. In some cases, families may not immediately realize that their loved one has suffered from abuse.
If the issue isn’t discovered right away, the clock might not start until the family knows (or should have known) about it. This is called the “discovery rule.”
However, the discovery rule doesn’t give plaintiffs unlimited time. It simply adjusts the start of the two-year period. It’s still crucial to act quickly, as waiting too long can weaken a case.
A nursing home abuse attorney can help clients properly understand how much time they have to file a lawsuit.
Why Timing Matters in Nursing Home Abuse Cases
Time is a critical factor in nursing home abuse lawsuits for many reasons:
Evidence disappears: Over time, crucial evidence can be lost or destroyed. Medical records can be incomplete, and physical signs of abuse, such as bruises, may fade.
Witness memories fade: People who witnessed the abuse may forget important details as time passes.
Staff turnover: Nursing home staff may leave their jobs, making it harder to track down witnesses.
The sooner a family takes action, the stronger their case may be. If they wait until the statute of limitations is close to expiring, they risk losing valuable evidence that could prove nursing home negligence.
Why People Should Hire Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys
Discovering that a loved one has suffered neglect or harm in a place meant to provide care can feel overwhelming. In such moments, hiring a nursing home abuse attorney is essential.
Interview Witnesses
Witnesses play a key role in uncovering the truth. A nursing home abuse lawyer knows how to identify and interview the right people.
Families might find it hard to track down witnesses on their own. Some may be reluctant to speak out due to fear of retaliation from the nursing homes. Attorneys, however, know how to approach these situations and get the information needed.
Collect Medical Records
Lawyers also know how to request records that may be hard for families to access on their own. They’ll look for any inconsistencies, missed treatments, or evidence of untreated injuries.
Inspect Licenses
Some nursing homes may cut corners. An injury attorney in St Louis can inspect the licenses to ensure they are compliant with the law. This inspection can reveal violations, such as expired documents or past citations for unsafe practices.
Final Words
Nursing homes are meant to provide care, but when they breach that duty, they must be held responsible.
Families shouldn’t have to stand by while their loved ones suffer in silence. Instead, they should report nursing home abuse to the right authorities and seek swift action against the at-fault parties.
Justice may not undo the harm, but it can bring a sense of closure and ensure others are spared from the same fate.
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