Ohio Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Cases Rise As Number Of Elderly Nursing Home Residence Grows
With the number of our elderly residing in nursing homes growing, so are the numbers of nursing home abuse and neglect cases.
Thousands of our elders experience neglected and nursing home abuse each year. Unfortunately, the full scope of the issue of nursing home abuse has not been realized. Despite governmental regulations, nursing home neglect and nursing home abuse continue to be under reported. Leaving our elderly to suffer in understaffed facilities.
The nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at the Cochran Firm of Ohio work tirelessly to help you end nursing home abuse and neglect to keep your loved ones safe.
Recently, a family member filed a complaint against the McDowell Nursing & Rehabilitation, LLC alleging that her father’s injuries and subsequent death were caused by the negligent care and abuse of the facility. The plaintiff’s father resided at the facility for almost a month, and in just that short amount of time, the lawsuit alleges that defendants abused and neglected him, causing “significant destruction on his physical condition and proximately contributed to his death,” the West Virginia Record reports. (https://wvrecord.com/news/257063-woman-blames-nursing-home-for-fathers-death-2)
Unfortunately, nursing home abuse cases such as this are all too common. In fact, statistics show that in 2003, more than 20,000 complaints of elder abuse, exploitation, and gross neglect were filed nationally, with physical abuse being the most prominent.
However, the American Association for Justice reports that only one of every 14 nursing home abuse incidents are actually reported by authorities. There are currently approximately 1.4 million people living in nursing homes across the United States. Where 90 percent of those nursing home are under staffed therefore, unable to provide adequate care.
Many forms of elder abuse are found in nursing homes, including improper restraints, physical and sexual assault, neglect, verbal threats and intimidation, and isolation. Facility practices such as overcrowding, sub-standard care and the presence of predatory, troubled, and untrained workers are also categorized as abuse.
In a study prepared by the Special Investigations Division of the House Government Reform Committee, statistics showed that in a two year period, (1999 to 2001), 9,000 abuses occurred in 5,283 nursing homes. 2,500 of those cases were serious enough to “cause actual harm to residents or to place the residents in immediate jeopardy of death or serious injury.”
Even more disturbing is that 3,800 of these cases were discovered only after a formal complaint had been filed, and that the number of abuse violations is only growing.
According to the report, there are 17,000 nursing homes in the U.S. housing nearly 1.5 million residents. More than 30 percent of these homes violated abuse standards, with “failure to properly investigate and report allegations of resident abuse, neglect, or mistreatment, or to ensure that nursing staff do not have a documented history of abusing, neglecting, or mistreating residents.”
Over the past 40 years, the nursing home abuse lawyers of the Cochran Firm have fought for abuse and neglect victims who suffered:
- Dehydration and malnutrition
- Chemical or physical restraints
- Inadequate supervision that led to the victim falling or wandering away
- financial exploitation
- medication errors or failure to provide adequate medical care or medication
- sepsis, bed sores, pressure sores, decubitus ulcers
- physical abuse or assault
- mental abuse
- neglect
One of the problems discovered in the House of Representatives report is that the reasons for these abuses are unknown. Staffing and training issues and no clear policies to prevent abuse and neglect are only part of this serious problem.
To the nursing home abuse lawyer at the Cochran Firm, there is no reason why abuse and neglect should ever occur. We are dedicated to the protection of your loved ones. All of our highly-experienced attorneys are dedicated to providing quality legal representation to injured people, their families, and the ordinary citizen, just as Johnnie Cochran envisioned when he founded the firm over 40 years ago. If you are seeking personal, dedicated and aggressive legal representation for a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, please contact The Cochran Firm today by filling out our online form, or call (513) 381-HURT