Texas Injury Lawyers Blog
America’s population is aging, and individuals are living longer as life expectancy continues to increase. As a result, nursing homes are becoming a part of more Texan’s lives, and families are often tasked with choosing an institution for their loved ones. Choosing a Texas nursing home is an incredibly important decision, because residents – who are often weak and vulnerable – will likely be there for the rest of their lives. Families, of course, want to ensure that their loved ones are safe and well taken care of. Unfortunately, however, far too many families end up placing their loved ones in subpar institutions, either due to financial concerns or lack of thorough research. Unfortunately, nursing home abuse and neglect is a chronic and persistent problem in Texas, victimizing hundreds of elderly residents every year.
For example, according to a recent report, out of 62 nursing homes in San Antonio, five were recently flagged by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for severe instances abuse and neglect of their residents. These instances include neglecting and ignoring residents’ medical needs, physical assault, verbal attacks, and even sexual abuse. While these instances would be concerning in any situation, they are of particular concern in nursing homes, where the victims are often incredibly vulnerable, reliant on their nursing home for all aspects of their care, and may lack the funds needed to transfer institutions.
The best way to avoid nursing home abuse of your loved ones is to do careful research of nursing homes in your area. One useful tool is Medicare.com, which allows families to search every Medicaid and Medicare certified nursing home in Texas. In addition to providing information on staffing and health inspections, the website will report recent incidents of nursing home abuse in each facility, so families can be aware of which institutions to avoid. Doing this research may take a little extra time, but the knowledge about the potential problems can spare a family, and a victim, immense pain and suffering down the line.
Although researching homes is important to avoid incidents, if abuse or neglect does happen in a Texas nursing home, the victim and their family should consider bringing a lawsuit against the home to recover for their injuries. Nursing homes have a duty to protect their residents, and if they breach this duty they may owe their victims financial compensation.
Need a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer?
If you are considering filing a suit against a Texas nursing home for recent nursing home abuse, contact the Carabin Shaw law firm today. Our attorneys can help you through every step of the process, from evaluating your case to advocating for you at trial. With years of experience, the attorneys in our law firm aggressively represent our clients and are experts in taking on difficult insurance companies, nursing homes, or other defendants. If successful, we may be able to get you monetary compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and loss of companionship. To learn more, and set your case up for maximum success, contact us at 800-862-1260 to schedule your free consultation.