Some Facts Around Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home abuse appears to be on the increase, becoming a matter of national concern. Across the country many nursing homes are in a poor state where care is perceptibly deteriorating. Here are some of the reasons for nursing home decline:

The rapidly aging population is overburdening the resources of the conventional non-profit nursing home establishment. These are being superseded by networks of corporate-owned nursing homes which are largely money-driven. The consequence is cuts on care requirements and staffing, which is a nationwide occurrence.

The tab for most nursing home patients is being picked up by Medicare or Medicaid. Corporate-owned nursing homes receive only a flat payment for every patient, which means to boost profits expenses have to be cut. Patient care is the first casualty followed by patient space. More patients are being packed into limited space which results in declining patient care. It also does not help that the government-Medicare-takes a long time to make payments which means that anyone dealing with these types of patients has to show extreme patience. Many times that incentive to be kind to that type of patient is lost.

Most states in the country have passed tort reform laws over the last decade. This makes it significantly more difficult for patients who have been injured, or even killed, to sue a nursing home and win substantial damages. These laws have been passed to slow down frivolous lawsuits, preventmore jobs from moving overseas, and to enable institutions to lower costs to their patients or customers because they do not have to worry about massive verdicts which do occur in many places around America. Moreover, a corporate-owned facility still is aware of the risk of significant damages in a nursing home abuse lawsuit and makes sure that the care provided conforms to minimum standards. Providing poor care quality is the consequence of no threat from legal damages and this is why a nursing home can still be on the hook if they are mismanaging the home or mistreating residents.

The Future

Nursing home care is deteriorating nationwide, a matter which should be of general concern. Injury law firms get calls daily from individuals complaining of neglect and abuse in nursing homes. This should be a strong incentive to save money so you can stay in a decent nursing home when it comes time for those types of decisions.

Do not let this Go

If your loved one, or you yourself, are a victim of medical neglect or nursing home abuse, you need to contact a medical malpractice attorney. Yours might be a case that could be taken to trial with a claim for compensation for damages or an out-of-court settlement. Remember that medical malpractice lawsuits are subject to the statute of limitations which prevails in any state.

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