Personal injury attorneys can help you advocate for an elderly loved one who has been abused.
A recent report from the California State Auditor has highlighted severe problems with the way in which accusations of nursing home abuse are handled by the California Department of Public Health.
Currently, the DPH has over 11,000 open complaints of nursing home abuse that desperately need investigation. Of these, 40 percent are considered “high-priority” meaning that they involve a situation that has caused or is likely to cause harm to a nursing home resident.
Yet response times remain woefully slow—sometimes too slow to ensure justice is done. For example, in once case the DPH received a report of a caregiver allegedly slapping a nursing home resident, an action that would clearly constitute elder abuse under the definition of the law. However, state officials did not assign investigators to the case until 16 months later. By this time, the resident had left the facility. Since the resident was the only witness to the incident, the case was closed with just a warning to the caregiver.
If this is the treatment given to “high priority” cases, one might wonder if there is any hope at all of getting less severe forms of abuse investigated. According to the state auditor, in one district DPH office they found that some complaints not deemed high priority had remained open for nearly 10 years.
A non-profit group called FATE (Foundation Aiding the Elderly) routinely files lawsuits against the DPH for failing to investigate nursing home abuse complaints in a timely manner. While these suits have not been successful so far, there is another alternative for individuals harmed by nursing home abuse and their relatives to pursue, namely filing a personal injury lawsuit.
As a seasoned nursing home abuse injury attorney, Michael A. Kahn has handled many cases involving the physical, sexual, emotional, and financial abuse of seniors. If you suspect a loved one has been deliberately harmed by a caregiver, you can contact the Law Offices of Michael A. Kahn for help. We will listen carefully to the details of your case and help you understand your rights and options.
Because we are committed to preserving the rights of nursing home residents, we do not allow financial difficulties to stand between injured individuals and the right to justice and compensation. Instead, we provide free initial consultations to injured elders and their families, and we will take strong cases on a contingency fee basis so that our clients do not have to pay a dime for our services unless we win them a settlement.
