If you or your loved one has suffered through nursing home abuse, you deserve justice and recovery for the atrocious conduct of those who hurt you. Contact a Lexington nursing home abuse lawyer from Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, LLP today.
The Lexington attorneys at Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, LLP are ready to fight for you. Give us a call right now at (859) 550-2900, fill out a contact form, or chat with us live to schedule an appointment with one of our compassionate and experienced nursing home abuse lawyers. We will do everything we possibly can to right this wrong.
Hiring an experienced Lexington personal injury attorney will help ensure your case goes as smoothly, efficiently, and effectively as possible. A nursing home abuse attorney will have extensive knowledge of the law surrounding elder abuse and nursing home regulations and will be able to independently investigate the situation and gather the evidence needed to support your claim.
When making a legal claim against a nursing home, it’s important to have someone advocating on your behalf. Most nursing homes are for-profit businesses that are highly motivated to avoid paying you any compensation, and their insurance companies are certainly working to protect their bottom line. A nursing home representative, their insurance agent, or their lawyer may contact you and ask you misleading or confusing questions designed to elicit answers that diminish your claim. Your lawyer will handle all communication with the nursing home and their representative while you focus on helping your loved one recover.
You should always consult an attorney before signing any legal documents. The nursing home’s insurance company or lawyers may offer you a settlement in order to quickly close out your case. Many plaintiffs in nursing home cases have accepted lowball settlements out of fear that they will not receive a better offer. Your attorney will have a good idea of how much compensation you can reasonably expect in your situation and will be able to advise on when to accept a settlement and when to keep negotiating.
Our Kentucky attorneys will help you get maximum compensation
At Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, LLP, we understand the devastating impact that nursing home abuse has on an individual and their family. Nursing homes that neglect or abuse their residents need to be held accountable, and victims deserve compensation to help them recover from the abuse. We understand that compensation cannot heal all wounds but recognize that compensation can help ease financial burdens that cause increased stress and anxiety.
Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, LLP has been advocating for injured victims for over 125 years. We are recognized as one of the leading plaintiff’s firms in the country and have been named among the “Best Lawyers in American,” ranked in the “Leading Firms and Lawyers in America,” and are the only law firm in the state of Kentucky named in the National Law Journal’s “50 Most Elite Plaintiffs Firms in America.” We have obtained dozens of multimillion-dollar settlements for our clients, and one settlement worth over two billion dollars.
Every case is unique, but we believe that our strong track record is a reliable indicator of our determination to obtain favorable results for our clients.
We understand that many worry that hiring legal representation will be too expensive. At Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, LLP, you don’t have to worry. We work on a contingency-fee-basis, which means that you only pay for our services if you win your case, at which point we take a percentage of the overall settlement or verdict. If we don’t win, then you don’t owe us any money. This allows you to hire our firm at no financial risk to you.
We also offer a 100% free initial consultation in which you can tell us about your situation, ask questions, and we’ll get to work on your case.
Unfortunately, many cases of nursing home neglect and abuse go unreported. As individuals begin to age and become more feeble, they are often unable to stand up for themselves – either when dealing with verbal or physical abuse. Perpetrators of these types of crimes understand this and take advantage of these individuals who are in a weakened state.
It is extremely important that family members, friends, nursing home workers and supervisors, and other loved ones pay extra attention to these older Americans. Signs of nursing home abuse or neglect should be thoroughly investigated.
Because nursing home abuse takes so many different forms — both overt and subtle — it can be difficult to spot signs of the abuse, even for family members, friends or children who see their loved ones frequently. Only 1 in 14 cases are ever reported, which means incidents of nursing home abuse are actually being underestimated, despite the already outrageous figures.
If you believe your loved one may be dealing with nursing home abuse, then pay extra attention to the following signs that may indicate this to be true:
You or your loved one do not have to suffer nursing home abuse. The Lexington attorneys at Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, LLP will not allow the perpetrators of these crimes to go unpunished. Stop nursing home abuse now by giving us a call at (859) 550-2900 or filling out a contact form.
When most individuals think of abuse, they often envision physical abuse. While physical abuse is often a form of nursing home abuse, the residents in these environments may be dealing with a wide variety of abuse including:
If you begin to suspect that nursing home abuse may be taking place, you should act quickly. We’ve listed some of the steps you should take if you are concerned about nursing home abuse:
We serve nursing home abuse victims in the Lexington area
If you or a loved one has been a victim of nursing home abuse, there are laws to protect you and legal recourse to claim justice and compensation, as well as to correct the situation so that no one else has to suffer at the hands of the perpetrator.
Laws will vary from state to state but nursing home abuse victims have basic rights common to everyone, as well as special rights, such as in cases of financial exploitation.
In Kentucky, nursing home residents are entitled to a written copy of their rights under state law and the right to file a complaint directly with the state. These rights include:
When these rights are violated, you or your loved one may need to seek legal intervention.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky has gone to great lengths to match federal action on resident rights and apply the federal nursing home resident bill of rights to the needs of Kentucky residents.
In 2018, 43% of Kentucky’s 284 nursing homes were rated as “below average” or “much below average” by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, affecting roughly 12,500 nursing home residents. Compensation for nursing home abuse victims is not only a private matter, but it is also important for victims to come forward, be heard and ensure that their horrific experience is never repeated again in our state.
Your Lexington nursing home abuse lawyers at Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, LLP will help to secure damages that can include:
Whether you or your loved one has suffered physical, psychological, or financial harm, the Lexington nursing home abuse attorneys will help you to obtain full recovery for the damages you have suffered.
Call us right now at (859) 550-2900 to start on the path to recovery.
Whatever form nursing home abuse takes — physical, emotional, financial, psychological and otherwise — victims have options for legal action.
Elder law is more important than ever as the population ages and families depend on nursing homes to care for their loved ones.
The nursing home abuse lawyers at Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, LLP can help you and your loved ones understand Kentucky laws around nursing home abuse, gather information on perpetrators and damages, bring a lawsuit, and ultimately, ensure justice and compensation from the nursing home and its staff.
We are able to bring a lawsuit against the nursing home if:
Nursing home abuse is very serious. Do not wait to seek legal assistance. Contact us as soon as you suspect your loved one has suffered abuse or neglect.
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on nursing homes around the country. As of December 2020, over two-thirds of Kentucky’s nearly 2,400 COVID-19 deaths have been in nursing homes. However, there is increasing evidence that COVID-19 may have also increased nursing home abuse in facilities around the country. While hard statistics on elder abuse during COVID-19 don’t yet exist for the U.S., Canada has reported a tenfold increase in elder abuse during the pandemic. COVID-19 has been a breeding ground for many of the conditions that can lead to elder abuse, particularly understaffing and isolation.
Kentucky nursing homes struggled with chronic understaffing before the pandemic hit, but COVID-19 has overburdened homes already struggling with staffing shortages. In November, the A.P. reported that in 20 states with surging cases, nearly 1 in 4 nursing homes reported staff shortages, largely because staff members had tested positive or called in sick. Staff members who are at work have often become overburdened with caring for COVID-19 patients in the home.
Staffing shortages can mean that routine care goes unattended. One woman in New York reported that her mother, whose care she had been satisfied with before the pandemic, died at her care facility from dehydration, “because the staff was so consumed with caring for COVID-19 patients that no one made sure she was drinking.”
In November 2020, a nursing home expert reported that according to data collected from the 15,000 nursing homes in the U.S., for every two COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities, there was another who was not COVID-19 positive and who died prematurely of other causes. While it is uncertain how many of these deaths could be attributed to abuse and neglect, these deaths are believed to be 15% above the normal rate of nursing home fatalities.
Additionally, when comparing mortality rates at homes with high rates of COVID-19 versus homes with no reported COVID-19, researchers found that higher COVID-19 rates corresponded to a greater number of deaths with other causes. For example, in homes that had an infection rate of 3 in 10 residents, the fatality rate from other causes was double what it would normally be.
While understaffing can lead to neglect, the social isolation forced by the pandemic can make it difficult for long-term care residents to tell loved ones about abuse or neglect and can make it more difficult for families to notice signs of abuse or neglect. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, social isolation is one of the greatest risk factors for elder abuse.
While COVID-19 has certainly put a disproportionate strain on nursing homes, your loved one still has a right to adequate care. Don’t let nursing homes use COVID-19 as an excuse to avoid your questions or concerns. If you are concerned that COVID-19 may have led to nursing home staff neglecting your loved one, you should report your concerns and hire a lawyer immediately. If you believe your loved one is in imminent danger, call 911.
Give us a call right now at (859) 550-2900 or fill out a contact form to talk with one of our compassionate and skilled nursing home abuse lawyers.
Couldn’t be more please with my experience with Hare, Wynn, Newell and Newton! I changed my case representation to them after a poor experience with another lawyer and was incredibly happy that I did! Mr. Jonathan Fannin did a superb job on my case resulting in a quick and favorable settlement in my favor. He was in constant contact with me and I was immediately informed on anything going on with my case. Cannot say enough about Hare, Wynn, Newell and Newton! I would highly recommend them!
Brian Vines did exceptional work for me. Would definitely use this law firm again.
I had an excellent experience with this very professional law firm. Brian and Matt were very professional and approached my personal injury case with diligence and urgency. They were very good to work with and worked hard to provide me the maximum settlement. I would highly recommend this firm and would use them again if needed.