Kentucky Elder Abuse Lawyers Distressed by State’s Finding of Widespread Nursing Home ‘Deficiencies’
Posted in Press Releases on September 21, 2011Bowling Green attorneys J. Marshall Hughes and Lee Coleman of Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers say a new state report shows ongoing need to be vigilant about the neglect of Kentucky’s senior citizens.
Bowling Green, KY (PRWEB) August 10, 2011
Bowling Green personal injury attorney J. Marshall Hughes says a recent state report identifying widespread deficiencies in Kentucky nursing homes indicates the need for vigilant scrutiny of the care being provided to senior citizens.
Hughes, a founding partner of the Kentucky personal injury law firm of Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers, says the Kentucky Office of the Inspector General’s finding of 291 total deficiencies among 49 nursing homes in the second quarter of 2011 is cause for distress.
“Despite the state’s recent focus on abuse and the important role these inspections play in improving safety for Kentucky nursing home residents, many nursing homes simply disregard an alert from the state and never correct the problems that are cited,” Hughes says. “Everyone should be troubled by this, and they should be quick to report abuse if they see it or otherwise know about it.”
The Inspector General said Kentucky nursing homes averaged six deficiencies in second-quarter inspections, and nine homes had 12 or more citations. The Rosewood Health Care Center in Bowling Green was found to have 19 deficiencies – the most identified. Only the Tanbark Health Care Center in Lexington had no deficiencies.
“What the state calls a ‘deficiency’ is a factor in an elderly individual’s daily life that too often results in harm,” says Lee Coleman, a veteran Bowling Green personal injury lawyer and Hughes & Coleman co-founder.
“Employees of nursing homes and the corporations that own nursing homes must be held accountable for this type of neglect and abuse, and the lawyers of Hughes & Coleman mean to see to it that they are,” says Coleman, whose firm has represented numerous neglect and elder abuse victims in Kentucky nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
If a person’s elderly family member has been injured or has died in a nursing home, they may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering or loss of society, comfort and care, Hughes says. In some cases, a court may determine that punitive damages are appropriate to punish and deter especially egregious conduct.
“We are committed to results that better the lives of Kentucky nursing home residents,” Hughes says.
About Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers
Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers, with Kentucky offices in Bowling Green, Elizabethtown and Louisville, is dedicated to protecting the rights and interests of nursing home abuse and neglect victims, as well as the families who care deeply about their elderly loved ones.
Partners J. Marshall Hughes and Lee Coleman are accomplished injury attorneys and advocates for people who have suffered from nursing home neglect and abuse, as well as auto accidents, brain injury, drug injury, defective products, environmental dangers, fire and burn injury, insurance disputes, motorcycle accidents, premises liability, Social Security disability, stock fraud, truck accident injury, workers’ compensation and wrongful death.
For more information contact Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers at (800) 800-4600 or use the firm’s online contact form.
