Kentucky Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys
Elder Abuse and Neglect Lawyers Serving Kentucky
Nursing home abuse is a tragic and horrifying reality in Kentucky. A 2010 media investigation identified numerous cases of elder abuse statewide, with the offenses ranging from physical and sexual abuse to financial fraud. Sadly, those accounts may be only the tip of the iceberg. But we have no way of knowing how rampant nursing home abuse really is, because many elders are unable or too scared to report it. That’s why it’s commonly called the “silent epidemic.”
If you are a victim or concerned about a loved one in a nursing home, contact a Hughes & Coleman nursing home abuse lawyer today for a free consultation. Our compassionate attorneys protect the rights of victims like you and will fight to obtain compensation for the indignities you or your loved one has suffered.
We serve Kentucky clients in Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Lexington and Louisville. Complete a free online consultation form or call us toll free at 866-280-4609.
What is Nursing Home Abuse?
Elder abuse and nursing home abuse takes many forms. The Kentucky Adult Protection Act has specific legal definitions for abuse, neglect and exploitation. But in simple terms, abuse can be separated into three categories.
- Physical: This would include any use of force that causes bodily harm or pain to a senior, such as sexual abuse, hitting, shaking, shoving or unnecessarily restraining them. Administering drugs to incapacitate a nursing home resident also constitutes physical abuse.
- Psychological:Emotional abuse may include threatening, shouting, humiliating, ridiculing or ignoring a nursing home resident. Many times, mental abuse can result in anxiety and depression or even aggravate existing mental impairments.
- Financial: The elderly are frequent victims of financial extortion and theft. Perpetrators may steal credit cards, forge signatures or find other ways to profit from a senior’s vulnerability. The U.S. Administration on Aging’s 2010 Profile of Older Americans reported that 14.6% of elders over age 65 report needing help with performing daily life tasks, including money management.
About Nursing Home Abuse in Kentucky
According to the Kentucky Department of Community Based Services, there were 13,491 reports of suspected elder abuse in 2010, the largest number of complaints it has received since it began collecting data in 2006. Of that number, 1,073 allegations of abuse and neglect were reported at long-term care facilities, and 164 of those claims were substantiated. Unfortunately, there is no way to know whether those long-term facility statistics represent an increase or decrease from prior years. No data regarding nursing abuse reports is available before 2010, per the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services’ annual report.
However, anecdotal reports from a recent newspaper series on nursing home abuse in the Lexington Herald-Leader are shocking. In October 2011, a Fayette County Circuit Court ordered one nursing home to pay $1 million in damages to a resident who fell and was found with life-threatening injuries in a storage room, according to one article. Other reports detailed cases in which nursing home residents wandered away and were found dead, were raped or whose owners admitted to financial fraud.
Why Is There So Much Nursing Home Abuse?
Nursing home abuse has been attributed to a wide variety of causes. Sometimes, the abuse is a result of criminal actions perpetrated by dishonest and dangerous people such as employees. But negligence is often the primary grounds upon which lawsuits alleging nursing home abuse are based. For example, facilities are required by state law to adhere to various health and safety regulations. If nursing homes are found in violation of those rules – such as not performing background checks on certain employees, for example – they may be held liable in court.
Other problems that have been cited in nursing home abuse and neglect cases have been the failure of facilities to maintain adequate staff-to-resident ratios, poorly trained staff, high employee turnover, overcrowding and stigmatizing and isolating “difficult” residents who may have behavioral problems as a result of dementia or other conditions.
Damages in Kentucky Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuits
We know that no amount of money can ever replace the lasting physical, emotional and financial scars that stem from a case of nursing home abuse and neglect. However, a successful elder abuse or wrongful death lawsuit can hold nursing homes, owners, management companies and others accountable for their negligence, which can prevent the same abuses from happening to someone else.
In practical terms, compensatory damages from a Kentucky nursing home abuse suit can help pay for medical bills, prescriptions, and the cost of physical and emotional therapies needed to help you or someone you love recover from their injuries. Non-economic damages may also be awarded for pain and suffering and loss of society, comfort and care. Punitive damages may be awarded in certain circumstances.
Contact Our Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Today
The lawyers at Hughes & Coleman understand how painful and difficult it can be for elders to report they have been abused. We are prepared to handle your nursing home abuse case with the utmost sensitivity and confidentiality. Let us help you. Complete a free online consultation form or call us toll free at 866-280-4609 today.
