California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers

Financial Abuse And Exploitation

Caregivers, friends, and family members can take advantage of an older adult’s illness or mental state to financially abuse them. The offender may coerce, threaten, or beat the victim into giving away cash, checks, expensive jewelry, or other assets. Look for sudden changes in a bank statement, large gifts to people you don’t know, or odd changes to a will.

It may come as a surprise, but studies show that family members and trusted caregivers (those with access to the individual’s finances) are often the people who financially abuse or exploit older people. Abuse can also take the form of willful neglect, passive neglect, deprivation, and confinement.

Look for signs of neglect such as poor hygiene, malnutrition, frequent illnesses, pale and extra-wrinkled skin, white lips, and weight loss. Bedsores are common signs of neglect and abuse, since they come from the person remaining in the same position for too long. They are almost always preventable with proper care. Willful deprivation can involve denying the resident medication, medical attention, food, water, or other basic needs. Isolating or restraining an older adult without a valid medical or safety reason can cause both physical and mental harm.

Failure To Restrain

Sometimes an older adult requires physical restraints for their own safety or the safety of others. Restraints should aim to restrict movement, not punish or harm the individual. Restraints such as belts, vests, hand mitts, special chairs, lap cushions, or bed rails may be necessary if the senior citizen has a physical or mental condition that puts themselves or others at risk without the reduction of movement.

Facilities should use physical restraints as little as possible, and only when other techniques will not be effective. However, failure to restrain when the safety or health of someone else depends on it is a type of negligence. If your loved one received an injury because a staff member failed to use restraints when they should have, you may have grounds for a personal injury claim.

For example, suppose a resident’s medical condition made them prone to falling out of bed, and the facility failed to provide proper safety measures such as bedrails. In that case, there may be grounds for a negligence claim. Similarly, if a facility did not properly manage or supervise other residents, such as someone with dementia and aggressive behavior, resulting in injury to your loved one, this could also constitute negligence. Misuse of restraints can include both overuse and underuse, and facilities have a duty to apply them appropriately to protect residents.