When you place a loved one in a nursing home, you do it with the best intentions. Many facilities, however, fall far short of their promises and responsibilities. Nursing home negligence has caused heartbreaking consequences for vulnerable adults in Bonita Springs and throughout Florida, including physical, emotional, and financial harm.
At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, we have years of experience handling these sensitive cases and commit to providing suffering families with comprehensive legal support. Whether you're in the earliest stages of the process or have already initiated legal action, our Bonita Springs nursing home negligence attorneys can help you through these challenging times and recover the compensation your loved one needs to pay for medical treatments and punish the facility that harmed them.
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- Schedule A Free Consultation
- Skilled Nursing Home Negligence Attorneys in Bonita Springs
- What Counts as Nursing Home Negligence in Florida?
- Compensation Victims Can Pursue After Nursing Home Negligence in Florida
- Frequently Asked Questions About Pursuing a Nursing Home Negligence Case in Florida
- Contact Us if You or a Loved One Has Suffered Nursing Home Negligence In Bonita Springs
Skilled Nursing Home Negligence Attorneys in Bonita Springs
Nursing homes have a duty to provide older adults with a safe environment that meets their needs and maintains their dignity. Whether negligence takes the form of dangerous carelessness or active abuse, the legal issues surrounding nursing home neglect are complex and deeply personal.
Our Bonita Springs nursing home negligence attorneys have won significant verdicts and settlements to support injured residents and their families and hold these facilities accountable.
Here's why you should trust Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, with your case:
- Thorough investigations: With our meticulous attention to detail, Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, considers all crucial factors when investigating negligence claims to fight for the best possible outcome for our clients.
- Direct communication: Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, will keep you in the loop and ensure you have direct access to the professionals handling your case.
- No win, no fee: Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, operate on a contingency fee basis, meaning we only get paid if you receive compensation. This ensures our interests align with yours—we strive to get the best result possible.
- Commitment to justice: Our firm aims to restore the dignity of seniors who have suffered nursing home neglect. Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, fights relentlessly to hold the responsible parties accountable and strive to secure the maximum compensation possible for the victims.
Your family deserves justice. Contact Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, today if you believe your loved one has suffered due to nursing home negligence.
What Counts as Nursing Home Negligence in Florida?
Florida has one of the highest populations of senior citizens in the country, making nursing home negligence a critical concern. Negligence occurs when facilities and their staff fail to provide residents with the basic standards of care, leading to physical or emotional injuries.
These harmful incidents are typically part of a pattern rather than an isolated event or oversight and often result from underlying issues with the facility. Recognizing the signs of nursing home negligence is the first step to protecting your loved ones and holding negligent caregivers accountable.
Florida law provides several safeguards to protect victims of abuse in nursing home facilities, but establishing liability requires proving:
- Duty of care: Nursing homes have an implicit legal responsibility to ensure their residents' well-being and must agree a contract with each patient on admission.
- Breach of duty: There must be evidence that the nursing home breached this duty through their harmful actions—or inactions—such as not following the correct medical orders for a patient or not having appropriately licensed staff.
- Direct causation: This element establishes how the facility's negligent act directly correlates with the resident's injury or harm. If an unsupervised resident suffers a hard fall on a hallway floor that was left hazardously wet, for example, there's a direct and clear causation between the facility's negligence and the victim's broken hip.
- Damages: There must also be evidence of actual harm or damages, such as physical injuries, emotional trauma, or financial losses resulting from the nursing home's negligence.
Establishing these factors typically requires medical records, eyewitness reports, professional testimony, and other forms of evidence. The nursing home negligence attorneys at Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, Bonita Springs, have extensive experience investigating these cases and preparing a solid legal foundation for negligence.
Examples of Nursing Home Negligence Cases We Handle
Nursing home negligence manifests in many ways. Overt abuse, benign neglect, or facility mismanagement can cause serious harm.
The nursing home negligence attorneys at Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, are adept at handling various kinds of cases, including:
- Neglect of an individual's basic needs: Failing to provide residents with water, food, or a safe environment.
- Medical neglect: Not attending to the medical needs of a resident, such as giving the wrong medication, not following medical instructions, or neglecting wounds.
- Emotional or social neglect: If staff members ignore the resident or are verbally abusive.
- Personal hygiene neglect: Failing to assist residents with cleaning, bathing, or dental care.
- Financial exploitation: Unauthorized use of a resident's funds or stealing from them.
Each nursing home negligence claim has unique circumstances, requiring a detailed and thorough evaluation. At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, we use our considerable resources and skills to investigate cases from every angle and uphold our clients' legal rights.
Compensation Victims Can Pursue After Nursing Home Negligence in Florida
Adults who rely on caregivers to meet their basic needs are vulnerable to abuse or mistreatment. Nursing home negligence is a distressing reality that many Florida families face every year, often with tragic consequences. Florida law recognizes the harms that victims and their families suffer due to negligent facilities and allows them the right to seek compensation.
The types of recoverable damages include:
- Economic damages: This covers tangible financial losses, such as medical bills, therapy costs, and any other out-of-pocket expenses related to the negligence, including fees for relocating the victim to a different nursing facility or home care.
- Noneconomic damages: These damages consider the intangible consequences of the negligent acts, such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of companionship, and reduced quality of life.
- Wrongful death damages: If negligence in a nursing home leads to the unfortunate death of a resident, the family can seek damages for funeral costs, loss of companionship, and the emotional pain of losing a loved one prematurely.
- Punitive damages: In cases where the negligence was particularly egregious or malicious, the court might award punitive damages to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar behavior in the future.
Tactics Insurance Companies Use to Avoid Compensating Nursing Home Negligence Victims
Nursing homes have liability insurance coverage to compensate residents for negligence-related damages, but insurance companies strive to preserve their bottom line, even at the expense of older adults whom caregivers have seriously harmed.
This harsh reality leaves families facing an arsenal of tactics to make the legal process more intimidating, such as:
- Challenging the causation: Insurance companies might argue that the injuries were pre-existing or not due to the nursing home's harmful actions. They may also claim that the resident's health condition, age, or behavior contributed to their injuries.
- Undermining the severity: Insurers can try to reduce the payout by disputing the extent of injuries or trauma.
- Making lowball offers: Providers may offer a substantially low settlement, hoping that the victim or their family will accept without getting the advice of a nursing home negligence lawyer.
- Delaying negotiations: Insurers use various delaying tactics to prolong the claims process, aiming to wear families down and encourage them to settle for less.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, can counter these strategies effectively. We ensure insurance providers don't exploit our clients during such a vulnerable time.
How We Calculate and Substantiate Damages For Nursing Home Negligence
Considering all damages resulting from nursing home negligence requires a comprehensive approach.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, takes the following steps to build a case accurately reflecting the extent of the victim's suffering:
- Assessing noneconomic damages: This considers the emotional and psychological toll on the victim and their family. We may use personal testimonies, diaries, and psychological assessments to address and seek the appropriate compensation for all pain and suffering damages.
- Quantifying economic damages: We review medical bills, receipts, and future care costs to build a valid claim.
- Considering the long-term repercussions: Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, work with medical professionals and other specialists to understand the long-term effects of the victim's nursing home negligence-related injuries, such as future medical costs, potential long-term care, or reduced quality of life.
- Preparing a comprehensive claim: We build a compelling claim comprising evidence to substantiate economic and noneconomic damages.
- Negotiating and litigating: Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, can negotiate assertively with insurance companies to seek a fair settlement. We can also escalate the case to a formal trial and argue your case in court if necessary.
Injured nursing home residents and their families have rights under Florida law. If you believe a nursing home harmed a loved one, contact Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, today for a comprehensive case evaluation and unfaltering commitment throughout the claim process.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pursuing a Nursing Home Negligence Case in Florida
Pursuing compensation for nursing home negligence is legally complex, as these claims are sensitive and often have emotional implications. Many families experience devastation, confusion, and uncertainty about their future. Common questions our clients ask when preparing to take legal action for nursing home negligence include:
What Should I Do if I Suspect Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect?
If you believe a resident faces immediate danger, act immediately to ensure their safety by calling 911.
If the situation's not an emergency, some of the ways you can protect your loved one include:
- Speak with the facility's administration: Schedule a meeting to address your concerns. Once the facility is aware of the situation, it has an ethical and legal duty to investigate and take steps to ensure your loved one's safety.
- Document everything: If you notice signs of potential abuse or neglect, such as unexplained injuries, drastic changes in behavior, or poor hygiene, it's crucial to document these observations. Take photos, keep notes, and gather other evidence supporting your claims.
- Get a medical evaluation: Seek medical attention for your loved one to address immediate health concerns, and gather records that can provide legal evidence of potential abuse or neglect.
- Report the abuse to authorities: Contact the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, which is responsible for investigating these claims.
- Talk to an attorney: If you believe your loved one has suffered or is suffering from abuse, contact a nursing home negligence attorney who can explain your legal options.
How Much Time Do I Have To Pursue My Nursing Home Negligence Case?
The statute of limitations for nursing home negligence cases in Florida typically allows victims or their families two years from the discovery of the injury to file a lawsuit. They can't file a lawsuit more than four years after the incident date, however, because the courts would no longer consider the evidence reliable.
Exceptions to this timeline include cases involving the deliberate concealment of abuse. An experienced nursing home negligence attorney can navigate this intricate legal framework and protect your rights.
What Are the Chances of My Case Going to Court?
The majority of nursing home negligence cases in Florida settle out of court. Settlements are generally faster and less expensive than a trial, making them preferable for both sides. If parties can't negotiate a fair agreement, however, Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, can advocate for your loved one's interests in court.
Contact Us if You or a Loved One Has Suffered Nursing Home Negligence In Bonita Springs
At Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, our mission is to uphold the rights of vulnerable individuals who are victims of nursing home negligence.
Our Bonita Springs personal injury attorneys experienced in nursing home negligence cases are here to provide guidance and advocate for your loved one's rights. While financial compensation can't erase the pain of these devastating situations, it can help alleviate the financial burdens they cause.
Call Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, today for skilled counsel and representation if you believe your loved one has been a victim.
You can easily reach Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, at (239) 307-2634, or you can write to us using our online contact page.