Sumter Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
Residents count on long-term care facilities to keep them safe. When these facilities drop the ball, the Sumter nursing home abuse lawyers at the Stanley Law Group spring into action.
Older adults are among the most vulnerable people in society. Therefore, these individuals deserve special protection. Part of this special protection includes identifying the responsible party and ensuring that this party, and no one else, accepts responsibility for the incident and pays compensation.
This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.
This special protection includes special medical care. Many nursing home residents are in frail physical and/or mental condition. Therefore, any kind of abuse has an outsized effect. Furthermore, because of this frailty, many standard medical treatment approaches cause more harm than good.
Attorneys help ensure that all victims, including nursing home abuse victims, get the medical treatment they need, when they need it.
Sumter Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers and Kinds of Nursing Home Abuse
Money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in most cases, money is the root of nursing home abuse injuries in South Carolina.
These injuries come in many forms. Physical injuries include broken bones, head injuries, and internal bleeding. The emotional and psychological injuries are just as serious and usually much harder to treat.
The abuse itself also comes in many forms. Some examples of the matters we routinely handle throughout the state include:
- Physical Abuse: Usually out of frustration, many nursing home employees push or shove residents. This frustration is understandable, especially since so many area nursing homes are dangerously understaffed and the employees are dangerously overworked. Physical abuse, however, is never an appropriate way to relieve stress.
- Financial Abuse: Corporate financial abuse is very common in nursing homes. Frequently, these facilities file fraudulent guardianship actions to gain control of a resident’s financial portfolio. These cases are quite complex, as they usually involve civil RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) matters.
- Verbal Abuse: Physical and financial abuse hurts people. Frustration-based verbal abuse hurts just as much. The resulting emotional pain is usually permanent. Once again, these cases are quite complex, as they usually involve the negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Individuals are legally responsible for abuse, and in some cases, financially responsible as well. However, in most cases, the facility’s owner is financially responsible for damages. More on that below.
Evidence in Nursing Home Abuse Cases
Granny cams, or hidden surveillance cameras in nursing home rooms, often furnish compelling evidence in nursing home abuse cases. Jurors, like most other people, usually believe what they see.
These controversial devices deserve a bit more discussion. South Carolina is a single-party consent state. Therefore, these cameras are legal in the Palmetto State, even if the other party doesn’t agree to the recording. A possible downside is that these cameras could be bad for morale. If word about the camera gets out, and it probably will, many people become tense and edgy.
Other evidence in nursing home abuse matters includes witness statements, medical bills, and prior similar complaints, if any.
Prior complaints are often the most compelling proof of third-party liability in these matters. Negligent supervision is basically a failure to respond appropriately to a misconduct complaint. Negligent hiring, a similar legal theory, is hiring an incompetent person to do a job.
Contact a Thorough Sumter County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced Sumter nursing home abuse lawyer, contact the Stanley Law Group. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters.
