For people in Los Angeles and across the country, the decision to place an elderly family in an assisted living facility or nursing home is not an easy one. There are benefits to everyone if the facility is reputable and follows the applicable procedures when it comes to patient care. However, that is not always that case and in some instances people are harmed as a result of a nursing home error, delayed assistance and medical malpractice.
A report that was released in early 2014 from the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services yielded shocking results when it comes to the care residents in these facilities. Of those who were on Medicare and sent to facilities, as many as one-third of them were damaged by the treatment they received over the course of a year. The study also states that many of these injuries and health issues could have been avoided.
An estimated 60 percent of people who live in a nursing home and are hurt by various forms of mistreatment end up back in the hospital. There is an attempt to regulate treatment to avoid this, but it’s difficult to coordinate.
When there is the suspicion of a mistake made in a nursing facility, those who have had a loved one injured or die because of it need to know what happened. Contacting a legal professional with experience in pursuing cases involving nursing home error is the first step the family should take to pursue compensation.
Source: hhs.gov, “Adverse Events In Skilled Nursing Facilities: National Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries,” Accessed March 19, 2015
