Boston Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

When we choose a nursing home for ourselves or our loved ones, we trust that the staff will perform their duties with professionalism and care. Unfortunately, mistreatment and abuse are rampant in elderly care facilities, resulting in significant trauma and hardship.

If you or a loved one have been abused by a nursing home professional, the Cashman Law Firm can help you seek justice. Our Boston nursing home abuse lawyer will help you hold the facility accountable and work diligently to secure the settlement you deserve. Call our firm today for a free consultation and discuss your nursing home abuse claim.

Why Choose Our Boston Nursing Home Abuse Attorney

• If you or a loved one are the victim of nursing home abuse, you deserve the best possible outcome. Our firm has recovered millions of dollars for our clients, proving our commitment to maximum recovery.
• We value trust, integrity, and excellence. Your attorney will be available to answer any questions that you may have and provide important updates throughout your case.
• Our nursing home neglect attorney has a strong track record of success. He has been named a Top 40 under 40 Trial Lawyer and won repeated Rising Star designations from Super Lawyers Magazine.

What is Nursing Home Abuse?

Nursing home abuse is a term to describe a wide range of mistreatment and neglect of, often, elderly patients by caregivers in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities. 

Nursing home abuse can describe both intentional and unintentional harm and can result in mental, physical, or emotional harm and even death in patients.  Nursing home abuse can be the result of many organizational failures such as understaffing, hiring unqualified caregivers, improper training, failure to monitor patients, along with many others. 

Common Types of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect in Boston

Abuse and neglect can be difficult to spot in nursing homes. This type of mistreatment can take on many forms, such as the following.

• Physical Abuse: Many elderly residents experience physical assault and abuse at the hands of nursing home caregivers. This mistreatment may involve kicking, slapping, pinching, shaking, beating, or using excessive restraints. 

• Emotional and Verbal Abuse: Caregivers may emotionally abuse residents, contributing to significant emotional distress. This type of abuse may include yelling, verbal abuse or ridicule, threats, and harmful remarks.

• Financial Abuse: This type of abuse occurs when a caregiver takes control of an elderly person’s finances without his or her consent or knowledge. The caregiver may steal money or possessions, coerce the elder to change his or her will, or take the elder’s Social Security or pension checks.

• Neglect: Neglect occurs when a caregiver fails to provide basic necessities for an elderly resident, such as medical care, food, shelter, exercise, and proper hygiene. 
• Pressure sores:  Also known as bed sores, pressure ulcers, and decubitus ulcers, pressure sores can develop on areas of the body that have continued contact with a hard surface, typically when patients are confined to a wheelchair or hospital bed. This pressure can cut off blood flow to the area, causing the cells and tissue to slowly die.  Pressure sores are slow to develop and are an indicator of neglect in nursing homes.  Pressure sores are categorized in four stages, from mild pain and inflammation in stage one to deep, open wounds that reach the bone in stage four.  
• Falls:  For elderly nursing home patients, falls can be especially dangerous.  Falls can result in devastating injury such as broken bones (including hip fractures), torn ligaments, head or spinal cord injuries, and even death.  A lack of supervision, inadequate or unqualified staffing, poor lighting or even uneven or slippery floor ways can create dangerous situations for elderly patients. 

• Sexual Abuse: Incidents of sexual assault and abuse in nursing homes are more common than many people believe. A caregiver may take advantage of a resident’s vulnerable state to commit heinous acts.

Warning Signs of Nursing Home Abuse

While abuse or neglect can occur in any facility, it often comes with telltale warning signs.  Signs of abuse or neglect can include:

• Unexplained weight loss
• Infections
• Dehydration or malnutrition
• Broken bones or fractures
• Bruises, burns or welts on the skin
• Cuts or lacerations
• Facial Injuries
• Dental injuries
• Unexplained sexually transmitted diseases

What to Do If You Suspect a Loved One Is Being Abused

If you suspect nursing home abuse, it is important to get your loved one to safety as soon as you can. Speak to your loved one, ask if he or she is experiencing mistreatment, and present him or her with a safety plan. 

Your loved one may be hesitant to speak about the abuse, so be patient. Make sure that your loved one receives adequate medical care for any injuries, as well as psychological counseling. Save these medical records.

Then, contact a Boston nursing home abuse attorney from the Cashman Law Firm.  There are nursing home abuse laws in place at both the state and Federal level to protect patients and require nursing and long-term care facilities to provide high-quality care to residents.  Your nursing home neglect lawyer can help you file a complaint with the Massachusetts state government and stop the facility from committing these heinous acts. He can also help you hold the facility and the abuser accountable by representing your loved one in a lawsuit.

You or your loved one may be entitled to financial compensation for damages that resulted from the abuse or neglect.  This can include:

• medical expenses (both past and future)
• emotional suffering
• funeral expenses in the event that your loved one died
• punitive damages to punish a facility for especially egregious wrongdoing
• other costs associated with the abuse

Contact a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer in Boston Today

No one deserves to endure nursing home abuse. In these situations, you or a loved one may be eligible for legal action—and the Cashman Law Firm can help. Call (978) 306-7549 to schedule a free consultation today to discuss your next steps with our Boston nursing home abuse attorney.  We handle all Boston nursing home abuse cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning we charge no fees unless were recover compensation on your behalf.