If you believe that a loved one is currently a victim of Brownsville nursing home negligence, you are likely considering a lawsuit. Entrusting an elderly relative to a nursing home means that we place their health and well-being into the home’s hands, and failure to uphold the agreed-upon standard of care is a serious violation of that trust. Fortunately, help is available. Carabin Shaw’s legal team has extensive experience with nursing home negligence lawsuits. Contact our Brownsville office today at 1-800-862-1260 to see how we can help you and your family.
Standards of Care in Texas Nursing HomesTexas is one of the worst states in the country for nursing home care. A full quarter of the state’s nursing homes have been named by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services as deficient in some way, numbering around 400 total. In 2015, the AARP reported over 700 dangerous violations of expected standards of care. These are only the more serious errors—the AARP reported over 17,000 violations in total. These abuses include, but are not limited to, financial abuse, medical malpractice, physical and emotional abuse, and neglect.
All of these instances of substandard care can have a hugely negative effect on your loved one’s health and their standard of living, and you should look into Brownsville elder abuse lawyers if any of them sound familiar to what your relative is experiencing.
You likely put your relative in the care of a nursing home because you recognized that your elderly loved one could no longer take the basic steps needed to care for themselves without help. Assisting your relative with those necessary tasks is the job of the nursing home and its staff. This includes, but not limited to:
Personal hygiene: Your relative may not have the motor or cognitive function necessary to properly bathe themselves, brush their teeth, and perform other basic sanitary tasks on their own.
Failure on the part of the nursing home to assist them with these tasks presents a health risk, as well as making the home an unpleasant environment for your relative. If they appear to be unwashed, have soiled their clothing without being changed, or are sleeping in dirty bedding, the nursing home is acting negligently and putting your relative’s well-being at risk. Seek assistance from a lawyer specializing in Brownsville nursing home negligence.
Medication: Your loved one also likely has a schedule of medication that needs to be kept up with, something that they themselves may not have the memory to adhere to without help. It is crucial that the nursing home administer their medications regularly and when needed. Some Texas nursing homes have failed to provide this simple necessity. One woman reported that her mother suffered a stroke after the nursing home discontinued her medication without consulting her.
Keep a close eye on your relative’s schedule of medication to make sure that nothing similar happens; if you suspect that they are not receiving the correct medication on a regular schedule, reach out to nursing home negligence lawyers serving Brownsville for assistance.
Texas courts can be difficult for nursing home neglect lawsuits. The state has been notoriously lax on punishing nursing homes for violating standards of care, and fighting against those violations yourself can be an uphill battle, one that will involve opposition from corporate attorneys retained by the nursing home. Thus, when looking for Brownsville elder abuse lawyers for your case, you should look for someone with extensive, specialized experience in that field.
Carabin Shaw’s team of personal injury attorneys has years of combined experience with Brownsville nursing home negligence lawsuits and can help you determine whether or not your case is viable, and how to best pursue it. Call us at 1-800-862-1260 to discuss your situation with one of our experienced lawyers.