NO RECOVERY NO FEE Free Case Review
San Diego Lawyers Handling Claims of Elder Neglect
Since 1993, our San Diego elder neglect attorneys have helped thousands of seniors
Parents, grandparents, and other senior family members deserve to be treated with competent and quality medical care and social care by their caretakers. Assisted living facilities, in-home caretakers, and other caretakers need to comply with federal and California laws. These elder care businesses need to follow accepted best practices for their type of care. Most seniors live with some degree of discomfort already. There’s no excuse for making their lives worse. At Garcia & Artigliere, our San Diego elder neglect lawyers hold caretakers responsible when they fail to provide for daily needs, help seniors take their medications, enjoy their rights, and prevent physical and emotional injuries. Our lawyers proudly represent seniors in San Diego and nationwide. We’ve obtained more than $3 billion for our clients.
NO RECOVERY NO FEE Free Case Review
How are San Diego caretakers neglectful?
At Garcia & Artigliere, our San Diego elder neglect lawyers understand what you and your loved one are going through. We’ve been fighting for seniors since 1993. We understand what federal and California laws caretakers must follow and what steps they should be taking to prevent harm – before the harm occurs. We are skilled at showing that nursing homes, assisted living facilities, at-home health services, and all types of caretakers breached their duty to protect your loved ones.
We handle the following types of neglect claims:
- Failure to meet a senior’s daily living needs. Every senior needs quality shelter, nutrition, medical care, cleanliness, and social engagements. Nursing homes and other caretakers are paid to provide caretaker services. The trade-off is that they’re supposed to take good care of your loved one – which starts with their daily needs and with ensuring that common preventable senior disorders are prevented or minimized. There’s no excuse for malnutrition, dehydration, bedsores, untreated infections, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or emotional abuse.
- Injuries due to falling. Every caretaker should take proactive steps to prevent falls. These steps include ensuring seniors are using walkers, wheelchairs, and canes. The floors should be dry, clear of objects, and level. It’s common knowledge that seniors have balance difficulties due to bad backs, legs, and other causes. Assisted living facilities and other caretakers need to be extra cautious because falls can cause broken hips, other fractures, head trauma, spinal cord damage, and other serious injuries. Falls can be fatal.
- Lack of quality medical care. Nursing homes that contractually agree to provide medical care need to provide competent care. Medical neglect of the elderly in San Diego includes failing to:
- Provide the senior’s correct medications in the correct dosages at the correct times
- Record the care provided and needed in appropriate records
- Examine seniors for signs of common senior disorders such as pressure ulcers, infections, scabies, and stroke.
- Seek immediate medical help when necessary
Caretakers should never use physical or chemical restraints unless recommended by the senior’s physician.
Elder neglect in San Diego may happen when caretakers fail to prevent the following types of abuse, fail to respond to the abuse in a timely and effective manner, or fail to take steps to stop any additional abuse. The neglect of seniors in San Diego is generally categorized as follows:
- Physical abuse/neglect. Caretakers should work aggressively to prevent falls, bedsores, infections, broken bones, and other types of physical harm. Elder care neglect also includes failing to prohibit the use of chemical or physical restraints.
- Sexual abuse/neglect. Long-term care facilities, daycare facilities, and in-home agencies need to conduct background checks on new hires. There should be policies in place to identify potential abusers, including other residents, prohibit any type of nonconsensual sexual acts, respond to any complaints, and ensure that a senior who is sexually abused receives immediate medical care.
- Emotional neglect. All caretakers need to respect the right of seniors to communicate with family members, participate in social activities, and enjoy their remaining years. Any conduct including verbal abuse, isolation, denial of a senior’s rights, and any acts that make a senior feel fearful or upset may justify a San Diego elder care neglect claim.
Why does neglect of the elderly occur in San Diego?
At Garcia & Artilleries, our San Diego elder abuse lawyers have 150 combined years of experience showing that the following key essential parts of a negligence claim apply to your loved one’s claim:
- A nursing home or any other caretaker owed your loved one a duty of care
- The caretaker breached that duty of care by not taking reasonable steps to prevent an elderly San Diego person from being harmed
- The breach of care, such as the failure to move bedridden seniors, caused physical or emotional harm, such as bedsores
Neglect does not require a showing of intent.
Examples of San Diego elder care neglect include:
- Failing to have an individual care plan.Every senior faces some physical and emotional challenges. Many seniors have cognitive challenges. Long-term care facilities, adult daycare facilities, and in-home senior care providers should have specific plans for each person in their care. These individual plans should identify the senior’s challenges, the methods for addressing those challenges, the contact information for the senior’s family members and doctors, and other information specific to that senior.
- Failing to have written policies and procedures for the whole facility or all commonly treated seniors. In addition to individual plans, caretakers need to have policies for how to address the common needs and concerns of all seniors in their care. These policies should explain and handle the rights of seniors and provide strategies for addressing common problems such as nutrition, when and how to give seniors their medications, fall prevention, abuse, and other common senior health issues.
- Assisted living facilities and other caretakers in San Diego should have enough qualified staff members for each senior so that your loved one can receive the attention and care he/she deserves. Caretakers should know how many staff members they need, what credentials the members have, and how to provide staff for each hour of the day.
- Failing to conduct background checks.Caretakers should conduct background checks of new employees to ensure they have the proper licenses, credentials, training, and experience. Background checks can also show if the applicant has a prior criminal record or a history of prior elder care complaints.
- Failing to educate the staff. All staff members should understand the rules and procedures that govern their care. Staff members should be able to observe and handle the typical physical, emotional, and cognitive difficulties seniors have. Staff members should understand the rules that govern any type of abuse – physical, sexual, or emotional. Staff members who work with cognitively challenged seniors should understand how to help seniors with dementia or Alzheimer’s. It’s up to the caretaker to ensure their staff members are properly trained and experienced.
Caretakers may also be neglectful if they fail to have reporting systems in place to monitor, report, and discipline their employees.
How do your lawyers fight for seniors who are being abused in San Diego?
We strongly recommend that you speak with our respected San Diego elder care neglect lawyers as soon as possible – to ensure your loved one is protected. At Garcia & Artigliere, our San Diego elder neglect attorneys explain what rights your senior has when neglect happens. We investigate what type of neglect occurred, how it occurred, who is responsible, and why caretakers and others are responsible.
We work with the police if criminal charges are filed. We also work with the local adult protective service agencies and the San Diego Long-Term Care Ombudsman if the senior lives in a long-term care facility. We also work with your loved one’s doctors and our independent doctors to verify what injuries your loved one suffered, the type of medical help (such as surgeries and rehabilitative care) that is necessary, and how your loved one’s quality of life has been damaged.
We file personal injury claims where we demand compensation for the senior’s medical bills, physical pain, emotional suffering, and loss of life’s pleasures. We also file wrongful death actions on behalf of family members when a loved one dies.
We demand compensation in wrongful death cases for the burial and funeral costs, any financial damages such as a loss of inheritance, and the loss of the support and love your loved one would have provided each family member.
Please know that your claim does more than protect your loved one. Your claim also helps to protect other seniors who may be suffering due to the same neglect.
Do you have a San Diego elder neglect lawyer near me?
Garcia & Artigliere represents victims of elder neglect in San Diego. We’ve helped thousands of seniors obtain strong recoveries. We help seniors and their families understand their rights. We’ll answer all your questions. Our team calmly and clearly guides elderly claimants and families through every stage of the claims process.
Talk with the respected San Diego neglect lawyers at Garcia & Artigliere today
At Garcia & Artigliere, our San Diego elder neglect lawyers understand all the defenses and excuses nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other caretakers use. We’re ready to explain why caretakers should be held liable and why those defenses and excuses don’t apply. Our lawyers understand how to help seniors with cognitive disabilities, physical disorders, and emotional challenges. We demand full compensation when caretakers fail to protect your loved one.
To help your loved one, call or complete our contact form today to schedule a free, confidential consultation. Our attorneys represent the elderly in Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, and San Francisco. We also represent seniors in Arizona, Kentucky, and Louisiana. There are no upfront fees. We represent seniors who have suffered due to neglect on a contingency fee basis.
Se Habla Español.