Allegheny County Nursing Home Abuse Attorney
When you place an elderly loved one into a facility, you expect that he or she receive quality medical care and respectful treatment from staff. Sadly, this is not always the reality of the situation. While under-reporting by victims makes tracking exact statistics impossible, the National Center on Elder Abuse reports at least 10% of nursing home residents reported being abused or neglected. If you are concerned that your loved one is being mistreated or is receiving substandard care, it is critically important that you take legal action to protect their safety.
Why Choose Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Brent Wieand?
Attorney Brent Wieand represents victims and their families in a wide variety of cases. As creator of The Nursing Home Injury Help Center website, Brent Wieand is passionate about aggressive client advocacy, and will fight hard to help you seek justice for the wrongs against your family. We serve communities throughout the county, including but not limited to Pittsburgh, Fox Chapel, Elizabeth, Oakdale, Baldwin, Lincoln, and Whitehall.
To set up a completely free and confidential consultation, call our law offices right away at (215) 666-7777. You won’t be charged any attorney’s fees unless we get results, so call today to start exploring your legal options.
Types of Elder Abuse and Neglect: Claims We Handle
At The Nursing Home Injury Help Center, we handle two basic types of claims: neglect, and abuse. Abuse involves deliberate mistreatment, while neglect involves carelessness, negligence, or a failure to provide adequate care. If you have any concerns at all, even a bad feeling that something may be wrong, for the sake of your loved one’s safety it is crucially important to follow up by consulting with an attorney immediately. Nursing home neglect attorney Brent Wieand handles a wide variety of claim types, including:
- Amputations — In this context, accidental amputations are uncommon. More often, the problem relates to intentional but avoidable amputations necessitated by the advancement of preventable and treatable diseases, such as diabetes or artherosclerosis.
- Bed Sores (Pressure Ulcers) — Bed sores, also known as pressure ulcers, are one of the most common issues affecting people who are confined to beds or wheelchairs. Bed sores are avoidable with basic precautions such as changing positions and receiving good nutrition.
- Bone Fractures — The aging process physically alters human bone, reducing its density and increasing its fragility. After a fracture, it is also more difficult for elderly people to heal and recover. As a result, caregivers to elderly people must take special care to reduce the possibility of an accident resulting in a break or fracture.
- Dehydration — Anyone can become dehydrated, but aging actually increases the risk. Consequences of severe dehydration can include cerebral edema (brain swelling), seizures, kidney failure, coma, and death.
- Dosage Errors — All medications come with strict dosage instructions. Accidnetally ingesting too much medication can result in death by overdose, while taking too little can fail to counteract a debilitating or deadly disease.
- Fall Accidents — Falls are a serious health concern for the elderly. The CDC reports that falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries among people aged 65 and older, accounting for over two million hospital visits in 2012 alone. Falls are the number one cause of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), and are a significant contributor to bone fractures and lacerations.
- Financial Exploitation — Many times, older people have substantial savings and assets which they have earned over the course of a lifetime. Unfortunately, these assets can make them a target for theft and fraud. Financial abuse can not only bankrupt an elderly resident, but deprive the resident’s family members of their rightful benefits and inheritances.
- Infections — Infections can be fatal if they are not immediately and aggressively treated. Because elderly people have weaker immune systems than their younger counterparts, prompt and comprehensive infection treatment becomes even more critical.
- Malnourishment — Malnourishment or malnutrition is an exceptionally serious health risk for older people, because malnutrition can compromise the immune system, which is already weakened in elderly persons. Malnourishment can lead to organ failure and death.
- Medication Errors — Many elderly people rely on at least one type of medication. However, many medications can have severely injurious or even fatal interactions. If a patient accidentally receives the wrong medication, or is over- or undermedicated, the result can be permanent damage or death.
- Sexual Abuse — Elderly victims are often hesitant to talk about being sexually abused, which makes it extremely important to be vigilant for warning signs if you suspect there could be an issue. Warning signs can include social withdrawal, emotional outbursts, soiled or damaged garments, and difficulty walking or sitting.
- Wrongful Death — Wrongful death is the term for preventable death which occurs as a direct result of negligence or recklessness, such as a death caused by a careless staff member giving a resident the wrong kind of medication. If someone you love passed away, the facility he or she was residing in may be considered financially liable for your family’s losses.
If you believe your family member could be dealing with any of these issues, call nursing home abuse attorney Brent Wieand right away at (215) 666-7777 for a free and private case evaluation. You could be saving a life, so don’t delay: call as soon as you can to start discussing your claim.
Disclosure: Attorney Brent Wieand’s office is located in Philadelphia, PA. We happily serve clients throughout all of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
