In Washington state, a man lost a limb due to nursing home abuse and negligence.
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Protect the Helpless
Patrick Carson is a schizophrenic who has spent most of his life in care facilities and rehab institutions. He was in his sixties when he entered the Burien Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in King County, Washington, and reports from the home show he also suffers from dimentia and heart disease. In October, 2009, Carson fell out of his bed and landed near a baseboard heater positioned dangerously close to his bed. His left leg landed directly on the heater. He laid there long enough to sustain third degree burns to much of the left leg and right foot. The injuries were so bad that the left leg had to be amputated.
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Fight Negligence
Yes, the incident could be regarded as simply an unfortunate accident, but not considering Carson’s history as a patient at Burien. The complaint filed against the home states that an alarm was supposed to be attached to Carson’s body that would sound should he fall out of bed. The home maintains that the alarm was present, but was crushed in the fall and therefore did not sound. Carson’s attorney questions the presence of an alarm at all, claiming that an alarm was prescribed after the fall and the burns took place.
The home also claims that due to peripheral neuropathy and a supplement for neuropathy called Nerve Renew, Carson did not feel pain and therefore did not scream after the fall, explaining the delayed response. But Carson’s guardian, Loralee McDonnell-Williams, will testify that he had total sensation in his knee when stitches were being removed, meaning he could indeed feel pain. A state investigator also stated that Carson communicated pain during a wound check.
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
Patrick Carson lost a limb to negligent and inadequate care at a home his family entrusted with his life. Everyday, nursing homes and long term care facilities fall short on their promises to effectively care for the people that reside there.
If your loved one has been harmed by a negligent or abusive nursing home, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation or call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia. Let the Mininno Law Office team earn you the full and fair compensation you need and deserve.
As nursing home abuse lawyers, we typically will not be called in to investigate a nursing home abuse case involving a patient with Stage I ulcer as these bedsores, if treated promptly and correctly, rarely cause a nursing home patient to needlessly suffer. However, a Stage I pressure ulcer or bedsore is medically significant. Nursing home staff and medical personnel must be trained to carefully assess and identify any nursing home patient who has a potential Stage I bedsore or pressure ulcer. Although prevention is the best medicine for a bedsore or pressure ulcer, if a nursing home fails to prevent a bedsore or pressure ulcer, the next best step is early detection.
According to a recent report by the American Association for Justice, civil lawsuits help uncover 
At the Mininno Law Office, we know from experience that it can be a difficult for a family to decide whether or not to investigate if a nursing home should be held responsible for injuries to a loved one. Furthermore, it can be quite disheartening at a later time when the law firm a family finally trusted to perform an investigation sends a letter indicating their disinterest. Based upon the experience of 
As far back as 1987, the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging held hearings to determine the scope of abuse that was occurring in nursing homes. The federal government deemed the nature and extent of the abuse occurring in nursing homes to be such a serious concern that at the same time, the United States Office of Inspector General further began an investigation designed to uncover whether or not nursing home abuse was widespread throughout this country’s long term care system. As a result of the Senate and the Inspector General’s investigations, Congress then enacted in the Ombudsman’s Reconciliation Act of 1987, or OBRA .
A Kentucky jury awarded $42.75 million to a family who claimed that 
After calling an attorney, the next step is often to obtain the medical records. It is often best for the family to initially request the medical records without the help of an attorney. This ensures less of a chance the nursing home would remove documents from the chart, or even re-write them. In order to request a resident’s medical records, you need to have authority to do so. What gives you that authority?
Nursing homes frequently allow their residents (our loved ones) to acquire decubitus ulcers, which are more commonly referred to as pressure sores or bedsores. These horrible pressure ulcers are often a result of nursing home neglect regarding the care they provide and preventative methods they employ. High risk bedsore patients (patients who are bedridden) are to be rotated every two hours. Failing to do so is failing to appreciate the risk of skin breakdown for the resident, allowing for the actual development of the bedsores. Even worse, negligent nursing homes that allow for the development of these bedsores commonly fail to properly treat them. It is in these instances that pressure ulcers can become deadly.