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California Elder Neglect Lawyers
California attorneys providing experienced advocacy for seniors who are mistreated by their caretakers
Elder care providers, including nursing homes and private caretakers, need to take care of the elderly every day to ensure the people in their care have the proper clothing, shelter, food, drink, and medications they need. The elderly have specific rights that must be respected. Long-term care facilities and other healthcare providers must anticipate and respond to emergencies. At Garcia & Artigliere, our California elder neglect lawyers understand when caretakers are accountable and why they’re liable. We’ve helped thousands of seniors and families obtain more than $3 billion in settlements and verdicts. Contact us to discuss your rights today.
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What are the types of elder neglect in California?
At Garcia & Artigliere, our California negligent elder care attorneys represent seniors (anyone 60 or older) in all types of neglect claims, including the following:
- Neglect that affects a senior’s essential health needs. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines these health needs as including food, clothing, shelter, hygiene, and attention to the senior’s medical care. The facility and rooms should be safe and sanitary. Healthcare providers should review each resident’s physical and emotional health on a daily basis. California elder care neglect also includes failing to anticipate and respond to dehydration and malnutrition, infections, bedsores, depression, skin disorders, and many other health disorders that are common to the elderly.
- Neglect that could cause a senior to fall. Nursing homes, assisted facilities, local facilities, and even a resident’s home should be inspected regularly to ensure a senior doesn’t slip or trip and fall. Obstructions should be removed. Railings should be secure. Floors should be dry. The caretakers should know where each person in their care is so the senior doesn’t wander or leave the premises.
- Medical neglect. Caretaker negligence may include:
- Not administering medication in the correct dosage for the correct conditions at the correct time
- Failing to properly record and update medical decisions and treatments
- Using chemical restraints to control patients when not medically recommended
- Not regularly looking for and treating bedsores, scabies, infections, breathing difficulties, stroke, and other medical disorders
- Emotional and social neglect. Assisted living facilities such as nursing homes should ensure that each resident is socially engaged with other residents, family, and friends where possible. Nursing home staff and other caretakers should be rotated and monitored to ensure a resident isn’t being emotionally abused.
- Sexual abuse/neglect. Nursing homes, other businesses, and private caretakers should look for signs of abuse, run background checks on employees, and take other steps to prevent sexual abuse before it occurs and respond quickly when there are complaints of sexual abuse.
- Physical abuse/neglect. Caretakers should look for and treat the signs of physical abuse, including broken bones, bruises, and cuts. Physical and chemical restraints should never be used unless medically authorized.
Caretakers should have the training and experience to help seniors with cognitive disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer's.
Why do caretakers neglect elderly people in California?
There is no requirement to show that a caretaker such as a nursing home intentionally caused a senior any physical or emotional harm. At Garcia & Artigliere, our California elder neglect lawyers are skilled at showing the key elements of a neglect claim:
- A caretaker owed a duty of care (usually based on a contract to provide care) to a senior.
- The caretaker failed to act or acted in an unreasonable way such as failing to follow nursing home best practices
- The failure to act or the action caused the senior physical or emotional harm
Some of the leading inactions or actions (acts of negligence) that cause patients and residents harm include:
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- Failure to have an individual care plan. Whether a caretaker takes care of just one person or hundreds of people, they need to recognize the unique challenges and needs of each person they care for. The plans should include the senior’s medical conditions, medication requirements, contact information, and any information that will help every caretaker in that senior’s life make a quick assessment of the senior’s needs and the best ways to help the senior.
- Failure to have written policies and procedures for the entire facility. In addition to private plans, long-term care facilities that work with seniors regularly should have written policies and procedures to create standards for the care staff members should provide, the rights of the residents, and abuse and neglect should be reported and reviewed.
- The health of each resident, patient, or senior should come before the profit of the caretakers. Nursing homes and other caretakers should ensure that they have enough qualified staff members for each resident so that caretakers don’t become careless due to overwork or stress.
- Failure to conduct background checks. All caretakers need to be sure that the people they hire or employ to care for seniors have the proper credentials, licenses, training, certifications, and experience. Caretakers also need to run background checks to ensure new workers aren’t a danger to any seniors.
- Failure to train and monitor staff workers. Each worker for a personal caretaker or a company such as a nursing home should have the proper skills and training to handle the various medical and personal problems seniors are likely to have. Just because a staff member isn’t a doctor, it doesn’t mean each staff member should n’t understand how to ensure bedsores, falls, and other dangers don’t occur – and how to respond when dangers such as stroke do occur. Caretakers should understand how to protect each senior and how to ensure the place where the senior lives is safe.
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How can I help a senior who is being neglected in California?
At Garcia & Artigliere, our California elder neglect lawyers help seniors and families who are neglected. Seniors and the people who love and want to protect them should consider the following steps depending on the type and seriousness of the neglect:
- Contact the local police
- Contact local senior protective services agencies
- File a complaint with the California Long-Term Care Ombudsman if the caretaker is a long-term care facility such as a nursing home. The Ombudsman should investigate the claim and work to stop the neglect from reoccurring.
The best course of action is to contact our experienced California elder care neglect lawyers. Our lawyers are respected across California for our successful record of negotiating settlements, and obtaining arbitration and court verdicts.
Our elder abuse lawyers will explain your rights, discuss your options, and file claims to hold the negligence caretakers accountable.
On behalf of any seniors who suffer physical, emotional, or sexual harm, our lawyers will seek compensation for the senior’s pain and suffering, medical expenses, any income loss if they’re still working, and compensation for the inability to enjoy life.
If your loved one died due to California elder care neglect, we will file a wrongful death action which includes damages for the funeral and burial costs, the loss of an inheritance, the loss of guidance and support your loved one would have provided, and any other applicable damages.
If the negligence was egregious, we’ll seek punitive damages.
One other remedy we seek is to require that the negligent caretaker take certain steps to ensure no other person in the caretaker’s care is hurt by the same type of neglect.
Do you have a California elder neglect lawyer near me?
Garcia & Artigliere represents elder neglect victims throughout California. We maintain offices in Long Beach and Los Angeles. In 2022 alone, our lawyers obtained $50 million in settlements and verdicts for our clients. We see seniors at their nursing homes when necessary.
Call the California elder neglect lawyers at Garcia & Artigliere today
At Garcia & Artigliere, we understand why neglect of seniors happens and why the neglect is preventable. Our California elder neglect attorneys are skilled at showing why nursing homes, other long-term care facilities, and private caretakers should be held liable for any harm that happens to your loved one.
Call or contact our offices now to schedule a free, confidential consultation. We proudly represent the elderly and families throughout California, including Long Beach and Los Angeles. We maintain additional offices in New Orleans, Phoenix, and Louisville. We’re highly respected trial lawyers ready to help you now.
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