San Diego Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Lawyers

What are the different types of San Diego nursing home abuse and neglect?

Garcia & Artigliere has more than 150 years of experience fighting for elder victims of abuse and neglect. We understand the specific federal and California laws that govern nursing homes. We work with nursing home professionals who understand how nursing homes should operate – and how they shouldn’t operate. We understand why nursing home abuse and neglect occurs in San Diego and why a nursing home failed your loved one.

The Cleveland Clinic and The Administration for Community Living (ACL) define nursing home abuse and neglect as follows:

• Physical abuse. Physical abuse involves any contact with a resident that causes pain. Examples include hitting, pushing, slapping, or striking a resident. Other examples include the use of chemical or physical restraints and denying a resident his/her medications.
• Emotional abuse. Emotional abuse is generally used to control or punish a nursing home resident. Examples include isolating a resident from other residents in the nursing home, isolating the resident from family and friends, insults, and intimidating language. Emotional abuse causes residents to become fearful of their caretakers, anxious, guilty, or depressed.
• Sexual abuse. Sexual abuse at a San Diego nursing home involves forcing a resident to participate in or watch sexual activities or conduct without the consent of the resident. Sexual abusers include nursing homes staff members, other nursing home residents, and anyone with access to the nursing home.
• Financial abuse. Financial abuse includes stealing cash, credit card information, jewelry, or any asset of value. Financial abuse also includes illegally depositing checks, retirement benefits, and other assets. Obtaining a power of attorney or changes to a will without the informed consent of the resident is financially abusive.
• Gross neglect occurs when a nursing home intentionally deprives a senior or another nursing home resident of their daily living needs, medications, right to communicate with family and friends, and many other nursing home residential rights. Our San Diego nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers represent residents who suffer gross neglect, which is intentional, and general neglect, which is irresponsible. San Diego nursing homes may also be liable if they fail to assist residents who may neglect (self-neglect) their basic needs such as personal hygiene and grooming to physical or cognitive impairments.

San Diego nursing homes can also be accountable if they allow a resident to wander away from the facility or abandon a resident completely.

At Garcia & Artigliere, our San Diego nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers file personal injury claims on behalf of injured residents and wrongful death claims when a loved one dies due to nursing home abuse or neglect.

Nursing home medication mistakes

The US National Institute for Health (NIH), reports that, as of May 2023, there are nearly 6,800 prescription medications available – along with a seemingly endless supply of countless over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Each drug has inherent risks that multiply when combined with other medications. Most nursing home residents take multiple drugs. Each year, the NIH states, about 8,000 people die in America due to medication mistakes. Hundreds of thousands of prescription users have complications from medical errors that are not reported.

The NIH defines a medication error as:

...any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional, patient, or consumer. Such events may be related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use.

At Garcia & Artigliere, our San Diego nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers file claims against nursing homes and nursing home staff (including medical staff) when medication mistakes cause seniors and other nursing home residents harm. These personal injury and wrongful death claims against nursing homes include claims that the nursing home or staff failed to:

• Give each resident the proper medication at the proper time in the proper dosage
• Give the resident their medications in the correct way – such as orally or by injection
• Review the possible side effects and drug interactions
• Examine the resident’s medical chart
• Record which medications were given to each resident and when
• Watch that the resident swallows or takes their medications
• Provide a proper diagnosis
• Have an individual health care plan for each San Diego nursing home resident
• Look for any signs of physical or emotional distress
• Provide or obtain prompt and competent medical care

Delayed or denied stroke treatment

San Diego nursing home residents who are having an ischemic or a hemorrhaging stroke need immediate medical care. An ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke, can usually be treated with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), provided the tPA is administered within three (3) hours of the stroke. tPA helps break up blood clots which prevent the brain from obtaining the blood it needs. Prompt care can also help hemorrhaging strokes which occur when there is bleeding in the brain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that nearly one in six heart conditions are stroke-related. Almost 800,000 people have a stroke each year, causing almost 200,000 deaths.

At Garcia & Artigliere, our San Diego nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys work with ER doctors, cardiologists, gerontologists, and other doctors to show that nursing home neglect prevented your loved one from receiving timely and possibly life-saving medical care due to strokes.