Santa Clara Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Lawyers

What conduct or inaction is considered abusive or neglectful in Santa Clara nursing homes?

Garcia & Artigliere has earned the trust and respect of former clients, insurance companies, and defense lawyers because we are skilled at showing what type of abuse or neglect occurred, who is responsible, and that the harm to the residents was preventable.

Our Santa Clara nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers handle claims involving:

• Physical abuse. Physical abuse of a resident involves physical force, the use of chemical or physical restraints, denying a resident his/her medications, or any other type of physical pain.
• Sexual abuse. Sexual abuse involves sexual acts or forcing a resident to watch sexual acts without the resident’s consent. Residents are often seen as targets because they have physical or cognitive disorders. The abusers can include the nursing home owners, staff, or even other residents.
• Emotional abuse. Nursing homes need to ensure that their staff members don’t try to control or punish a resident by making them feel guilty, afraid, or upset. Emotional abuse includes yelling and insulting residents. It also includes isolating a resident from relatives, friends, and other members of the nursing home.
• Gross neglect involves depriving or delaying a resident’s essential needs such as nutrition, medications, good hygiene, clean surroundings, and the ability to exercise a resident’s rights. Our Santa Clara nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys represent residents when the neglect is intentional (gross neglect) or irresponsible (general neglect).

Our lawyers also file claims when a nursing home resident wanders away from the facility or is abandoned (left on their own).

Nursing home medication errors

Most residents of Santa Clara nursing homes use multiple medications. Pharmacists, doctors, and the nursing home medical staff need to understand the risks of each drug and the dangers involved in using several drugs or more.

The US National Institute for Health (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 Santa Clara nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys understand why medication mistakes happen and why they’re preventable. We are skilled at holding nursing homes accountable when they fail to:

• Have detailed descriptions and reviews of what medications each resident needs
• Ensure the medications are given at the correct time, in the correct dosages, in the proper manner (orally or by injection)
• Review the possible side effects and drug interactions
• Record every medication usage and reactions (if any) on the resident’s medical chart
• Provide the correct medication for the correct medical disorder
• Have individual healthcare plans
• Provide immediate medical care if there are any side effects or reactions

Delayed or denied stroke treatment

Nursing homes must anticipate that some of their Santa Clara residents may have an ischemic or a hemorrhaging stroke. Generally, if tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is administered within three hours from the onset of stroke symptoms, there’s a reasonable chance of saving the senior’s life. tPA is used to break up blood clots that prevent blood from reaching the brain. Prompt stroke care can also help reduce the damage of hemorrhaging strokes that occur when the brain bleeds.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nearly one in six heart disorders are stroke-related. Nearly 200,000 people die from strokes each year.

At Garcia & Artigliere, our Santa Clara nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys work with cardiologists and other doctors to show that the nursing home that cared for your loved one failed to respond to stroke symptoms in a timely and life-saving manner.