Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer in Huntsville

When a nursing home betrays your trust by failing to provide proper care to your loved one, it’s time to bring in Huntsville nursing home abuse lawyers from our team at Wettermark Keith. We have over 50 years of combined legal experience, and we’re ready to fight for your family.

A Huntsville personal injury lawyer from our team can stand up for you, explain your legal situation, and work tirelessly to ensure that you get maximum compensation for your losses. Contact us for a risk-free consultation to learn more about how we can help.

Why Hire Our Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in Huntsville, AL?

While we can’t promise specific results, we have significant experience helping families in your situation. Getting a lawyer on your side increases your credibility with insurance companies. We can give you more leverage by adding our experience and know-how to the negotiations.

Our elder law attorneys understand how these cases work and what options you and your family have. We hope you never have to deal with abuse or neglect, but if you are, we want to help you and your loved one out of it as soon as possible.

Compensation for Nursing Home Abuse Claims

You can get the legal help you need to secure funds for your family‘s losses from our nursing home abuse attorneys in Huntsville, AL. Depending on your circumstances, you could qualify for funds to pay for:

Economic Damages

The economic damages associated with your claim could include your loved one’s medical expenses. Additionally, you may secure funds to cover the costs of professional secondary care, specialized medical transportation, and other out-of-pocket expenses your family incurs while ensuring your loved one is safe and properly cared for. 

Non-Economic Damages

We can focus on securing the funds your family needs to cover the non-economic expenses associated with your claim. These funds can cover your loved one’s emotional distress, pain and suffering, and mental anguish.

What to Do in an Emergency

In an emergency, you need to act immediately. An emergency is when your loved one is clearly undergoing abuse, and you need to remove them from that circumstance immediately. The first thing you should do is call 911 if your loved one’s condition is serious enough to warrant health care.

Secondly, you should remove your loved one from the situation. Take them to a safe place where they can get the care they need. Thirdly, call the Nursing Home Abuse Hotline at 1-800-458-7214 to report your case and get additional help for your emergency.

Work with a lawyer to establish legal guardianship, a conservatorship, or a valid power of attorney immediately after. Together, you can start working to get healing and compensation for your loved one’s nursing home abuse and neglect. 

Facts About Abuse in Care Homes

There’s a lot to know about Alabama’s elder abuse problem, and understanding the statistics can help prepare you against elder abuse of your loved ones in the future.

Here are some helpful facts for you:

• The elderly population is the fastest-growing in our society.
• Elder abuse doesn’t always happen at nursing homes; it can even occur amongst families.
• Around 10% of adults 60 and older will experience elder abuse.
• Financial exploitation is the most common type of elder abuse in Alabama.

Don’t let your loved ones continue to be victims of abuse and neglect in an assisted living facility or another type of care home. Report it, take action, and hire a lawyer as soon as possible. We can help you respond to elder abuse in Alabama.

What Abuse Looks Like

Elder abuse can take many forms. Elder abuse is an umbrella term that includes emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse, neglect, medical malpractice, and even wrongful death.

Older individuals can even be swindled out of their possessions, money, and assets by others if they aren’t mentally able to defend their property. It can be difficult to detect elder abuse, which is why it’s important to regularly check in with your loved one in person and establish a strong relationship with the care home staff.

You may notice abuse if your loved one develops injuries like pressure ulcers (also called bed sores or decubitus ulcers) or if their behavior suddenly changes. We’re here to help at the first sign of abuse.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Does Alabama Law Define Nursing Home Abuse?

The Alabama law regarding elder abuse is very clear: Any mental or physical harm caused to someone in a Huntsville long-term care facility, adult care facility, or hospital by someone else’s actions or inaction is elder abuse.

Elder abuse has taken many forms in Alabama’s courtrooms and includes just about any form of abuse against the elderly imaginable. If your loved one experienced abuse, we can help you take legal action.

Who Is Most Vulnerable to Nursing Home Abuse?

A care home resident who lives in relative isolation or has debilitating diseases like Alzheimer’s is the most vulnerable to abuse. In general, those elderly people who are least able to take care of themselves are also most likely to be targeted for nursing home abuse.

What Are the Warning Signs of Nursing Home Abuse?

Nursing home abuse manifests itself in several ways, but some of the most common are unexplained bruises or cuts, sudden and rapid changes in body weight or other physical features, poor hygiene, loss of possessions, and physical separation from others, amongst other things.

Does My Loved One Have the Right to Compensation if the Nursing Home Staff Claims the Injuries Incurred Were Necessary?

Sometimes, a loved one may not be entirely themselves, which can mean they need to be restrained. However, the use of restraint, whether by staff members or by restraining devices, is allowed only when medically necessary. Nursing homes cannot legally restrain residents only to make their jobs easier or more convenient.

The right to be free from restraint is a legally protected right for Alabama nursing home residents. No one, inside or outside a nursing home, can be restrained without their consent, unless it is medically necessary. Injuries that are a result of improper restraint are eligible for compensation.

We’re Here to Help With Your Legal Claim in Huntsville, AL

The number of nursing home abuse cases we see is heartbreaking. Abuse is a real threat to your older family members and friends, and it’s not one to take lightly, even if you only suspect the abuse is happening.

The signs can be subtle, but the impact is devastating. Don‘t be caught unawares if your loved one faces abuse: make a plan to call our team at Wettermark Keith immediately.

Our Huntsville nursing home abuse attorneys can help you get your life and theirs back to normal. Start today using the contact form below to schedule a free consultation.