If someone you love has been abused in a nursing home in Defiance, Ohio, call the Law Office of Michael J. Tremoulis at (419) 404-4444 today. You may deserve significant compensation. An experienced Defiance nursing home abuse lawyer can help you fight for the compensation you deserve.
Our award-winning team of attorneys has over 150 years of combined experience in personal injury law. Our case results speak for themselves: we’ve recovered tens of millions of dollars in compensation for injury victims and their families.
Why Choose the Law Office of Michael J. Tremoulis to Handle My Family’s Nursing Home Abuse Case in Defiance, OH?
You trusted the nursing home with your loved one’s care. Unfortunately, in today’s world, nursing homes often put profits over people. When that happens, abuse and neglect can run rampant. It’s never acceptable.
Getting justice will mean standing up to a powerful corporation and its insurance defense teams.
Our Defiance nursing home abuse attorneys at the Law Office of Michael J. Tremoulis are up to the challenge. We have over a century of experience handling cases like yours.
For our success, we’ve been recognized in the legal community by:
- The Multi-Million Dollar Advocates’ Forum
- The National Trial Lawyers
- Super Lawyers
- Best Lawyers
We know your family has experienced an unacceptable trauma. Our Defiance personal injury lawyers are here to protect your interests. Call us today to get started.
How Common is Nursing Home Abuse?
Unfortunately, nursing home abuse is a systemic problem. The World Health Organization has conducted studies on the problem. When surveyed, two out of every three caregivers admitted to committing some type of nursing home abuse in the past year.
U.S. Census data shows that roughly 200,000 elderly adults in Ohio experience some type of abuse each year.
What is Considered Nursing Home Abuse in Ohio?
When a caretaker’s actions harm a resident, it’s considered abuse whether those actions are intentional or negligent.
Nursing home abuse can be:
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse is any type of conduct that causes a resident to suffer physical harm.
Physical abuse can include:
- Grabbing or handling a resident with unnecessary force
- Using unnecessarily tight physical restraints
- Hitting, punching, or kicking
- Hair-pulling
Nursing home residents are often physically vulnerable to begin with. This means these types of physical abuse can cause injuries that are more serious than they might be in another setting.
That doesn’t excuse the caregiver’s conduct. Nursing home caregivers are expected to recognize and respect the resident’s condition any time they make physical contact.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse is any type of behavior that evokes shame, fear, or trauma in a resident. It can be caused by threats, name-calling, belittling, taunting, or forced isolation.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse involves forcing a resident to watch or participate in any type of sexual activity.
Nursing Home Neglect or Negligence
Abuse can also include neglect. Nursing home residents count on their caregivers to help them thrive and live safely. Neglecting a resident’s basic needs can be just as damaging as intentional abuse.
Neglect can include:
- Failure to provide adequate food and water
- Ignoring a resident’s medical needs, including medications
- Failure to regularly move immobile residents to prevent bedsores and infections
- Ignoring a resident’s need for assistance
- Failing to supervise residents who are at risk of wandering
- Abandonment
These and other types of neglect can be active or passive–in other words, neglect can be intentional or careless.
Financial Exploitation or Abuse
Vulnerable nursing home residents are at an increased risk of being targeted for financial crimes. Caretakers can abuse residents by stealing property, committing identity theft, using the resident’s credit cards improperly, or even coercing them into changing a will.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Nursing Home Abuse in Defiance?
In Ohio, anyone who commits or contributes to nursing home abuse can be financially responsible. Caretakers can be liable for their own misconduct and negligence.
Nurses, therapists, and other medical providers who work in the nursing home may be responsible if they contribute to the abuse or are negligent in allowing it to occur.
Most often, the nursing home itself will share financial responsibility. Nursing homes are responsible for the acts of their employees. This is a legal theory called vicarious liability.
Nursing homes can also be liable for their own negligence, including:
- Failing to conduct adequate background checks
- Lack of oversight
- Failing to implement policies and procedures to prevent abuse
- Understaffing the facility
- Violating safety and health codes
Multiple parties may share liability. In Ohio, fault is apportioned among all responsible parties. Each party can be held financially responsible for its proportionate share of blame.
How Much Is My Defiance Nursing Home Abuse Case Worth?
When our lawyers are calculating your case value, we’ll begin by evaluating a few key factors that are relevant to nearly every case, including:
- The nature of any physical injuries your loved one has suffered
- Your family’s financial costs, including for medical care, rehabilitation, and transferring to a new facility
- Anticipate future expenses
- How your loved one’s quality of life has changed
- Damage to your loved one’s mental health
- The nature of the abusive party’s actions
- The nature of the nursing home’s actions or inactions
- The duration of the abuse
Putting a dollar value on the pain, trauma, and anger that abuse causes can be incredibly difficult. Our Defiance nursing home abuse attorneys often retain experts. Expert witness testimony can be crucial to establishing the value of non-financial losses.
What Types of Damages Can My Family Recover By Filing a Nursing Home Abuse Claim in Defiance?
When you seek compensation via a personal injury claim, you’re demanding compensation for the losses you’ve suffered. Your compensation can include awards for economic damages and non-economic damages.
Common examples of economic damages include:
- Medical expenses
- Rehabilitation
- Mental health treatment
- Increased costs associated with transferring to a safe facility
- Property damage and restitution in financial abuse cases
- Out-of-pocket expenses
Non-economic damages can be significant in nursing home abuse cases, and may include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Diminished quality of life
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Reduced life expectancy
- Shame and humiliation
Punitive damages may also be on the table. Punitive damages are awarded as punishment to the defendant, rather than to compensate for a specific loss. They’re available in cases involving intentional wrongdoing or reckless disregard for the victim’s safety.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer to Handle a Nursing Home Abuse Case in Ohio?
Our team at the Law Office of Michael J. Tremoulis accepts cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay absolutely nothing to hire our law firm. Instead, you agree to pay a fixed percentage of your settlement or verdict.
When we win, our attorneys’ fees are collected directly from your compensation award. If we don’t recover compensation, you don’t pay.
Nursing Home Abuse Can Leave Victims Struggling With Severe Injuries
The physical consequences of nursing home abuse can be severe.
Examples of the types of physical injuries victims of abuse may endure include:
- Broken bones, fractures, and other fall-related injuries
- Concussions and traumatic brain injuries
- Bedsores
- Infections, which can lead to serious internal injuries
- Sexually transmitted diseases
- Soft tissue injuries
- Eye injuries
- Choking injuries
- Crushing injuries
- Internal injuries caused by dehydration and malnutrition
- Neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
When building your case, it’s also critical to recognize the mental impact of abuse. Even admitting that they’ve been victimized can be traumatic and humiliating.
When you hire our attorneys, count on us to demand full compensation to account for all of the ways your loved one’s life has changed due to the abuse.
What Is the Deadline for Filing a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit in Ohio?
In Ohio, the deadline to file a nursing home lawsuit can vary depending on the claim. Some claims involving medical care or abuse may have a one-year deadline, while negligence or wrongful death claims may allow up to two years.
Because strict deadlines apply, it’s important to speak with an attorney as soon as possible.
Contact an Experienced Defiance Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer for a Free Case Review Today
Nursing home abuse is often a crime. It also gives families the right to pursue justice in the form of financial compensation. If your family has experienced abuse, call the Law Office of Michael J. Tremoulis today. During a free consultation, an experienced Defiance nursing home abuse lawyer will listen to your story and explain your rights and options.
