Los Angeles Elder Abuse Lawyer

In the United States, around 1.4 million people have their health and safety in the hands of the nursing home staff at any given time. These hundreds of thousands of elderly individuals receive care at assisted living facilities when they can no longer care for themselves. Unfortunately, not all nursing home and assisted living facility employees that we entrust to care for our elderly loved ones have our family members’ well-being in mind.

Elder abuse in these facilities is more common in Los Angeles than many people may realize. Due to factors such as mismanagement, greed, and neglect, many Southern California nursing and assisted living facilities operate without sufficient staffing. Likewise, they hire staff that has not been properly trained and screened.

At Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos, LLP, our Los Angeles elder abuse attorneys represent elders and dependent adults who have suffered physical or financial abuse as a result of insufficient staffing or resources at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals.

What Could Be Considered Elder Abuse in Los Angeles?

Elder abuse is considered any harm or mental suffering of a senior or dependent adult. Instances of elder or dependent adult abuse in Los Angeles may include the following:

• Neglect
• Elopement
• Abandonment
• Isolation
• Abduction
• Deprivation
• Theft
• Fraud
• Sexual abuse

Physical abuse of a senior could refer to any of the following:

• Pressure Sores (also known as bedsores)
• Falls
• Starvation
• Dehydration
• Neglect
• Over or under-medicating

Elder abuse can also be financial in nature and may include the following:

• Overcharging or double-billing for medical care
• Recommending false remedies for medical conditions
• Medicaid fraud
• Getting kickbacks for referrals or drug prescriptions
• Forging the elder’s signature
• Stealing cash, checks, or other property

Trust is placed in the hands of caregivers or hospital staff, and when that trust is abused or exploited, you need to take action. An elder abuse attorney at Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos, LLP, may be able to help you take the right steps for you or your elderly loved one.

Potential Causes of Elder Abuse in Los Angeles, California

In some situations, elder abuse can occur because nursing homes and other facilities lack the financial resources to care for their residents efficiently. Thus, not enough money is spent on resident care, which sometimes results in understaffing or hiring underqualified personnel.

If a nursing home’s administration fails to maintain qualified staff or keep an acceptable staff-to-resident ratio, the residents will usually end up reaping the consequences. Overworked nursing home staff can have difficulty providing patients with their necessary care. Call lights can be frequently left ignored, and residents with limited mobility who rely on caregivers for their daily needs can be left stranded.

Immobile nursing home residents can fall victim to many issues when neglected by overworked staff, such as:

• Bedsores
• Falls
• Muscle atrophy
• Skin conditions
• Infections

These residents are entirely dependent on their caregivers for activities such as bathing, eating properly, taking medication, and using the bathroom. Therefore, to ensure adequate care of nursing home residents, federal regulations for staffing requirements of these facilities have been implemented.

How Can a Lawyer Help With Your Elder Abuse Case?

If you are planning on taking legal action against those who have harmed you, you may want to hire a lawyer in order to receive the assistance you need and the end result you want. Your lawyer may be able to help you in several ways.

Legal Knowledge

Lawyers are required to undergo extensive education and training before they might be qualified lawyers, including those who might take on your case as legal representation. Often, this means your qualified lawyer is likely to avoid making mistakes and will use their experience in law to your advantage. Your lawyer is far more likely to be familiar with the law than the average layperson, making them a fantastic resource and addition to your case team.

Negotiation

Your lawyer is also a fantastic negotiator. Lawyers tend to be well-known for their negotiation tactics, which may be useful in pre-trial negotiations and settlements, during trial hearings, and in many other stages of your case. Your lawyer may also use their negotiation skills to increase the monetary compensation to which you are entitled.

Handle Insurance Companies and Other Legal Representation

Elder abuse frequently causes patients to undergo serious stress and deal with unfortunate medical situations, meaning some of your monetary compensation may come from the medical facility’s insurance company. However, insurance companies are often uninterested in paying you everything you deserve, so your lawyer may be well-equipped to hold these corporations accountable. Additionally, your lawyer is far more likely to adequately handle the medical facility’s own legal representation than you are on your own.

Help You Collect and Analyze Evidence

Your lawyer may also be able to help you collect and analyze evidence related to your claims. Whether you have collected your own information, need help collecting something more substantial in your favor, or do not know how to interpret the evidence to the fullest extent, your lawyer may be able to assist you. Your lawyer’s knowledge of these types of cases equips them to see patterns and determine what monetary compensation you may be entitled to collect.

Refer You to More Trustworthy Care Facilities and Professionals

It makes sense that you might not trust your current care facility if you have faced abuse, and you may be disinterested in going to another facility at all. However, your lawyer is likely in a network of qualified and revered professionals that may be able to provide you with the care you need in order to be made whole again during the healing process. These professionals may also be able to assess the situation and determine the full extent of your injuries and abuse, meaning you will be far more likely to get the monetary compensation you deserve.

Maximize Monetary Compensation

If you are worried about paying for medical costs and adequate care related to your abuse, your lawyer may be able to help. Your attorney is in a unique position to analyze all of the available evidence and intimately understand your situation, meaning they may be able to assess the full value of your claims of abuse. You may be able to collect monetary compensation for your mental suffering and other noneconomic damages, as well as any other economic damages to which you may be entitled.

Reduce Stress

If the idea of taking legal action makes you feel stressed, your lawyer may be able to put these concerns to rest. Your lawyer is familiar with the legal process, especially as it relates to elder abuse in medical facilities. This means they may be able to collect information from you and handle all the complicated paperwork that typically comes with legal action. If you want to maintain your regular life as much as possible during the legal process, we highly recommend you hire a lawyer for adequate support.

Contact Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos, LLP, Top-Rated Elder Abuse Lawyers in Los Angeles, CA Today So We Can Help

If you are a senior or dependent adult who has been abused or have a loved one who has suffered abuse, Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos, LLP, can work to help you hold the negligent party responsible for their actions. Our Los Angeles elder abuse lawyers have been recognized for our commitment to obtaining justice for our clients by peer groups, legal publications, and others as some of the top attorneys in the nation.

Call us at (310) 844-9696 or complete our contact form so we may begin discussing your legal options. Over the last 35+ years, we have successfully recovered more than a billion dollars for our clients, and we want to help you too. We are a 100% confidential and secure outlet for all victims.