Have you or an aging family member been abused at a nursing home facility in St. Cloud, Minnesota? Contact Hall Law Personal Injury Attorneys immediately or call us at (320) 255-1000 for a free consultation. The abusive caretakers and facility must be held fully accountable for the harm and suffering that’s been inflicted. Our St. Cloud nursing home abuse lawyers can help your family achieve meaningful financial recovery.
Hall Law Personal Injury Attorneys has been a trusted name in personal injury litigation in St. Cloud, MN, since 1979. We’re award-winning Minnesota trial attorneys with a proven ability to take on powerful insurance companies, nursing homes, and hospitals and win big results for clients like you.
Our law firm has secured over $90 million in life-altering jury verdicts and privately negotiated settlements from snowmobile accidents, St. Cloud slip and fall cases, St. Cloud catastrophic injuries, bicycle incidents, and more.
Call our law office in St. Cloud, MN, to arrange a free consultation and discover how we might be able to help you, too.
How Hall Law Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help if a Family Member Has Been Abused or Neglected at a St. Cloud Nursing Home
You trusted a nursing home to look after and take care of your aging or disabled family member. However, that trust has been violated. Our St. Cloud personal injury lawyers are ready to help you take on the nursing home and demand that they take full responsibility for their actions.
Our team understands that this is your one shot at recovering compensation. We’re here to help you make the most of it.
Spend this time with your aging loved one and help them focus on their recovery. Our team will handle the rest.
We will:
- Launch an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding your loved one’s abuse or neglect at the nursing facility
- Gather evidence that can help us prove the abuse, including medical records and charts, nursing home policies and procedures, witness statements, records of prior instances of abuse, nursing home violations, internal documents and records, video recordings, and photographs
- Review results of inquiries conducted by local law enforcement and/or state and federal regulatory agencies
- Consult with medical professionals, nursing home specialists, forensic accountants, and other experts
- Represent you during all negotiations with the nursing facility and/or its insurance company
- Advocate for your best interests, which might mean rejecting lowball offers and bringing your nursing home lawsuit to trial to fight for a better result
At Hall Law Personal Injury Attorneys, we’ll fight for you like family. We’ll also represent you on a contingency fee basis. So, we don’t get paid unless you do. Let us assume the risks associated with your case. Call our law office in St. Cloud, MN, to get started today.
How Common Is Nursing Home Abuse?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 out of every 6 nursing home residents over the age of 60 is abused annually.
However, research suggests that nursing home abuse is vastly underreported. An anonymous survey of nursing home caretakers revealed that 2 out of 3 caretakers admitted to abusing or neglecting a resident within the past year.
What Are the Different Types of Nursing Home Abuse?
Nursing home abuse is a broad term used to describe a caretaker’s intentional or negligent actions that cause a nursing home resident to suffer some type of harm.
Generally speaking, there are five recognized categories of nursing home abuse: physical, emotional/psychological, financial, sexual, and neglect.
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse can include:
- Hitting
- Punching
- Pushing, or
- Otherwise physically assaulting a nursing home resident.
Physical abuse can also occur if a nursing home resident is physically restrained in a harmful manner.
Emotional Abuse
Abuse can also be emotional and/or psychological.
Examples include:
- Repeatedly yelling at and chastizing a resident
- Isolating a resident from others and/or visitors
- Intimidating a resident and making them fearful for their health or safety
- Refusing to allow a resident to see or speak with family
- Threatening a resident
Unfortunately, emotional abuse is quite common in the United States.
Financial Abuse
Just like all aging Americans, nursing home residents are particularly susceptible to financial abuse and exploitation.
Nursing homes and/or caretakers can commit financial abuse by:
- Stealing a resident’s identity
- Misappropriating a resident’s funds
- Using a resident’s bank account information or credit card to make personal purchases
- Stealing a resident’s personal property
It’s estimated that elder financial abuse – including abuse committed in nursing homes – may cost as much as $36.5 billion annually.
Sexual Abuse
Nursing home residents can be victims of sexual abuse when caretakers:
- Force residents to engage in nonconsensual sexual acts, including sexual intercourse or forced physical touching
- Forcing residents to watch sexual acts, or
- Touch residents inappropriately.
Residents who are sexually abused may exhibit symptoms that are also associated with physical abuse and emotional abuse.
Neglect
Nursing home residents can also suffer severe physical, emotional, and health-related complications when they do not receive appropriate levels of care.
Neglect may include:
- Abandonment
- Failing to provide necessary food, water, medication, or medical treatment
- Failing to provide assistance when a resident needs to use the bathroom or move
- Failing to move a resident who spends the majority of their time in bed or a wheelchair to prevent bedsores
Residents who are neglected are at an increased risk of falling, choking, contracting illnesses or infections, and developing debilitating mental health conditions.
Who Could Be Liable For Abusing a Resident in a St. Cloud Nursing Facility?
Anyone who assumes responsibility for a resident’s well-being can be liable for abuse in a nursing home facility.
This might include:
- The nursing facility
- Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs)
- Caretakers
- Physicians and medical staff
- Nursing facility staff
Our nursing home abuse attorneys in St. Cloud will carefully examine the circumstances of your loved one’s abuse and neglect. We’ll work hard to determine what led to the abusive situation, who let it happen, and who can be held legally accountable for the consequences.
What Damages Can Be Awarded in a St. Cloud Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit?
When you file a nursing home abuse lawsuit in Minnesota, you will generally be entitled to compensation for:
- Economic damages to cover costs and losses related to the abuse, and
- Non-economic damages to make up for the trauma, suffering, and distress the resident experienced.
Known as compensatory damages, this could include money for:
- Transfer to another nursing facility
- Current and future medical bills
- Disfigurement
- Reduced quality of life
- Rehabilitation
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Mental anguish
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Funeral expenses if a resident dies because of their abuse
If a settlement isn’t reached, punitive damages could be awarded at trial. A jury would have to find that the caretaker (or nursing facility) acted intentionally or displayed grossly negligent behavior.
The nursing home will work hard to downplay your loved one’s trauma and costs. Our St. Cloud nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys won’t let them call the shots or tell you what your case is worth. We’ll fight hard to secure a top-dollar result during negotiations or at trial.
Common Nursing Home Abuse Injuries
Nursing home residents who experience abuse or who are neglected are susceptible to serious and debilitating injuries, including:
- Broken bones
- Cuts and lacerations
- Bedsores and pressure ulcers
- Nerve damage
- Fall-related trauma
- Concussions
- Brain injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Burns
- Amputation (often due to undetected infection)
- Back injury
- Joint injury
- Soft tissue injury
- Catastrophic injury
- Wrongful death
It’s important to seek medical treatment and report injuries and illnesses (and suspected abuse) to the facility and the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center (MAARC) immediately.
What’s the Deadline To File a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit in Minnesota?
Personal injury lawsuits alleging nursing home abuse or neglect are subject to a statute of limitations in Minnesota by default. If a family member is killed because of their abusive care at a St. Cloud nursing facility, you will also be subject to deadlines.
You will lose the right to demand justice and recover compensation once the statute of limitations expires, so reach out to a lawyer to confirm when you need to submit your claim.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Trusted St. Cloud Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
Nursing homes are responsible for ensuring that the care provided to residents is not only satisfactory but meets all state and federally mandated-regulations. If you or a loved one has been abused in a St. Cloud nursing home, they can be held legally and financially responsible for the harm caused.
The experienced St. Cloud nursing home abuse attorneys at Hall Law Personal Injury Attorneys can help you fight for maximum compensation.
Call our law office in St. Cloud, MN, to arrange a time for a free, no-obligation case assessment now.
Our personal injury law firm in St. Cloud, MN, also provides:
- Bicycle Accident Attorneys in St. Cloud, MN
- Boating Accident Lawyers in St. Cloud, MN
- Brain Injury Attorney in St. Cloud
- Car Accident Lawyer in St. Cloud, MN
- Catastrophic Injury Lawyers in St. Cloud, MN
- Child Injury Attorney in St. Cloud, MN
- Dog Bite Lawyers in St. Cloud, MN
- Motorcycle Accident Lawyer in St. Cloud
- Pedestrian Accident Lawyers in St. Cloud, MN
- Sexual Abuse Lawyers in St. Cloud, MN
- Slip and Fall Accident Attorney in St. Cloud, MN
- Truck Accident Lawyers in St. Cloud, MN
- Wrongful Death Lawyer in St. Cloud
