How Our Alabama Law Firm Investigates Nursing Home Abuse

Unfortunately, nursing home abuse affects nearly one million elderly peoplein America every year. Still, many cases of abuse go unreported. Since theelderly have deteriorating mental and physical health, along with a dependenceon caregivers, they are susceptible to severemistreatment. This is why Tommy James Law is committed to bringing nursinghome abuse to light.

As a Birmingham elder abuse law firm, it is important for us to educate thepublic about the different ways that nursing home abuse can manifest itself.For example, The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) lists the four major types of elder abuse as physical, psychological,financial and social. To assess which of these might be at play, we follow aspecific investigative procedure to uncover the truth. The steps involved inthis process include:

Interviewing Witnesses

The first step in our investigation would involve interviewing the victim tounderstand the nature of the abuse. Next, we would interview any potentialwitnesses of the abuse for corroborative evidence. This includes interviewingfamily members who may have noticed a change in the victim’s demeanor, outlookor physical condition. It might also mean interviewing other nursing homeresidents who may have information about the abuse.

Interviewing Nursing Home Staff

After interviewing witnesses, the second step involves speaking to thenursing home staff. When conducting interviews, we would ask about the standardcaregiving procedures and practices at the nursing home facility. We would alsoask about the victim’s treatment while under the nursing home’s care.

Obtaining Medical Records

Once the initial interviews are finished, we would obtain access to thevictim’s medical records. Doing so may help us find suspicious developments oruncover things that went previously unnoticed. For example, medical records mayshow that the mood and outlook of a patient changed after being admitted to thenursing home. Also, it may show that the patient was showing signs of physicalabuse. Common examples of physical abuse include bruises, wounds and persistentaches or pains.

Reviewing Nursing Home Records

Along with reviewing the victim’s medical records, our team would also siftthrough the nursing home’s survey and inspection reports. Doing so may help usuncover evidence of past infractions or regulatory breaches. Any issuesregarding a nursing home’s previous conduct may provide valuable insight aboutany current abuse.

Applying the Law

After completing the aforementioned steps, we inevitably turn to the law.The knowledge we have about federal and Alabama elder abuse law will give us anidea of how to best present a victim’s case. At this point, our goal is to usethe law to benefit our client and receive justice for any injuries suffered.

Our Birmingham Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Offer a Free Case Evaluation

Once our investigation is complete, we will take legal action on a victim’sbehalf. This includes presenting the evidence of abuse to the nursing home andnegotiating a proper settlement. To do this, we will likely submit a formalcomplaint and a letter of demand to the offending nursing home. Often, we willsuggest filing a lawsuit to ensurethat the victim receives justice. While our goal is to settle before goingto court, sometimes litigation is necessary.

If you suspect that your elderly loved one is experiencing nursing homeabuse, then contact a Birmingham nursinghome abuse attorney at Tommy James Law today for a free case evaluation. Wewill do what it takes to protect your loved one from further abuse. Call todayat (205) 843-5086 or fill out our confidential contact form.