Lawrence, IN Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

Abuse in nursing homes often has long-lasting physical and psychological effects on victims in Lawrence, entitling them to compensatory damages from at-fault facilities and other parties.

When approaching a case for nursing home abuse, our lawyers may begin by interviewing eyewitnesses, which may include the victim’s family, friends, fellow residents, or nursing home staff. We will also help victims obtain and organize their medical records, whether from nursing home medical staff or outside hospitals or providers. As we prepare a case, our attorneys can obtain incident reports from a negligent facility and gauge how the administration responded to previous reports of abuse from a resident. We will ensure victims and their families follow the two-year filing deadline for nursing home abuse claims and obtain any relevant evidence that could help a case, including surveillance footage from onsite security cameras.

To get a free and confidential case evaluation from the Lawrence, IN nursing home abuse lawyers of Wruck Paupore, call (219) 322-1166.

What Our Lawyers Can Do to Prepare Your Nursing Home Abuse Case in Lawrence, IN

When preparing nursing home abuse claims in Lawrence, our lawyers can promptly interview witnesses, review victims’ medical records, assess incident reports from senior living facilities and law enforcement, follow Indiana’s filing deadlines, and obtain any relevant surveillance footage.

Interview Witnesses

If the victim ever confided in close friends, relatives, staff, or fellow nursing home residents, our lawyers will immediately interview them to get their statements. Other residents or staff members may testify to a victim’s sudden depression, unexplainable injuries, or any instances of abuse confided in them by the victim. If a victim spoke to any friends or family outside of the facility, our nursing home abuse lawyers may also want to speak with them right away.

Medical staff at the nursing home can give statements regarding the victim’s physical state during the period of time abuse was taking place, which could also give our lawyers insight into a case.

Interviewing witnesses, especially about such a delicate topic as abuse, requires experience and timeliness. The longer witnesses go uncontacted, the more likely their memories may fade.

Review the Victim’s Medical Records

Our attorneys will also immediately review the victim’s medical records and might enlist medical experts to assist with this aspect of a case. Certain injuries might only be explainable through continuous abuse, such as repeated broken bones with no documented falls or accidents or overall health decline due to staff members refusing to give medications. Nursing homes typically provide some level of medical oversight, depending on each resident’s condition. For example, residents typically need medications daily and might need regular check-ins with onsite medical staff. This means that victims typically have medical records throughout the time they are being abused, and our lawyers will obtain those records immediately for review.

We also urge abused victims to seek medical care at hospitals outside of nursing home facilities to further cement their injuries due to abuse in Lawrence. This is especially important if victims are experiencing abuse from nursing home staff. We will also help victims obtain medical records from any hospitals or providers from which they sought treatment. Various types of abuse, from overall neglect to sexual and physical abuse, might cause serious physical injuries, so victims should always seek medical treatment.

Obtain and Analyze All Incident Reports

We will also get any incident reports related to the case, whether through informal requests or subpoenas. For example, if a victim reported the abuse to the senior living facility and the report was ignored, allowing the abuse to continue, that could help show the facility’s liability.

If the nursing home attempts to explain a victim’s injuries as accidental and due to falls or other mistakes, not abuse, we will request incident reports documenting those supposed accidents. If the facility cannot provide such reports, that can weaken its arguments against liability.

In addition to those incident reports, we will also obtain any criminal reports the victim may have filed with the police in Lawrence. While the information in the criminal report might point our lawyers to new information, any criminal case would be separate from a civil case, which would be what lets victims get compensation for their damages due to abuse.

Follow Indiana’s Filing Deadlines

Under I.C. § 34-11-2-4, victims typically have two years to file cases against negligent nursing homes for abuse in Lawrence. There is tolling in cases involving legally disabled plaintiffs, according to § 34-11-6-1. Incapacitating conditions or those that seriously impact victims’ cognition, like Alzheimer’s disease, put residents at a higher risk of abuse. Victims might have difficulty remembering abuse after it occurs, or nursing homes might not take reports of abuse from such residents seriously.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that tolling will apply to abuse claims involving seniors with conditions that affect cognition, which is why victims and their families should assume that they have just two years to pursue compensation against negligent parties in Lawrence.

Preserve Video Evidence

Maintaining surveillance systems in nursing homes is often necessary for residents’ safety. Surveillance footage can help prove abuse took place and disprove the facility’s attempts to undermine a victim’s case. For example, suppose a facility tried to explain away a victim’s injuries, claiming that they repeatedly fell in the stairwells, hallways, or other common areas. If surveillance footage does not show any accidental falls but instead reveals physical abuse, that can strengthen a victim’s case.

Getting surveillance footage immediately is crucial, as the nursing home facility might otherwise destroy the footage. We can request footage from the periods of time abuse was taking place and carefully review it for any indication of neglect or mistreatment.

Call Our Lawrence, IN Lawyers to Discuss Your Case Now

Call the nursing home abuse lawyers of Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166 to get a free case review.