Merrillville Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

Abuse in nursing homes is disturbing for many reasons and generally leaves victims with complex and costly damages they may seek damages for with our lawyers’ assistance.

Victims incur many damages from abuse, such as medical expenses for physical injuries and therapy costs to address the trauma they have experienced. Quantifying both economic and non-economic damages is crucial, and our lawyers can do this on victims’ behalves. We can also determine if punitive damages are recoverable based on the exhibited conduct, which could increase victims’ recoveries substantially. In addition to confirming victims’ deserved damages, we can prepare their compensation claims, help them report and document abuse, gather evidence, and identify all parties who share liability. This can also help maximize victims’ recoveries after filing abuse claims in Merrillville.

For help with your case from Wruck Paupore, call (219) 322-1166 and speak to our nursing home abuse lawyers today.

Quantifying Damages from Nursing Home Abuse in Merrillville Claims

Abuse can cause serious harm to nursing home residents and patients, resulting in economic and non-economic damages. Identifying all compensable damages can be challenging, especially when victims are recovering emotionally or seeking treatment. Our attorneys can quantify victims’ losses to ensure their fair recoveries in their Merrillville claims.

Economic Damages

Nursing home abuse can take many forms, causing victims economic damages in many ways. For example, financial abuse typically involves theft of some sort, such as draining a resident’s bank account or stealing personal valuables. In other instances, victims’ economic damages come from medical treatment after suffering injuries from abusive or negligent staff. For example, physical abuse, medical neglect, and sexual abuse could result in broken bones, infections, medical complications, and other injuries that require extensive medical treatment. The cost of such treatment would be compensable in the victim’s claim, as would any therapy necessary to deal with the trauma of abuse. We may also seek damages for relocation costs when victims must move to new nursing homes after enduring abuse. If a victim dies from nursing home abuse and their personal representative files a wrongful death claim against the liable facility, they could seek compensation for funeral and burial expenses as well.

Non-Economic Damages

Depending on a victim’s physical injuries and economic damages, compensation for pain and suffering may make up the majority of their recoveries against liable parties. The consequences of sexual, physical, and other forms of abuse, particularly institutional abuse, can be extreme for victims, leading to considerable intangible damages. For example, victims commonly develop depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing abuse. The emotional distress and mental anguish often associated with nursing home abuse is quantifiable, and our lawyers can use the appropriate calculations to do so. Support for non-economic damages can come from mental health experts who give statements after evaluating victims and diagnosing them. While giving personal testimony can be emotionally challenging for victims, it can also help lead to larger recoveries for non-economic damages.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages are often recoverable in cases of institutional abuse, such as nursing home abuse. After proving gross negligence or intentional misconduct, victims may get the greater of three times the compensatory damages awarded in their case or $50,000, according to I.C. § 34-51-3-4. At the beginning of a case, we can assess the defendant’s or defendants’ negligence to determine if punitive damages might be recoverable and help victims proceed accordingly.

Preparing Abuse Compensation Claims for Nursing Home Residents in Merrillville

After experiencing abuse, reliving it while preparing and navigating a compensation claim can be extremely challenging. Our attorneys appreciate this and can help victims report their mistreatment to the appropriate agencies, gather evidence of abuse or neglect, and identify all parties who may be held liable for the harm they experienced.

Reporting Abuse

Generally speaking, reporting abuse before filing compensation claims is important. To do this, our attorneys will help victims file complaints with the Indiana Department of Health’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. This program advocates for nursing home residents and helps facilitate their goals, such as moving to a new, safe facility. It also investigates abuse complaints while keeping residents’ and patients’ identities confidential. If victims previously reported abuse before contacting our lawyers, we can gather materials from any resulting investigations on their behalves.

Gathering Evidence

Obtaining evidence of abuse, even long-term abuse, can be challenging. That said, victims’ medical records may detail physical abuse. Unexplainable injuries or fractures they sought treatment for may indicate a pattern of mistreatment or neglect, and our lawyers will gather all relevant medical records before and after the victim reported the abuse. Mistreatment or neglect from staff might carry into more public settings periodically, causing other residents or staff members to witness it. In such instances, our nursing home abuse lawyers would interview eyewitnesses or anyone the victim confided in and preserve their statements as evidence. Any photos of visible injuries, personal journals the victim kept as a resident, pictures detailing their unsafe or unhygienic living conditions, and possible video footage from security cameras may also be valuable evidence in these claims.

Identifying All Liable Parties

Even if one staff member was abusive toward a resident in Merrillville, their employer, the nursing home facility, could also be held liable. Knowing this is crucial, as it could open the door to larger jury awards or settlements. Nursing homes might anticipate being made to pay punitive damages if cases go to court and could be convinced to offer sizeable settlements. Our attorneys will evaluate all settlement proposals by comparing them to our calculations of victims’ damages. Reminding victims of the values of their claims is crucial, as is holding all parties who participated in or facilitated their abuse accountable.

Call Our Lawyers to Talk About Your Abuse Case in Merrillville

Call Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166 to schedule a free case discussion with our nursing home abuse lawyers.