Veterans are the protectors of our country. They have spent the prime of their lives protecting our borders and our citizens, sacrificing so much on their part along the way. Whether it’s always being away from their family, being subjected to life or death situations everyday, or even being wounded in the line of duty, their dedication and devotion to serve and protect the country deserve the utmost respect and admiration. That is why veterans are respected and cared for when they return to civilian life.
Most veterans spend the last remaining days of their lives in nursing homes. These nursing homes are supposed to be a place where elder veterans get the care and attention they earned. However sometimes, this is not the case.
Nursing home abuse happens when nursing home personnel treat the people in their care in an undignified, disrespectful or even abusive manner. When they neglect their duties to take care and assist the elderly in the nursing home and resort to physical and verbal abuse, the cycle of nursing home abuse starts.
In this case, the vital question pops into our head: are these abuses compensable? Will the elder or his or his family have the right to be compensated for such abuses? The simple answer is: YES.
Data collected by the Nursing Home Abuse Justice estimates that approximately 5 million people are affected by elder abuse every single year. Moreover, according to the study conducted by the National Center for Victims of Crime, 5% to 10% of self-reported elder abuses are physical, 60% are verbal and 14% are neglect.
Some of the most common causes of nursing home abuse include shortages in staff, lack of staff training and experience, underpayment of staff, poor staff supervision and various individual caregiver issues.
If you, your friends, or loved ones who are veterans have recently been involved in what you suspect (or confirm) is neglect or abuse in a nursing home, the wisest move to make is to seek the help of a lawyer right away. Availing the services of a lawyer is vital so that you can have you legal claims properly defended.
The lawyer you must hire should be one who is knowledgeable in personal injury law and one who specializes in nursing home abuse cases like the San Antonio personal injury lawyers. Like medical practitioners, lawyers also have different areas of expertise. For a case like this, a nursing home abuse lawyer would be your best option.
In choosing the right nursing home abuse lawyer, take into account the experience that your prospective lawyer has. Having enough experience in that field will make your claim stronger in the sense that your prospective lawyer will have the needed “edge.” This edge would be that he would have previously encountered various cases involving relevant questions of law related to your claim.
Furthermore, make sure to hire a lawyer who practices in your locality. As the United States is a federal nation, laws may differ from one state to another. With this, a local nursing home abuse lawyer will be more familiar with the local laws in your state than a lawyer from another state whose laws surrounding nursing home abuse may differ substantially with yours.
