A government healthcare oversight office issued an alert to families of nursing home residents to be mindful of the safety of their loved ones in the wake of a report that nearly 25% of Medicare recipients are victims of preventable nursing home neglect and abuse.
“Visit your loved ones often who are in these facilities,” the alert said. Make sure the facility and staff are treating them properly, “and report potential cases of abuse or neglect to your local police and your state’s Medicaid fraud control unit.”
Assistant Health and Human Services regional inspector general Curtis Roy said that inspectors uncovered more than 100 cases of nursing home abuse and neglect across 33 states. The inspector general said that many of the cases involved physical and sexual assault. More than half of the injuries required hospitalization. In addition, the report said that many of these cases were crimes.
Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse is a Crime
Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the report was disturbing and unacceptable. “A crime is a crime wherever it takes place,” he said. “It’s unacceptable for more than one-fourth of potential crimes in nursing homes to apparently go unreported.”
If a family member is the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, contact a Florida nursing home abuse attorney. An experienced personal injury attorney can help protect the dependent elderly and punish those who are responsible. Martinez Manglardi’s elder abuse lawyers uphold victim’s rights. They can improve the quality of your loved one’s care by winning a cash settlement. Our lawyers are successful in a wide range of personal injury cases. We take on major defendants such as hospitals, insurance companies and nursing homes.
So, be alert to nursing home neglect or abuse, and if you see it, contact our Florida nursing home abuse lawyers today at 407-846-2240.
