Nursing Home Negligence

Experienced Michigan Personal Injury Attorneys Serving Residents of Grand Rapids, Traverse City, and Detroit

While most nursing homes and assisted living facilities take their duties to residents seriously, unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Whether it’s due to staffing shortages or a hyper-focus on profitability, nursing home neglect is alarmingly common. By some estimates, one in ten nursing home residents experience neglect.

Nursing home negligence can take many different forms, all of them potentially devastating. Some common examples include failing to turn an immobile patient, failing to bathe a patient, failing to adequately supervise, engaging in verbal abuse, and failing to monitor a resident’s health or hydration.

Victims of nursing home negligence and their families can sue a facility if the negligence results in injuries or a tragic death. The knowledgeable Detroit, Traverse City, and Grand Rapids nursing home negligence lawyers at the Neumann Law Group can assert your rights if you are in this difficult situation. Our principal, Kelly Neumann, is an award-winning injury lawyer who has consistently settled more than $3 million in personal injury cases each year for the past several years. Our firm also can represent people in Massachusetts and California who have been harmed by someone else’s negligence.

Signs of Nursing Home Neglect

Some signs of nursing home negligence or abuse that family members of nursing home residents should be aware of include pressure sores, infections, medication mistakes, unexplained fractures or bruises, and sepsis. In Michigan, as in other states, there are many specific laws related to suing a nursing home for the neglect or exploitation of vulnerable adults.

Holding a Michigan Nursing Home Accountable

Michigan law requires nursing homes to provide a certain level of care and to avoid neglect, abuse, and exploitation.

Neglect occurs when an elderly person does not receive necessary care like shelter, food, medical treatment, or clothing.

Abuse occurs when someone threatens or endangers an elderly person’s health or well-being.

Exploitation occurs when someone misuses the property, funds, or dignity of an elderly individual.

In any of these situations, you can contact any of several entities in Michigan, including the Department of Human Services and Adult Protective Services, the Attorney General, the Michigan Protection and Advocacy Services, or the police.

Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Cases Against Negligent Nursing Homes

Nursing homes in Michigan must abide by a strict legal duty of care. They may be liable for negligently hiring unqualified staff, providing inadequate necessities for residents, inadequately training staff members, providing inadequate security, using harmful restraints, inadequately disciplining staff, or providing inadequate medical care.

Often, nursing home neglect cases are also medical malpractice cases. When the nursing home’s negligence at issue is considered medical malpractice or is in some way related to providing inadequate medical care, the plaintiff will need to prove the applicable standard of care, the defendant’s breach of the standard of care, proximate cause, and an actual injury and damages. In Michigan, proximate cause includes both legal cause and cause-in-fact. An action or omission is a cause-in-fact if the injury would not have occurred but for the action or omission. The proof needs to show a reasonable likelihood of probability, not a mere possibility.

If a nursing home resident dies due to a nursing home’s negligence, the family can potentially sue for damages under the Michigan Wrongful Death Act. However, when a family member’s wrongful death is the result of medical malpractice, MCL 600.1483 limits your noneconomic damages.

Consult a Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer in Traverse City, Grand Rapids, or Detroit

At the Neumann Law Group, we provide compassionate legal representation to victims and their families. If you suffered serious injuries or lost a loved one due to someone else’s carelessness, our Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Traverse City nursing home negligence attorneys are available to assist you. We represent people in Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Wyoming, Saginaw, Muskegon, Midland, Holland, Dearborn, Warren, Petoskey, and communities throughout the Upper Peninsula. Our personal injury and wrongful death attorneys also assist victims in Massachusetts and California. To learn more, and to schedule a free consultation today, give the Traverse City nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers at the Neumann Law Group a call at 800-525-6386. You can also connect with us through our online contact form. Calling is free, and we will not bill you for our services unless and until we can connect you with the compensation you deserve.