If someone you love calls a long-term care facility home, their caretakers are responsible for ensuring that they're safe. However, with the recent COVID-19 pandemic, it's clear that many nursing homes do not offer their residents the care and protection they're legally obligated to provide.
Here's how a nursing home abuse attorney can help you file a claim on behalf of a loved one who contracted COVID-19 while in the care of a long-term living facility.
Creating a Timeline
Some nursing homes have been incubators for serious COVID-19 outbreaks. Many nursing homes simply failed to accurately assess the risks posed by COVID-19 and/or failed to implement the steps needed to curb the spread of the virus in the facility.
Discovery
After filing a lawsuit, your nursing home abuse attorney will file for discovery. This legal maneuver requires the provider to hand over any documents related to your case. Although the medical records of the other residents in the facility might be off-limits, your nursing home abuse attorney can secure documents related to the sick days requested by employees, the sanitizing protocols used by the facility, and the call logs related to ambulance requests for residents. If properly assembled, these documents can create a timeline that clearly shows negligence on the part of the facility's management.
Depositions
Your nursing home abuse attorney can secure interviews with current and former staff members. These interviews can be recorded and played for the jury if the lawsuit becomes litigated in court. Your nursing home abuse lawyer can also use these dispositions as leverage to compel the long-term care provider settle long before the case ends up in court.
Seeking Comprehensive Compensation
When your nursing home abuse attorney files a lawsuit, they aren't just looking for a quick payout, they're looking for restitution for extensive negligence. In many cases, this can involve refunds for months and/or years of housing and medical costs.
Scaling
Nursing home abuse isn't normally an isolated event. If your nursing home abuse attorney is able to show a pattern of negligence, a long-term care facility can be compelled to reimburse your family for bills you've already paid. For instance, if your loved one contracted COVID-19 because a nursing home failed to take precautions, your attorney can argue that medical bills and monthly resident fees leading up to the date they contracted the virus should also be reimbursed. In most cases, they will argue that the negligence committed by the long-term care facility is tantamount to a breach of contract.
To learn more about nursing home neglect, reach out to a local nursing home abuse attorney.
