Long Island Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer

Neglect is a failure to give a resident the care and supervision the facility owed. Federal rules for certified nursing homes require facilities to keep the resident environment as free of accident hazards as possible, to give each resident adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents, and to provide care to prevent pressure ulcers (42 CFR 483.25). Missed repositioning, ignored fall-risk plans, dehydration and unanswered call bells are common examples.

Not by itself. Older residents can decline even with good care, and the federal pressure-ulcer rule itself recognizes ulcers that are clinically unavoidable. Neglect is shown by the gap between what the care plan and the resident's condition required and what staff actually did, which is why the chart, the care plan and your own observations matter.

New York Public Health Law 2801-d makes a residential health care facility liable to a patient injured by the deprivation of a right or benefit created by law, contract or regulation. The facility can defend by proving it exercised all care reasonably necessary to prevent and limit the deprivation and injury. Damages are at least 25 percent of the daily per-patient rate for each day the injury exists, punitive damages are possible for willful or reckless deprivations, and the court may award attorneys' fees.

Sometimes. Claims about basic care, supervision and resident rights are usually brought as negligence and Public Health Law 2801-d claims. Claims that challenge medical judgment, such as a physician's diagnosis or treatment decisions, may be treated as medical malpractice, which has a shorter deadline of two years and six months (CPLR 214-a). How the claim is framed affects the deadline, so it should be reviewed early.

Personal injury claims and claims on a liability created by statute generally must be started within three years (CPLR 214). Malpractice claims generally have two years and six months (CPLR 214-a). If the resident died, a wrongful death action generally must be commenced within two years of death (EPTL 5-4.1). For a facility run by a county or other municipality, a notice of claim is generally due within 90 days (General Municipal Law 50-e).

Call 911 for an emergency. The New York State Department of Health investigates nursing home complaints; it asks for complaints in writing through its online Nursing Home Complaint Form, and its Nursing Home Complaint and Discharge Appeal Hotline is 1-888-201-4563, staffed weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. with voicemail at other times. Put your concerns to the administrator in writing and keep a copy.

Ask for the care plan, medication administration records, repositioning and turning documentation, fall and incident reports, wound assessments, physician orders and nursing notes. Keep your own dated notes and photographs from each visit. Staffing schedules and Department of Health inspection findings can show whether the problem was broader than one shift.

Yes. From our Uniondale and Brooklyn offices we represent residents and families in Nassau and Suffolk counties and throughout the five boroughs of New York City.