Elder Abuse Lawyer in Palm Harbor

After your elderly abuse lawyer and an investigator from Morgan and Morgan complete an exhaustive investigation, you should know the reason or reasons why your loved one suffered from elderly abuse. Discovering the cause of elderly abuse forms the foundation for building a strong enough case that warrants the filing of a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages.

Improper Screening

The State of Florida has established a list of credentials an elderly care worker must have before working at a facility or providing care as an independent contractor. In addition to state-mandated credentials, elderly care facilities and individuals who hire independent contractors must conduct comprehensive background checks to ensure every hire does not have a criminal record, especially one that includes a history of elderly abuse charges. Improper screening allows individuals to work in the elderly care industry that should not be taking care of seniors that require special assistance.

Understaffed

An elderly care facility that does not have enough caretakers runs the risk of inadvertently causing harm to one or more residents. Caretakers have to assume more caretaking responsibilities during an already incredibly busy workday. The result of an understaffed facility includes workers cutting corners to provide services to every resident. Overworked employees also often miss the signs of elderly abuse. Since they are on the front line of providing elderly care, missing the signs of elderly abuse can lead to serious physical injuries and emotional scars.

Medication Mistakes

One of the most important roles of an elderly care worker involves ensuring each resident takes the right medication, as well as the correct dosage. Overworked elderly care employees sometimes make medication errors that cause serious physical issues. If a resident sustains an injury caused by a medication mistake made by a facility’s pharmacist or one of the caretakers, the resident might have enough evidence to prove the facility committed at least one act of negligence.

Lack of Training

The labor crunch negatively impacting elderly care facilities across the United States has led to a decline in the quality of care received by residents. Another result of the labor crunch is facilities that recruit caretakers need to train the caretakers as quickly as possible. This can mean sacrificing the quality of training that gets workers up to speed to care for elderly residents. Working at an elderly care facility requires completing a comprehensive training program before any caretaker is given the green light to care for residents.

The workers on the front line of caring for elderly residents should be the first to notice any signs of abuse. However, some workers either ignore the signs or do not know how to detect the signs of elderly abuse. This means friends and family members must remain alert to notice the signs of abuse sustained by a loved one.

Physical Abuse

Bed sores and pressure ulcers indicate serious neglect. Other physical signs to look for include cuts, bruises, and lacerations. A fractured bone is another sign of elderly abuse that frequently occurs because of the frustration experienced by a caretaker. You should also be alert for signs like malnutrition and chronic fatigue. Other indicators such as dirty bed sheets and a filthy bathroom might demonstrate signs of physical abuse.

Emotional Abuse

Detecting the signs of emotional abuse can be difficult to do, especially for a loved one who suffers from some form of dementia. However, if you notice the signs of depression and acute anxiety, something more than old age might be causing the emotional distress symptoms. Physical abuse can generate emotional distress issues as well, including the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Signs of physical trauma can indicate the worst type of emotional abuse.

If you are not sure whether a loved one suffers from emotional elderly abuse, consult with one of the elderly abuse attorneys in Palm Harbor from Morgan and Morgan.

Financial Abuse

Elderly abuse is not limited to physical and emotional signs. Manipulative workers also take advantage of the vulnerability of elderly residents by committing financial abuse. Examples of elderly financial abuse include stealing sensitive data such as a bank account number or coercing a resident to delegate financial responsibilities to a caretaker. If you notice your loved one has opened a bank and/or credit card account, your loved one might be a victim of elderly financial abuse.

The first step to take if you detect signs of elderly abuse is to contact one of the highly-rated elderly abuse attorneys in Palm Harbor, Florida from Morgan and Morgan. One of our experienced lawyers walks you through the process to report elderly abuse. Your attorney works with you to file an accurate and fully completed report to the Florida Department of Health (DOH) at the Florida Health Care Complaint Portal. The Florida DOH does not take phone calls that report elderly abuse at a facility or in a home care setting.

According to Florida law, the DOH must ensure your anonymity to prevent a facility or a caretaker from retaliating against your loved one. Since most elderly abuse complaints involve solving complex legal issues, your complaint might not get resolved for several months. Another benefit of hiring one of the elderly abuse attorneys in Palm Harbor from Morgan and Morgan is that a lawyer can monitor the progress of your complaint. After your attorney helps you file a complaint with the Florida DOH, your focus should shift to the filing of a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages.

Since elderly abuse is considered to be a part of personal injury law, you might expect the statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit to be the same for an elderly abuse case as it is for all other types of personal injury cases. Florida grants plaintiffs four years to file a personal injury lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. However, for elderly abuse lawsuits, plaintiffs have just two years to meet the deadline for taking legal action. Because most elderly abuse cases require the resolution of complex legal issues, two years is not as long of a period as you might think to file a persuasive civil lawsuit.

The clock starts ticking for filing an elderly abuse lawsuit on the date of the first incident of abuse. Although detecting the physical signs of abuse is relatively easy to do, the same cannot be said for discovering the signs of emotional and financial abuse. Working with one of the experienced elderly abuse attorneys in Palm Harbor from Morgan and Morgan can help you establish a reasonable deadline for filing an emotional or financial abuse lawsuit. If you fail to file a lawsuit before the expiration of the statute of limitations, the court clerk processing your case has the legal power to remove it from the judicial docket.

When you search for one of the best elderly abuse attorneys in Palm Harbor, FL, you should consider several criteria. Morgan and Morgan offers the legal support of a lawyer who checks off every criterion box.

We have more than 35 years of experience litigating elderly abuse cases. The attorney assigned to your case specializes in handling elderly abuse cases, with a proven record of helping victims receive the compensation that they deserve. You can expect to work with a responsive communicator who provides legal support from the day of the free case evaluation to the day when your case gets resolved.

Learn more about how to win an elderly abuse lawsuit by scheduling a free case evaluation with Morgan and Morgan.