New Mexico Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

If you trust any organization with the care of your elderly loved ones, there is an expectation for the organization to provide the highest levels of attentive, compassionate care. Unfortunately, many families throughout the state regularly discover the opposite, that those charged with caring for their elderly family members have abused and neglected them. If this has happened to your family, you need to speak with a New Mexico nursing home abuse lawyer.

Experienced Legal Counsel for Nursing Home Abuse Cases in New Mexico

The Branch Law Firm has decades of experience representing a wide range of cases throughout the state, including those arising from nursing home abuse and neglect. If your family has paid a nursing home to provide senior care and you have discovered that your elderly loved one has been abused or neglected, it is vital to know your options for resolving the situation and holding the responsible parties accountable for the harm they have done.

Our firm takes time to listen to each client’s individual story, developing client-specific legal strategies that aim for maximum recovery in the shortest possible timeframes. When you hire our firm as your legal counsel, you can expect close attention to detail through every phase of your case, from gathering the evidence needed to prove liability to establishing the extent of your claimable damages.

Establishing a Nursing Home Abuse Claim in New Mexico

Nursing home abuse and neglect can happen in many ways. Before you proceed with a civil suit against the party responsible for the abuse your loved one experienced, you must gather evidence to show exactly what has happened and to prove the extent of the resulting damages. Nursing homes owe a strict duty of care to the residents in their charge, and failure to meet this duty of care can lead to severe penalties.

When nursing home abuse reaches severe levels, those responsible may face not only civil liability for a claim filed by a victim’s family but also criminal prosecution. Some of the most commonly cited examples of nursing home abuse in the state include:

• Failure to properly train and screen newly hired staff members.
• Verbal and psychological abuse.
• Physical abuse. This could include outright physical violence, improper use of restraints and medical devices, and any type of abusive handling of elderly residents.
• Sexual abuse. If nursing home staff attempt to take advantage of residents, they are likely to face severe criminal charges if they are caught and convicted.
• Theft and financial exploitation. It is possible for a caregiver to engage in such behavior, or the nursing home could be held liable for negligent security.
• Medication errors and improper use of medications. Any staff member responsible for administering patient medication must ensure all doses are correct and that the patient’s unique medical needs are addressed at all times.
• Failure to meet residents’ basic daily needs, including food, water, necessary medications, and clean bedding. Failure to regularly reposition bedridden residents can lead to the formation of bedsores.

These are only a few possible examples of how a nursing home resident could be mistreated by their caregivers. It is vital for family members to remain vigilant for any signs that their elderly loved one has been harmed by nursing home staff. They may be hesitant to talk about their experiences out of fear of reprisals from their abusers. If you notice any sudden change in your loved one’s health or demeanor, or if they have unexplained injuries, these are red flags.

Formulating a Case Against Nursing Home Abuse in New Mexico

Once you have determined that your elderly loved one has been harmed by their nursing home, it is vital that you connect with an experienced New Mexico nursing home abuse lawyer as quickly as possible. They will assist you in gathering the foundational evidence of your claim. Success with the claim will require proving that the defendant owed the victim a duty of care and that they breached that duty in some way that resulted in harm to the victim.

It is important to remember that if your loved one has been intentionally abused, it is a crime, and you must remove the victim from their dangerous situation as quickly as possible. Contact 911 to report the issue to the police and have your loved one transferred to a safe location. Depending on the nature and severity of the abuse or neglect, the defendant and/or the nursing home could face criminal penalties.

When it comes to filing a civil suit in response to nursing home abuse or neglect, you will have the right to seek compensation for resulting medical expenses and any other financial losses your family suffered because of the incident. For example, if you were forced to miss work to care for the victim, you would have grounds to claim lost income as economic damages in your case.

It is also possible to recover compensation for the pain and suffering the victim experienced. Your attorney can provide guidance when it comes to determining an appropriate amount to include with the claim. Additionally, it is possible for the plaintiff in a nursing home abuse case to receive punitive damages that reflect the illegal actions taken by the defendant. Ultimately, you could be entitled to more of a recovery than you may initially expect.

Find Legal Counsel Today

The statute of limitations that will likely apply to your case is three years, starting on the date of the most recent incident of abuse or neglect. However, it is vital that you start building your case as quickly as possible once you have discovered that an elderly family member has been abused or neglected in their nursing home. A good attorney can help you immediately begin gathering the evidence you will need to support your case.

The Branch Law Firm is ready to provide comprehensive legal support for your family’s nursing home abuse claim in the state. We take these claims on a contingency basis, so you will pay our firm a fee only if and when we win your claim, and there is no fee if we are unable to secure compensation for you. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation with a New Mexico nursing home abuse lawyer.