Published by Arfaa Law Group
Deciding to put someone you love in a nursing home is a difficult decision, but you do it with the expectation that your family member will be taken care of. Sadly, this is not always the case. Abuse and neglect are common at far too many nursing homes. If your loved one has suffered harm due to a nursing home’s negligence, you need to consult an experienced Baltimore medical malpractice attorney who can help pinpoint what happened and figure out how to proceed.
A man recently filed a claim against a South Carolina nursing home claiming that his brother died due to improper care. Sadly, this type of thing happens in Maryland as well. According to the complaint, the man’s brother had been living at the nursing home since 2015 and was subject to ongoing neglect and dangerous conditions throughout his time there. The suit claims that the patient suffered a number of injuries including severe pressure sores, ulcers and skin breakdown because of substandard care, which ultimately delayed his chemotherapy treatment for pinoblastoma. The lawsuit is one of many wrongful death and medical malpractice claims that have been filed against the nursing home over the past few years.
Since nursing homes normally offer medical care to residents, medical malpractice claims may come up in nursing home settings. In Maryland, medical malpractice is any act or omission by a physician during treatment of a patient that departs from the standard norms of practice in the medical community and causes injury to the patient. In the context of a nursing home, medical malpractice takes place when the facility breaches the duty of care owed to the patient, resulting in harm to that patient. For example, allowing a resident to develop bedsores would be an example of nursing home negligence because a facility providing proper care would understand what precautions need to be taken in order to prevent bedsores in the first place. It is important to note that medical malpractice can also take place if the nursing home did not act when there was a duty to do so.
As with any medical malpractice claim, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff to establish each element of the offense by a preponderance of the evidence. This simply means that the fact finder (either judge or jury) must believe that plaintiff’s version of events seem more likely true than the defendant’s version of events. The plaintiff must prove the existence of a duty, a breach of the applicable standard of care, causation, and damages. Failure to prove each element can lead to your claim being dismissed so it is imperative to have the strongest evidence possible in your case.
When your loved one is in a nursing home, you expect that they will receive competent care. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. If your loved one has been injured and you believe that the nursing home is to blame, we can help. At Arfaa Law Group, our highly skilled Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys are committed to getting our clients the justice and compensation they deserve for their harm. We are here to answer your questions and address your concerns. To learn more, please feel free call 410-889-1850 or contact us online.