Nursing Home Negligence

The South Carolina personal injury lawyers at Lofton & Lofton have a distinguished reputation for excellence in advocacy and litigation. Since 1984, we have been dedicated to protecting the rights of injured persons including nursing home abuse victims throughout South Carolina and the southeast region. At Lofton & Lofton, rest assured that you will receive the personal attention and experienced representation you deserve.

Nursing Home Negligence

The reported abuse and neglect of our elders poses a serious threat to our large aging population. Rarely exposed and often ignored, nursing home negligence often persists until victims and families take legal action. In South Carolina, nursing home negligence is defined as the failure to provide the goods or services necessary to prevent “physical injury, mental trauma, or illness” to the patient. Nursing homes have a legal duty to provide patients with this quality of care. They violate this duty by failing to prevent or protect against neglect. Nursing homes, physicians, nurses, and staff may all be liable for any resulting injury to the patient.

Monitoring and Detecting Negligence

The South Carolina Department of Health is responsible for surveying all facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs. The surveys are conducted through unannounced site visits by a health care team to assess and report signs of negligence. These may include:

• Repeated falls without intervention
• Failure to carry out physician orders
• Delayed assessment following patient injury
• Lack of supervision for special-needs patients
  • Allowing smoking by patients with known safety risk
  • Failure to monitor, intervene for serious medical or surgical conditions
  • Failure to supervise cognitively impaired patients with known elopement risk
• Broken call system, delayed responses to patient needs
• Use of chemical or physical restraints without clinical basis
• Lack of security to prevent abduction, physical altercations
• Improper feeding or positioning where known aspiration risk
• Patient access to chemical, liquid hazards injuring soft tissue

Health care providers fail to comply with the law when their negligence places the patient in “immediate jeopardy” through acts likely to result in “severe injury, impairment, or death.”

Report Signs of Malpractice and Neglect

Nursing home neglect is not limited to facilities funded by the government. Any entity falling below the required, professional standard of care owed to patients is negligent, even if there is no actual harm. This can happen at any long-term care facility providing home health, assisted living, or community service. Visible signs of negligence may include:

• Bedsores
• Dehydration
• Malnutrition
• Cuts or bruises
• Scars, burn marks
• Emotional isolation
• Swelling, constipation
• Misappropriated property
• Displays of fear, depression
• Chronic infection, open wounds
• Sudden behavior, weight changes
• Allergic, adverse reactions to medication

Any signs of medical malpractice or neglect should be reported and investigated immediately. They may indicate a greater problem requiring emergency treatment. Relying on the treating physician or hospital director is not sufficient. Hospitals may mask incidents of neglect in a patient’s chart in order to avoid liability. Ask for an objective legal opinion instead.

Recover Compensation for Nursing Home Neglect

Finding instances of neglect requires thorough research into a patient’s medical files and history. Concerned family and friends throughout the state rely on the trusted South Carolina nursing home abuse attorneys at Lofton & Lofton to help them find justice. By working closely with clients and the best medical experts, we spot covered-up incidents of negligence and build a persuasive case. We have obtained substantial awards for property loss, medical costs, lost income, pain, suffering, and other benefits. Let us help you identify all liable parties and win the compensation you and your loved ones deserve. To obtain immediate legal assistance, call 843.722.6319 for a confidential consultation or contact us online.