New Haven Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

Your loved ones have worked hard to enjoy their golden years in peace and comfort. Many New Haven nursing homes and long-term care facilities claim to be passionate about treating your loved ones with respect while providing comprehensive care. Unfortunately, for many elderly residents, these claims fall short in some cases and leave some people grappling with the aftermath of traumatic abuse and neglect.

The journey toward justice and fair compensation for a cherished family member can feel daunting. At D’Amico Pettinicchi, our New Haven nursing home abuse lawyers understand the pain and frustration you feel. We are prepared to help you protect your family and fight for maximum elder abuse compensation by leveraging our extensive legal experience and resources.

Since 1990, D’Amico Pettinicchi has been a leader in nursing home neglect and abuse lawsuits throughout Connecticut, with 100-plus years of combined experience. Contact our office now to arrange a free legal consultation to discuss your elder abuse case with a nursing home abuse lawyer in New Haven.

Why Choose Our Law Firm for Your New Haven Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit?

Uncovering nursing home abuse or neglect can trigger plenty of emotions for you, your abused loved one, and other family members. Many people experience feelings of guilt, shame, anger, and frustration. They may also have questions about what happens next. At D’Amico Pettinicchi, our New Haven nursing home abuse attorneys understand the emotional distress and legal complexities families face as they navigate an elder abuse claim.

New Haven residents choose our law firm to help them manage their elder abuse lawsuit because we treat all our clients with the care and respect they deserve. Now more than ever, you need compassion and support in the face of a betrayal of your trust. While we help care for clients and their families during this challenging time, we also prepare an aggressive and personalized legal strategy to hold negligent facilities and caregivers accountable.

Our 35-plus-year reputation for securing elder care justice includes recovering millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for our clients. Reach out to us today to learn more about the difference D’Amico Pettinicchi can make in your elder abuse claim.

How a Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Can Help Your Family

Discovering that a loved one may be suffering abuse or neglect in a nursing home is emotionally devastating. However, these cases can also involve complex legal and medical issues that are challenging for families to manage alone. A New Haven nursing home abuse attorney provides the experience, resources, and advocacy needed to protect your loved one’s rights.

The New Haven elder abuse lawyers at D’Amico Pettinicchi can help your family in the following ways:

• Thoroughly investigating signs of abuse, neglect, or mistreatment
• Explaining state and federal nursing home regulations
• Gathering and preserving crucial evidence
• Providing helpful resources for you and your family
• Explaining how to report nursing home neglect or abuse, or how to file a nursing home complaint in Connecticut
• Explaining nursing home regulations in Connecticut
• Advising you about how to recognize elder abuse
• Aggressively negotiating for maximum compensation
• Preparing a nursing home abuse lawsuit when necessary
• Never charging you anything unless we recover compensation for your nursing home neglect and abuse lawsuit

Above all, a nursing home abuse lawyer acts as a trusted advocate during a distressing time, helping your family take action with confidence and peace of mind.

What Is Elder Abuse and How Often Does It Happen?

Elder abuse is a catch-all term that can apply to numerous types of abusive situations. Most people think abuse commonly manifests as physical hitting or mistreatment. However, abuse can be more subtle. Forms of abuse that can impact the health and safety of New Haven nursing home residents can include the following:

• Physical Abuse – Physical abuse can occur when staff or caregivers cause intentional harm to an elderly individual. Physical abuse may involve hitting, kicking, pushing, pulling, biting, and slapping.
• Psychological/Emotional Abuse – One of the forms of abuse that is more challenging to recognize is psychological or emotional abuse. This mistreatment happens when a caregiver or staff member intentionally inflicts mental harm or distress on an elderly resident. Verbal and nonverbal threats can cause emotional distress and may include using degrading language, yelling, humiliation tactics, isolation, or other strategies designed to damage a resident’s mental health.
• Sexual Abuse – Sexual abuse is often underreported. It can involve any unwanted sexual contact or touching, such as rape, fondling, and forced nudity. Sexual abuse can also include taking sexually explicit photographs or videos, or causing a resident to watch explicit materials without consent.
• Financial Abuse – Vulnerable nursing home residents are also prone to financial abuse. Some predatory caregivers target residents and manipulate them into parting with cash or valuables for their benefit. Financial abuse can also include scheming to involve an individual in investment fraud or pyramid scams.

Technically, neglect is also another form of nursing home abuse. Neglect isn’t a one-time mistake or oversight in resident care; rather, it is a systematic failure of a facility or caregiver to meet a resident’s daily needs. Common examples of nursing home neglect include the following:

• Medical Neglect – Medical neglect occurs when a facility or caregiver fails to meet the medical needs of an elderly resident. Examples can include routinely failing to administer medications, not providing medical treatment, improper wound care, or failing to seek reasonable outside care for medical conditions.
• Neglect of Basic Needs – Neglect of basic needs involves failing to provide food, water, and a safe environment, the basic needs everyone expects and deserves.
• Neglect of Personal Hygiene – Everyone deserves to feel clean and well-cared for. Residents experiencing neglect of personal hygiene often have issues with staff or caregivers who do not provide them with clean clothes or bedding and fail to provide bathing resources.

According to data from the World Health Organization, one in six people 60 years and older experienced some form of abuse in community settings in the past year. Shockingly, a U.S. Department of Justice report shows that 3,443 complaints regarding nursing home abuse were reported in one two-year period using the Connecticut Ombudsman Reporting System. At least 47 percent of all Connecticut nursing home complaints involved one or more accounts of abuse, either physical, verbal, or neglect.

Who Could Be Held Responsible for Nursing Home Abuse?

New Haven nursing home abuse cases can be complicated because sometimes, more than one party may be responsible. Most people believe that the abusive or neglectful caregiver or staff member who causes direct harm to a resident is the only one accountable. However, that is not always the case.

Parties that can be partially or wholly responsible for nursing home abuse can include:

Staffing shortages, poor hiring and staffing practices, lack of background checks, ignoring reports of abuse, and cost-cutting measures can all contribute to nursing home abuse and neglect.

Potential Compensation for Nursing Home Negligence

Money can seem like little consolation in cases of abuse and neglect. However, fair compensation can provide your loved one with financial stability, the means for covering their medical expenses, and a new long-term care plan. It can also send a message to other facilities and caregivers that families and the legal system do not tolerate abuse and neglect.

The overall value of a nursing home abuse case depends on several factors, including the severity of a resident’s injuries. However, in most situations, an individual can pursue compensation for the following:

A Connecticut court can award punitive damages in malicious, reckless, or willful conduct cases. Punitive damages do not account for a victim’s injuries; they are a separate financial award intended to punish the wrongdoer.

How Long Do I Have to File a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit in Connecticut?

The timeframe for filing a personal injury lawsuit for nursing home abuse in Connecticut is two years from the date of the incident or when you reasonably should be aware of the injury or incident. However, exceptions to the nursing home abuse statute of limitations may vary depending on the situation. It is crucial to seek legal guidance from D’Amico Pettinicchi as soon as possible to keep your options for compensation recovery open.

How Can I Tell if My Loved One Is Being Abused or Neglected?

For friends and family members, the signs of nursing home abuse and neglect may not always be as apparent as physical bruises, marks, or burns. Sometimes the signs of abuse are difficult to spot, especially when a resident feels threatened or intimidated by staff or caregivers. They may also face elder exploitation.

Beyond unexplained physical signs of abuse, warning signs of abuse or neglect in nursing homes can include the following:

If you notice any of these warning signs, document your observations, speak with your loved one if possible, and consult a nursing home abuse attorney from D’Amico Pettinicchi for help. Your lawyer can help you with reporting poor care in a nursing home, as well.

Contact a Reputable New Haven Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Today

At D’Amico Pettinicchi, we pride ourselves on providing clients with the resources of a big firm and the capacity of a small practice. Our nursing home abuse lawyers in New Haven offer personalized elder law strategies and personal attention to you and your family because you come first at our firm.

When It’s Time to Fight the Good Fight℠, let us help you hold careless nursing homes accountable. Contact our firm today to schedule your free, confidential case evaluation.