We are all going through a very difficult time as we battle through the economic and emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we know that there are family members, whether they be parents, grandparents, or other loved ones, that have been further impacted due to their vulnerability to the virus. Within that older demographic, for whichever circumstance, many are forced to live in nursing homes. These are places that are supposed to guarantee the safety of our elders, especially in these chaotic moments even if their physical vulnerability is at an all time high. The staff within the nursing home is supposed to safeguard the health and well-being of those who live there. Unfortunately, throughout this period, there has been an increased pattern of negligence in care towards our elders within these establishments.
For that reason, we believe that you are here because a loved one may have been affected by a lack of responsibility and neglect within the home. If you believe that the facility failed to provide the basic standards for disease prevention, you and your family have every right to be monetarily compensated. For that reason, we advise you to stick around with us, as we provide you with a detailed account on how to file a lawsuit with a personal injury lawyer when dealing with nursing home neglect during COVID-19.
Grounds for Lawsuits
You must understand that those responsible for the well-being of the residents within the home, cannot justify their negligence on the pandemic. Furthermore, when dealing with nursing home legal protocol, there are three legal grounds that qualify for a lawsuit. The following are:
Pure negligence: Florida law demands that nursing homes maintain their most basic set of adequate care for their inhabitants. Clean facilities, fresh food, running water, and electricity are just some on that list. However, disease prevention is perhaps the most important goal that any staffer must uphold within the nursing home. Although the chance of transmission is high, it just takes one person to infect the entire nursing home. There are many reports of failure to sanitize common areas, inadequate food preparation, and refusal to wear masks within the homes. These would automatically qualify as gross negligence from those responsible.
Resident Bill of Rights tied to COVID-19: All nursing homes provide their residents with a Bill of Rights, enticing their rights and privileges within the home, as well as the staffer’s responsibility with their residents. These rights of course, are ever more important through the pandemic. If these become breached by lack of routine hygienic care and sanitation protocols, or the refusal of allowing residents to do their rightful exercise, a lawsuit must be pursued at once. That is because those three components can greatly contribute to the transmission of COVID-19 throughout the nursing home.
COVID-19 medical malpractice: This is perhaps one of the most serious cases of nursing home neglect because of the health hazard that it amounts. Medical malpractice may be called upon if the resident fails to receive routine medical checkups, virus testing, and is negligently exposed to infected staffers or other residents.
Possible sets of legal compensation
If any of the mentioned grounds for lawsuits are proved, you may be entitled to the following settlements with compensation:
- Summed medical care for the consequences of viral transmission, as well as any costs added due to pre-existing medical conditions on top of the viral infection.
- Hospital stay costs, if the infection becomes severe the patient will be treated in the intensive care units for an indefinite period of time.
- Loss of quality of life expenses become vital especially throughout the patient’s recovery period. Even if the victim survives the infection, the long-lasting health effects will diminish the person’s quality of life, thus making compensation necessary.
- Pain and suffering.
- Mental and emotional pain compensation.
Necessity of hiring a lawyer
The truth of the matter is that filing a nursing home COVID-19 neglect lawsuit is not an easy task. Whether you’re the victim or your loved one is, the chances of you winning a settlement without legal representation are extremely slim. You need a Covid-19 nursing home negligence attorney to help you with the necessary paperwork, do the talking for you, and add value to your claim.
How will she or he do this you may ask? Simple, the attorney will begin by constructing a thorough investigation of the facts that led to gross negligence. Questioning staff members, gathering witnesses, and analyzing the sustained damages will fortify your lawsuit. Having a lawyer by your side will cause those involved to actually provide you with honest answers on what led to a possible viral infection within the nursing home. You might be frustrated to find out that without a legal representative by your side, those responsible will opt to lie and create deceit. If your case goes to trial, your attorney will have the ample and necessary experience in seeking to protect your own or loved ones’ rights.
Now that you are more educated on the legal complexities regarding nursing home negligence throughout this pandemic, we hope that you will opt to hire a Covid-19 nursing home negligence attorney for the job. Furthermore, in order to do the job right, we are pleased to inform you about the legal services of the Offices of Scott J. Senft The Lawyer. Scott and his team are a set of competent legal attorneys that are ready to represent you in the protection of your rights, while also seeking to win your settlement. With ample experience in the field, Scott and his attorneys will find every legal avenue possible so that you can attain the compensation you deserve. With locations in South Florida and Portland, Oregon, he is at your complete service. What are you waiting for? Call them now!
