Medical Malpractice in Nursing Homes

Putting a loved one in a nursing home is not an easy decision, but people do it while trusting that their family member will be properly treated. Unfortunately, abuse and neglect happen far too often at these facilities. If your loved one has been harmed by medical malpractice at a nursing home, it is important to reach out to a Baltimore medical malpractice attorney who can provide you with comprehensive legal representation. Julia Arfaa and the staff at the Arfaa Law Group are committed to aggressively asserting the rights of elderly victims of health care negligence.

Medical malpractice, also known as medical neglect, occurs in a nursing home when the facility or its staff engages in careless or incompetent conduct that results in harm to a resident. A nursing home facility is required to provide appropriate attention to a resident’s health issues. Examples of incidents of malpractice in a nursing home may include:

• Medication and prescription errors, including failing to provide prescribed medication;
• Ignoring a resident’s stated medical concerns;
• Allowing a resident to develop bedsores; or
• Failing to treat a condition or make a necessary referral.

A Maryland medical malpractice case is a civil claim that is designed to hold medical professionals accountable for causing preventable injuries or deaths. Malpractice occurs when a medical professional fails to use the level of care that a competent, properly trained medical professional in the same specialty would use in the same situation. Thus, an oncologist would be compared to a competent oncologist, an anesthesiologist would be expected to observe protocols that would be followed in the anesthesia field, and so on. The victim or their family members also need to show that the defendant’s inadequate care was a direct cause of the resident’s injury or death. This may be challenging in some situations in which residents may have pre-existing conditions or illnesses, so it is important to consult a medical malpractice attorney who can enlist knowledgeable experts to testify about how the defendant’s carelessness exacerbated the victim’s condition or created preventable complications.

Considering the fragile state of some nursing home residents, the consequences of medical malpractice may be severe and may even lead to death. If your loved one has died due to medical negligence in a nursing home, we can help you pursue a wrongful death claim against the facility. Wrongful death claims are intended to compensate the estate and surviving family members for the untimely death of a loved one caused by a medical professional’s negligence.

Maryland law allows victims of medical malpractice and wrongful death to recover damages. Medical malpractice damages typically include medical expenses, pain and suffering, and therapy costs. Wrongful death damages may include burial costs, funeral expenses, loss of support and companionship, and more.

At the Arfaa Law Group, experienced injury lawyer Julia Arfaa has the skill and compassion to handle your case. We work diligently on behalf of nursing home residents who have been abused or neglected. Baltimore medical malpractice lawyer Julia Arfaa assists victims throughout the state of Maryland. Call 410-889-1850 or contact us online to set up a free consultation.