Posted by McWhirterBellingerAttorney on May 14, 2012 under Nursing Home Abuse | 
One type of nursing home abuse and neglect involves failure to properly follow a resident’s care plan according to his or her doctor’s orders. If you suspect your loved one’s care plan is not being followed in a South Carolina nursing home, you should first report this to the nursing home administrator. Then, get in touch with an attorney dedicated to fighting nursing home abuse in South Carolina.
If your elderly loved one has been harmed or has died due to a care plan not being properly followed in a nursing home, you may have a valid legal claim against the facility and its staff. The South Carolina nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A., can advise you on whether or not you have grounds for a nursing home abuse lawsuit after hearing the details of your case.
Nursing Home Care Plan Requirements under Federal Law
Federal law requires that nursing home caregivers document each patient’s physical and mental condition and assess changes that occur over time. The document, known as a care plan, addresses such issues as the patient’s ability to care for himself, ability to move about, and his awareness of the surroundings.
The goal of a care plan is to provide the highest quality care while protecting nursing home residents from nursing home abuse and neglect. Nursing homes that fail to maintain, update, or follow a resident’s care plan may be in violation of federal and South Carolina law.
Nursing homes must comply with the Nursing Home Reform Act to continue receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds. This law outlines minimum nursing home standards for “services and activities to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident.”
If your loved one has suffered due to poor care in a nursing home in South Carolina, please contact the nursing home negligence attorneys of McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. today to schedule a no-cost, confidential consultation. We serve residents of Newberry, Columbia, Camden and surrounding areas of South Carolina.
Posted by McWhirterBellingerAttorney on May 7, 2012 under Medical Malpractice |
Medication errors are one of the most common forms of medical malpractice in the United States today. Errors in prescribing and dispensing medications also occur quite frequently in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Often times, the patient does not have the cognitive ability to know he or she is not being medicated properly. For this reason, many instances of medication errors go unreported, and these errors are not discovered until it’s too late.
Common nursing home medication errors include:
- Overdosing or underdosing
- Administration of incorrect medication
- Failure to identify or react to adverse interactions
- Failure to obtain complete medical history
- Miscommunication among caregivers
Patients can get very ill and even suffer wrongful death due to errors in prescribing and dispensing medications. If your elderly loved one has been made sick or has died due to a medication error in a nursing home, you may have a valid legal claim for nursing home negligence against the nursing home and its staff.
The South Carolina nursing home abuse attorneys of McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. are dedicated to fighting nursing home abuse and negligence in court. If you suspect your loved one has been harmed by nursing home staff, we will meet with you at no cost to hear the details of your case.
If your elderly loved one has suffered due to a medication mistake in a South Carolina nursing home, please contact the South Carolina nursing home abuse lawyers of McWhirter, Belllinger & Associates, P.A., serving the South Carolina communities of Columbia, Sumter, and Camden.
Posted by McWhirterBellingerAttorney on April 18, 2012 under Nursing Home Abuse |
If you are considering nursing home care for your elderly loved one, a thorough evaluation of the nursing home facility is crucial. Some nursing homes may be understaffed, which can lead to a lack of training and improper supervision of residents. Poor training and lack of supervision sometimes lead to abuse and neglect of nursing home patients.
Nurses and physicians in nursing homes should posses a high level of training in various important areas, including:
- Anatomy and physiology
- Pharmacology
- Disease causation and treatment
- Diet and nutrition
When evaluating a nursing home facility, you should ask questions about the credentials of the nursing home’s medical professionals to ensure they have the education and training to properly care for your loved one.
Lack of Trained Staff Can Lead to Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
A failure to properly train volunteer nursing home staff can stem from the nursing home administration’s lack of concern or desire to cut costs. This is especially dangerous because a lack of trained nursing home staff can leave your loved one vulnerable to various types of nursing home abuse and neglect. No volunteer or paid nursing home staff member should ever put your loved one in harm’s way.
Because they lack formal training, volunteers sometimes do not possess a proper understanding of diseases and their treatment, medication usage, and patient care. This lack of training and professional accountability can affect your loved one’s care, creating the potential for diminished quality of life or even wrongful death.
If you feel your elderly loved one has suffered harm in a South Carolina nursing home, please contact the South Carolina nursing home abuse attorneys at McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. in Columbia today to schedule a confidential consultation at no cost to you.
Posted by McWhirterBellingerAttorney on April 11, 2012 under Nursing Home Abuse |
Nursing homes have a legal obligation to maintain proper nutrition and hydration in their patients as a general standard of care. Every nursing home patient should get adequate amounts of the calories, fluids, protein, vitamins and minerals necessary to maintain good health. While this can sometimes be a challenge, failure to do so can lead to serious injury, illness, and even wrongful death.
Malnutrition and dehydration can exacerbate bed sores (medically known as decubitus ulcers or pressure ulcers), and are known to cause various medical problems, including:
- Weakened immune system
- Weak or atrophied muscles
- Disorientation and confusion
Because malnutrition and dehydration are serious health risks, allowing a resident to become severely dehydrated or malnourished can be considered a type of nursing home abuse or neglect.
If you have an elderly loved one in a nursing home who has suffered from malnutrition or dehydration, we strongly urge you to consult with an experienced nursing home abuse and neglect attorney at McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. as soon as possible.
Causes of Malnutrition and Dehydration
Malnutrition and dehydration can lead to a whole host of medical problems and even wrongful death. It is crucial that patients in nursing homes receive adequate amounts of food and water. The following are just some of the causes of malnutrition and dehydration in nursing home patients:
- Staff placing water and food outside the reach of immobile patients
- Drug side effects
- Untreated illnesses
- Emotional distress
Have you noticed that your loved one seems to be suffering from malnutrition or dehydration in a nursing home? The nursing home negligence attorneys of McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. offer a no-cost, confidential consultation to discuss your legal options.
If your elderly loved one has suffered from nursing home abuse or negligence, please contact the nursing home abuse attorneys at McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A., serving Camden, Sumter, Columbia and surrounding areas of South Carolina.
Posted by McWhirterBellingerAttorney on April 4, 2012 under Nursing Home Abuse |
Federal and state laws require that nursing homes maintain high safety standards. However, some nursing homes continue to place residents in environments where improper supervision and inadequate staff training create dangerous conditions. Your first defense in protecting your loved one from nursing home abuse is to understand exactly what constitutes each type of nursing home abuse and neglect.
The nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at the South Carolina firm of McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. are now accepting nursing home abuse cases for nursing home residents and their families in Camden, Columbia, Sumter, Newberry, Orangeburg and all of South Carolina. We offer a no-cost, confidential consultation where we hear the details of your case and determine if you have a valid legal claim.
If you suspect abuse, you should do the following to document the abuse and/or neglect of your elderly loved one:
- Keep a written record of any abuse that you suspect
- Note any dressings that have not been changed in a timely fashion
- Note any dirty undergarments, clothing, or linens
- Note any evidence of physical trauma
- Take photos of bruises, cuts, or other unexplained injuries
- Note the date/time of any suspicious behavior or injuries
- Note the names of anyone who was in the room when incidents may have occurred
- Record information about any potential witnesses to the abuse and/or neglect
- Ask for copies of your loved one’s medical records
Keeping this documentation and reviewing it with one of our nursing home abuse attorneys is the best way to fight nursing home abuse in South Carolina.
If you suspect that an elderly loved one is being abused or neglected in a South Carolina nursing home, please contact the South Carolina nursing home abuse attorneys of McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. for a free and frank discussion of your legal options.
Posted by McWhirterBellingerAttorney on March 15, 2012 under Nursing Home Abuse, nursing home |
If you suspect your loved one’s nursing home death is a result of abuse and neglect, it is important that you immediately consult with a nursing home abuse lawyer to determine if an autopsy is necessary in your case. You may think the cause of death is clear or that your loved one died of natural causes. Do not make that assumption without consulting your nursing home abuse attorney!
In some nursing home wrongful death cases, an autopsy is vital to the success of the lawsuit against the nursing home. However, in other nursing home abuse cases, an autopsy may be unnecessary and can even harm your case if performed improperly. The decision as to whether or not to have an autopsy performed should be made by you and your attorney.
Importance of an Autopsy in Proving Wrongful Death at a Nursing Home
The detailed findings that an autopsy produces will provide your family some insight into the true cause of your loved one’s death. If the death was not caused by cardiac arrest, cancer, or some other medical condition, then a more nefarious cause may be the reason for their death.
Only an autopsy can provide you with a clear and accurate explanation as to why your loved one died and determine if it was a wrongful death due to nursing home abuse or negligence.
If an autopsy is necessary, it should be performed at a facility other than the one where the patient died. The selection of the physician who performs the autopsy can be critical because some physicians are biased toward health care providers and may not always offer an objective analysis.
The nursing home abuse lawyers at McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A are now accepting new cases to fight nursing home abuse and neglect in South Carolina. We offer a free, confidential consultation so our legal team can hear the details of your case and decide whether or not you have a valid legal claim.
If your family member or loved one has passed away in a South Carolina nursing home, please contact the Columbia wrongful death attorneys of McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. today to schedule a consultation.
Posted by McWhirterBellingerAttorney on March 8, 2012 under Wrongful Death |
If one of your elderly loved ones is in a nursing home, you may be concerned about nursing home neglect and abuse as it’s become quite an epidemic in the United States in the past few years. Some types of nursing home abuse can even lead to wrongful death.
Proving that a nursing home employee is directly responsible for the death of a loved one is often difficult, even if you feel like their responsibility is obvious. It is not uncommon for nursing home professionals to attempt to cover up mistakes.
Unfortunately, many dangerous mistakes are covered up in nursing homes due to fear of being sued for nursing home negligence. We cannot stress enough the importance of finding out if an autopsy is necessary; an autopsy will provide you and your attorneys with a clear explanation of what caused your loved one’s death.
Some of the more common causes of nursing home-related wrongful death include:
Decubitus ulcers (bed sores)
Malnutrition/dehydration
Falls
Wandering off the premises
Excessive use of physical or chemical restraints
Medication errors
The nursing home abuse and wrongful death lawyers at McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. in South Carolina have the knowledge, experience and resources necessary to litigate these difficult cases and win. We are committed to defending the rights of South Carolina seniors and fighting nursing home abuse in South Carolina.
If you suspect an elderly loved one died in nursing home due to abuse or neglect, please contact the South Carolina wrongful death lawyers of McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. to schedule a free consultation at our Camden, Columbia, Sumter, Newberry, or Orangeburg law office.
Posted by McWhirterBellingerAttorney on March 1, 2012 under Nursing Home Abuse |
If you are reading this blog, to look for a qualified South Carolina nursing home abuse lawyer, you have come to the right place. McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. is a South Carolina law firm with an ongoing commitment to fighting nursing home abuse in South Carolina and getting fair compensation for nursing home abuse victims and their families.
Our firm’s website provides comprehensive information about South Carolina nursing home abuse cases and how our legal team can be of assistance to you. For several years, our lawyers have been fighting these difficult cases and winning.
Nursing home abuse cases are particularly complex because these claims often involve suing multiple parties, and the details of the nursing home abuse and/or neglect are often very disturbing for families to hear. We will proceed respectfully, but aggressively to hold the negligent or abusive parties who harmed your loved one accountable for their actions.
How to Choose a South Carolina Nursing Home Abuse Attorney
The following are some questions you may want to ask any law firm you are considering to represent your case:
How much experience do you have with nursing home abuse cases?
How much experience do you have with cases like mine?
Do you have the financial resources to take my case to trial?
How many nursing home abuse cases have you taken to trial?
How do you find medical experts for nursing home abuse cases?
For our answers to these important questions, schedule a free and confidential consultation with the nursing home abuse attorneys of McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. You’ll find that our legal team is fully qualified and has the nursing home abuse litigation experience to take your case and get you and your family the compensation you deserve.
If you live in Columbia, Sumter, Newberry, Orangeburg, or Camden, South Carolina and feel you may have a valid nursing home abuse claim, please contact the nursing home negligence litigators at McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. today to schedule your no-cost consultation.
Posted by McWhirterBellingerAttorney on February 23, 2012 under Nursing Home Abuse |
One type of nursing home abuse and neglect involves failure to properly follow a resident’s care plan according to his or her doctor’s orders. If you suspect your loved one’s care plan is not being followed in a South Carolina nursing home, you should first report this to the nursing home administrator. Then, get in touch with an attorney dedicated to fighting nursing home abuse in South Carolina.
If your elderly loved one has been harmed or has died due to a care plan not being properly followed in a nursing home, you may have a valid legal claim against the facility and its staff. The South Carolina nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys at McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A., can advise you on whether or not you have grounds for a nursing home abuse lawsuit after hearing the details of your case.
Nursing Home Care Plan Requirements under Federal Law
Federal law requires that nursing home caregivers document each patient’s physical and mental condition and assess changes that occur over time. The document, known as a care plan, addresses such issues as the patient’s ability to care for himself, ability to move about, and his awareness of the surroundings.
The goal of a care plan is to provide the highest quality care while protecting nursing home residents from nursing home abuse and neglect. Nursing homes that fail to maintain, update, or follow a resident’s care plan may be in violation of federal and South Carolina law.
Nursing homes must comply with the Nursing Home Reform Act to continue receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds. This law outlines minimum nursing home standards for “services and activities to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident.”
If your loved one has suffered due to poor care in a nursing home in South Carolina, please contact the nursing home negligence attorneys of McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. today to schedule a no-cost, confidential consultation. We serve residents of Newberry, Columbia, Camden and surrounding areas of South Carolina.
Posted by McWhirterBellingerAttorney on February 20, 2012 under Medical Malpractice |
Medication errors are one of the most common forms of medical malpractice in the United States today. Errors in prescribing and dispensing medications also occur quite frequently in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Often times, the patient does not have the cognitive ability to know he or she is not being medicated properly. For this reason, many instances of medication errors go unreported, and these errors are not discovered until it’s too late.
Common nursing home medication errors include:
- Overdosing or underdosing
- Administration of incorrect medication
- Failure to identify or react to adverse interactions
- Failure to obtain complete medical history
- Miscommunication among caregivers
Patients can get very ill and even suffer wrongful death due to errors in prescribing and dispensing medications. If your elderly loved one has been made sick or has died due to a medication error in a nursing home, you may have a valid legal claim for nursing home negligence against the nursing home and its staff.
The South Carolina nursing home abuse attorneys of McWhirter, Bellinger & Associates, P.A. are dedicated to fighting nursing home abuse and negligence in court. If you suspect your loved one has been harmed by nursing home staff, we will meet with you at no cost to hear the details of your case.
If your elderly loved one has suffered due to a medication mistake in a South Carolina nursing home, please contact the South Carolina nursing home abuse lawyers of McWhirter, Belllinger & Associates, P.A., serving the South Carolina communities of Columbia, Sumter, and Camden.
