Nursing Home Lawyers in Maryland
In the last few years in our practice, our nursing home neglect and abuse lawyers have seen an increasing number of new client calls questioning the quality of the care that a family member or friend is receiving in a nursing home. More than 1.5 million Americans are in nursing homes with 30,000 of them in Maryland. That number is rising fast as America continues to age. Baltimore County alone has 49 nursing homes and 299 assisted-living facilities.
There are a lot of great nursing homes in Maryland that are doing a fantastic job. In fact, the Maryland Health Care Commission reports that Marylanders are generally satisfied with the quality of nursing homes where their relatives reside. Still, there are other reports that are very disturbing. A few years ago, a former employee of Genesis Health Care's Heritage Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, was found guilty in Baltimore District Court of abuse of a vulnerable adult arising out of an assault on a 74 year-old female nursing home resident. Prosecutors said the perpetrator slapped the woman, who was suffering from advanced Alzheimer's, in the face in anger and with such force that the sound of the blow could be heard across the room. The reason given for this outburst was the patient would not stop scratching herself as the nursing assistants were changing her diaper.
Folks, it does not get much more awful than that. I feel a rage from recounting that story. Can you imagine if it was your parent or grandparents? Just awful. There is an opportunity for Maryland nursing home lawyers to step into situations like this not simply to obtain compensation for the victims but to send a message to the nursing homes that while it might not appear that society is watching them as they sit in their nursing homes abusing and mistreating these people that deserve our love and respect, justice will eventually be done.
Nursing home lawyers are everywhere in Florida, which has the oldest population in the country. But soon the rest of the nation will also be almost as gray as Florida is today. Accordingly, I would expect more lawyers to step into this nursing home fight for the least protected of us (that deserve the most protection).
According to Jury Verdict Research, 60 percent of personal injury trials involving nursing home abuse or neglect result in plaintiff verdicts. The median verdict is $192,977. The median verdict alleging malpractice in the treatment of a nursing home patient is $275,000.
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Comments
I am writing in response to this article. It makes me sad and angry that someone can do that to an elderly person. I work in a nursing home in Dover,NH. On the Alzheimer's unit. I couldn't even image doing something like that. I love all of my residents. I look at them as being a mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, daughter, son, friend, niece, nephew, etc. These people are still human beings and I know for a fact that they did not ask for this disease. At times it can have it's down faults but I would never take it out on them. You have to stop and think that it's not them it's the terrible disease Alzheimer's. But on the same tocken I find my job very rewarding and I love it and I look forward to going to work to see them.
Posted by: Molly Crowley | July 25, 2007 10:03 AM
Molly, you are in the majority. Most health care providers working in nursing homes are doing a fantastic job. The problem is the minority which have done some awful things. Thank you for caring for your patients as much as you do. - Ron
Posted by: Ron Miller | July 30, 2007 8:32 AM