DuPage County Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
Has a nursing home in DuPage County, Illinois, violated your trust and abused or neglected a family member who lives there? Your family may have the right to take legal action and demand financial accountability from the abusive caretakers and facility. The experienced DuPage County nursing home abuse lawyers at Mathys & Schneid Personal Injury Lawyers can help you make the most of your fight for compensation.
Since 2005, victims of nursing home abuse and their families have been able to turn to Mathys & Schneid Personal Injury Lawyers for compassionate, effective legal representation. Collectively, our award-winning Illinois trial attorneys have more than 75 years of experience. We work hard to achieve favorable results for each and every person we represent, and those results speak for themselves. Our law firm has secured over $150 million in verdicts and settlements for clients like you.
Don’t let the nursing home off the hook for the way they’ve mistreated your aging or disabled family member. Contact our law office in DuPage County, Illinois, to learn more about how we can help by setting up a free consultation. We’re here to answer your call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call us at 630-848-9294.
Table of Contents
- How Can A Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer In DuPage County Help?
- What Are The Types Of Abuse In Nursing Homes?
- How Common Is Nursing Home Abuse?
- Who Could Be Liable For Abusing A Nursing Home Resident In DuPage County, Illinois?
- What Compensation Can Be Awarded In A Nursing Home Abuse And Neglect Claim In Illinois?
- How Long Do You Have To File A Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit In Illinois?
- Schedule A Free Consultation With An Experienced DuPage County Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
What Are The Types Of Abuse In Nursing Homes?
Nursing home abuse occurs when a caretaker mistreats a resident, causing them to suffer avoidable trauma.
There are five main types of nursing home abuse:
- Physical abuse
- Emotional/psychological abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Neglect
- Financial abuse
It’s possible for nursing home residents to experience one or more of these types of abuse while living in a long-term care facility.
Physical Nursing Home Abuse
Physical abuse involves hitting, striking, pushing or otherwise making harmful physical contact with a nursing home resident. Using tight restraints – such as zip ties or handcuffs – to limit a resident’s ability to move can also be a form of physical abuse.
Signs of physical nursing home abuse include:
- Unexplained physical injuries
- Bruising
- Cuts and lacerations
- Fearfulness
Physical abuse accounts for about one out of every seven instances of nursing home abuse.
Emotional Nursing Home Abuse
Residents in long-term care facilities don’t have to be physically injured to be victims of abuse. Abuse can also be verbal and psychological.
Some common examples include:
- Making fun of a resident
- Intimidating or threatening a resident
- Withholding food, water or medication
- Isolating or abandoning a resident
- Embarrassing a resident in front of their family or other residents
Signs of emotional abuse include withdrawal, changes in mood or emotional state, depression, reluctance to see or visit family, and agitation.
Emotional abuse is the most commonly reported type of nursing home abuse, making up about one-third of all instances.
Sexual Abuse In Nursing Homes
Unfortunately, sexual abuse isn’t all that uncommon in nursing homes. In fact, 1.9% of reports of abuse in nursing homes involve sexual abuse.
Sexual abuse typically involves forcing a resident to engage in and/or watch sexual activities without their consent. A resident could also be the victim of sexual abuse if they’re groped or molested by a caretaker.
Signs of sexual abuse include sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), changes in emotional state and depression.
Nursing Home Neglect
Neglect – or the failure to provide reasonable care for a resident – affects roughly one out of every ten victims of nursing home abuse.
Some common examples of nursing home neglect include:
- Failing to get a resident timely and appropriate medical care
- Failing to provide a resident with food and water on a regular basis
- Failing to help a mobility-challenged resident regularly move, which can result in falls or bedsores
- Leaving a resident alone for extended periods of time
Signs of neglect might include unexplained weight loss, depression, fearfulness, memory problems and unexplained injuries.
Financial Abuse In Nursing Homes
Nursing home residents are a common target for financial crimes like theft, identity theft and fraud. Caretakers or facilities might misappropriate a resident’s government funds, use their credit cards to make unauthorized purchases or defraud a resident into giving away large sums of money.
How Common Is Nursing Home Abuse?
Before 2020, it was estimated that nursing home abuse affected roughly 10% of the nursing home population nationwide.
After the pandemic hit, about one out of every five nursing home residents reportedly suffered some type of abuse or neglect in a long-term care facility.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), two out of three nursing home caretakers surveyed admitted to having abused a resident at some point in time in the prior year.
Who Could Be Liable For Abusing A Nursing Home Resident In DuPage County, Illinois?
While nursing aides spend the vast majority of time with nursing home residents, anyone at a facility could potentially be liable for abuse.
This might include:
- Certified nursing aides (CNAs)
- Physicians
- Physical therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Nursing home staff
- Nursing home administrators
Nursing home abuse can be a systemic problem. If a facility knows that its caretakers are abusing residents, they can be liable for the abuse, too.
What Compensation Can Be Awarded In A Nursing Home Abuse And Neglect Claim In Illinois?
Victims of nursing home abuse in DuPage County, Illinois, have the opportunity to bring a claim to recover economic damages (to cover financial losses) and noneconomic damages (to make up for suffering and trauma).
This could include compensation for:
- Hospitalization
- Current medical bills
- Long-term treatment and future medical expenses
- The cost of moving to another nursing home or assisted living facility in DuPage County
- Restitution for stolen property
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Emotional distress
- Reduced quality of life
Nursing homes and abusive caretakers could also be ordered to pay punitive damages if there’s evidence that the abuse was intentional or resulted from grossly negligent care.
Our nursing home abuse attorneys in DuPage County will work tirelessly to ensure that your family is awarded all of the compensation that’s available to you under Illinois state law.
How Long Do You Have To File A Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit In Illinois?
Nursing home abuse lawsuits are generally subject to a two-year statute of limitations in Illinois.
This gives abused residents two years from the date of the last abusive act to file a claim against the facility and/or abusive caretakers.
If nursing home abuse or neglect led to the wrongful death of a family member, you’ll have two years from the date of their death to take legal action.
Don’t miss the deadline that applies to your nursing home abuse and neglect case. You give up the opportunity to demand accountability and recover compensation once the statute of limitations expires.
How Can A Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer In DuPage County Help?
Unfortunately, nursing homes and caretakers will rarely step up and admit that they’ve done something to harm a resident. You’ll need to be aggressive and put up a fight if you intend to win your nursing home abuse case.
That’s where our personal injury lawyers in DuPage County can help to make a difference.
Our law firm has the resources and experience needed to take on powerful long-term care facilities and hold them accountable for the abuse that’s happened on their watch.
We understand how devastating it can be to watch a family member suffer, and our nursing home abuse attorneys in DuPage County are here to support your family during this incredibly difficult time.
You spend the time you need with your family members while our top-rated litigators:
- Promptly report the suspected abuse to the Illinois Department of Human Services
- File a lawsuit and compel the nursing home to disclose internal records and documents, policies and procedures, video footage and other information that could show evidence of your family member’s abusive care
- Coordinate a thorough and independent investigation into the abuse and neglect
- Determine if there is a widespread pattern of abuse within the nursing facility
- Enlist the help of qualified experts and specialists
- Actively work toward a fair and meaningful settlement offer during the negotiation process
- Reject unreasonable offers and prepare to argue your nursing home abuse lawsuit at trial, if necessary
Our DuPage County personal injury law firm represents victims of nursing home abuse on a contingency fee basis. You only pay if we win your nursing home abuse and neglect case. Get in touch with a member of our team today to learn more.
Schedule A Free Consultation With An Experienced DuPage County Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
Has a family member recently been abused at a nursing home or long-term care facility in DuPage County, Illinois? The facility and the caretakers personally responsible for the abuse must be held accountable. Our top-rated DuPage County nursing home abuse attorneys can help you fight to get the compensation you deserve.
We won’t stand for the way your disabled or aging family member has been mistreated. We’ll invest our resources and considerable experience into your case and fight to make things right.
Call our law office in DuPage County at 630-848-9294 to learn more about your legal options and discover how we can help you get through this difficult time.
Mathys & Schneid Personal Injury Lawyers offers a free, no-obligation case assessment, so reach out to a member of our team to begin today.