Colorado Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers

Why do I sue nursing homes? I sue nursing homes because they must be held accountable. The government regulates them but does not much act on what it finds.  Nursing homes are cited,  recited,  then re-licensed  but then inevitably  allowed  to continue to operate. Very few are closed. Occasionally they are fined.

The problem is largely that nursing home owners  continue to find it to be more profitable to provide substandard care and pay occasional claims than to  spend what is necessary to adequately staff their facilities including  providing the necessary resources to  ensure high quality,  humane and decent care.  People with the most significant needs often have those needs go unmet.  Those who require the most care often receive the least. 

My own personal experience with  my mother  being neglected in a nursing home lead to my interest in this area.   I was in law school at U.C.L.A.  My mother was in a coma and needed only to be frequently repositioned.  Because she was not,  she quickly developed  a pie sized pressure ulcer on her spine which I discovered when  I picked her to hug her.  I understand the permanent feelings that come from such experiences.

I believe that one of most important things that most nursing homes understand is money.  I believe that making nursing homes pay claims has the best and most realistic chance of holding them accountable.    It is only when nursing home owners truly conclude that it is in their best economic interest to provide adequate care that conditions  will change.  We obviously have not reached that point yet.  And we may never reach this point as it may be that the provision of such personal health care through  for profit businesses may not be a workable model.  

In 1965, Congress decided that the American people wanted  to be freed from the ultimate responsibility of taking care of our own.  We are a highly mobile society.  Instead of supporting care in homes and accessibility,  Congress determined that it would trust our elderly and disabled population to nursing homes.

Although it has long been demonstrated that many nursing home residents can be more humanely and more inexpensively cared for with home care attendant services the nursing home industry continues to dominate the Medicaid program and nursing home care is the largest item in the social budget.  Congress trusts institutions like these more than families!

In 1975 a United States Senate Blue Ribbon Commission concluded after hearings in 25 cities that 1/2 of the nation’s nursing homes were providing scandalously substandard care with life threatening conditions.  My experience representing victims of poor nursing home care and their families over the last 30 years has taught me that this has not changed.  The litany of abuse continues.

We understand that entrusting a loved one to a nursing home is a difficult decision at best.  We also understand the incredible sense of betrayal that we feel when our mother’s or fathers or grandparents are neglected or abused.  We understand that when this happens people need to speak out and hold these facilities accountable.   

A major part of our practice is devoted to doing just that.

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