When a resident is placed to live in a nursing home that is Medicare and/or Medicaid-certified, they are guaranteed certain rights and protections. Some of these rights include the right to:
- Be free from discrimination.
- Be free from abuse and neglect.
- Be treated with respect.
- Get proper medical care.
- Be free from restraints.
[Source: Medicare.gov].
While the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services clearly states that residents have the right to be free from abuse and neglect, unfortunately, some residents’ rights are violated. In certain instances, it is the nurses and/or the staff working at the facility who mistreat the residents, and on other occasions, it might be other residents inflicting the harm. In fact, Click 2 Houston recently reported that a resident living in a nursing home in Houston was badly beaten by his new roommate, just one day before his 84th birthday.
When Fred Lopez’s family came to the Briarwood Nursing and Rehabilitation facility to celebrate their father’s birthday on Thursday, they found out that their elderly loved one had been beaten up. According to one of Lopez’s daughters who spoke with the news outlet, she said, “It was very sad. I was very, very sad what I saw. I mean, he is really beaten up really bad.” A nurse informed the family that Lopez had been attacked Wednesday night by his new roommate, although she didn’t go too much into depth about the incident. Unfortunately, Lopez couldn’t either as he suffered from dementia and couldn’t speak.
Sadly, this is the situation with many elderly residents who live in nursing homes. Families who suspect abuse or neglect is occurring struggle to learn the truth behind the bruises as their loved one is unable to retell what happened to them.
After seeing their father and grandfather “beaten, bruised, and under stress,” and uncertain as to what really happened, Lopez’s family is now prepared to find out “so they can celebrate as a family again.” One of the resident’s daughters said they were planning on hiring a nursing home abuse attorney and plan to get him out of the facility as soon as possible.
When the news outlet attempted to contact managers at Briarwood, they were told to either call back or come back another day. The Houston Police Department is also looking into the matter as it might be a possible case of assault.
Finding out that an elderly relative of yours has been mistreated is heartbreaking. When an individual is placed to live in a nursing home, they are expected to be cared for and monitored to ensure incidents like the one mentioned above don’t happen. But, the reality is, despite the rules and regulations that are put into place, residents are still abused and neglected. And if you ever suspect that your loved one has been mistreated while living in a nursing home in Chicago, it is important that you get in contact with an IL nursing home abuse attorney at Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd.
While you can demand answers from the facility and only hope that your loved one can recount the incident so you know exactly what happened, sometimes, you need a legal representative to step in in order to get the answers you are seeking. So, if you have witnessed signs of neglect and/or abuse and want to sit down with a nursing home neglect attorney, contact us today so that we can get a consultation scheduled.
Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd. is located at:
221 North La Salle Drive, Suite 1100
Chicago, IL 60601
1-312-384-1920
