Remedies for Abuse and Neglect

Remedies if your Family Member was Abused or Neglected

There are a myriad of remedies for you if you have an abuse or neglect situation that includes complaints made to various government agencies. Some remedies are more effective than others and the remedy you use will often depend on the severity of the abuse and neglect. In pursing any remedy, be prepared to be frustrated but you must remain persistent.

Ombudsman - Most states have a long term care ombudsman program. Their success rate and true commitment to quality care depend on each ombudsman program. In general, ombudsmen can help you get a new mattress for your family member, make the nursing home pay for lost or stolen items, and other types of simple problems but they may not be able to tackle serious problems involving lack of care. There are some aggressive ombudsman offices, but they are at the mercy of the state health department bureaucracy. It is best to use this office for non life threatening situations.

State Department of Health - The Oklahoma State Department of Health licenses the nursing home facility for the state and is also responsible for certifying the facility for participation in the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs each year. The Department of Health conducts yearly inspections, called surveys, of each nursing home and also investigates complaints. Some of the state surveyors are quite good, but there is enormous pressure on the state bureaucracy and legislature by the powerful nursing home lobby to keep remedies and fines to a minimum. Additionally, in Oklahoma, the Department of Human Services (DHS) also investigates complaints of abuse and neglect of resident in nursing homes.

You can file a complaint with the Oklahoma State Department of Health and they must investigate the complaint. They can either substantiate or unsubstantiate your complaint. If the complaint is substantiated, this agency can issue a citation and impose a fine and require corrective action. The nursing home has a right to appeal a substantiation finding by the state. Unfortunately, the nursing home often gets a fine reduced and often only temporarily corrects the problem. The surveyors often rely on the nursing home records in their investigation and these records can be falsified or “cleaned up”.

Many family members are concerned that if they make a complaint and their relative is still in the nursing home, the facility may try and retaliate on the relative. Since you cannot be at the nursing home twenty four hours a day, this could be a real concern, especially if your relative is unable to communicate well and tell you about any retaliation. Some family members wait until they move their relative out of the facility to file a complaint. Of course, you can always file a complaint if your relative dies, especially if you think that the lack of care or abuse was a factor in the death.

The Department of Health surveys each nursing home once a year and they may be involved in a survey while you are visiting your family member at the nursing home. You can usually tell when it is near the time for a survey because the facility will clean up and become fully staffed. You may even see a corporate team from the nursing home chain come in and work on the records and the look of the facility. If there are state surveyors in the facility when you visit, go up and ask one of the surveyors if you can speak to them. They will usually reserve a time for you to speak to them. However, don't assume that the facility will not know that you spoke to them and that the information will remain confidential. If you would like to make a complaint about the care and treatment of your loved one in a nursing home, you can contact the Oklahoma State Department of Health Protective Services at (405) 271-6868 or you can contact the DHS at (405) 521-3440.

State Civil Litigation - One of your remedies is to take private legal action against the nursing home in state court. Each state has a different set of laws, but the most common suits are for abuse and neglect or wrongful death.

If you decide to go this route, it is very important to obtain an attorney that is knowledgeable in this area of law. The law firm of Nix & McIntyre, L.L.P. has recovered millions of dollars for families of neglected and abused nursing home residents. It is important to avoid attorneys who do not specialize in this type of law because the nursing home will have counsel that is well versed in the law and can bury a less knowledgeable attorney in paperwork.

It is also a good idea to work with an attorney that uses investigators to gather the evidence and may also visit the facility to back up your charges. Beware of the attorney who doesn't know what he doesn't know and assumes that he can easily take on these cases.