New Jersey Elder Abuse Attorney

Dansky, Katz, Ringold, York

8000 Sagemore Drive
Suite 8304
Marlton, New Jersey 08053
USA

(856) 489-1515 or (800) 609-7577

(856) 489-1867

www.nursinghome-legalhelp.com

Contact the Firm

Law Firm Overview Free Consultation

The attorneys at Dansky Katz Ringold York devoted a large part of their practice to nursing home abuse claims and protecting the rights of the vulnerable, since the mid-nineties. A partner at our law firm, Michael S. Ringold brings experience, legal knowledge and a unique perspective. Focusing on personal injury law, we have represented South Jersey and Philadelphia residents injured by negligent parties or family members of those who suffered an unnecessary and wrongful death.

When abuse is discovered in a nursing home, rehabilitation center or skilled nursing facility, the confidence placed in it can be shattered. If physical or mental abuse of an elderly family member is suspected, take immediate action. Once we conduct a thorough investigation and validate your claim, your attorney will contact the New Jersey Department of Human Services to launch an investigation.

To establish your claim, medical records and other documentation need to be secured. Our nurse will conduct a thorough review and build a timeline of the events which will be reviewed by respected, independent medical experts. Then, we proceed to filing a claim for settlement or litigation. Our legal team is staffed with trial attorneys, including a Certified Civil Trial Attorney and a recipient of a Master of Laws in trial advocacy.

Practice Areas

Practice Areas Description

- Fall Downs & Fractures

As many as three out of four people in nursing homes fall each year. That’s twice the rate of falls for older adults living at home, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only about five percent of people 65 and older live in nursing homes, but falls in nursing homes account for 20 percent of fatalities from falls in this age group.

- Employee Neglect

The majority of our nursing home injury clients are family members of those who were injured by abuse or neglect. Without exception, they say they want to pursue legal action against the nursing home or its employees in order to prevent other people from suffering the way their loved one did.

- Emotional and Mental Abuse

Emotional and mental abuse of a nursing home resident inflicts pain, anguish or distress through verbal or non-verbal acts, according to the National Center on Elder Abuse.

Emotional and mental abuse can include verbal assaults, insults, threats, intimidation, humiliation and harassment.

- Bedsores & Ulcers

Bedsores, which are also known as pressure sores or decubitis ulcers, are a serious health problem particularly for nursing home residents who are not ambulatory.

- Abuse of Alzheimer's Patients

Neglect and abuse of Alzheimer's patients in nursing homes happens more frequently than many people suspect.

Because of the way it damages the brain, Alzheimer's disease robs people of their memories and adversely affects their behavior. Because of the nature of the disease, nursing home residents with Alzheimer's are particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect.

- Hazardous & Unsanitary Conditions

Unsanitary conditions in nursing homes are hazardous conditions. Failure to keep the facility and its residents clean can lead to infections of the entire nursing home population.

Failure to correct hazardous and unsanitary conditions is a form of nursing home neglect. If your loved one has suffered harm because of hazardous or unsanitary conditions in a residential care facility, please contact an attorney at Dansky Katz Ringold York

- Wrongful Death

Many of our clients are family members of a nursing home resident who suffered a wrongful death due to abuse or neglect at a long-term care facility. These clients are angry about what happened to their loved ones and want to take legal action to protect others from suffering a similar tragedy.

Of course, not all nursing home deaths are wrongful deaths. A wrongful death is one that was caused by the negligence, carelessness or recklessness of another person or organization.

-Injuries of Unknown Origin

The process of selecting a nursing home is emotional. It should be exhaustive as well. Visiting multiple homes and conducting thorough research is vital before a decision is made. Sadly, even the most detail-driven approach may fail to prevent injuries from occurring.

- Malnutrition & Dehydration

Adequate nutrition and hydration are required for both physical and mental health. Yet, an alarming number of nursing home residents suffer from malnutrition and dehydration despite the availability of food and liquids at their residences.

Malnutrition can be caused by an insufficient or poorly balanced diet or by digestive problems that prevent the absorption of nutrients.

- Medical Neglect

People are placed in nursing homes so that they have access to around-the-clock, skilled nursing and physician care. Yet nursing homes frequently neglect the medical needs of residents.

Medical neglect is defined as lack of care for existing medical problems, such as ignoring a medically necessary diet, not calling a physician when necessary, being unaware of potential side effects of medication, or failing to recognize and take action to resolve a medical problem. Poor access to medical services and mistakes in the administration of drugs are also forms of medical neglect.

- Medication Errors

Many people must do their jobs correctly for a nursing home resident to receive the correct medication in the right dosage at the right time. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and nursing assistants all play an important role in seeing that residents receive their medications. Medication errors can — and do — happen at any link in the chain.

- Physical and Chemical Restraints

In nursing homes, restraints should never be used as a substitute for safety in the facility, supervision or a means to discipline or control behavior. Using this extreme shortcut can lead to serious physical and psychological injury and death.

- Physical Abuse

The law does not allow nursing home residents to be physically abused by staff members, visitors, family members or each other. Yet physical abuse is all too common in nursing homes.

The National Center on Elder Abuse defines physical abuse as physical force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain or impairment. Hitting, beating, pushing, shoving, shaking, slapping, kicking, pinching and burning are all forms of physical abuse. Physical abuse also includes inappropriate use of drugs and physical restraints, force-feeding and physical punishment.

- Sepsis

When an infection leads to inflammation of the entire body, the condition is called sepsis. Also known as systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), sepsis can be deadly. About 750,000 cases of severe sepsis are diagnosed in the U.S. each year and more than 200,000 are fatal.

- Sexual Abuse

A sexual assault is both physically and mentally traumatic. Sex abuse can cause a nursing home resident's health to decline rapidly. Residents can become depressed, despondent and withdrawn. An attack can even take away their will to go on.

- Understaffing/Failure to Monitor

A great deal of nursing home injuries can be traced to understaffed nursing homes. When there are not enough nurse's aides to meet the needs of nursing home residents, accidents and injuries are bound to occur.

- Wandering & Elopement

Nursing home residents are often physically or cognitively impaired and are unable to protect themselves. Nursing homes are legally required to keep their residents safe. Part of that responsibility is to prevent residents from leaving the property (elopement) or wandering aimlessly into dangerous areas inside the nursing home.

Chairman

Michael S. Dansky
Attorney
Negligence

Partners

	Brian L. Katz Attorney Administrative Law, Civil Litigation		Michael S. Ringold Attorney Motor Vehicles, Negligence, Nursing Home Abuse, Premises Liability, Slip and Fall
	David R. York Attorney Animal Bites, Local, Municipal and State Law, Motor Vehicles, Premises Liability, Slip and Fall