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If you or a family member suffered harm while living in a Tacoma nursing home, you may have a legal case against the owners, administrators, or another responsible party. Abuse or neglect can cause serious physical and emotional injuries, especially to already vulnerable and elderly loved ones. You placed your trust in a nursing home—and now, you deserve help seeking justice.
Our dedicated personal injury attorneys are prepared to fight to hold at-fault parties accountable for their misconduct. Contact a Tacoma nursing home abuse lawyer to get started on your claim.
Understanding Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect in Tacoma
According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), there are seven distinct types of elder abuse. Five of these occur in nursing homes regularly. They include:
- Physical Abuse: Inappropriate physical force that could result in pain, injuries, or distress
- Emotional Abuse: Insults, harassment, humiliation, or other infliction of psychological pain
- Sexual Abuse: Inappropriate touching, assault, rape, or other unwanted and non-consensual sexual behavior
- Financial Abuse: Misuse of the resident’s money or assets
- Neglect: Failure to provide the resident with basic care, medications, meals, clean bedding, and other necessities
Neglect is a type of abuse, despite sometimes being unintentional. When administrators allow a nursing home to operate while understaffed, overcrowded, or without properly trained staff, neglect may become an issue. As a result, residents may miss doses of essential medications, skip meals or activities, develop pressure sores, fall while trying to go to the bathroom alone, or suffer other complications.
Physical or sexual abuse could cause serious injuries to a nursing home resident, especially since they are likely to have other medical conditions that cause limited mobility, cognitive concerns, or other issues.
Building a Tacoma Nursing Home Abuse Case
Elders over age 60 or other adults living in assisted living facilities have certain rights and protections under the Vulnerable Adult Protection Act. Washington law allows victims of nursing home abuse or neglect—or their legal representative—to build a case against the owners or administrators of a facility when:
- Neglect occurred in the facility
- A staff member or volunteer abused them
- Staff failed to protect the resident from harm on the facility’s property
Getting justice in these cases often requires going toe-to-toe with corporate lawyers representing the facility or its insurance company. This is one reason why individuals should not try to navigate this process alone. Having a Tacoma elder abuse lawyer on one’s side with the knowledge, experience, and resources to fight for an injured person’s best interests allows a family to focus on their loved one’s safety and healing.
The damages recoverable in an insurance settlement or a civil court verdict could include medical care costs, relocation expenses to move to a new facility, psychological therapy, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and more.
Washington’s Statute of Limitations on Nursing Home Abuse Claims
Dealing with nursing home abuse can be emotionally overwhelming for families. However, the sooner they take action, the better. When a facility’s administration learns of abuse or neglect accusations, they may take quick action to hide as much evidence as possible, or it may simply disappear on its own.
Facilities regularly record over surveillance video, bruises disappear, and witnesses forget the details of what they saw. The earlier a Tacoma nursing home neglect attorney can look into the allegations, the better.
A deadline exists for filing a lawsuit in nursing home abuse cases in Tacoma, set by RCW 4.16.080. This is usually three years from the date of the abuse or when it was discovered.
Speak with a Tacoma Nursing Home Abuse Attorney About Your Options
If your loved one suffered abuse or neglect at the hands of their caretakers while in an assisted living facility, you should seek legal counsel immediately. A Tacoma nursing home abuse lawyer could help you seek the compensation your family deserves and hold all liable parties accountable. Call today.
