Las Vegas Injury & Accident Attorney Blog

UC San Francisco recently released a report comparing the quality-of-care in nursing homes across the country. The report compared the ten largest for profit nursing homes with the care in other for profits, non-profits and even government run homes. In general, the report’s findings showed a  better quality of care and higher staffing levels at non-profit and government run facilities. If you believe your loved one has received sub-par care in a Nevada nursing home, contact us today.

In the ten largest nursing homes, the report found that patients had more complaints and incidents of pressure sores, weight loss, falls, infections, mistreatment by staff, unsanitary conditions and more. These higher incident rates stem from lower staffing levels at large, chain operations where patient care is secondary to making a profit. Please contact Benson and Bingham at Bensonbingham.com or 702-382-9797 to discuss the neglect of any Nevadan in a Silver State nursing home.

Benson and Bingham is a full-service law firm that strives to ensure our clients are entirely satisfied by our representation. In 2010, Benson and Bingham secured over $15,000,000 in awards for our clients. Please contact us today to discuss any personal injury case. We can be found online at Bensonbingham.com

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The 76^th session of the Nevada Legislature began about a month and a half ago, and the 120-day marathon will be over before many Nevadans realize that it has begun. Even before the legislative session kicked off in early February, nearly 1,000 bill draft requests (or BDRs) had been made for issues ranging from regulating tanning beds to changing permitting of firearms whose misuse can result in tragic accidents and enduring spinal cord or brain damage. In the weeks since the session began, dozens more BDRs have poured in from both houses of the legislature as well as the various committees and even from the Nevada Youth Legislature.

The BDRs will be processed through the Assembly and Senate committees that have jurisdiction over the aspects of the law pertinent to those bills. For example, a BDR dealing with investigations of Nevada elder abuse (such as BDR 40-1075) might fall under the purview of a committee for health and human services or public safety, depending on how exactly the new law would function. A proposal to change the role of arbitration in cases of Nevada nursing home neglect, on the other hand, would likely fall under the power of a judiciary committee in the body in which the bill originated.

It is easy to write off the escapades of the Legislature as just more politics and partisan bickering, and the way the fight over the state’s budget shortfall is shaping up such a response is not entirely off-target. But these changes do matter, because when we face a tragic situation and we are looking for legal remedies, the laws that are in place end up being the rules of the game. The best thing any family dealing with a Nevada personal injury lawsuit can do is obtain legal guidance from experienced, knowledgeable personal injury attorneys who know Nevada law. In addition to working hard to apply current law in the most productive way possible for our Las Vegas and Southern Nevada personal injury clients, we also stay up-to-date on proposals to change Nevada law so we can adjust our strategies to help our clients as the law evolves. For answers to your legal questions, contact us today for a free consultation.

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In case you’ve missed the news reports, Nevada lawmakers are squaring off in a major battle over the state’s budget deficit. A hole of some $3 billion needs to be closed, and Governor Brian Sandoval and many of his Republican allies have taken tax increases off the table even though Nevada’s taxes are among the lowest in the country. It is unclear how this battle will ultimately play out, but one way or another a combination of spending cuts and revenue increases will have to be agreed upon in order to fund the state for the next two years. Even as this struggle plays out, the Nevada Legislature also seeks to resolve a number of other, non-budgetary issues such as improving protections for victims of Nevada elder abuse.

Nevada has not been immune to the startling, tragic epidemic of nursing home abuse that is sweeping the country as more and more senior-care facilities become for-profit franchises owned by large corporations. In too many cases, low-paid orderlies with minimal training  are given responsibility for elderly patients with special medical care needs. The results have been shocking: reports of sexual abuse of senior patients in some cases, infected bedsores from neglected elderly individuals in others.

A number of bills under consideration in the Nevada Legislature would do a number of things to protect elderly patients, such as clarifying the definition of Nevada nursing home neglect, updating training requirements for nursing home staff, and expanding the reach of criminal statutes to punish those who commit abuses against elderly Nevadans.

Lawmakers also hope to improve another body of law directed at a vulnerable population – that of employees making workers’ compensation claims. Too often, when Nevada families are seeking their due benefits through workers’ compensation after an on-the-job injury they instead have to deal with the legal obstructionism of the company’s insurer. Hopefully the new measures that are enacted will clarify contentious issues of workers’ compensation law and help affected families get the compensation they deserve with less delay. Today, our experienced Nevada workers’ compensation attorneys are available to help you understand the path to your workers’ comp benefits under current law, and we will remain informed of changes to this important body of law as it changes.

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Caring for an elderly parent or relative can feel like a series of losing battles. First, you seek solutions that allow the relative to remain in his or her home such as walkers and other support equipment. Other families consider cohabitation with a family member who takes on the mantle of de facto caretaker. But then something happens — there is a slip and fall accident, or the once-stoic family caretaker can no longer handle the responsibility and sacrifice of being on-call 24/7. Then you accept the necessity of a senior care facility, and you do hours of research to find a place that has a strong record of quality care without major reports of Nevada elder abuse. You sign all the contracts, make the steep deposit and other payments, and try to get back to life as usual.

But then comes another wrinkle, at least if your story is like that of many Nevadans with elderly relatives. A recent national report found that nine out of ten nursing homes had been cited for failing to keep adequate health and safety protocols, evidence that nursing home abuse truly is an epidemic in our country. And so, tragedy strikes — your loved one, whom you entrusted into the care of others, is harmed. Sadly, the reports of Nevada nursing home neglect are as varied as they are tragic: infections arise from untreated bedsores when elderly patients are not moved or rotated; forgotten parents are deprived of food or water; in many cases, sexual assault is perpetrated by fellow patients or even clinic staff. The range — and scope — of elder abuse is truly startling.

As your family scrambles to find meaning and redress, the story takes on another turn: buried deep in the pile of forms and contracts you signed when you admitted your parent to the facility is a clause waiving your right to a jury trial and accepting arbitration as the sole means of handling a dispute. Although they vary, arbitration processes are generally tilted toward the interests of the defendant party and limit the range of options and resources available to Nevada families seeking compensation for nursing home abuse. If you are considering nursing home facilities, give consideration to a home’s willingness to remove an arbitration-only clause from its contract. If you have already signed the papers and need legal advice to manage your elder neglect situation, contact us today for a free consultation with our Nevada elder abuse lawyers.

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Two breaking news stories highlight topics that we frequently discuss here on our Nevada accident and injury blog. From Northern Nevada, these events remind us of the importance of looking out for one another and acting vigilantly to prevent tragedy.

The first event is a shed fire north of Reno that seems to be limited so far to property damage. Nonetheless, the Nevada fire incident has seriously damaged a classic automobile valued for its age and pampered condition. Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the early-morning blaze, but if they find a party responsible for the fire either through malice or through an act of negligence, the owner of the affected vehicle may choose to pursue civil action for compensation.

Northern Nevada police are looking for an 82-year-old man who has gone missing. The man is believed to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease, a neurological condition that can scramble the abilities of elderly persons to think clearly and recall important details. Hopefully the man will be found in safe condition and this will only be a reminder to his caretakers of the importance of vigilant observation of individuals with special needs. Many families lack the resources to provide in-person care around the clock, so they rely on Nevada nursing homes to care for their loved ones. Taking this step is making a leap of faith, and too often Las Vegas seniors fall victim to nursing home facilities that permit Nevada nursing home neglect or worse. It is vital to choose a reputable facility for your loved one and to seek legal advice if you suspect any wrongdoing or inattention to your relative.

As these stories show, we can make our communities safer for people and property by keeping a watchful eye on the horizon and on each other. Where these efforts fall short and trouble or tragedy befall us, legal remedies can help us restore the loss. If you or a loved one have been impacted by fire, personal injury, or nursing home abuse in Nevada, contact us today for a free consultation.

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It is no secret that Nevada’s state government is staring down a massive budget shortfall and that with a weak economy and a governor who has pledged not to raise taxes, breaking even will mean many painful cuts to social services. While conservative state legislators call the state’s administrative bureaucracy bloated and inefficient, more progressive representatives insist that service cuts will do additional harm to the state’s most vulnerable residents. As the Nevada legislature convenes and this battle kicks into gear, many observers are worried that cuts could expose Nevada seniors to elder abuse and other problems.

In addition to well-known agencies such as the Nevada Department of Public Safety and the Nevada Department of Education, the Nevada Aging and Disability Division provides important services to elderly Nevadans. Part of the state health and human services department, this program helps aging residents and their families to find appropriate long-term and end-of-life care by providing counseling and other resources. One of the many valuable services this provides to our state is that it helps protect Nevada seniors from nursing home abuse that might occur if such a decision is made hastily or without proper planning.

Obviously, providing these services costs money, and Governor Brian Sandoval has called for major budget cuts to education and other social services that could limit or suspend these programs. We cannot yet know how Nevada legislators will handle the difficult decisions before them as they attempt to limit the suffering imposed by the governor’s budget proposal, but some of them have experience to draw upon. Freshman Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson has experience as a hospice-care worker, and she and other members of the Legislature will rely on constituent input, staff analyses, and their own knowledge to weigh difficult competing priorities.

The hope is that — whatever solution is ultimately pursued — it will maintain sufficient funds to support the programs that help keep our seniors safe. Recent stories from across the country remind us of the persistent threat of Nevada nursing home neglect: a forgotten patient lost her leg to an ignored vein blockage, and another woman was found locked in a walk-in refrigerator. And with financial pressures pushing from all sides, there is increased risk of elder assault as  nursing-home patients are co-housed with other recipients of mental-health services.

Nursing home abuse stories are frequently horrific and are sadly common. If you know or suspect that your loved one has been mistreated at a Nevada nursing home, contact us today for a free consultation.

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