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Families come to us after a visit that did not feel right. A parent who lost weight. A bedsore that was not there last month. A medication schedule nobody at the desk could explain. Neglect rarely announces itself. It shows up in small things first, and it is usually the result of too few staff for too many residents.
DeKalb County has one of the largest concentrations of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in metro Atlanta. Our office on Hugh Howell Road represents residents and their families in Tucker, Stone Mountain, Decatur, Lithonia, and across DeKalb County.
These are the failures we see most often, and each one has a paper trail:
Georgia’s Bill of Rights for Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities (O.C.G.A. § 31-8-100 and following) requires facilities to provide adequate care, keep residents free from abuse and neglect, and maintain safe conditions. Facilities are licensed and inspected by the Georgia Department of Community Health, and Medicare publishes a Five-Star rating alongside staffing and inspection data for every certified nursing home. That information is public, and we pull it for every facility involved in a case.
A neglect claim usually reaches past the aide who failed to turn a resident. Depending on the facts, it can include the facility operator, its corporate parent, a staffing agency, a contract therapy or medical provider, and individual clinicians. Corporate-level claims matter because they reach the policies and staffing ratios that actually caused the harm, and because the facility’s own records frequently prove the understaffing.
Nursing home cases are document cases, and the documents disappear. Charts get amended, incident reports get misfiled, and staff turnover in these facilities runs high. We move quickly to preserve the complete medical chart, staffing rosters and resident acuity data, incident and fall reports, medication administration records, the facility’s survey and inspection history, and photographs of the injury.
Damages can include hospital and medical costs, pain and suffering, the cost of moving a resident to a safer facility, and, where a resident has died, wrongful death damages for the surviving family. Georgia generally allows two years to file under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. If you are looking for a nursing home neglect attorney near me because the facility is close to home, call us before you sign anything the facility asks you to sign.
Read more about our Georgia nursing home neglect practice, our Tucker medical malpractice attorneys, our Tucker slip and fall lawyers, and our Tucker personal injury practice.
What is the difference between neglect and abuse? Abuse is an act: hitting, restraining, or verbally assaulting a resident. Neglect is a failure to act, such as leaving a resident in soiled bedding, skipping turns that prevent bedsores, or failing to answer a call light. Neglect is far more common, and it is usually a staffing decision rather than a single bad employee.
The facility says the bedsore is unavoidable. Is that true? Rarely. Pressure ulcers at stage 3 or 4 generally mean a resident was not repositioned, was not on a proper support surface, or was not kept clean and dry. The turning records and skin assessments kept by the facility usually show whether the care plan was actually followed.
How long do we have to bring a nursing home claim in Georgia? Generally two years under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. If the resident has died, a wrongful death claim may apply. Because charts and staffing records are often amended or lost, we recommend contacting us as soon as you have concerns.
Lamar Law Office, LLC — Atlanta LegalCare. 4500 Hugh Howell Road, Suite 140, Tucker, GA 30084. Call 1-877-227-3404 for a free consultation. More than legal service. We care.
Our Tucker office at 4500 Hugh Howell Road handles these claims throughout DeKalb County and metro Atlanta. Each guide covers how the claim works under Georgia law, what the local evidence looks like, and what our attorneys do first.