Atlanta Nursing Home Lawyer

Types of Nursing Home Cases We Handle in Atlanta

Nursing home liability takes many forms. What they share in common is a facility’s failure to meet its duty of care to a vulnerable resident. We handle claims involving:

• Physical abuse and assault. When staff members hit, restrain, or otherwise harm residents, that conduct is both a crime under Georgia law and the basis for a civil claim. Signs of elder abuse are not always obvious, but unexplained bruising or a resident’s sudden withdrawal can be telling of something gone awry.

• Neglect and failure to provide basic care. Understaffing leads to missed medications, dehydration, malnutrition, and residents left in soiled bedding for hours. These failures cause serious, sometimes fatal, harm.

• Bedsores and pressure ulcer injuries. Bedsores are a result of neglect in nursing home facilities. When staff fail to reposition a resident or properly monitor skin condition, deep tissue damage develops and can become life-threatening.
• Falls and unsafe conditions. Residents with known fall risks are entitled to supervision, appropriate equipment, and safe environments. Broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, and head injuries from preventable falls can permanently change a person’s quality of life.

• Negligent nursing care and transportation. Errors during transport or inadequate medical monitoring can result in strokes, cardiac events, or fatal complications.

• Financial exploitation. When staff or administrators take advantage of residents’ mental or physical limitations to misuse their financial assets, that constitutes exploitation under Georgia law.

• Wrongful death. If a loved one died because of a nursing home’s failure to provide adequate care, a wrongful death claim may be available to surviving family members.

• COVID-19 nursing home injuries. Georgia facilities had specific obligations during the pandemic. When those obligations were ignored and residents suffered, the facility may be liable. We have handled COVID-19 nursing home claims and understand what these cases require.

Georgia Legal Requirements for Nursing Home Cases

Georgia law gives nursing home residents specific rights and protections. We can help you understand whether any of these legal requirements for nursing home cases apply to your situation.

The Bill of Rights for Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities (O.C.G.A. § 31-8-100 et seq.) establishes that residents are entitled to dignity, appropriate care, freedom from abuse, and the right to raise complaints without retaliation. Per the Georgia General Assembly’s official code, violations of these rights in the statute can form the basis for a civil negligence claim.

The Resident Abuse Reporting Act (O.C.G.A. § 31-8-82) requires mandated reporters, including facility administrators, nurses, physicians, and social workers, to immediately notify of any known or suspected abuse or exploitation to the Georgia Department of Community Health. Failure to report is itself evidence of systemic failures that can strengthen a civil case.

Georgia’s elder abuse criminal statute (O.C.G.A. § 16-5-102) makes it a felony to willfully exploit, physically abuse, or deprive a disabled adult or elder person of essential services. A person convicted under this statute faces up to 20 years in prison. Criminal charges against a staff member don’t bar you from bringing a separate civil claim, in fact, a criminal case can support yours.

The statute of limitations is one of the most important deadlines in any nursing home claim. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33, personal injury claims, such as those arising from nursing home negligence, must generally be filed within two years of the date of injury. Wrongful death claims follow the same two-year period, starting from the date of death. Missing this deadline can cause you to completely lose your ability to pursue compensation. There are limited circumstances where the statute of limitations wouldn’t be in effect, but we don’t recommend counting them.

Atlanta Nursing Home Infographic

What Damages Are Recoverable in Atlanta Nursing Home Cases?

Georgia law permits several categories of compensation in nursing home negligence and abuse claims. What’s available in your case depends on the specific facts, but the framework is consistent.

Economic damages cover measurable financial losses directly caused by the facility’s negligence. These include past and future medical expenses, such as hospitalizations, wound care, surgeries, rehabilitation, costs of transferring to a different facility, and any out-of-pocket expenses the family incurred as a result of the injury or death.

Non-economic damages address the harm that doesn’t show up on a medical bill. Pain and suffering is the most significant category. An example of this would be a resident who develops severe pressure ulcers from being left immobile for hours and experiences profound physical suffering. An elderly person who is physically abused by someone they depend on for care can suffer from deep psychological harm. Georgia law allows recovery for physical injuries and mental anguish. Families pursuing wrongful death claims may recover for the full value of the deceased’s life and not just lost income, but the loss of companionship, guidance, and relationship.

Punitive damages are available in cases where the conduct was particularly egregious, such as willful misconduct, malice, or reckless disregard for a resident’s safety. Georgia courts award these to punish the facility and deter similar behavior from happening in the future. When a nursing home ignored documented complaints about an abusive staff member and allowed the harm to continue, punitive damages may be warranted. Under Georgia’s modified comparative fault rule (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33), the amount of recovery may be reduced if the resident shares some responsibility, but full recovery is available if you are less than 50% at fault.

If you’re not sure what your case is worth, that is what we can discuss with you during a free consultation. What happened to your loved one, and what the facility knew or should have known, drives our analysis when pursuing justice.

Contact Andrew R. Lynch, P.C.

If you believe a nursing home in Atlanta failed in providing for your loved one’s care, we want to hear from you. Bedsores, unexplained falls, sudden weight loss, and infections that went untreated, these aren’t unavoidable parts of aging. They’re often signs of neglect. We offer free consultations for nursing home abuse cases and work on a contingency basis, meaning there are no fees unless we recover. Contact us to schedule your consultation and get more information about what to do for your loved one’s wellbeing and protection.