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Financial Nursing Home Abuse

 

When people think of abuse, one of the most common kinds they think of is likely physical abuse. Although physical abuse is one of the more common types of abuse seen at a nursing home, you may be worried that your elderly loved one is a victim of financial abuse. Nursing homes are supposed to be safe spaces for your loved one, especially when you are unable to take care of their physical or mental needs as they age. However, financial abuse can happen, and the nursing home abuse attorneys want to make sure you understand the signs to look out for. Unfortunately, nursing home abuse can take many forms, and if you do not know what to look out for your loved one may continue to be a victim.

 

Why are elderly people in nursing homes at such a high risk?

When your loved one is in a nursing home, they are at a much higher risk for financial exploitation for many reasons. One reason may be that they are suffering from some type of mental incapacitation and are unable to understand that someone is taking advantage of them. It is also possible that they have a physical problem that makes it hard for them to see what someone else is doing to them financially, and their failing eyesight can be a contributing factor.  This means that they might rely on someone at the nursing home to take care of their basic financial tasks.

 

What are common types of financial abuse with nursing home patients?

There are a few common types of financial abuse that occur with nursing home residents, including:

 

  •     Scams
  •     Bank Account Theft
  •     Healthcare Fraud
  •     Identity Theft

 

I’m worried that my loved one might be a victim of financial abuse. What are the warning signs that I should look out for?

There are a few warning signs you can look out for if you believe your loved one is at risk or is already a victim.

 

  •     Your loved one has unexpected credit card charges.
  •     Your loved one has unexpected withdrawals from their account.
  •     Your loved one’s money or property is disappearing.
  •     Your loved one has a sudden change to their will.
  •     Your loved one has added beneficiaries to their life insurance policies.
  •     Your loved one has unexpected bills that are growing.

 

Any of these could be a sign that your loved one is the victim of financial abuse, and because of the position their caregivers are in on a daily basis, they may have easy access to your loved one’s bank account information.

 

What should I do?

When you believe your family member is a victim, you should call a nursing home injury lawyer in NJ as soon as possible so that we can get to the bottom of their financial abuse. They want to make sure your loved one is in a place that is safe and cares for them during their golden years.

 

Thanks to Davis & Brusca, LLC for their insight into personal injury claims and financial nursing home abuse.

 

Driver Charged in Deadly Pedestrian Accident

Personal Injury Attorney

CBS New York is reporting that a delivery driver who allegedly hit one pedestrian and dragged another to her death has been charged with fleeing the scene of an accident that resulted in death and leaving the scene of an accident that caused injury (https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/07/30/north-babylon-deadly-hit-and-run/). His license also has been suspended in the interest of public safety, and he is currently being held on $100,000 bail.

Donnell Hicks, a 26-year-old man from Queens, New York City, remained silent as he was brought from the police station into the court for his arraignment. He also showed little emotion as the prosecutors described how he, a delivery man who worked for auto parts retailer AutoZone, admitted his part to the arresting officers in the fatal hit-and-run accident.

According to police, Hicks was in front of AutoZone in the Hamlet of North Babylon, Long Island, when he struck Ann Marie Christina, a 38-year-old woman from the East Quogue district of Long Island. He dragged her body for several blocks–a quarter mile in total, according to the documents filed in court–before stopping. He also hit 40-year-old Eric Krems, who was with Christina at the time but was not caught under the van and dragged. Krems suffered minor injuries in the incident and has since been treated and released from an area hospital.

In court, prosecutors stated that Hicks told police officers that he knew that there was something under his van after he left the AutoZone lot but continued driving along his usual route anyway. He also acknowledged that people were yelling at him to stop as he drove along the street, and that he heard a woman screaming the entire time but did not know that she was under his delivery van. According to Hicks’ statement, he made a turn onto a side street, stopped and then saw the victim, whom he believed was still alive at the time. He then left her there to go make his next scheduled delivery, telling police that he had to get to his next job on the route.

Christina was rushed to a nearby hospital, but she did not survive the horrifying accident.

Just one hour after this deadly hit-and-run, police were able to arrest Hicks at another AutoZone location.

Auto-pedestrian accidents are often deadly for the person on foot. A person who is walking lacks the protection a motor vehicle affords its driver, and the sheer difference in weight, size and speed between a car and pedestrian often leaves the pedestrian in the most danger in an accident. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, there is an average of one pedestrian-accident-related death in the US every 1.5 hours (https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/pedestrian_safety/index.html).

If you have been involved in an auto-pedestrian accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries, losses, and pain and suffering. Consult an experienced pedestrian accident lawyer about your case today to protect your rights and receive fair compensation for your losses stemming from the accident.

 

 

Thanks to Richard J. Banta, pc for their insight into personal injury claims and pedestrian accidents.

Meconium Aspiration

Meconium Aspiration

After nine months of preparing and waiting, there can be nothing more devastating for parents to hear that their newborn has suffered a birth injury. If your child has suffered injuries during labor or delivery due to medical negligence, contact a law office today.

One of the common preventable errors lawyers see is meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS). When a baby is in its mother’s womb, it does not breathe oxygen through the lungs. This is because the baby is totally surrounded by amniotic fluid. Oxygen is delivered to the baby through the umbilical cord.

As the baby develops, it will take what are often referred to as practice breaths. These breaths draw clean amniotic fluid into the baby’s lungs, however, there is no harm to the baby at all.

Just before or during the baby’s birth, the baby may excrete feces into the amniotic fluid. This is referred to as meconium. If the baby inhales or aspirated the meconium, the meconium can become trapped in the airways and the baby may not be able to breathe upon delivery.

MAS occurs in about 11 percent of all births. In most cases, medical professionals will recognize this is happening and will quickly take the steps to treat it. But if they fail to recognize the baby is in distress and the meconium is not removed, the infant can be left with brain damage, lung damage, and permanent hearing loss.

Prompt treatment of meconium aspiration is not difficult since the signs of MAS is easily identifiable. Treatment should begin even before the baby comes fully out of the birth canal. Medical staff should clear the baby’s airway, making sure the baby is receiving enough oxygen. Treatment for or to prevent airway infections should also be administered. In severe cases, the medical team can use an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which acts an artificial heart and lung system and makes sure the baby is receiving enough oxygenated blood flow.

There are some factors that indicate that a baby may be more at risk for meconium aspiration, increasing the possibility that the baby will release meconium and breathe it in during delivery:

Contact a Birth Injury Attorney Today

If your baby suffered birth trauma and you suspect negligent medical care was the cause, contact a birth injury attorney today. They will schedule a free case evaluation and determine what kind of financial compensation your family may be entitled to.

Common Theft Defenses

 

 

If you have recently been charged with theft, you probably feel overwhelmed and scared. You worry about the potential consequences it may have on your future employment, housing situation and personal relationships. However, if you hire an experienced criminal defense lawyer, he or she can build you a strong defense, increasing the chance of a better outcome on your case.

 

Here are some of the most common theft defenses:

 

Claim of Right or Ownership of Property

 

If you’ve been charged with theft, you may be able to defend your case if you can prove that you honestly believed that the property was yours. However, this defense isn’t as simple as just saying you thought the property was yours. Your criminal defense lawyer may be able to help you find the appropriate evidence to support your claim that you believed the property was yours.

 

It Was an Accident

 

To get convicted of theft, it must be proven that you intentionally took property and knew that you weren’t going to give it back. If you committed theft by a complete accident, you may have a valid defense. For example, let’s say you were at a grocery store and opened up a bottle of soda and drank it while you were shopping. When you came up to the cash register, you forgot to tell the cashier to charge you for the soda. You may be able to claim that you didn’t mean to commit theft.

 

You Were Intoxicated

 

If you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the theft, you may be able to use that as your defense. This is because intoxication can impair your judgment and you could mistakenly take an item you thought belonged to you. For instance, if you were at a bar and took someone’s jacket by mistake because you were too drunk, you may have a good defense.

 

Entrapment

 

It’s also possible to get out of a theft charge if you can prove entrapment. The entrapment defense could come into play if the idea to steal came from the entrapping person, with the goal of prosecuting the targeted individual. 

 

Consulting With a Criminal Defense Lawyer

 

If you were charged with theft, it’s important to talk to an experienced criminal defense lawyer about your case as soon as possible. Theft is a serious charge and shouldn’t be taken lightly. A criminal defense lawyer in Arlington, VA can build you a strong defense, offer protection from the police and represent you in court.

 

Thanks to May Law, LLP for their insight into criminal law and common defenses for theft.

Tire Blowouts Are A Serious Cause Of Trucking Accidents

A truck driver can easily lose control of the massive vehicle, which can be difficult to handle even when all of its components are in proper condition. Tire blowouts are a serious cause of trucking accidents across the nation.

WHO CAN BE LIABLE FOR A TIRE BLOWOUT?

When the tire blowout occurs, a lawsuit can be brought against the trucker or the trucking company for failing to inspect and maintain the tire’s condition or against the manufacturer of a tire that may have been put on the truck in a defective condition. Sometimes, such as in cases with 18 wheelers, there are so many tires that one blown tire does not affect the vehicle that significantly, but this is not always the case.

The truck driver is always responsible for inspecting their vehicle before driving at all times. Failure to do so could result in the truck driver overlooking a serious tire flaw or another defect.

Truck drivers could specifically be liable in cases when:

By ignoring these problems, they are sacrificing safety for time-effectiveness and should be held accountable. In cases of blowout where a third party is injured or possibly even killed, the truck driver is directly responsible for negligence, although their employer is indirectly responsible.

WHEN A MANUFACTURER OR RETAILER MAY BE AT FAULT

Drivers aren’t the only party responsible for tire safety. Some incidents involving tire blowouts may be out of their control if a manufacturer or retailer negligently or intentionally sold them a defective or damaged tire and failed to warn or provide the necessary information to the truck driver. In some cases, a tire may not have been repaired correctly or identified by an installer when brought in for inspection. This means that a manufacturer or installer may be partially liable for any damages caused in a tire blowout accident.

Whether the tire was installed incorrectly or a driver overlooked a defective, tire blowout cases can be difficult to litigate. You need a seasoned truck accident lawyer, on your side today!

Should My Ex and I Consider Parallel Parenting?

Personal Injury Lawyer

If your relationship with your child’s other parent is tense and prone to high levels of conflict, you may be wondering how you can ever reach a place where you can co-parent effectively. Would it make you feel relieved to learn that you may be able to alter that goal to a reality that is potentially both healthier and more manageable? When a child’s parents are prone to tension and conflict, a traditional co-parenting model may not be the right choice for that parenting relationship. Instead, with the help of an experienced family law attorney, a child’s parents may be able to lay a foundation for a healthy, effective parallel parenting relationship instead.

Parallel Parenting – The Basics

In a traditional co-parenting relationship, a child’s parents regularly communicate in order to make mutual decisions related to that child’s welfare. A parallel parenting relationship minimizes the amount of communication required between parents in order to cut down on the potential for conflict. Certainly, if parents have joint legal and/or physical custody of their child, some communication is necessary. Determining where a child will go to school and whether a child will undergo a major medical procedure will necessitate communication between both parents. However, day-to-day decision-making is largely kept separate in a parallel parenting situation. Subject to any restrictions outlined in a child’s parenting agreement, parents are allowed to make general decisions for their child whenever that child is in their individual care.

It can be difficult to let go of control over one’s child when that child is with his or her other parent. But in exchange for this release of control, an individual parent assumes the right to be free of the child’s other parent’s control when that child is entrusted into that parent’s care. This arrangement can potentially empower a family to behave in healthier lower-conflict ways that directly benefit any minor children affected by a high-conflict parenting relationship.

Legal Guidance Is Available

If you have questions about child custody determinations, parenting agreements, co-parenting or parallel parenting, please do not hesitate to connect with an experienced family law attorney today. There is no single “right” way to parent a child. This reality holds true whether parents remain romantically involved or have gone their separate ways. Experienced family law attorneys are invested in helping parents find the healthiest arrangement possible in pursuit of their children’s best interests. If parallel parenting seems like a healthy alternative to co-parenting for your family, our firm can help devise a solid legal strategy that will support that arrangement.

Consultations are generally confidential, so you should not feel shy or otherwise hesitant about seeking legal guidance and exploring your options. Similarly, speaking with a lawyer will not commit you to any particular action, so you should feel free to reach out. If your relationship with your child’s other parent could benefit from a parallel approach, please consider reaching out today. There is no time like the present to build a stronger, healthier reality for you, your child, and your family generally.

 

Summer Camp Injury

Personal Injury Attorney DeKalb County, GA

So you and your children have been awaiting for the summer break. Finally a time for them to relax and have fun. Much like sending your child to school, when you allow your children to spend time at these summer camp facilities, while always prepared, you do not anticipate your child suffering an injury of any kind. Your child is to be looked after and cared for while at summer camp, and if an injury is somehow sustained, just like any other injury case, someone must be held responsible. If a summer camp was unsuccessful in keeping you or someone you knows child safe, there are appropriate steps to take to ensure that the person responsible takes care of some or all of the damages.

The person with guardianship of the child must prove that the summer camp the child was injured at failed to hold up their end of care. Or in personal injury terms, the parent must prove “negligence”. This means, the parent must show that the summer camp and its staff had a responsible to uphold and did not do so to the fullest extent. More specifically, there are a few things that must be proven:

The summer camp was actually responsible for preventing any injuries that can be predicted. Such as making sure any outdoor equipment like slides and swings are properly secured and safe for use. In order to claim the summer camp was responsible and negligent, they must have breached that duty by failing to provide secure equipment. This occurs when maybe a screw was not secured, or even parts of a swing is broken. This failure must have led to the injury the child sustained. Maybe the swing set was not securely screwed and the child sat on it and fell, breaking his or her arm. This arm break, or any injury sustained will then be something most victims will seek compensation for.

An injury alone does not always mean it is the responsibility of the summer camp and its staff. Proving there was negligence is sometimes clear, other times it may be difficult and for this reason it is always best to speak with a skilled personal injury attorney that will be able to review and investigate the details of your claims and seek all damages owed to you, if any. If you or someone you know has been a victim of an injury at a summer camp, contact a personal injury attorney in DeKalb County, GA from Andrew R. Lynch, P.C. as soon as possible, there may be compensation for you to claim for your damages.

Compensation When Partially At Fault

Personal Injury Lawyer

When involved in an accident that leaves you injured, it is natural to want restitution, especially if your injuries have led to significant financial hardship. While seeking compensatory damages is straightforward when you are not at fault for the accident, the level of difficulty changes when your degree of involvement in the accident changes. Therefore, to understand how you can expect to be compensated if you are partially at fault, it pays to know the fault rules of your state.

Pure Contributory Fault

There are only four states and one district that recognize the pure contributory negligence rule. Under this regulation, if a driver or injured party is found to be even 1% at fault for the accident, they cannot recover damages. While this law may seem unfair, if a plaintiff can prove that the crash only occurred because of the blatant negligence of the defendant, then it is possible that the court will permit a trial for recovery of damages. This also works if the defendant can prove that the plaintiff could have avoided the accident but didn’t.

Pure Comparative Fault

The pure comparative fault rule is followed by 13 states. This law allows both parties of an accident to seek compensation for their losses; however, their recovery is limited by their level of involvement in the crash. Therefore, while a driver might be 99% at fault for an accident, they can sue to recover 1% of their losses. Again, that works the other way as well. If an individual is only 1% at fault, then they can sue to recover 99% of their damages.

Modified Comparative Fault

The majority of states follow the modified comparative fault rule, but they differ on the barrier for recovery. For example, 12 states hold the 50% bar rule, which states that if a party is 50% or more at fault for the accident, then they cannot seek recovery. The remaining 21 states follow the 51% bar rule, which stipulates that if an individual is 51% or higher at fault, then they cannot seek recovery.

Therefore, the level of compensation you can expect is entirely dependent on the state you reside in and your level of involvement in the accident. More than likely, you live in a comparative fault state, which means that if you were less than 50% responsible for the accident, then you can seek restitution for any damages. However, to get further clarification on fault and negligence, you may want to contact an experienced personal injury lawyer.

 

Definition of Medical Malpractice

Medical Malpractice Lawyer

When putting your trust in a medical professional, you want to know that you are receiving the best possible care. Although everyone makes mistakes, medical practitioners must be help to high standards to make sure that quality patient care is given every time. Medical malpractice is a serious offense, and can include misdiagnosis, negligence and surgery errors. If you have been the victim of medical malpractice and want to make a claim against a doctor or hospital, contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney today to set up your consultation.

Misdiagnosis

It is of the utmost importance that a doctor order all necessary tests and scans to ensure that a proper diagnosis is made every time. With the wrong diagnosis, the wrong treatment is often rendered that can lead to devastating and even fatal results for the patient. Misdiagnosis is a form of medical malpractice that needs to be reported and addressed so that the same situation will not happen to someone else. If you feel that your doctor did not take the necessary steps in diagnosing your condition, contact your lawyer to talk about your rights as the patient.

Negligence

Doctors are humans as well as medical professionals, but it is important that they remember that they must put the care of patients before their own. If a doctor or other healthcare professional is negligent in prescribing or administering medications, following through with treatment or performing procedures as ordered, the patient can suffer serious health consequences. The patient must report the negligence of a doctor or nurse so that he or she cannot cause the same harm to other patients.

Surgery Errors

Surgery errors are perhaps one of the most serious medical malpractice claims, as surgical errors are often irreversible and can permanently impact a patient’s life. Surgeons and surgical technicians must take all surgical procedures seriously and perform to the best of his or her ability at all times. Surgical errors commonly brought up in medical malpractice claims include the wrong type of surgery being performed, surgery being performed recklessly and incorrectly or foreign bodies being left in the patient when surgery is complete. All of these claims are serious, and the patient deserves to be compensated for the physical and emotional turmoil of these errors.

Bringing forth a medical malpractice claim may feel like an impossible task, but with the right medical malpractice lawyer, on your side, you can secure more predictable results for the outcome of your case.

 

 

Understand What it Means To Be At Fault

Personal Injury Lawyer

If you were injured by someone else’s actions, then you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit to be compensated for your injuries. For a case to be viable, the other person needs to be at fault for your injury. This is a legal definition that you need to be aware of. It will be up to your attorney to prove it, but understanding fault will help you decide whether or not to file in the first place. It is always a good idea to speak with an attorney before making any decisions.

The Four Components of Fault

There are four things needed for someone to be at fault for an injury:

  1. Duty
  2. Breach
  3. Causation
  4. Damage

First, to be at fault, someone must first have a duty to act a certain way. This may sound like only professionals who fall short of their requirements are able to be at fault, but everyone has a duty to act certain ways. For example, we all have a duty to avoid driving while intoxicated.

Second, to be at fault, it must be shown that someone breached the duty that he or she had. Essentially, it must be shown that a reasonable person would either not act as the person did, or would act in a way the person did not.

Third, to be at fault, someone’s actions must be shown to be the causation of the incident. Even if someone breached their duty, that does not necessarily mean that it caused the injury. It could be that the injury was coincidental to an individual breaching their responsibilities.

Finally, to be at fault, there must be some tangible form of damage. For personal injury cases, this means some injury took place. If someone breached his or her duty, and this breach led to the incident, that individual is only at fault if the incident caused damage. This is just another way of saying that you need to prove that your injuries were real.

You probably realize at this point that it is a fairly complicated process to prove that someone was at fault for an incident. This is one of the biggest reasons why it is so vital that you hire an attorney, rather than trying to represent yourself. There are legal requirements that must be met to win a court case, rather than just winning an argument. The first step you should always take is to speak with a personal injury lawyer.