Placing a beloved family member in a nursing home is a decision built on trust. You trust that the facility and its staff will provide the compassionate, professional care your loved one deserves. When you discover that this trust has been broken and your family member has suffered due to neglect, it can be a deeply painful and frustrating experience.
If you are concerned about the well-being of a loved one in a long-term care facility, know that you have rights and options. A dedicated State College nursing home neglect lawyer from Marcus & Mack can help you understand the path to holding the responsible parties accountable and seeking justice for your family member.
At Marcus & Mack, we understand the profound sense of betrayal and anger that families feel when they learn a loved one has been neglected. With over 100 years of combined legal experience, our attorneys are committed to advocating for the most vulnerable members of our Pennsylvania communities. We believe in providing strong, compassionate support during what may be one of the most difficult times in your life.
Our mission is centered on a common purpose and a unified passion for helping our clients. We focus on:
We are a part of your community, serving families in State College and throughout Pennsylvania. We make our services accessible by offering a contingency fee arrangement, which means you pay no attorney fees unless we recover financial compensation for you. We can meet you at your home or even in a hospital room to discuss your situation.
At Marcus & Mack, our focus is on helping you get the resources you need to ensure your loved one is safe and cared for properly. Contact us today to discuss your case during a free, no-obligation consultation.
When a nursing home accepts a resident, it also accepts a legal and ethical obligation to provide a certain level of care. This is known as the “duty of care.” It’s a promise to protect residents from foreseeable harm and to provide for their medical, physical, and emotional needs. This isn’t just a moral handshake; it’s a requirement backed by federal and state laws, including the federal Nursing Home Reform Act, which establishes a bill of rights for residents.
In simple terms, a nursing home’s duty of care includes:
When a facility fails to meet these standards and a resident is harmed as a result, it is considered negligence. Proving that a facility breached its duty of care is a critical step in a nursing home neglect claim handled by a nursing home neglect lawyer.
Nursing home neglect isn’t always obvious. It can be a slow, quiet decline in a resident’s health or a pattern of small failures that add up to significant harm. Understanding the different ways neglect can happen is the first step toward identifying it and taking action. From our experience, neglect often falls into a few key categories.
Medical neglect happens when a nursing home fails to provide for a resident’s medical needs. This can be one of the most dangerous forms of neglect, leading to serious health complications or even wrongful death. Staff members may fail to monitor a resident’s condition, ignore symptoms, or make critical errors in treatment.
Examples of medical neglect can include:
These failures can cause a resident’s existing health conditions to worsen or lead to new, preventable medical crises.
This form of neglect involves the failure to provide residents with the fundamental necessities of life. It is often a sign of understaffing, poor management, or a general lack of concern for the residents’ well-being. The consequences can be devastating, leading to malnutrition, dehydration, and a severe loss of dignity.
Signs that a resident’s basic needs are being neglected often include:
Consistently failing to provide for these basic needs is a clear breach of the facility’s duty to its residents.
A resident’s emotional and mental health is just as important as their physical health. Emotional neglect occurs when staff members repeatedly ignore a resident, leave them isolated for long periods, or fail to provide the social stimulation they need to thrive. This can be particularly harmful for residents who are already dealing with the challenges of aging.
This type of neglect can be subtle, but the signs are often clear if you know what to look for:
Over time, this isolation can lead to a steep decline in a resident’s overall quality of life and health.
As a family member, you are your loved one’s most important advocate. You know them best, and you are often the first to notice when something is wrong. While visiting your loved one, whether they are in a facility near the Penn State campus or elsewhere in the State College area, paying close attention to their condition and environment is crucial.
According to the National Institute on Aging, certain signs can indicate potential neglect or abuse. It’s important to be aware of these red flags.
Physical and Environmental Warning Signs:
Behavioral and Emotional Warning Signs:
If you observe any of these signs, it is important to ask questions and document your concerns immediately.
When you suspect neglect, bringing in a legal professional can help you understand your options and take decisive action. A personal injury lawyer acts as your advocate, working to uncover the truth and hold the facility accountable for the harm caused. The legal process is designed to secure the financial resources needed to cover medical bills, ongoing care, and compensation for the pain and suffering your loved one has endured.
A thorough investigation is the foundation of any successful nursing home neglect case. An experienced legal team knows what evidence to look for and how to get it. This process often includes:
This detailed investigation helps build a strong case that demonstrates how the nursing home’s actions or inactions led to your loved one’s harm.
In a legal claim, it isn’t enough to show that an injury occurred. We must demonstrate that the injury was a direct result of the nursing home’s negligence. This involves establishing four key elements.
An attorney works to connect the dots between these four points, creating a clear picture of the facility’s responsibility.
The ultimate goal of a nursing home neglect claim is to secure the resources your family needs to move forward. This includes funds for proper medical treatment, rehabilitation, or even transfer to a safer facility.
Compensation can cover economic damages like medical bills and non-economic damages for the physical pain and emotional distress your loved one experienced. An attorney will aggressively negotiate with the nursing home’s insurance company on your behalf, fighting for a settlement that fully addresses the harm done.
If your instincts are telling you something is wrong with your loved one’s care, it’s vital to act. Taking prompt, methodical steps can protect your family member and preserve your legal rights.
Taking these steps can help ensure your loved one gets the immediate attention they need while also laying the groundwork for potential legal action.
Here are answers to some common questions families have when dealing with potential nursing home neglect.
Neglect is typically a failure to act—not providing the necessary care, food, or medical attention. Abuse, on the other hand, is an intentional act meant to cause harm, such as physical assault, emotional intimidation, or financial exploitation. Both are serious and can be grounds for a legal claim.
Yes. In many cases, the facility itself can be held liable for the negligent or abusive actions of its staff. This can be due to a number of factors, including inadequate hiring practices, insufficient training, or chronic understaffing that creates a high-stress environment where mistakes are more likely to happen.
Pennsylvania has a “statute of limitations,” which is a legal deadline for filing a lawsuit. For personal injury cases, including nursing home neglect, the deadline is generally two years from the date the injury occurred or was discovered. It is very important to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible to make sure you do not miss this critical deadline.
This is a very common situation. Many nursing home neglect cases involve residents who cannot communicate effectively due to conditions like dementia or Alzheimer’s. A skilled legal team can build a case using other forms of evidence, such as medical records, witness testimony from other residents or staff, and expert opinions to show that neglect occurred.
At Marcus & Mack, we handle these cases on a contingency fee basis. This means we do not charge any upfront costs or hourly fees. Our payment is a percentage of the financial compensation we recover for you. If we do not win your case, you owe us nothing for our legal services.
Robert S. Marcus State College Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer
Discovering that a trusted care facility has harmed your loved one is a painful and infuriating experience. You do not have to face this challenge by yourself. The legal team at Marcus & Mack can provide the support and aggressive advocacy you need to seek justice. We are dedicated to holding negligent nursing homes accountable and securing the resources your family needs for a better future.
Whenever you call us—24 hours a day, 365 days a year—you will speak with a knowledgeable and understanding person who can help. Helping injured people is what we do. Don’t wait to get the answers you deserve. Contact us for your free, no-obligation consultation today to learn how a State College nursing home neglect lawyer can help you and your family.
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