If your relative suffered negligent care in a nursing facility, call our Toledo nursing home abuse lawyers now.
100% FREE consultations. You pay nothing unless we WIN.
800-487-8669This company was awesome. They were very helpful and made sure I received the medical and financial treatment that I needed and deserved. Everyone was very kind and patient through the very stressful process. If you are ever in an accident and are injured, don't call anyone else but them. They are the best!
On This Page
Legal Help for the Injured
We entrust the owners and staff at nursing facilities to operate with professionalism as well as compassion. But nursing homes too often fail to live up to the standard of care that they must maintain. Elder abuse victims may not be certain about their legal options, but you can and should hold negligent nursing homes and their staff accountable.
If you or a loved one may have been the victim of nursing home abuse, contact a Toledo nursing home abuse lawyer. Our Toledo personal injury lawyers work with the firm’s Ohio nursing home abuse lawyers and have helped many families protect their rights and seek compensation after nursing homes failed to take care of them or their loved ones.
We're Award-Winning & Highly-Skilled Attorneys
Call Kisling, Nestico & Redick at (419) 324-8205 to speak with an experienced and compassionate attorney. Our legal team will advise you and guide your next steps toward getting justice for yourself, or a neglected loved one. Free consultations and no costs unless you recover compensation.
Families in Lucas County place their trust in nursing homes every day, and most facilities work hard to earn it. But understaffing, high turnover, and poor oversight can lead to neglect and, in the worst cases, deliberate abuse. Much of it is never reported, because residents may be unable to speak up, afraid of retaliation, or unaware that what happened to them was wrong. For a look at what the available data shows, see our article on how common is nursing home abuse in Ohio.
Abuse can be something a staff member does, or something the facility fails to do. The elder abuse in Ohio cases we see generally fall into five categories:
Neglect is not always dramatic. A confused resident may wander out of the building because no one was watching the doors. A call light may go unanswered for an hour. Staff may wait too long to call a doctor or 911 when a resident’s condition changes, sometimes to avoid admitting that something went wrong. Beds with moving parts, rails, and lifts can injure a resident who is left alone or moved by one aide when the care plan calls for two. Each of these is a failure the facility can be held responsible for.
Many residents do not tell anyone what is happening to them, and some cannot. Your loved one may already have health problems, which makes new harm easier to miss. These are the warning signs we see most often.
Pressure sores develop when a resident is left in one position too long. They are largely preventable with regular turning and good skin care, and a serious bedsore is often a sign of understaffing.
Falls are a common cause of serious injury in nursing homes. A fall can be a sign that a resident at risk was not supervised, did not get help getting up, or was not given the walker, bed rail, or alarm their care plan called for.
Sudden weight loss, dry skin, confusion, and frequent infections can mean a resident is not getting enough to eat or drink, often because no one is helping them at mealtimes.
Bruises, cuts, burns, or marks on the wrists and ankles that staff cannot explain, or explain differently each time, should be taken seriously.
Wrong doses, missed doses, or medication given to the wrong resident can cause sudden illness, falls, or hospital stays. Overuse of sedating drugs is another warning sign.
Fear of certain staff members, withdrawal, agitation, or a loved one who suddenly stops talking can all point to abuse.
Other warning signs include damaged or missing belongings, missing cash, residents dressed improperly for the weather, problems with heat or water in the building, inconsistent medical care, and staff who are unwilling to leave you alone with your loved one.
Elder abuse in nursing homes often results in permanent or fatal physical harm. Incidents of nursing home harm or violence can sometimes be obvious, but in many cases, they are hard to detect. If your loved one is badly injured while in the care of nursing professionals, you need to act quickly.
It can be very difficult to know what to do. It’s important to get the victim away from the danger, and it may be necessary to call 911 to prevent further harm to your loved one or others.
After getting your loved one to safety, it’s important to:
If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Then report what you have seen to the agencies that investigate nursing homes:
Reporting creates an official record and can protect other residents. A lawyer can help you make these reports and make sure the evidence is preserved.
Nursing facilities and their staff have a duty to care for residents according to accepted standards. When they do not and a resident is harmed, more than one party may be liable:
A facility can also be responsible when it fails to protect a resident from another resident or from a visitor.
Ohio law gives every nursing home resident a written list of rights in Ohio Revised Code 3721.13. Among them, residents have the right to a safe and clean place to live, to appropriate medical and nursing care, to be free from physical, verbal, mental, and emotional abuse, and to be treated with courtesy, respect, and dignity. Physical and chemical restraints may be used only to the minimum extent needed to prevent harm, never for punishment or the convenience of staff. Residents are also protected from financial exploitation and have the right to manage their own money and to privacy in their care and communications.
These rights carry real weight. Under ORC 3721.17, a resident whose rights are violated can bring a claim against the person or the home responsible, in addition to an ordinary negligence claim.
Nursing home cases are built on records, and many of those records are in the facility’s hands. A lawyer will work to get the resident’s medical chart, care plan, and assessments, along with medication records, incident and fall reports, and staffing schedules for the shifts in question. State inspection reports from the Ohio Department of Health can show whether the facility has been cited for similar problems before. Photos of injuries, notes from your visits, and the names of staff and other visitors who saw what happened can all help. The sooner a lawyer gets involved, the better the chance of preserving this evidence before it is lost.
Fight for Everything You’re Owed
Anyone who is the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect in Ohio has the right to file a claim and in some cases a lawsuit. The goal is to obtain compensation for the losses that arose because of the injuries you or a loved one sustained.
When pursuing a nursing home claim, the first step is proving that nursing care negligence occurred. Once established, you need to show your injuries and subsequent harm were the result of that negligence.
While holding a nursing facility accountable can be difficult, our legal team will handle every aspect of the case and pursue maximum compensation.
You or your loved one may be able to recover:
Deadlines in nursing home cases can be short. Claims about the medical or nursing care a resident received are often treated as medical claims under Ohio law, which generally must be filed within one year (ORC 2305.113). Other injury claims generally have two years (ORC 2305.10), and a wrongful death claim generally must be filed within two years of the death (ORC 2125.02). Because it is not always clear which deadline applies, it is best to talk with a lawyer as soon as you suspect abuse or neglect.
When neglect or abuse leads to a resident’s death, from an untreated infection, a fall, dehydration, or a medication error, the family may have a wrongful death claim. The claim is brought by the personal representative of the estate on behalf of the spouse, children, and other family members, and it can recover funeral costs, the loss of companionship and guidance, and the family’s grief. Our Toledo wrongful death lawyers handle these cases with the care they require.
Nursing Home Abuse
KNR was able to obtain a $110,000 settlement for our client, who was in a nursing home and…
Read More
What Makes KNR Special?
Since our inception in 2005, Kisling, Nestico & Redick has been dedicated to helping personal injury victims fight for the compensation they deserve after an accident affects their way of life. We have helped more than 10,000 people, and we’re ready to keep fighting for Ohioans and anyone who deserves compensation for their personal injury claims.
Free Consultations // Available 24/7 // No Recovery, No Fee
Contact KNRWhat Makes KNR Special?
It’s understandable for you to be very distraught if your loved one is receiving unacceptable care. Many victims and their families are unfortunately uncertain about their rights and what steps they should take.
We encourage you to contact a nursing home lawyer without delay. Your case must be investigated by a knowledgeable team that is familiar with medical practices and Ohio law. Given the complexity of most nursing home abuse cases and our state’s strict statute of limitations, it’s advisable to act as soon as possible.
Our team of professionals will help compile the evidence, file the legal documents, interview witnesses, identify the liable parties, and conduct a thorough investigation. We will help make sure your loved one gets the care they need, and we will build a strategy to recover maximum compensation and hold the facility accountable.
At KNR, our nursing home abuse attorneys will:
The most common forms are neglect, such as bedsores, falls, dehydration, and medication errors, along with physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and financial exploitation like theft from residents.
Watch for unexplained bruises or cuts, bedsores, sudden weight loss, missing belongings or cash, changes in behavior such as fear or withdrawal, and staff who will not leave you alone with your loved one. Trust your instincts and ask questions.
If your loved one is in danger, get them to safety and call 911. Write down what you see, take photos, and report the abuse to the Ohio Department of Health and your county’s Adult Protective Services. Then talk to a nursing home abuse lawyer about holding the facility accountable.
The nursing home, its owner or management company, a staffing agency that supplied workers, and individual caregivers can all be responsible, depending on what happened. A facility can also be liable for failing to protect a resident from another resident or a visitor.
In most cases, yes. Nursing homes and their insurers have lawyers of their own, and these cases depend on medical records, staffing records, and expert testimony that are hard to get without legal help. A Toledo nursing home abuse lawyer can investigate and pursue compensation while you focus on your loved one.
Damages can include medical expenses, the cost of moving to a safer facility, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and disfigurement. When abuse or neglect causes a death, the family may also recover wrongful death damages.
Yes. Moving your loved one to a safer place does not give up their right to file a claim, and their safety should come first. Before or soon after the move, ask for copies of their records, take photos of any injuries, and write down what you saw. Some nursing home claims must be filed within one year, so call 1-800-HURT-NOW to talk with a lawyer soon.
