Birmingham Nursing Home Malnutrition Lawyer
Have you or someone you love suffered malnutrition at the hands of caregivers at a nursing home? Has this treatment caused severe injury or hospital stays? If so, you might be able to receive compensation for your injuries by filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit.
The Birmingham nursing home abuse attorneys of Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP are standing by to assist you with your claim. Don’t let nursing home abuse determine the course of your family’s future. Call us today at (205) 324-1212 for a free consultation, and let us help you get the justice you deserve.
Malnutrition as Nursing Home Abuse
The World Health Organization defines malnutrition as “deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients.” It covers a wide range of possible maladies, including undernutrition, nutrient-related malnutrition, obesity, and overnutrition.
There are four main categories of malnutrition:
- Undernutrition: Undernutrition can cause wasting, stunting, and deficiencies in the necessary vitamins and minerals required for normal body functions. It can refer to a lack of protein or a lack of micronutrients.
- Overweight and obesity: Obesity occurs when the energy intake is greater than the energy expenditure in a person. It can be caused by an increased intake of high fat or high sugar foods or a lack of physical activity.
- Micronutrient-related malnutrition: Micronutrient-related malnutrition refers to a lack of necessary vitamins and minerals in the diet. A combination of protein and micronutrients is needed for the normal function of the body. If either is deficient, it can cause severe health problems.
- Diet-related diseases: Diseases like heart disease and diabetes can be caused by malnutrition, as can certain cancers. Conditions like high blood pressure due to poor diet can increase the risk of diet-related heart attack or stroke.
In terms of nursing home abuse, malnutrition is a common and growing problem. Making sure residents get the nutrition they need is one of the most basic duties of a nursing home, but all too often, residents may not get the help they need to make sure the food they receive is consumed properly.
The aging population is at high risk for malnutrition because of the difficulty many elderly nursing home residents have with eating or drinking. They may have physical or mental disabilities that prevent them from feeding themselves. They may be unable to communicate their distaste for a particular food or drink that they receive, or they may be depressed or isolated and not wish to eat or drink. Nursing home staff and administrators have a duty to make sure the residents in their care get the nutrition they need to keep their bodies and minds as healthy as possible. If they neglect that duty, serious medical problems can result.
Do I Need an Attorney from Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP for My Malnutrition Nursing Home Abuse?
If you or a family member suffered malnutrition due to neglect from nursing home staff or administrators and you’re able to prove that the nursing home is to blame, you may ask why an attorney is necessary. After all, filing a claim for compensation with the nursing home’s insurance company is just like filing any other insurance claim, right?
The truth is that hiring an attorney to assist you with filing your claim can help you in ways you might not realize. Here are some reasons why hiring an attorney can help in the long run:
We’ve done this before.
A reputable attorney with experience in abuse claims can do more than write a strongly worded letter. We are intimately familiar with the laws and statutes in Alabama that apply to nursing home abuse cases and how to make those laws work for you. Our knowledge and experience can be invaluable in developing a strategy to get the compensation you and your family deserve.
We take an objective view.
If you or a family member suffered from malnutrition, it can be a traumatic experience for all involved. Expecting you to exercise good judgment and sound reasoning under that kind of emotional strain may be asking too much. When you hire an attorney, we take the emotional aspect out of the equation and deal with the facts. We provide support when you need it most and allow you to provide comfort for your family during this difficult time.
Insurance companies aren’t required to tell the truth.
Insurance adjusters will do what they have to do to protect their customers from liability. They may not outright lie to you, but they might try to convince you that what you’ve seen and experienced is not actually what happened. They may tell you that the injuries your loved one suffered aren’t worth the amount you’re requesting or that their insured isn’t responsible for them. They may advise you that you shouldn’t get legal representation and tell you that it isn’t necessary in cases like these or ask why you’d want to split your settlement with a lawyer. They may even try to take advantage of the fact that this situation has left you and your family in dire financial straits by offering you a quick cash settlement that is less than what you really deserve. Regardless of which underhanded tactic they employ, a good attorney knows how to counter it. We are familiar with these methods and the best way to work around them.
Assessing damages isn’t easy.
Obtaining compensation for your injuries is about more than paying for medical bills or covering the cost to move your family member to another nursing facility. It’s about returning you to a state of being “whole” and recovering your peace of mind. Settlements and awards are meant to compensate for certain verifiable losses you’ve suffered, but not all of these losses are required to be material. You may be eligible for compensation for such non-economic losses as emotional distress or loss of consortium. These losses are hard to quantify. A good attorney can review past cases and use their experience to help you come to a value for your claim that includes these immaterial losses, as well as the material ones, and can help you recover your financial stability as well as your well-being.
Filing a claim is hard work.
Caring for an aging family member, even one in a nursing home, is a time-consuming effort. When that family member has to be hospitalized or moved to another facility due to abuse like malnutrition, the amount of time and energy needed grows considerably. Factor in building a comprehensive claim for compensation on top of the normal responsibilities of providing for your family, and it can become overwhelming. Having an attorney assist you means you can get back to doing the things that matter to you. We can answer the calls from the insurance company. We can build your claim. We can gather the evidence to support it, and we will negotiate the highest settlement possible. We take on the hard work of getting justice for your aging family member, so you don’t have to.
We don’t stop at a denial letter.
Insurance companies protect their bottom line by denying claims, pure and simple. If they deny yours and you don’t have the help of an attorney, aside from representing yourself in court, which can be intimidating and frightening, there’s not much more you can do on your own. Hiring an attorney means that the pursuit of compensation doesn’t stop when they deny your claim. We can help you file a lawsuit against the responsible party. A judge or jury then gets the final say in whether you get the help you need, and this changes how the insurance company treats your claim. Litigation is expensive, and it may end up costing them more to defend their insured in court than it would to offer you a fair amount in a settlement.
How Much Does an Attorney for My Malnutrition Case Cost?
We understand that saving money for the day you need to hire a good lawyer is not normally in someone’s budget. That’s why Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP works on a contingency-fee basis.
A contingency-fee arrangement works like this. We review your case during a free consultation, and if we determine that it is valid and we can help you get compensation, we agree to represent you. You pay nothing at this time. No upfront costs, no retainers or fees. We then proceed to build your claim and pursue it vigorously. If we aren’t successful in obtaining some kind of settlement or award for you, you don’t pay a dime. If we are successful, then we take an agreed-upon percentage of the amount obtained. This allows you to make use of our services and get top-tier legal help without having to worry about how you’ll pay for it, and it gives us the motivation we need to do the best job possible. It’s a win-win.
Call Today for a Free Consultation
If you believe a nursing home’s neglectful treatment is to blame for your loved one’s malnutrition, don’t wait any longer. Farris, Riley & Pitt, LLP is standing by to give you the help you need. Call us at (205) 324-1212 for a free, no-obligation consultation, and let us help you get on the road to recovery.
