Nursing Home Abuse Warning Signs - You Have Rights!

May 24th, 2008

Making the decision to place a loved one in a nursing home facility is a difficult decision that needs to be thoroughly researched. Despite your diligence in choosing a qualified nursing home or elder care facility, you should beware of the signs of nursing home abuse to ensure your loved one is getting the proper care and is not a victim of abuse or neglect. There are warning signs that can be observed in both Nursing Home Abuse and Nursing Home Neglect providing you keep your eyes open and know what to look for. If, after investigation, you believe your loved one is a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect you first need to ensure they are safe, then you need to contact the authorities and finally you should discuss the situation with a qualified nursing home abuse/neglect attorney so that you can fully understand your rights and the compensation you may be entitled to.

Nursing Home Abuse Warning Signs

The obvious signs of Nursing Home Abuse are injuries that you can actually see. For example, if your loved one is constantly developing new cuts, scratches and bruises it is possible that they are a victim of Nursing Home Abuse. If you notice the consistent appearance of physical injuries, it is important to investigate the issue immediately. Ask your loved one if everything is alright and if they are being mistreated. Many times, the resident may not want to discuss their injuries, so you must then follow up with the supervisor, attending doctor as well as analyze the residents charts. Once you have investigated the injuries, it is time for you to decide whether you need to take the appropriate steps to ensure the safety of your loved one and report the abuse to the proper authorities.

Nursing Home Neglect Warning Signs

Nursing Home Neglect is more difficult to diagnose, as the physical signs are not as obvious as the signs of physical abuse. Signs of such neglect are bad hygiene, weight loss, dirty facilities (bathroom, dirty sheets, dirty underwear) and bed sores. All of the above warning signs could be due to non-neglect issues, but should be thoroughly investigated at the time of their discovery. Many elder care residents rely on the nursing home to ensure they are staying hydrated (plenty of water), fed with a well balanced diet, bathed and exercised. The above warning signs could be a sign that the nursing home may be neglecting their responsibility to take care of your loved one. Much like the appropriate action steps required of you in potential physical abuse situations, in a potential neglect situation you need to investigate all avenues while ensuring the safety of your loved one.

First and foremost, if you feel your loved one is being abused or neglected in a nursing home, you need to ensure their safety. After your investigation of the abuse with the elder care facility administrator and attending doctor you should tell the patients primary care physician about your suspicion of abuse as well as your family and report the abuse to Police. Elder abuse is a crime with both criminal and civil penalties. Your next step is to protect your rights by contacting a qualified nursing home abuse attorney. A nursing abuse attorney will have experience handling these types of cases and will know what to look for to aid your civil case against the facility. There are a lot of factors that go into this type of lawsuit and it is not a battle that can be fought effectively without proper representation.

For more information regarding this topic, contact the Oklahoma Law Firm of Atkins & Markoff. If you have a legal question for an Oklahoma City Personal Injury Lawyer regarding your rights, give Atkins & Markoff a call; if they can’t help you with your problem, they’ll find someone who can. This article, which is not meant to be legal advice, may be republished providing all of the resource links remain intact.

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How to Blow the Whistle

May 24th, 2008

Whistle blowing against your former employer’s illegal activities or misconduct is a noble practice that everyone should indulged.

In our complex society, people engage in so many different activities. These activities may relate to school, community, office or business, or to some extent state-to-state activities or transactions.

Among the activities aforementioned, is in relation to the operation of business.

In the workplace context, employers engaged in various transactions. These transactions may relate to the business operation as a whole or merely transactional or for limited clientele. With these activities, some suspecting transactions that are illicit in the eyes of the law may appear.

The illegal component of these activities may be on the aspect of:

• Red-tape in government, for obtaining business licenses or complying government regulations

• or it may be in the form of transacting business beyond the specified limits

• or doing illegal trade

• Fraudulent manufacture of products, that is, violating intellectual property laws to the point of sabotaging the economy

• Persistent violation of some law or government regulations

• Violating the tax laws

• Other similar or underground activities that the employer has committed, illicitly

It is common that many employees who have a direct knowledge with the illegal activities of their employer are afraid to go out and blow the whistle. Obviously, this is normal and a basic human reaction.

On this score, various state and federal laws was created to provide protection to those legitimate whistle blowers in divulging what they have learned about the illegal activities of their employers.

In the context of employment, a whistle blower is protected by the law respecting his employment. Most law provides protection against harassment, demotion and wrongful termination for reporting fraud committed by their employers.

With this good amount of protection, there would be no reason not to blow the whistle. However, before blowing the whistle, it is a good idea to seek the advice of a whistle blower attorney to ensure your protection on the whistle blower law.

Whistle blowing may bring complex and compromising situations. Thus, as an advice, blow the whistle only after being advised by a whistle blower lawyer.

However, when you failed to confer with a lawyer before you squeal and that the employer discriminated you or retaliated against you or you are terminated on that score, likewise, you should seek and consult your case to a qualified whistle blower attorney.

The aforementioned acts of the employer may have violated various employment laws that need to be corrected. Your rights as employee may be disturbed directly or indirectly.

You should seek the guidance of an employment lawyer who has a vast knowledge in the varying whistle blowing laws as well as its procedures.

In Los Angeles, there are a huge number of whistle blower attorney specializing in this area of law. They offer quality representation and legal services. They have acquired expertise in this respect.

Los Angeles whistle blower attorneys would give you valuable legal service so that you may protect your employment rights. With them, you would know how to blow the whistle.

If you have encountered problem regarding any violation of Whistle Blowing Laws, our expert Los Angeles attorneys can help you. Just log on to our website and fill out our case evaluation form to get free legal advice.

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Swimming Pool Injuries - Please Be Safe This Summer

May 24th, 2008

Especially as the temperatures rise this summer, please be careful with your children and swimming pools. In the US over 3,500 people drown by accident every year. (Source: www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drown). This equates to an average of 10 preventable deaths every single day. More than 1 in four of these victims are children under 14.

In fact, for every child who drowns, four more survive but with serious injuries that require hospitalization. Boys are four times more likely to be injured in this manner than girls. According to the CDC’s website, above, there are five main risk factors: (1) Lack of barriers and supervision; (2) Age; (3) Lack of safety equipment; (4) Alcohol use; and (5) Seizure disorders.

The lack of barriers and supervision is especially important regarding drowning deaths and injuries for children aged 1-4. According to the CDC, most of the children killed or injured in residential swimming pools were last seen by their parents within about 5 minutes of the traumatic, sometimes fatal injury.

A simple barrier to the pool such as a fence with a working gate can prevent such a tragedy from occurring to a young child. Most localities have requlations requiring the use of barriers around pools. For example, in Las Vegas, NV, a Clark County ordinance mandates that homeowners and landlords secure their property’s pool with barriers to prevent children from gaining access.

It is important that landowners ensure the barriers are maintained properly. A fence is worthless if the gate is broken. Criminal and civil liability can be imposed on the responsible adults when a pool is not secured as mandated by local laws.

For example, in a Las Vegas personal injury claim brought by an attorney I work with, a settlement of $5,750,000 was reached with the landlord’s insurer regarding a child who suffered brain damage (Nevada District Court Case # 96-A-365064-C). There was a fence around the pool in that case, but the gate was malfunctioning.

In conclusion, please place a fence around your pool as it may save an innocent child from death or serious injury. Make sure that your fence and its gate are maintained in good working order. If you are parent, don’t forget that most child drowning victims were last seen within about 5 minutes of the tragedy.

By the way - According to the CDC, for children over 15 and adults, drownings and serious injury are more common in natural bodies of water such as lakes. 90% of these drowning victims were not wearing life jackets. Alcohol use was a factor in half of such incidents, according to the CDC. If you go out boating, please wear a life jacket and remember that alcohol and boating don’t mix.

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