Representing Victims Of Nursing Home Neglect Or Abuse
When families must make the decision that a cherished parent or spouse requires assistance they can no longer provide, they place their trust in the promises of companies to provide qualified nursing staff, medical doctors, nursing aides and care that is superior to what the family can provide at home. One of the greatest tragedies of our society is the failure of many of these corporations to stand by their word and provide competent nursing care to our elderly and fragile loved ones.
Although the individual nurses and aides in these facilities are often well-intentioned, the corporate decision to skimp on the staffing budget, thereby leaving the facility with too few nurses for the volume of residents, causes the workers to be overworked, tired, and incapable of providing the care that was promised and that is necessary to preserve and maintain the health of our elders.
At McGinn, Montoya, Love & Curry. P.A. (MMLC), we are dedicated to protecting the elderly and fragile across New Mexico. We are proud of our work in the legislature, in regulatory committee rooms and in the courtroom to raise the standards of care in nursing facilities and to hold them accountable for understaffing and other acts of negligence that cause harm to their residents.
Our lawyers are available to handle the following types of nursing home neglect and abuse cases, among others:
- Bedsores/pressure ulcers
- Broken bones from falls
- Malnutrition and dehydration
- Physical or sexual abuse
- Medication errors
- Failure to monitor residents
- Elopement/wandering off
Let us provide the strong, compassionate advocacy you need to obtain justice on behalf of your elderly loved one. Set up a free consultation by calling our Albuquerque office at 505-633-8796 or by contacting our attorneys online.
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Ottingers V. Alliance Home Health Care
Blanche and Les had found what was for them the ideal assisted living situation, in a lovely country setting, where they could enjoy farm animals and gardening, be together, and entertain their daughter and grandchildren when they came to visit. Their ability to stay in this ideal situation was taken from them when a home health company (not associated with the assisted living facility), hired to provide physical therapy services to Blanche, failed to support her in the walking therapy session. As a result she fell and broke both legs. She will never fully recover from the devastating health effects of this injury and it resulted in such a decline in independence that the Ottingers had to move out of the rural setting that they had so loved.
MMLC brought suit against the home health care company that failed to protect Blanche from the very injury (a fall) that their services had been retained to prevent. After two years of litigation, a settlement was achieved that enabled the Ottingers to move back into a similarly small, homey and warm setting, while still receiving the full nursing services that they required.
The following link is to a video documentary featuring Les Ottinger, who so well exemplifies the vibrant, fascinating and engaging people that we take great honor in representing.
Fox V. St. Joseph’s Healthcare
George Fox was treated at St. Joseph’s Hospital for evaluation of a problem with his heart. Eleven days later, he died of a condition he did not have when he entered the hospital — neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). This fatal disease was caused by the doctors’ administration of the prescription drug “Haldol.” Rather than take him off the Haldol once the symptoms of NMS appeared, George’s physician increased his dosage and George died five days later.
We sued the hospital on behalf of George Fox’s widow and, while the lawsuit didn’t remove the pain Sonia felt from her loss, it made changes that will prevent such treatment from happening to future patients.
Jensen V. Manor Care Sandia, N.M. 2nd Jud. Dist. Ct., CV 96-007988.
Wilma Jensen hired a nursing home to take care of her elderly husband, Ned, for one week while she visited relatives out of state. By the time she returned, the nursing home had so neglected Ned that he required permanent, full-time nursing home care because he could no longer walk. Within months of his stay at the nursing home, he experienced rapid decline and died as a result of the nursing home’s failure to properly staff the nursing home and adequately train its staff to care for residents like Ned.
As this case proceeded toward trial, aggressive discovery by our firm revealed disturbing nursing home practices. One week before trial, the case settled for an amount almost twice as high as the original pretrial offer. As a result of working with families like the Jensens, the firm has become committed to nursing home reform. We actively support and lobby for changes to nursing home law to improve nursing home staffing, conditions and accountability.