How Our Boston Attorneys Protect the Rights of Victims of Home Health Aide Abuse
What happens when a home health aide abuses or neglects the needs of the person he or she is supposed to be caring for?
As attorneys at Swartz & Lynch LLP, few cases we see are as heart-wrenching as those involving the abuse of the frail elderly or a physically challenged child. Our aging population means that a large number of us have to make the painful decision to put our parents, grandparents or other beloved relatives into a facility or find an appropriate alternative. For many, that alternative means turning to home healthcare aides as a way to ensure that our elderly loved ones’ medical and personal needs are attended to without resorting to long-term care or residential nursing facilities.
Unfortunately, what seems like a viable alternative to institutionalized care often turns to tragedy when a home healthcare aide is physically, verbally, sexually, financially or emotionally abusive. Just as there are laws regarding nursing home abuse, so are there statutes regarding home health aide abuse. In Massachusetts, home health aides who engage in “patient or resident abuse, mistreatment or neglect or misappropriation of patient or resident property” are removed from the registry and may not be hired by any facility, home health agency or homemaker agency until their period of suspension is over.
That, however, offers little relief to abuse victims or their families.
Types of home health aide abuse
Studies cited by a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) point out the issues of crime and violence as very real risk factors in home healthcare situations. The most prevalent type of abuse, nearly 52 percent, is verbal abuse. Other common forms of abuse suffered by elderly persons at the hands of home healthcare aides include:
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Holding abusers accountable
No person should feel unsafe in his or her home. And no abusive home health aide should be allowed to escape liability for his or her negligence or reckless actions. While each case is unique and no lawyer can (or should) tell you how much your case is worth without collecting evidence and testimony, our attorneys believe in fighting to get maximum compensation for injuries caused by negligence or abuse. We obtained a $26.5 million verdict for the family because a home healthcare aide murdered their son; we’ll put the same efforts into fighting for justice for your loved one.
If your elderly relative has been the victim of home health aide abuse, contact us immediately
At Swartz & Lynch LLP, we know that getting justice begins with contacting one of our AV-rated lawyers to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss your case. To schedule a time to meet, please contact a Boston injury attorney online or call us at 857-250-0664. All cases are taken on contingency.