Seniors with Personal Injury

Published on: January 13, 2019

For-Profit Nursing Homes Reveal the Lowest Care Standards

Throughout the nation, the population of those age 65 and older continues to rise. In fact, as the baby boomer generation continues to age, it is projected that the number of older people in the U.S. population will be greater than children in just a couple of decades. In Georgia, the population of those 65 and older is projected to constitute over 65% of the state’s population by 2030.

With the rise of the aging population, more and more of these individuals are now living in nursing homes. However, statistics show that many of these residents suffer from poor and neglectful care, and other abuse. Residents of for-profit nursing homes are more likely to be subjected to poorer care standards, compared to residents of non-profit facilities. A new report confirms that for-profit nursing home residents have increasing rates of suffering injuries resulting from neglect than those living in other residential arrangements.

The researchers found that seniors over the age of 60 who lived in private community residences were most likely to be well cared for. They found more signs of neglect among residents of for-profit nursing homes. Some of these cases included serious signs of neglect such as extreme dehydration and stage 3 and stage 4 bedsores. These residents were also more likely to suffer from the effects of mismanagement of their feeding and medication schedules. The neglect also involved malfunctioning or broken feeding tubes, broken catheters and overall mismanagement of chronic health conditions which are prevalent in the nursing home population. Numerous lawsuits are filed nationwide against nursing homes and assisted-living facilities for failure to provide adequate care and safety measures.

Published on: November 26, 2018

Avoiding Slip and Fall Accidents in Winter

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

There are certain times of the year when the risk of being in a slip and fall accident is higher. It is no surprise that winter, and especially the holiday season, brings with it conditions that increase the likelihood of a fall accident.

The coldest weeks of the year bring with them roads, driveways and sidewalks covered with ice, snow and sleet that make for very slippery and dangerous conditions. It’s no surprise that you have a greater risk of a slip and fall when you have to walk on roads and surfaces that are wet with ice and snow. What’s worse, these slip and fall accidents can leave you with serious injuries that can have long lasting impacts on you and your family. This is especially true with the black ice conditions that Atlanta and the north Georgia area commonly see during the winter months.

The winter holiday season also brings with it its own conditions that increase the risk of a slip and fall accident. This is not only because the holidays occurs during the coldest part of the year, but holiday shopping, entertaining and attending parties all increase the likelihood that you will be out and about in the dangerously slippery conditions, instead of being safe at home. Even more, if the area where you are walking has not been properly maintained for winter conditions, your risk of sustaining a fall and being injured is even greater.

Published on: July 15, 2017

Seniors with Dementia May Be at Risk of Poisoning from Laundry Detergent Pods

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

It’s not just young children who may be at risk of poisoning after ingesting brightly-colored and attractively packaged laundry pods. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is increasingly coming across cases involving seniors with dementia who have swallowed these pods by mistake, causing severe injuries, and in many cases, fatalities.

Laundry detergent pods are brightly packaged and come in several shiny hues. These qualities make them extremely endearing to children. The pods are designed to dissolve as soon as the packaging comes into contact with water. Children are naturally attracted to shiny, colorful things.

Children can be at risk of poisoning as soon as they put these pods into their mouths. In fact, the CPSC is aware of incidents involving persons who died after swallowing or ingesting these laundry detergent pods. Ingesting even one such pod could be dangerous, and even lethal.

Published on: April 29, 2015

New Study Focuses on Specific Accident Risks Facing Senior Citizens

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

With the proportion of senior motorists across the country and on Atlanta roads expected to balloon over the next couple of decades, it’s not surprising that leading auto safety groups in the country are turning their attention to senior motorist safety. The AAA Foundation recently announced that it is investing in research that focuses on accident risks involving senior motorists.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is investing $12 million in the study into the driving behaviors of senior motorists. Researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health will specifically investigate factors that affect senior motorist safety while driving. Those factors include prescription drug use that could impair a motorist’s driving abilities and increase the risk of drowsy driving accidents, as well as the impact of deteriorating vision on senior drivers.

As part of the study, drivers between the ages of 65 and 79 will be recruited in several states around the country. Researchers will fit these motorists’ cars with GPS devices to monitor and observe driving patterns. The researchers will use the data that emerges from the study to analyze senior driving patterns and devise solutions to core safety problems.

Published on: March 18, 2014

Study Says Alcohol Has Increased Affect on Seniors

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Alcohol tends to affect different people in different ways, and younger drivers are typically believed to be at the highest at risk for destructive alcohol- related behaviors, like drunk driving accidents.However, seniors could be just as much at risk of being involved in accidents after they have consumed alcohol.What is even more dangerous about seniors and drinking is that alcohol consumption does not have to be large for it to affect many seniors’ driving abilities.According to research, even small amounts of alcohol can affect an older driver’s driving abilities, increasing his or her risk of being involved in a car accident.

The study was conducted by researchers who analyzed how drinking alcohol affects driving abilities, based on age.Persons in the age group of 25 to 35 were compared with another group which consisted of persons 55 to 70 years old.In both groups, persons consumed alcohol, but not enough for any of them to cross the maximum permissible blood-alcohol level in most states of .08%.In other words, nobody in either of these groups met the criteria for being legally intoxicated.

However, researchers found to their surprise that even when seniors drank just a few alcoholic beverages, it impacted their ability to drive safely.They monitored the driving abilities of seniors by putting them through a driving simulator, and found that even mild amounts of alcohol intoxication in seniors did affect driving abilities.

Published on: August 15, 2012

Could Vitamin D Supplements Be the Secret to Preventing Fall Accidents?

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Fall accidents are extremely serious, especially when they involve the elderly.It is estimated that between 30% and 40% of all seniors will suffer a fall accident at least once every year.Our Atlanta slip and fall attorneys agree with research that also shows that many of these persons will never recover from their injuries, and many will have a much higher risk of dying in the 12 months following the fall accident.

Treatment for falls and fractures may be routine in the rest of the population but in the elderly, treatment is far more complicated and hard to predict.It’s the reason why it is so important to prevent fall accidents involving the elderly in the first place.

New research seems to suggest that daily doses of vitamin D supplements could actually help reduce the risk of fall accidents involving senior citizens.The research, which was published recently in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that a daily dose of vitamin D supplements helped reduce the risk of fall accidents by as much as 17%.In the study, the subjects were given vitamin D supplements of around 800 international unit per day.The risks of suffering a fall accident was substantially reduced compared to people who did not take the supplements.

Published on: March 22, 2012

Nursing Home Resident Killed in Fight, Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit Likely

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

A state report blames a nursing home that failed to supervise two residents who had a history of altercations with each other, for a fatal fight that killed one of the residents.Unfortunately, nursing home abuse situations often arise due to inadequate supervision of residents and/or inadequate training of staff to evaluate the potential for resident-on-resident attacks. As nursing home abuse attorneys know, these attacks can often turn deadly.

Atlanta nursing home abuse lawyers have known for a long while that Georgia struggles with providing a safe environment for nursing home residents.In 2002, a report by the American Medical Association found that nursing home abuse problems in Georgia were at crisis levels.In fact, during this period of time, nursing home abuse claims in the state rose not just in frequency, but also in the severity of injuries involved.

Often, elder abuse in nursing homes can be traced to a shortage of staff.Many nursing facilities deal with low reimbursement rates by cutting back on staff numbers, and therefore, eroding the quality of care.As a result, there are fewer numbers of staff members to pay individual attention to senior residents, many of who are in delicate health.

Published on: February 4, 2012

ProPublica Exposé Reveals Nursing Home Abuse Related Deaths Rarely Investigated

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

According to a new exposé by ProPublica, an unknown number of senior citizens who die in nursing homes around the country may have died due to nursing home abuse.However, their families may never know because investigations into such a wrongful death are rare. Nursing home abuse attorneys are well aware of the serious nature of the problem. When investigating these matters, we often find that the nursing home has been active in trying to cover up the abuse, rather than conducting an honest investigation which uncovers the issue and provides useful information to improving the care they provide.

As part of the exposé, the team at ProPublicainvestigated coroner and medical examiner’s office records, and looked at the number of sudden and unusual fatalities at several nursing homes.They found in their investigations that in cases involving seniors who die suddenly, or under any kind of suspicious circumstances, there is no guarantee of any investigation into the death.ProPublicahas reached several conclusions that point to systemic flaws.

For instance, when a senior death is reported as natural, coroners and medical examiners very rarely investigate it.However, the fact is that very often, doctors make errors in judging whether a death is natural or not.In one study conducted in 2008, approximately 50% of doctors were not able to correctly identify the cause of death for an elderly patient who had died after a brain injury that occurred as a result of a fall accident.What this means is that an unknown number of deaths in nursing homes are probably being classified as natural deaths, when they are anything but.

Published on: July 3, 2011

Atlanta Seniors at Higher Risk of Injury in Slip and Fall Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Seniors in Atlanta are at a high risk of suffering serious injuries in a slip and fall accident because of their age, gait, vision problems and a number of other factors.A new study conducted in the UK focuses on how a senior’s direction of gaze and walking style affects his risk of a fall accident.

The research is being funded by the Age UK, and is probing the link between vision and a slip and fall accident.Researchers are specifically looking at the theory that a person’s risk of a fall accident increases when he is looking straight ahead, and not down at obstacles that are in front of him.According to the research, older adults who look directly ahead at obstacles in the distance may be at a higher risk of a fall accident than those who look at obstacles in front of them.

Age UK is planning more studies into the prevention of fall accidents involving the elderly.Soon, the group will initiate a new study involving people over the age of 65.Researchers are currently looking for subjects who will participate in this new research.The research will involve a four-hour experiment during which the subjects must walk over a 7 m walkway.The participants will be required to take precise steps on a target marked on the road, as well as over a series of marked obstacles.While they walk, a number of variables will measured, including the participants’ eye and body movements.Saliva samples will be tested.Participants will also be surveyed about their experiences while walking.Through this study, the researchers hope to determine safer ways of walking for senior adults.

Published on: June 3, 2011

Even Healthy Senior Motorists at Risk of Driving Errors That Cause Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

As Atlanta car accident lawyers, we know that older motorists face specific driving challenges that may increase their chances of being involved in a serious auto accident and suffering serious injuries.However, a new study shows that the older the driver, the higher the risk of making a critical driving error that could end in an accident. The study is something that older drivers and their families in Atlanta and throughout Georgia should consider as they make decisions together about when to stop driving.

The study conducted by researchers at Australian National University, studied 266 volunteers aged between 70 and 88.The volunteers were required to take a driving test, with a driving instructor and an occupational therapist in the vehicle.

17% of the drivers in the study made critical driving mistakes, like veering or failing to check in their blind spots.The risk of making critical driving errors increased with age.For instance, drivers between the age of 70 and 74 made an average of one driving error.Drivers between the age of 85 and 89 however made an average of four critical driving errors.Additionally, those drivers who had been involved in an accident over the past five years were also much more likely to make driving errors.