When a close family member is abused or neglected by an Albuquerque nursing home, it’s important to ask for help. Make Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers your first call at (505) 785-7770. Our Albuquerque nursing home abuse lawyers have the experience and passion you’ll need to get the top-dollar financial award your family deserves.
Since 2011, Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers has helped victims of abuse and neglect take on powerful nursing homes in Albuquerque, NM. As leaders in nursing home abuse litigation, our award-winning New Mexico trial attorneys have over 55 years of combined experience handling these complex and delicate disputes.
We win 98 percent of the cases we handle. We’ve won over $30 million for clients like you. Now, we’re ready to help your family demand accountability for unforgivable abuse in an Albuquerque nursing facility.
Contact us to schedule a free consultation. We’re here to help 24/7.
How Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help If a Loved One Has Been Abused at an Albuquerque, NM Nursing Home
It can be intimidating to take on a nursing home or assisted living facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After all, these are powerful corporations with considerable resources at their disposal. However, you turned to them to keep your aging loved one safe, and they violated that trust. They must be held accountable.
Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers can help.
Our Albuquerque personal injury lawyers understand that you have one opportunity to seek financial justice. We intend to help you make the most of it.
Focus on spending time with your elderly family member while we:
- Launch a prompt investigation into your loved one’s care and treatment at the nursing facility
- Gather evidence needed to construct a persuasive legal claim for damages
- Work closely with medical professionals, nursing industry specialists, and other expert witnesses as we calculate what your nursing home abuse case is worth
- Interview members of the nursing facility and witnesses to the abusive conduct
- Handle all administrative aspects of your nursing home abuse case
- Represent you during negotiations with the nursing home and its insurance company
- Litigate your nursing home abuse lawsuit at trial in Bernalillo County, NM, if necessary
Your family member has suffered enough at the hands of cruel and careless caretakers. Don’t let them struggle for a minute longer. Call our Albuquerque, NM law office and put our top-rated legal team in your corner.
We work on contingency, so there is absolutely no cost to hire our firm unless we win your nursing home abuse case. Call to begin your fight for compensation today.
Is Nursing Home Abuse Common?
Sadly, yes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), two-thirds of all nursing home caretakers admit to abusing a resident in a nursing facility.
About one out of six elderly people in a community setting are abused and/or neglected every year.
With roughly 5,510 residents in nursing facilities across New Mexico, nearly 1,000 may be abused or neglected every year.
Sadly, Albuquerque nursing homes don’t rank all that well. The seven nursing homes in Albuquerque currently score a “C” on elderguide.com, which could indicate subpar facilities, staff, treatment, and living conditions.
What is Nursing Home Abuse?
Nursing home abuse, very broadly, occurs when a nursing home resident is harmed because of a caretaker’s conduct. The caretaker’s actions can be intentional (which is considered abusive) or unintentional (which is considered neglect).
There are many different types of nursing home abuse, including:
- Physical abuse: Physical abuse occurs when a caretaker causes a resident to suffer physical bodily harm, often as a result of pushing, hitting, restraining unnecessarily, or shoving.
- Sexual abuse: Sexual abuse occurs when a caretaker forces or manipulates a resident into engaging in sexual conduct or watching sexual activity.
- Emotional abuse: Emotional or psychological abuse occurs when a caretaker inflicts severe and debilitating trauma on a resident through name-calling, isolation, withholding medication or food, and bullying.
- Neglect: Neglect occurs when a resident’s basic emotional, physical, and medical needs are not met by the nursing home staff or facility.
- Financial abuse: Nursing home residents can be the victim of financial abuse when caretakers steal their property, misappropriate their identity, or reallocate funds.
Residents can experience one or multiple types of abuse in a nursing home setting. If you suspect that your loved one is being mistreated, speak with an experienced personal injury attorney at our Albuquerque, NM law firm immediately.
Common Examples of Nursing Home Abuse in Albuquerque Facilities
Nursing home abuse can come in many shapes and forms.
Some of the most commonly reported types of nursing home abuse include:
- Physically abusing residents by pushing, hitting, and shoving
- Refusing to allow residents to see or spend time with family members
- Isolation
- Withholding food, water, medication, or medical treatment
- Failing to move a resident to prevent bedsores and pressure ulcers
- Abandonment
- Financial exploitation
- Making fun of residents or repeatedly criticizing them in front of others
- Allowing a resident to live in unsanitary conditions
- Refusing to provide assistance when a patient needs help moving, changing, or using the bathroom
- Failing to monitor patients with mental illnesses or conditions that might make them susceptible to elopement
Nursing home residents deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. They deserve to have their basic needs – and more – met. When a caretaker falls short and a resident suffers, the facility must be held accountable.
What Types of Damages Can Be Awarded to Victims of Nursing Home Abuse in Albuquerque, New Mexico?
Both economic and non-economic damages can be awarded to plaintiffs in an Albuquerque nursing home abuse lawsuit.
Economic damages help to make up for the financial costs associated with the nursing home abuse, such as:
- Current medical bills
- Relocation to another nursing facility
- Future medical expenses
- Rehabilitation
- Therapy
- Out-of-pocket costs
- Any other financial losses
Non-economic damages help to compensate the victim of abuse for the hard-to-value trauma they’ve experienced, such as:
- Chronic physical pain
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Loss of consortium
- Reduced quality of life
Punitive damages can also be available if there’s compelling evidence to demonstrate that the nursing facility or caretaker hurt your loved one intentionally or consciously disregarded their safety.
Count on our nursing home abuse attorneys in Albuquerque to fight to help your family recover every cent you deserve. We’ll bring in trusted experts and specialists to provide insight as we build your case and calculate what it’s likely worth. When it’s time to negotiate, we’ll be prepared with compelling arguments, hard facts, and solid evidence to leverage a meaningful award on your behalf.
What Should I Do If I Suspect a Family Member Is Being Abused at a New Mexico Nursing Home?
Report suspected abuse immediately.
You can begin by speaking with the nursing home facility itself and addressing any issues or concerns you have.
If the nursing home doesn’t react or fails to take action, you can contact:
- The New Mexico Health Facility Complaints Hotline (800-752-8649) and/or
- The New Mexico Long-Term Care Ombudsman (866-451-2901).
For urgent matters, you can also call the local police in Albuquerque and request emergency assistance for your loved one.
Helping You Fight for Compensation For All of Your Albuquerque Nursing Home Injuries
Nursing home residents can suffer severe, catastrophic injuries when they’re mistreated at Albuquerque facilities.
Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers will be here to help your family member fight back after they suffer:
- Broken bones
- Infection
- Illness and disease
- Burn injury
- Vision or hearing loss
- Concussion
- Brain injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Back injury
- Neck injury
- Pressure ulcers
- Soft tissue injury
- Bruising
- Catastrophic injury
- Wrongful death
Help your family member get emergency medical treatment as soon as possible after you learn that they’ve been injured. Prompt care at an independent facility can be essential. Once they’re stable, call our nursing home abuse lawyers in Albuquerque for help with your legal case.
What is the Statute of Limitations for New Mexico Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuits?
You’ll typically have three years to file a nursing home abuse lawsuit in the state of New Mexico.
The statute of limitations has few exceptions. If you miss the deadline, your loved one will not have the opportunity to demand justice and recover the monetary award they need and deserve.
Schedule a Free Consultation With an Experienced Albuquerque Nursing Home Abuse Attorney
There’s no excuse for abusing nursing home residents. When a facility mistreats its residents, it must be held accountable. At Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers, we’re committed to helping you and your family fight back.
Our Albuquerque nursing home abuse lawyers have 55+ years of combined experience and a 98 percent record of success. Our results speak for themselves, with over $30 million in settlements and verdicts recovered.
Give your family the edge they need to take on a powerful nursing home in Albuquerque and win.
Call our law office to arrange a free consultation now.