Nursing Home Abuse

Georgia Nursing Home Abuse Attorney

Nursing Home Abuse Victims Deserve Justice and Protection.

Georgia's nursing home residents are protected by both state and federal law. The Georgia Bill of Rights for Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities, codified at O.C.G.A. Section 31-8-100 through 31-8-116, guarantees residents the right to adequate medical care, freedom from abuse and neglect, dignity in treatment, and the right to manage their own financial affairs. When facilities violate these rights, families have legal recourse to hold negligent operators accountable.

Nursing home abuse takes many forms -- physical violence, emotional intimidation, sexual assault, financial exploitation, and the most common form, neglect. Understaffing is the root cause of most nursing home injuries in Georgia. When facilities cut staff to increase profits, residents develop preventable bedsores, suffer falls without supervision, receive incorrect medications, experience dehydration and malnutrition, and develop infections from unsanitary conditions. These are not accidents -- they are the predictable result of corporate negligence.

Under O.C.G.A. Section 31-8-126, Georgia allows private lawsuits against nursing homes for violations of resident rights. Damages may include medical expenses, pain and suffering, and in cases of willful or wanton misconduct, punitive damages. Attorney Jonathan Overman works with geriatric medicine experts and nursing standards consultants to establish that facility conditions fell below the accepted standard of care.

Georgia requires mandatory reporting of suspected nursing home abuse under O.C.G.A. Section 30-5-4. If you suspect a loved one is being abused or neglected in a Georgia nursing home, contact Adult Protective Services and then call Overbird Law at (678) 251-8575. Time is critical -- evidence of abuse must be preserved, and the statute of limitations under O.C.G.A. Section 9-3-33 gives you only two years to file a claim.