Dietrich Law Firm PC Jed Dietrich How To Prove a Nursing Home Lawsuit in Buffalo, NY

Welcome back everybody. We've got a great show for you with a lot of great information so sit tight and grab a pencil always for AM Buffalo for important numbers. With more families getting together over the summer please make sure you're visiting your loved ones, especially if they're in nursing homes, and do it frequently. It's the best way to check up on their health and their care and if you're noticing neglect in any way like perhaps bedsores it is very important to listen to what attorney Jed Dietrich has to say. Jed is the President of the Dietrich Law Firm and joins us frequently on our show and our phones are open for your calls and comments now at 644-9840. Good morning Jed. Good morning Linda. It’s always good to have you here.

Thank you, I feel the same way. And you know it's true a lot of people come into town, there's gonna be a lot of visiting going on and we're hoping that, you know, close family members visit all the time when it comes to nursing homes, because people are, you know, you're the ones who are gonna notice first. That's exactly right. If there is any issue with a loved one. That's exactly right. To jump in and make it right. And the Buffalo News has been doing a little series on the nursing home negligence today in the editorial section of the paper. There were some comments that I thought were appropriate, important concerning this area. And I think the important thing to say is that you need the lawyers and the legal system to protect the folks that can't protect themselves. If there was ever a time that you would want to reach out to an attorney and and try to preserve someone's rights it's when you have someone who's a loved one in a nursing home who may be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's or not strong enough to help themselves.

I've had cases in the past where I've had people who were not able to verbalize their complaints, and I still was successful in not only bringing a claim in their behalf, but also changing the conduct, the pattern of conduct, of the nursing home or the facility. And this can be can be a hospital, it can be an assisted living facility. There's a problem with the reimbursement and the way these facilities are run and most of them are for-profit, which means if they provide less service and they don't take care of their people the way they should, they'll keep more money for themselves So there's an inherent conflict of interest with a lot of these facilities. So, you absolutely need attorneys and the legal system to preserve the rights of the folks that end up there who aren't treated properly.

When you see a bedsore, I encourage anyone who knows of a family member who's suffering from a bedsore now, to reach out and contact an attorney. In my office, we handled these cases we are at 716-839-3939, and we try to preserve the rights of the person and also change the conduct so that person in the facility, the person who's injured, can get better care in the future. Or the people come in after that person who was injured, get better care. And you know Jed, it's as we say, the best way you're gonna know if there's any change in the cares is if you visit often. Because a lot of people aren't aware of bedsores because you might go into someone's room and, like you say, the patient might be uncommunicative - right - so the covers are pulled up to here you don't know. A bedsore happens when the skin is constantly rubbing against the sheets. Correct, it should not happen. And you can't move and that person needs to be turned that person, that sheet, needs to be changed that should not happen. Absolutely not. And it will actually rub the skin off after a while. That's exactly right.

And create an open sore. Now if the person is uncommunicative in the bed, they cannot tell you that, you wouldn't know. Now Jed, the problem is, I would imagine, for some people they might not know how long this has been going on once they see the sore. Well we can through physical examination - can tell - absolutely. And we hire experts. I have a number of experts that I reach out towards who are treating physicians, in the Buffalo area, who will come in on a case like this, either an RN or a nurse practitioner, and take a look, we'll take pictures and then we'll do a review. We can show by the pattern of the pictures and the way the wound looks, how long it's been there. Now let me ask you a question Jed, because this is one that kind of pops into my mind. What if your loved one has expired and you heard about the bed sore from the next people on. Maybe it's the folks from the funeral home. Was it, did you know they had a bed sore? Is there any, any way that you can you know you you have any kind of way to to let the people know a prosecute. The fact that apparently they weren't being taken care of in life? There are many different steps you can take under that scenario. It all goes down to what can you do in terms of an investigation. You have to have evidence and you'd be surprised how many of the nursing home folks who work there as aides or LPN’s are willing to cooperate.

Yes, I could imagine they would. They are part of the system - right - but they feel badly for these folks and they're understaffed and they're working too hard. They're taking care of 20 people and they should take care of 5 and they don't feel good about the care that they're getting typically. I've had folks come to me out of the blue and then under depositions and under oath tell the truth and say the right thing because they want the pattern of care to change. All right Jed, we have a phone call. Good morning welcome to the show. Good morning. Hi. My question is my mom has been in a nursing home for subacute rehab and developed pressure ulcers on her heel. One she has now is osteomyelitis. It is down to the bone and the other is not as bad. Do you deal with cases just for subacute care as opposed to long term residences in the nursing home? And pressure ulcer it's just another name for a bedsore. I mean, it's the same thing.

It's from leaving someone in a position too long without being turned, without proper padding, and then there are certain bodily fluids that become a part of the situation then you get a bacteria problem. So, whether it's a sub acute care facility or a nursing home or any other type of assisted care facility there's absolutely a claim to be made in that circumstance. I'd encourage you to contact my office at 716-839-3939 and we'll investigate the matter and talk to you and talk to the facility and if so we'll sue the case and and depose everyone and and try to change the conduct so the next person along can get better care. Jed, would it always be safe to take a picture of something like that? Absolutely, you have to take pictures. You absolutely have to take pictures even if the pictures are to a certain extent uncomfortable for you to actually take the picture you have to take pictures and if you suspect these things you have to get to the bottom of it and roll your loved one over or look at their physical being, to protect them in the future. Those are the things that we would use as evidence in a court of law to prove a pattern of conduct which is improper and to prove pain and suffering for someone even though they're not working and they don't have a claim for lost wages there are significant claims substantial claims for pain and suffering to someone in that circumstance. Alright, that was a great call thank you.

I know we have another one standing by so we'll be happy to take it. Hello? Hello. Hi, go ahead please. Hi Jed, it's kind of a tricky case but my dad was in a nursing home here in the Springville area after suffering a stroke in November and a brain bleed and he was misdiagnosed for months with having TIAs when in fact he was having seizures and was given medications they had actually were inducing the seizures on top of several other things and then became a it became financial reason why we wanted to remove him from the nursing home. And I have nursing home experience so I'm taking care of him at home, and the doctors gave no cooperation whatsoever. They discharged him with no medications. Now luckily I had the VA behind me already and in my pocket and just recently he's had to go to the VA hospital twice with growing seizures.

Now last was a grand mal, it almost killed him. And it turns out that the medications he was on in the nursing home were inducing the seizures. He was put on Ritalin because he was lethargic. Mm-hmm okay. So what we'd have to do in a circumstance like that is look at the medical records and have the records reviewed by an expert who would determine if the medication that was given to your father was proper. If it was improperly provided and then there were damages that we could clearly relate to that improper provision of medication then a claim could be made. Again, I feel for you and for your father. Best wishes to him with his recovery. And this person should be marking dates down and lots of information so they can help your office out. That's exactly right.

So, pictures, dates, names of aides who may be helpful all of those types of things are very important. Mark it down in a notebook if you suspect abuse and contact an attorney so we can get in there to preserve your rights. Yeah, yes so the important thing is to be a frequent visitor. Go in and be proactive for your loved ones. They may not be able to speak for themselves but you can and certainly the folks with Jed and his firm are here for you. They speak for those who can't speak for themselves. The Dietrich Law Firm. You can call them right now at (716) 839-3939. (716) 839-3939. And you can go right to the website calljed.com. Located at 101 John James Audubon Pkwy in Amherst. They're working for you. [Music]

---