Can I Sue a Nursing Home in San Diego County for Neglect?

To answer your question directly: Yes, you absolutely can sue a nursing home in San Diego County for neglect.

California has some of the strongest laws in the nation designed to protect seniors and dependent adults. The most important of these is the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (EADACPA). This law recognizes that elder neglect is a serious offense and allows victims and their families to hold neglectful facilities accountable.

A lawsuit for nursing home neglect serves several critical purposes:

• Accountability: It holds the facility legally and financially responsible for its failure to provide a reasonable standard of care to your loved one.
• Compensation: It aims to recover financial compensation (known as "damages") for the harm caused. This can include medical bills, hospital stays, the cost of moving to a new facility, and compensation for pain and suffering.
• Prevention: By taking action, you can force the facility to change its dangerous practices, potentially protecting other residents from suffering the same fate.

What Legally Counts as "Neglect" in California?

It's important to understand what the law considers "neglect." This is not just poor customer service or a rude staff member; it is the failure of a nursing home or its staff to provide the basic care and services needed to ensure a resident's health and safety.

Common forms of neglect include:

Basic Needs Neglect: The failure to provide adequate food, water, or a clean and safe environment.

Personal Hygiene Neglect: The failure to assist a resident with bathing, grooming, dental care, or providing clean clothing and bedding.

Medical Neglect: The failure to manage a resident's health conditions, administer medication correctly, prevent or properly treat bedsores, or get prompt medical attention when a resident's condition changes.

Emotional/Social Neglect: Routinely ignoring the resident, leaving them isolated in their room for long periods, or failing to provide any social interaction.

Warning Signs Your Loved One May Be a Victim

• Trust your gut. You know your loved one best. If something feels wrong, it probably is. Common warning signs of neglect include:
• Sudden, unexplained weight loss, which often signals malnutrition or dehydration.
• Bedsores (also called pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers). In most cases, these are a direct result of neglect - specifically, the failure to turn or reposition a resident.
• Poor personal hygiene, such as unkempt hair, untrimmed nails, a strong and persistent odor of urine or feces, or soiled clothing and bedding.
• Unsanitary or unsafe living conditions, like a dirty room, broken call lights, or hazardous equipment.
• Frequent, unexplained falls, bruises, cuts, or fractures.
• Sudden emotional or behavioral changes, such as withdrawal, depression, agitation, or new-found fear, especially around certain staff members.

Your First Steps: Protecting Your Loved One and Gathering Proof

If you suspect neglect, your immediate priority is your loved one's safety. Here are the steps you should take right now.

1. Address Immediate Danger

If the situation is not life-threatening but you are seriously concerned about their health, demand that they be transported to an outside hospital (like Sharp, Scripps, or UCSD) for an independent evaluation. This gets them to safety and creates a medical record from a neutral third party.

2. Report the Neglect (This is Crucial)

Reporting the suspected neglect creates an official record and can trigger an independent investigation. This is a vital step you can take at the same time as contacting Nursing Home Law Group.

3. Document Everything

From this moment forward, become a meticulous record-keeper. This evidence is the foundation of a successful legal case.

• Take Photos and Videos: Safely and discreetly document any visible injuries (especially bedsores), poor hygiene, or unsafe room conditions. Make sure to note the date and time.
• Create a Timeline: Get a notebook and write down every event, observation, and conversation. Include dates, times, and the full names of staff members you spoke with.
• Keep Records: Save all emails, letters, and bills related to your loved one's care.
• Get Medical Records: Formally request a complete copy of your loved one's medical chart from the nursing home and from any outside hospitals they have visited.

The Legal Process: How a Lawsuit Works

The legal system can be intimidating, but our San Diego nursing home neglect lawyers can guide you through every step. Here is a brief overview of what to expect:

• Free Consultation: You will meet with an experienced San Diego elder abuse attorney to discuss your case. You share your evidence, and they will tell you if they believe you have a viable case.
• Investigation: If warranted, we will launch a deep investigation, gathering your loved one's complete medical records, facility staffing records, state inspection reports, and other evidence.
• Filing the Complaint: Our attorneys will file the official lawsuit (a "complaint") in the San Diego Superior Court, which formally begins the legal action.
• Discovery: This is the formal process where both sides exchange evidence. We may take depositions, which are sworn, out-of-court testimonies from the facility's nurses, doctors, and administrators.
• Settlement or Trial: The overwhelming majority of nursing home neglect cases are resolved through a settlement, where the facility's insurance company agrees to pay compensation to avoid going to trial. If the facility refuses to offer a fair settlement, your attorney will be prepared to fight for you in court.

Why Choose Nursing Home Law Group to Fight for You?

We know that this is an incredibly stressful and painful time. You are likely feeling angry, betrayed, and unsure of what to do next. You do not have to go through this alone. At Nursing Home Law Group, our practice is exclusively dedicated to protecting the rights of elders and their families in San Diego County and throughout California. We live and breathe this area of law, and we have a proven track record of holding negligent nursing homes accountable for the harm they cause.

Our legal team understands the complex medical and legal issues involved in neglect cases, from analyzing medical charts for signs of malnutrition to deposing facility staff. We are familiar with the specific nursing homes in San Diego County and have extensive experience fighting their defense attorneys and insurance companies.

Our San Diego nursing home lawyers handle every case with the compassion you deserve and the aggression required to win.

Important Legal Deadlines (Statute of Limitations)

This is a final, urgent warning. In California, you have a limited amount of time to file a lawsuit, which is known as the Statute of Limitations.

For a nursing home neglect lawsuit, you generally have one year from the date the neglect occurred or from the date you reasonably should have discovered it. Therefore, you must not wait.

Contact Nursing Home Law Group today for your free and confidential consultation.

---