According to a recent report from USA Today, there are hundreds of thousands of elder abuse cases in the U.S. every year, with huge numbers of incidents going unreported.
Many of these cases are due to neglect, including what state adult protective services, or APS, has dubbed “self-neglect.” This term refers to seniors who have deteriorated so much physically or mentally that they are no longer able to care for themselves, and they have no one else in their lives to care for them either.
“We do know that self-neglect increases illness, increases emergency room use, increases hospitalization, increases nursing home use, increases hospice use and hastens mortality,” Holly Ramsey-Klawsnik, director for the National Adult Protective Services Association, told USA Today. “Self-neglect is costing society a lot of money when they have to go to the E.R. and have no money to pay for insurance.”
Complicating matters is the fact that the new totals reflecting abuse and neglect are missing numbers from 6 states. Oregon, Nevada, South Dakota, West Virgina, Wisconsin, and New Mexico have not collected sufficient elder abuse data for a variety of reasons.
Elder Abuse in New Mexico
It’s clear that elder abuse and neglect is more likely to result in seniors being put in places like nursing homes. The issue is that abuse does not always stop once the elderly are placed under new care.
Over the summer, it was reported that New Mexico ranks as the worst state in the nation for nursing homes. The state is found to have a rate of 1.61 “serious deficiencies” per nursing home, according to ProPublica. Moreover, on a rating scale of A-L, with L denoting serious abuse and neglect, 38 out of 74 Medicare or Medicaid-certified nursing homes in the state were rated J or L over a 3-year period.
New Mexico must clean up its act in regards to senior care. Nursing home standards must be raised, and neglect and abuse statistics must be reported as part of national totals. In the meantime, however, concerned family members have the right to seek the counsel of an experienced elder abuse attorney who knows how to fight to secure compensation for their loved ones’ pain and suffering.
Contact Michael J. Doyle, Attorney at Law Now
If you have a close family member or friend who has been the victim of nursing home abuse, consider calling our Albuquerque nursing home abuse lawyer. With over 10 years of experience zealously representing the people of New Mexico, Michael J. Doyle, Attorney at Law provides compassionate and tenacious legal advocacy for your loved one. We won’t charge you a cent unless we win your case, so you know we mean business. No senior citizen should be forced to suffer in silence. Let us give them a voice.
Dial (505) 219-2176 immediately for nursing home abuse information, or for a free consultation, contact us online.