New York City Failure to Seek Medical Evaluation Lawyer
Nursing home patients and assisted living residents require constant care and monitoring. If they did not, they would be living independently. As such, it is vital for nurses and other nursing home staff to frequently access the health and condition of their patients, and report any changes to medical professionals. It is also critical that doctors within nursing homes send patients to the hospital when further tests are needed or additional treatment is needed that the nursing home cannot provide. If a nursing home fails to uphold these standards of care, they are putting the lives and well-being of their patients at extreme risk. If the staff at your loved one’s nursing home have failed to address and treat a medical condition, or failed to seek medical evaluation, The New York City nursing home negligence attorneys at Cohan Law Firm will ensure that your loved one receives the care they need. We will also hold the nursing home financially responsible for all economic and non-economic damages they have caused to your loved one.
Monitoring and Evaluating Changes in The Patient’s Condition
If a patient’s condition changes, a medical evaluation is required to quickly diagnose and treat the patient. If the nursing home is unable to provide the required treatment, or if they are unable to determine why the patient’s condition has changed, the patient should be referred to a specialist or another facility for treatment or follow up testing.
What are the Duties of the Nursing Home?
It is the duty of nursing home nurses and other staff members to monitor and pay attention to the nursing home patient’s condition and their chart, and to report any changes to the attending physicians within the nursing home facility. It is then the physicians’ duty to diagnose, treat, or refer the patient to another facility or specialist.
Common Signs and Symptoms of Declining Health in Nursing Home Patients
Some signs of a worsening condition are not possible to see with the naked eye, and are only visible in blood work, urine samples, MRI and CT-scans, X-rays, and other imaging and testing methods. However, there are plenty of signs that a nursing home patient is in trouble, and requires a prompt medical evaluation. These include:
- Sudden weight loss
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Pain
- Fear
- Other mental or emotional health changes
- Loss of energy
- Loss of cognitive ability
- Loss of appetite
- Weakness
- Poor balance
- Bruising, vomiting, diarrhea, or other signs of injury or illness
Call a New York Nursing Home Negligence Attorney as Soon as Possible
Failure to seek a medical evaluation is grounds for negligence in the state of New York; nursing homes can be held financially accountable for all medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of joy of life, emotional distress, and ongoing cost of care if they fail to monitor a patient’s condition or they fail to refer the patient to a specialist when the attending nursing home physician is incapable of making a diagnosis. To ensure your loved one gets the help they need, call the NYC nursing home negligence attorneys at Cohan Law Firm today at 855.855.0321 to schedule a free consultation.
