Nursing Home Abuse

Connecticut Law provides for a Nursing Home Patients Bill of Rights that is codified in Section 19a-550 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Combined with federal requirements found in Section 483.10 et seq of the Code of Federal Regulations, nursing home patients and family members have many significant rights that relate to quality of care, staffing requirements, use of restraints and use of medication. Useful web sites dealing with many of these rights can be found at:

Nursing Home Residents' Rights - Quality of Care
SeniorLaw: Elder Law & Legal Resources on the Web
NURSING HOMES - More Can Be Done to Protect Residents from Abuse

It is important to recognize that incidents of poor treatment or abuse in a nursing home or convalescent facility in Connecticut may give rise to claims of medical malpractice, elder abuse, violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practice Act and various other claims.

If you or a loved one has been or is currently being victimized in a nursing home in Connecticut or elsewhere, it is important that you immediately take the following steps:

• Secure the safety of the patient.
• Register a timely complaint with the administration of the facility.
• Take detailed notes.
• Request that an outside physician pay a visit to the patient.
• Photograph the patient's condition including fractures, bruising, soiled conditions, decubitus ulcers, etc.
• Contact the Department of Health.
• Contact the local police.
• Contact an attorney.
• Save all paperwork from the facility including contracts, invoices, promotional literature and brochures.
• Obtain the names, addresses and telephone numbers of any witnesses to the abuse or maltreatment including patients, family members of other patients and staff.