Elder Abuse Hard To Verify if Victim Can’t Speak

When Doris Weaver saw her mother’s black eye at the local hospital emergency room where she had been taken from a nursing home, she was stunned.

“She had a bruise from her temple all the way down to her lower earlobe,” said Weaver. “Her eye was black and was swollen.”

Weaver demanded to know what caused her mother’s injury, and even filed a police report, but to date she has gotten now answers…from anyone, even her mother, who cannot speak. [Read the entire story here]

Like elder abuse victims all over the county, Weaver’s mother is unable to tell her story because of her advanced dementia. Because of memory impairment problems caused by dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, many aging Americans under professional care are unable to communicate, and unable to tell family members when they are subjected to abuse or neglect. Our firm has one such case right now, involving a non-communicative Alzheimer’s disease patient who was struck in the face by nursing caregivers, but unable to tell her horrible story.

Any unexplained incidents of bruising or dramatic changes in mental status should be reported to the resident’s physician right away, and the local ombudsman office.

The Long Beach elder abuse and neglect lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent seniors and dependent adults who are victims of neglect, abuse, mistreatment, and malpractice in the nursing home, assisted living, and residential care setting. All case consultations are free and confidential.