Suffering from dehydration can be incredibly damaging for those unfortunate enough to have to go through it. This is especially true of the elder adults. When a person goes on in age, they become more and more susceptible to the damages caused by things like illness, falls, and for the sake of this article, dehydration. For this reason, when dehydration occurs to a tenant at a nursing home, the nursing home staff should be held responsible for the damages. Not only is it their responsibility to take care of these people, but they are also expected to provide proper nutrition, water included. Those who have had loved ones experience dehydration as a result of a nursing home can sue the nursing home for not taking proper care of them. However, many who file these suits, ask some questions regarding the average settlement value, or settlement amounts of their case. Fortunately, our expert Los Angeles lawyers with experience handling medical malpractice claims can assist you in not only determining the worth of your case but also in fighting for you and your case in court. If you have any questions after reading this article, please feel free to reach out to our top-rated Los Angeles law firm for a free consultation by one of our skilled attorneys with experience in medical malpractice cases.
Dehydration of a Resident at a Nursing Home
Dehydration can be incredibly damaging, especially to those who are older. The older a person gets, the harder it is for them to recover from things like dehydration. Dehydration can vary in severity and depends on how much of your body weight is lost through fluids. Fortunately, there are some early signs of dehydration to look out for, such as thirst, and dark-colored urine. Other symptoms of more severe dehydration include:
- Dizziness
- Light-headedness
- Headache
- Tiredness
- Dry mouth, lips, and eyes
- Passing small amounts of urine infrequently
If left untreated, dehydration can become incredibly severe, and regarding elderly home residents, can be fatal. Emergency services should be contacted immediately if you or a loved one begin to feel any of the following symptoms:
- The feeling of being incredibly lethargic or confused
- Dizziness that doesn’t go away
- Not passing urine for eight hours (retention of water)
- A weak pulse
- A rapid pulse
- Fits or seizures
- Low level of consciousness
When this severe level of dehydration occurs and is not treated properly, it can lead to some truly devastating and life-threatening complications. Some of these potentially fatal conditions include the following:
- Kidney Failure
- Coma
- Shock
- Heat-related illnesses
- Electrolyte abnormalities
While these conditions can be treated with appropriate medical care, said medical care could be incredibly expensive. Fortunately, if you or a loved one have experienced dehydration at a nursing home, you can file a nursing home dehydration lawsuit to receive compensation for your damages. Nursing homes, like all medical care centers, are expected to provide adequate care for their patients, this includes not feeding patients, and not providing water when needed. If this care is not provided the nursing home or the nursing home staff can be sued for medical malpractice. The compensation earned from suing an elderly care home can provide recovery for damages like medical expenses, pain and suffering, a loss of wages, and emotional distress. An accomplished attorney with expertise in medical malpractice injury lawsuits will be able to assist you in earning a settlement.
Potential Compensation Amount for an Elderly Care Home Dehydration Case
When clients come into our law firm seeking representation for their elderly care home dehydration case they often ask our attorneys a variety of questions regarding the potential value of their case. Over our years of practice, we’ve learned that many of these people already have attorneys, however, are unsatisfied with the service they’ve been provided thus far. Fortunately, our attorneys experienced in nursing home dehydration are committed to ensuring all of our clients, new and old, receive the resources they need to fight their case effectively. Some of the questions these clients ask our attorneys are listed below:
- What is the average settlement amount for a nursing home dehydration case?
- How much is a nursing home malnutrition case worth?
- What are the average settlement amounts for a nursing home negligence case?
How much you can receive for a settlement usually depends on the damages that you have experienced. Through the calculation of your damages, our attorneys can assist you in finding an adequate compensation amount for said damages. Unfortunately, determining an average, or generalizing an average value for any specific case can be somewhat challenging, as there are some factors involved in calculating your damages. While we could attempt to calculate an average, there is no guarantee that your case would apply to that achieved average.
That is not to say that accomplishing a potential case value is impossible, however. With the calculation of the compensable damages in your case, and an experienced attorney you could find a potential case value. The compensable damages in a case typically come in three different categories: monetary damages, nonmonetary damages, and punitive damages.
Monetary damages, are usually make up the largest portion of a case’s value. The monetary damages of a case are usually the easiest to calculate as they are made up of damages that have discernable values. Some of the components that make up monetary damages are listed as follows:
- Medical Expenses: These are the costs that a victim must endure for the hospitalization of the initial injury and any further treatment needed in the future because of this injury. These expenses often make up a significant portion of a settlement value.
- Loss of Wages: These compensatory damages meant to reimburse the victim for any wages lost from the injuries. This amount can be determined through a thorough examination of the victim’s salary history and often includes sick and vacation time.
- Loss of Potential Future Wages: Sometimes injuries can be so severe that the victim may lose the ability to perform at the same level they had before their injuries. To determine this amount, a complicated formula is used that involves the examination of the victim’s projected earnings and the impact that the damages may have had on the victim’s ability to find and perform future work.
Nonmonetary damages are somewhat more challenging to calculate for as they are made up of damages that don’t always have a definable monetary value. For this reason, it is highly recommended that you seek a skilled attorney to help you calculate the nonmonetary damages in your case. Some of the components that make up nonmonetary damages are bulleted below:
- Pain and suffering: This damage is compensated to a victim based on the pain and suffering they endured from their injuries. This amount is often calculated by the use of a pain multiplier that has the victim identify their level of pain on a scale of one to ten.
- Emotional Distress: This form of compensation is offered to victims that have experienced any emotional trauma suffered due to the injuries. The compensable amount of emotional distress often varies from state to state.
- Loss of Consortium: Loss of consortium is often added to the value of your case when the injuries are so severe that the victim’s loved ones are deprived of a normal loving relationship and companionship
Lastly are the punitive damages of a case. Punitive damages aren’t always added to a case, as they are considered incredibly difficult to fight for. These damages are added to your case value as a way to punish the defendant and to deter them from engaging in similar conduct in the future. In most cases, lesser attorneys will settle a case without fighting for punitive damages, even if you argue for them. However, our experienced lawyers at Normandie Law Firm are committed to ensuring all of our clients receive all the resources they need to earn compensation for the damages that they argue for: punitive damages included.
Your lawsuit for dehydration could be worth over $100,000 if you can show that the nursing home and staff were negligent in their duties. If any abuse occurred, it is likely that your case will be valued t over $350,000.
How Normandie Law Firm Can Help
If you or a loved one has suffered the damages dehydration at a nursing or elderly care home you may be eligible to file a lawsuit for the damages that you have had to endure. A qualified attorney who has experience in medical malpractice cases can assist you. Those who file their case with our Los Angeles law firm could find some if not all of the following damages compensable to them:
- Past and Future Medical Bills
- Loss of Wages
- Loss of Potential Future Wages
- Pain and Suffering
- Emotional Distress (depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc…)
- Punitive Damages
At Normandie Law Firm our experienced attorneys can assist you in not only fighting our case but helping you determine the settlement average or value for your dehydration at a nursing home case settlement. Our attorneys practice in San Diego, Orange County, Riverside, Bakersfield, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento and throughout the state of California.
Free Second Opinions
Other attorneys will sign you up to their firm but will disappear once your name is on the paper as they are busy signing up more cases. In these instances, their business is based more on volume and will attempt to sign up as many cases as possible. In turn, they will spend less time on cases resulting in severely reduced settlements. Our firm will not treat you like a number. We will be in communication with you throughout our lawsuit and will treat you like family. So if you already have an attorney don’t worry, we’ll give you a second review of your case 100% free of charge.
Zero Fee Guarantee-No Upfront Fees Ever
If you contact our law offices today, we can walk you through the complicated process of filing your claim completely free of charge. As a show this commitment to you and your case we offer our clients the benefits of a zero fee guarantee policy. Under our zero fee policy, all clients don’t pay for our services until their case is won. If you feel in need of a second opinion, second opinion case reviews are also free under this policy. Please, feel free to give us a call, and we can guide you down the path of receiving proper compensation for your damages. A top lawyer experienced in medical malpractice cases will be available to take your call.
