The Peck Law Group: Fighting for the Rights of Residents Against Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect in San Bernardino

The Peck Law Group, a California Professional Law Corporation has been fighting / advocating for the rights of Nursing Home Residents in the State of California and San Bernardino County, against Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect for over thirty (36) years.  We fight for our clients’ rights and for just compensation for the injuries received by elders and dependent adults all over the State of California as a result of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect.

Nursing Homes have an absolute duty to care for a resident upon admission to their facility.  Upon being admitted to a facility,  the resident is usually assessed by the Administrator of the Facility and / or the Director of Nursing.  If after assessment, the resident is admitted to the facility, that facility has thus now agreed that they are able to adequately care for the resident in their present physical condition upon admittance.

California Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.63 provides: “Physical abuse” means any of the following:

(a) Assault, as defined in Section 240 of the Penal Code.

(b) Battery, as defined in Section 242 of the Penal Code.

(c) Assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury, as defined in Section 245 of the Penal Code.

(d) Unreasonable physical constraint, or prolonged or continual deprivation of food or water.

(e) Sexual assault, that means any of the following:

(1) Sexual battery, as defined in Section 243.4 of the Penal Code.

(2) Rape, as defined in Section 261 of the Penal Code.

(3) Rape in concert, as described in Section 264.1 of the Penal Code.

(4) Spousal rape, as defined in Section 262 of the Penal Code.

(5) Incest, as defined in Section 285 of the Penal Code.

(6) Sodomy, as defined in Section 286 of the Penal Code.

(7) Oral copulation, as defined in Section 288a of the Penal Code.

(8) Sexual penetration, as defined in Section 289 of the Penal Code.

(f) Use of a physical or chemical restraint or psychotropic medication under any of the following conditions:

(1) For punishment.

(2) For a period beyond that for which the medication was ordered pursuant to the instructions of a physician and surgeon licensed in the State of California, who is providing medical care to the elder or dependent adult at the time the instructions are given.

(3) For any purpose not authorized by the physician and surgeon.

Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.57 provides:

(a) “Neglect” means either of the following:

(1) The negligent failure of any person having the care or custody of an elder or a dependent adult to exercise that degree of care that a reasonable person in a like position would exercise.

(2) The negligent failure of the person themselves to exercise that degree of care that a reasonable person in a like position would exercise.

(b) Neglect includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Failure to assist in personal hygiene, or in the provision of food, clothing, or shelter.

(2) Failure to provide medical care for physical and mental health needs. No person shall be deemed neglected or abused for the sole reason that he or she voluntarily relies on treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone in lieu of medical treatment.

(3) Failure to protect from health and safety hazards.

(4) Failure to prevent malnutrition or dehydration.

(5) Failure of an elder or dependent adult to satisfy the needs specified in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, for himself or herself as a result of poor cognitive functioning, mental limitation, substance abuse, or chronic poor health.

“[T]he statutory definition of neglect set forth in the first sentence of Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.57 is substantially the same as the ordinary definition of neglect.” (Conservatorship of Gregory v. Beverly Enterprises, Inc. (2000) 80 Cal.App.4th 514, 521 [95 Cal.Rptr.2d 336].)

Should you,  a loved one, and / or a family member have incurred injury such as Bed Sores, Pressure Ulcers, Dehydration, Malnourishment, Multiple Falls with Fractures in a California Nursing Home in San Bernardino County, please immediately contact the Peck Law Group, APC at 1-866-999-9085 to discuss your matter.  We will help you!!!