Experienced NJ Hospital Malpractice Lawyer Holds Hospital Workers Responsible When You’ve Been Injured in a Fall in Somerset or Camden Counties

Every now and then, we lose our balance and take a spill. If we are lucky, we get up, brush ourselves off with just a bruise to manage. Unfortunately, millions of adults fall and suffer severe, painful injuries including hip and femur fractures, other broken bones and brain traumas every year. Most of the time, falls are classified as accidents. However, in a hospital, when a patient falls and gets hurt, many times it’s more likely the fault of careless, negligent hospital employees. These falls, by and large, are preventable.

If you or someone you care for, no matter their age, suffered an injury following a fall in a hospital, you may be entitled to compensation for pain and suffering, medical bills and more. Talk to Barry Sugarman, an experienced and compassionate personal injury lawyer who fights for the rights of his clients every day all across New Jersey. He knows that healthcare worker neglect is a serious problem in hospitals and nursing home throughout NJ. He believes fall victims shouldn’t have to bear the burden of another person’s mistake. With offices in Somerville and Marlton, Mr. Sugarman is available for a free initial consultation about hospital neglect and abuse at the time and place of your choosing.

Injury Statistics: Falls in New Jersey Hospitals are Far More Common than You Might Think

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one third of all adults over age 65 fall at least once a year. In 2013 alone, 2.5 million adults were treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries from falls; almost three quarters of a million of those had injuries so severe they required hospitalization. One million of these reported falls actually occurred in the hospital!

•  About 30 percent of falls in hospitals result in some reported injury
• Ten percent of these falls cause serious injuries such as head or neck trauma or fractures
• Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries
• Almost 23,000 older adults died of injuries sustained in falls in 2011.
• Of all reported hip fractures in 2011, more than 95 percent were caused by falls

Older adults are more likely to fall and suffer significant injuries. This is of particular concern in hospitals because 22 percent of all hospital admissions involved people ages 75 and older, the Healthcare Agency for Research and Quality reported.

There are many reasons people fall in hospitals in Somerset and Camden counties and throughout New Jersey. Some of them have to do with age issues including: poor eyesight, difficulty walking or balancing, poor judgment, effects of urinary incontinence and even some medications more often prescribed for conditions more common in the elderly population.

This is why it’s incumbent upon hospital workers to try even harder to prevent falls. Statistics reveal, however, that hospitals aren’t doing nearly enough to prevent devastating falls. In fact, experience tells us many of the reasons for falls in hospitals are environmental or organizational. These can impact any patient or visitor and are the fault of the hospital and its staff – not the injured party.

When hospital workers are negligent, people fall and get hurt. If any of the following caused your fall, contact Sugarman Law today for a free consultation about your personal injury case. We will fight hard to hold the parties responsible for your fall liable for their negligence.

Hospital Environmental Issues that Cause Falls

• Wet, slippery floors – i.e.: spills that haven’t been mopped up
• Furniture with wheels – anything that might be mistaken as a sturdy item to lean on
• Poor lighting – in halls, rooms and bathrooms
• Furniture in halls or walkways – gurneys or food carts, for example
• Out of place medical equipment – portable machines or IV polls
• Hospital Staffing Issues that Cause Falls

Numbers – Sometimes, hospitals are understaffed; there aren’t enough eyes and hands to get the job done safely and people get hurt when they fall.

• Skills – If hospital workers do not know how to properly lift or move patients, or they fail to use appropriate methods to do so safely, these lack of skills cause patients to be hurt in falls.
• Workload – When staff members are too busy to monitor patients (to and from the bathroom, for example), falls happen. Equipment is easily left out of place when there’s too much to do and not enough people to share the workload.
• Attitude – The old “not my job” is a big problem in healthcare facilities. A doctor or nurse, for example, may feel moving furniture out of the way is not their responsibility. That type of neglect of duty paves the way for patient falls.

Every one of these “reasons” is an excuse to not provide the care patients deserve in hospital settings. At the Sugarman Law, we won’t stand for it.

Contact an Experienced New Jersey Hospital Negligence Attorney to Fight for Compensation When You’ve Been Injured in a Fall

We will not allow hospitals or nursing homes – or their employees – to get away with negligent behavior, not doing their jobs, that caused injury to you or your family member. If you or your loved one got hurt in a hospital because of someone else’s mistake, talk to lawyer Barry Sugarman about your case right away.

Mr. Sugarman fights for the rights of everyday people, like you, who have been neglected and abused by people whose job it is to do right by patients. Mr. Sugarman will take on the hospital and their insurance companies for you. He will fight hard for maximum compensation in your case. Contact us today for a free initial consultation. We’re on your side. Sugarman Law helps everyday people, everyday.

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