Dependent Adult Abuse

If you or someone you know are a victim of dependent adult abuse, it is important that you find the help you need by contacting an experienced Dependent Adult Abuse Attorney California. When persons over the age of 18 who become dependent upon others for care and treatment for mental and physical health needs, they become vulnerable to abuse and neglect by their caregivers. California law protects these vulnerable individuals by providing them with a way to receive compensation for injuries they have suffered at the hands of others who have abused or neglected them. Examples of these harms include failures to supervise a dependent adult allowing them to wander away from a facility resulting in injury or death, failing to provide care and services to meet basic needs, assault and battery of a dependent adult improper supervision resulting in harm to the dependent adult or others, and failing to prevent avoidable suicide, among others.

“Dependent adults” fall into one of two categories: 1) any person between the ages of 18 and 64 years who resides in California and has physical or mental limitations that restrict his or her ability to carry out normal activities or to protect his or her rights, including, but not limited to, persons who have physical or developmental disabilities, or whose physical or mental abilities have diminished because of age; and 2) any person between the ages of 18 and 64 years who is admitted as an inpatient to a 24-hour health facility, as defined in Sections 1250, 1250.2, and 1250.3 of the California Health & Safety Code.

As to the first category, this can include individuals with developmental delays and/or disabilities, physical disabilities, those with early onset dementia or other cognitive disabilities, and those individuals who reside in and/or were patients at facilities such as adult residential and adult daycare facilities, assisted living facilities, intermediate care facilities (habilitative and nursing), skilled nursing facilities, and hospitals.

The second category of individuals includes anyone between the ages of 18-64 who was admitted as a patient to a 24-hour health facility, including to facilities such as acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities (habilitative and nursing), congregate living health facilities, and hospice facilities. If your loved one was harmed by the negligent, reckless or intentional wrongdoing of a health care provider or other individual or facility responsible for their care, they may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, including the cost of past, present and future care, and a dollar award for the physical pain and emotional suffering caused as a result of such harmful conduct. It is vitally important to speak with a California Dependent Adult Abuse Lawyer.