Long Island Nursing Home
Abuse & Neglect Lawyer

Protecting Vulnerable Residents

Nursing Home Abuse Is a Growing Crisis on Long Island

Families place their elderly loved ones in nursing homes trusting that they will receive compassionate, professional care. Too often, that trust is betrayed. Understaffing, inadequate training, and corporate cost-cutting create environments where abuse and neglect go undetected for weeks or months — causing severe suffering to the most vulnerable members of our community.

Long Island’s aging population means more residents than ever depend on skilled nursing facilities across Nassau County and Suffolk County. When these facilities fail in their duty of care, the consequences are devastating: untreated bedsores that expose bone, preventable falls that cause traumatic brain injuries and fractured hips, medication errors that cause organ damage, and emotional abuse that strips elderly residents of their dignity. As experienced personal injury attorneys, we fight to hold negligent facilities accountable and recover full compensation for the harm they cause.

If you suspect your loved one is being mistreated in a nursing home, call (516) 750-0595 for a free, confidential consultation.

Types of Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home abuse takes many forms, and victims often suffer from more than one type simultaneously. New York law recognizes the following categories:

Physical Abuse

Hitting, pushing, slapping, kicking, improper use of physical restraints, and rough handling during transfers or bathing. Physical abuse often leaves visible marks — bruises in unusual locations, grip marks on arms, or fractures inconsistent with the resident’s activity level. Staff may attribute these injuries to “falls” to conceal intentional harm.

Emotional & Psychological Abuse

Verbal intimidation, threats, humiliation, isolation from other residents, and deliberate withholding of social interaction. Emotional abuse is harder to detect but equally harmful. Residents may exhibit sudden behavioral changes, fearfulness around certain staff members, depression, anxiety, or withdrawal from activities they previously enjoyed.

Sexual Abuse

Any non-consensual sexual contact with a nursing home resident, including residents who lack the cognitive capacity to consent. Sexual abuse in nursing homes is tragically underreported. Warning signs include unexplained genital injuries, sexually transmitted infections, torn or stained undergarments, and extreme agitation during bathing or dressing.

Financial Exploitation

Theft of money, jewelry, or personal belongings; unauthorized use of bank accounts or credit cards; coercion to change wills or powers of attorney; and charging for services never provided. Elderly residents with cognitive impairments are especially vulnerable to financial exploitation by staff or other residents.

Neglect (Passive & Active)

Neglect is the most common form of nursing home abuse. Passive neglect occurs when a facility fails to provide adequate care due to understaffing, incompetence, or indifference — forgetting to reposition immobile residents, skipping medication doses, or failing to assist with feeding. Active neglect involves deliberately withholding care as punishment or to reduce workload. Both forms violate New York law and create liability for the facility.

Recognizing abuse is the first step. The next step is calling (516) 750-0595 to speak with an experienced nursing home abuse attorney who can protect your family’s rights.

Signs of Nursing Home Neglect

Families should remain vigilant for these warning signs during visits:

• Bedsores (pressure ulcers) — open wounds on the back, buttocks, heels, and elbows caused by failure to reposition immobile residents; advanced bedsores (Stage III and IV) are almost always evidence of neglect
• Dehydration and malnutrition — sunken eyes, dry skin, cracked lips, significant weight loss, and lab values showing electrolyte imbalances
• Unexplained injuries — bruises, burns, fractures, or lacerations that staff cannot adequately explain or that are inconsistent with the given explanation
• Medication errors — missed doses, wrong medications, over-sedation, or adverse drug reactions from improper prescribing or administration
• Recurrent falls — repeated falls without implementation of fall-prevention measures such as bed alarms, non-slip footwear, or physical therapy
• Infections — urinary tract infections, pneumonia, sepsis, and infected wounds resulting from poor hygiene practices
• Poor personal hygiene — unwashed hair, soiled clothing, unchanged bed linens, body odor, and long untrimmed nails
• Sudden weight loss — a drop of more than 5% of body weight in 30 days or 10% in 180 days is a clinical red flag
• Social withdrawal — a previously social resident who becomes isolated, uncommunicative, or refuses to participate in activities
• Fear of staff — flinching, cowering, or expressing reluctance to be alone with particular caregivers

If you’ve noticed any of these warning signs, don’t wait. Call (516) 750-0595 to discuss your concerns with an attorney who handles nursing home cases.

Common Causes of Nursing Home Injuries

Most nursing home abuse and neglect stems from systemic failures within the facility, not isolated incidents by rogue employees:

• Understaffing — the single greatest predictor of nursing home neglect. When facilities cut staff to increase profit margins, remaining caregivers are overwhelmed and unable to meet residents’ basic needs. New York mandates minimum staffing levels, and violations are strong evidence of negligence.
• Inadequate training — certified nursing assistants (CNAs) who lack proper training in wound care, fall prevention, infection control, dementia care, and safe patient handling
• High staff turnover — constant turnover means caregivers lack familiarity with individual residents’ care plans, medical histories, and specific needs
• Failure to follow care plans — each resident must have an individualized care plan. When staff ignore turning schedules, dietary requirements, or prescribed therapies, preventable injuries result
• Lack of supervision — inadequate monitoring of residents with dementia, fall risk, or behavioral issues, and failure to supervise staff for signs of burnout or misconduct

These systemic failures often produce catastrophic injuries — Stage IV pressure ulcers requiring surgical debridement, hip fractures that lead to fatal complications, or undiagnosed infections that progress to sepsis. When neglect causes or contributes to a resident’s death, families may have grounds for a wrongful death claim in addition to a PHL §2801-d action.

New York Nursing Home Regulations

Nursing homes in New York operate under overlapping federal and state regulatory frameworks:

• Public Health Law Article 28 — governs the licensing, operation, and oversight of residential health care facilities in New York
• New York Department of Health — conducts regular inspections, investigates complaints, and can impose fines, sanctions, or closure orders against non-compliant facilities
• Federal Nursing Home Reform Act (OBRA 1987) — sets minimum standards for all Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes, including quality of care, quality of life, and residents’ rights requirements
• Minimum staffing requirements — New York mandates specific nurse-to-resident ratios. Facilities that operate below these minimums are violating state law, and that violation is direct evidence of negligence in a civil lawsuit
• Resident’s Bill of Rights — every nursing home resident in New York has legally protected rights including the right to be free from abuse and neglect, the right to dignity and respect, the right to participate in care planning, and the right to file grievances without retaliation

Regional Investigation

Long Island Nursing Homes Under Scrutiny

The New York Department of Health maintains public inspection reports for every skilled nursing facility in the state. These reports — known as statements of deficiencies — document violations found during annual surveys and complaint investigations. Patterns emerge when you review the data across Long Island: chronic understaffing at certain Suffolk County facilities, repeated infection control failures, inadequate fall prevention protocols, and deficiencies in medication management that put residents at serious risk.

Federal regulators have also flagged concerns. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) assigns star ratings to every nursing home based on health inspections, staffing levels, and quality measures. Facilities with low ratings face increased scrutiny, and some have been the subject of Medicare and Medicaid fraud investigations. Across Nassau County and Suffolk County, the range in quality is stark — some facilities maintain excellent compliance records while others accumulate deficiencies year after year with little meaningful improvement.

Medicare and Medicaid fraud investigations add another layer of accountability. When facilities bill for services not rendered, inflate staffing numbers on cost reports, or falsify medical records to justify higher reimbursement levels, those practices often correlate with substandard resident care. Federal and state prosecutors have pursued fraud cases against Long Island nursing homes, and the resulting records can be powerful evidence in civil abuse and neglect lawsuits.

Our attorneys investigate facility-specific records as part of every case evaluation. DOH inspection histories, staffing data, CMS star ratings, and prior complaint records all become evidence in building a nursing home abuse or neglect claim. This regulatory foundation strengthens the legal case and demonstrates that the facility knew — or should have known — about the conditions causing harm to residents.

How to Check a Nursing Home's Record

Before placing a loved one in a facility — or if you suspect problems at a current facility — you can research its compliance history through public databases:

• Medicare Care Compare (medicare.gov/care-compare) — Search any nursing home by name or location. View CMS star ratings (1-5), health inspection results, staffing data, and quality measures. A 1-star facility has significantly more deficiencies than a 5-star facility.
• NY Health Commerce System — The Department of Health's portal provides facility-specific inspection reports (statements of deficiencies), complaint investigation results, and enforcement actions. Request access through the DOH website or call (516) 750-0595 and our attorneys can pull these records for you.
• ProPublica Nursing Home Inspect (projects.propublica.org/nursing-homes) — An independent database that compiles federal inspection data into an easy-to-read format, including penalty history and deficiency trends over time.

These records become powerful evidence in abuse and neglect lawsuits. A facility with repeated deficiencies for the same issue — staffing shortages, infection control failures, fall prevention lapses — demonstrates a pattern of knowledge and inaction that strengthens your claim.

Nursing Home Residents’ Bill of Rights

Under New York law and the federal Nursing Home Reform Act, every nursing home resident is guaranteed specific legal protections. These are not aspirational guidelines — they are enforceable rights, and their violation is independently actionable under PHL §2801-d:

• Dignity and respect — the right to be treated with courtesy, consideration, and full recognition of individuality at all times
• Freedom from abuse and neglect — the right to be free from physical, verbal, sexual, and psychological abuse, as well as involuntary seclusion and neglect of any kind
• Privacy — the right to personal privacy in medical treatment, written and telephone communications, visits, and personal affairs
• Care planning participation — the right to participate in developing and modifying an individualized care plan, and to be informed in advance of any changes to treatment
• Complaint rights — the right to voice grievances about care or treatment without fear of retaliation, discharge, or any form of reprisal from the facility
• Access to records — the right to review and obtain copies of all medical records, care plans, and billing statements within a reasonable time
• Right to refuse treatment — the right to refuse medication, treatment, or participation in experimental research after being fully informed of the consequences

When a facility violates any of these protected rights, the resident or their family may bring a civil action for damages. Our firm investigates whether rights violations occurred and builds claims under both PHL §2801-d and common-law negligence theories to pursue maximum pain and suffering compensation.

If your loved one’s rights have been violated, call (516) 750-0595 to learn how New York law protects nursing home residents and their families.

Who Can Be Held Liable?

Nursing home abuse cases often involve multiple responsible parties. We investigate every potential source of liability to maximize your recovery:

• The nursing home facility (corporate owner) — the entity that owns and operates the facility bears primary liability for the care provided under its roof, including liability for understaffing decisions and systemic failures
• Individual staff members — nurses, CNAs, and aides who directly committed abuse or whose negligent care caused injury
• Medical director — the physician responsible for overseeing medical care at the facility, who may be liable for failure to establish adequate medical protocols
• Management company — many nursing homes are operated by separate management companies that control staffing levels, budgets, and care policies
• Staffing agencies — third-party agencies that supply temporary nursing staff may share liability if they placed unqualified or inadequately vetted workers

Compensation Available in Nursing Home Abuse Cases

Families and residents who have suffered abuse or neglect may recover substantial compensation including:

• Medical costs — hospitalization, surgery, wound care, rehabilitation, and ongoing treatment for injuries caused by the abuse or neglect
• Pain and suffering — the physical pain, emotional distress, humiliation, and loss of dignity experienced by the resident
• Punitive damages — for willful, wanton, or reckless neglect, courts may award punitive damages to punish the facility and deter similar conduct. Under PHL §2801-d, a punitive surcharge of up to 25% of compensatory damages is also available
• Wrongful death damages — if a loved one died as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect, the estate may recover funeral and burial costs, pre-death conscious pain and suffering, medical expenses, and loss of companionship

Use our settlement calculator to get a preliminary estimate of your potential recovery, then call (516) 750-0595 for a detailed case evaluation.

Timeline: How to Build a Nursing Home Abuse Case

If you suspect a loved one is being abused or neglected, act quickly. Evidence in nursing home cases can be altered or destroyed, and critical deadlines apply. Here is the general framework our attorneys follow:

What to Expect in a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit

Filing a nursing home abuse lawsuit in New York involves several stages. Understanding the process helps families prepare for what lies ahead and make informed decisions at each step.

Pre-suit investigation. Before filing, our attorneys gather evidence: medical records, DOH inspection reports, staffing schedules, surveillance footage, and expert medical opinions. We identify every potentially liable party and assess the strength of claims under PHL §2801-d, common-law negligence, and medical malpractice theories. This phase typically takes 4–8 weeks.

Filing and discovery. Once the complaint is filed in Nassau or Suffolk County Supreme Court, discovery begins. Both sides exchange documents, take depositions of facility staff and administrators, and retain medical experts. Nursing homes often produce thousands of pages of records — care plans, MARs, incident reports, and internal communications. Our team reviews every document to identify patterns of neglect.

Expert testimony. Nursing home cases require expert medical testimony to establish the standard of care and prove the facility deviated from it. We work with geriatricians, wound care specialists, nursing standards experts, and life care planners who can quantify the full extent of damages including future medical needs.

Settlement negotiation or trial. Most nursing home cases resolve through settlement once the facility’s insurer recognizes the strength of the evidence. However, we prepare every case for trial. If the defendant refuses a fair settlement, we are prepared to present the case to a jury. Our willingness to try cases is what drives fair settlement offers.

How to Report Nursing Home Abuse in New York

If you suspect abuse or neglect, take immediate action through these channels:

• NY Department of Health Hotline — call 1-888-201-4563 to file a complaint about any nursing home in New York State. The DOH investigates complaints and can impose sanctions.
• Adult Protective Services (APS) — contact your county’s Department of Social Services to report suspected abuse of a vulnerable adult
• Long Term Care Ombudsman — an independent advocate who investigates complaints on behalf of residents and works to resolve issues with the facility
• Law enforcement — if you believe a crime has been committed (assault, sexual abuse, theft), contact the local police department immediately

Filing a government complaint is important but does not protect your legal right to sue. Contact a nursing home abuse attorney at (516) 750-0595 to preserve evidence, meet statute of limitations deadlines, and pursue civil compensation.

Nursing Home Abuse vs. Medical Malpractice

Nursing home abuse claims and medical malpractice claims overlap but are legally distinct. Medical malpractice applies when a licensed medical professional (physician, nurse practitioner, registered nurse) deviates from the accepted standard of medical care — such as prescribing the wrong medication, failing to diagnose an infection, or committing a surgical error. These claims carry a shorter 2.5-year statute of limitations under CPLR §214-a and require a certificate of merit from a medical expert.

General nursing home negligence claims cover failures in custodial care — not repositioning a resident to prevent bedsores, failing to assist with feeding, or allowing a fall due to inadequate supervision. These claims carry a 3-year statute of limitations. Many cases involve both theories: a resident who develops a Stage IV pressure ulcer may have a negligence claim against the facility for failing to reposition them and a malpractice claim against the medical director for failing to order proper wound care. We analyze every nursing home case to identify all applicable legal theories and maximize the recovery.

Falls that result in brain injuries present overlapping liability as well. A resident who falls due to inadequate supervision and suffers a traumatic brain injury may have claims against the facility for custodial negligence, the medical director for failure to implement fall-prevention protocols, and individual staff members who failed to follow the care plan. The catastrophic nature of these injuries often warrants pursuit of both PHL §2801-d enhanced damages and common-law punitive damages.

Understanding the distinction matters because it affects filing deadlines, expert requirements, and available damages. Our firm identifies every viable legal theory at the outset of each case — ensuring we preserve all claims within their respective statutes of limitations and build the strongest possible case for maximum pain and suffering recovery.

Choosing the Right Nursing Home Abuse Attorney

Not every personal injury lawyer has experience with the regulatory complexity of nursing home cases. When evaluating attorneys, look for these qualifications:

• PHL §2801-d experience — the attorney should have a track record of bringing claims under New York’s specific nursing home liability statute, not just general negligence
• Medical expert relationships — nursing home cases require testimony from geriatricians, wound care specialists, and nursing standards experts. An experienced attorney has an established network of credentialed experts ready to review records and testify
• Regulatory knowledge — understanding DOH inspection processes, CMS star ratings, federal OBRA requirements, and how to obtain and interpret facility compliance data is essential to building a strong case
• Willingness to litigate — nursing homes and their insurers negotiate differently when they know the attorney will take the case to trial. A firm that settles every case quickly may leave significant compensation on the table
• Contingency fee structure — families dealing with nursing home abuse should never pay upfront legal fees. A reputable firm works on contingency, advancing all investigation and expert costs

At the Law Office of Jason Tenenbaum, P.C., we bring 24 years of litigation experience, deep relationships with medical experts, and a thorough understanding of both state and federal nursing home regulations. We handle the entire process — from initial investigation through trial or settlement — so families can focus on protecting their loved ones.

Related practice areas: Personal Injury • Medical Malpractice • Wrongful Death • Catastrophic Injury • Brain Injury • Pain & Suffering • Settlement Calculator