Nursing home neglect and abuse is a rising problem in the United States. Our elderly may be left at facilities that do not exercise proper care for their residents—or, in the worst cases, actively cause them harm by using abusive practices like unnecessary drugs. A growing number of people are filing lawsuits on behalf of family members affected by nursing home abuse and neglect.

However, many families of elders at these kinds of homes may not even know that these problems are happening. How is this possible? The worst, most problematic nursing home ratings may be concealed so that families do not know or understand the problems at a facility.

Indeed, according to The Boston Globe, nearly half of VA nursing homes across the United States were given a quality rating of one out of five stars for the year 2017. However, the VA kept these low nursing home ratings concealed from the public.

Indeed, while the agency itself has monitored its nursing home facilities and offered nursing home ratings internally, these measures of quality have been kept from the public until now.

Federal regulations have long required private nursing homes to provide data about the care they provide, but the VA has been exempted from these rules.

Even now that the VA has released its nursing home ratings to the public, this does not provide a clear picture. More data yet is being kept private. Alex Howard, a transparency advocate and former deputy director of the Sunlight Foundation, said that the VA should release the data it has collected so far, and continue to do so regularly in the future.

“There shouldn’t be a gap between the reality of how we’re treating people under the government’s care and public understanding of it,” Howard told the Boston Globe. “This is not a situation where we’re concerned about some matter of national security, this is simply being honest about how well things are going.”

One of the most prominent signs of nursing home neglect is declining health or physical suffering. This is because elder neglect can often lead to physical injuries or medical issues when they are not properly and consistently cared for. Injuries caused by nursing home abuse can often include bed sore infection, pressure sores, fractures from falling, malnutrition, dehydration, and frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs).

Filing a Nursing Home Neglect Lawsuit

A growing number of families of elders are choosing to file lawsuits after they discover that their loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect.

If you believe someone you love has been harmed by nursing home neglect or abuse, you may be able to file a nursing home abuse lawsuit, and consulting a lawyer with experience in this area can help. It can be difficult to figure out what to do in response to nursing home abuse and neglect, but a lawyer can help you navigate these issues.