Protecting the Dignity of Our Seniors
Every day, nursing home abuse victims across Ohio and Michigan suffer in silence — trusting that the facilities meant to care for them will do the right thing. Families place their loved ones in nursing homes expecting compassion, safety, and respect, not neglect or mistreatment. Yet thousands of residents endure preventable harm each year when those standards are ignored.
According to the Ohio Department of Aging’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman, more than 16,000 complaints were investigated in the most recent reporting year, with nearly one in four involving allegations of neglect, inadequate care, or violations of residents’ rights. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reports more than 1,000 confirmed cases of nursing home abuse or neglect annually.
These aren’t just numbers — they’re people. Nursing home abuse victims are mothers, fathers, grandparents, and spouses whose trust was betrayed. At Gallon, Takacs & Boissoneault, we’ve spent more than 70 years fighting for the rights and dignity of vulnerable seniors across Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, holding negligent facilities accountable and standing beside families seeking justice.
The Legal Foundation of Nursing Home Resident Rights
Nursing home residents are protected by both federal law and state regulations. The Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 established the federal baseline, requiring all Medicare- and Medicaid-certified facilities to promote each resident’s quality of life and protect their rights.
Under this act, facilities must provide care that enables residents to maintain their physical, mental, and social well-being. They are obligated to prevent abuse, respect privacy, and ensure that residents can make their own decisions regarding treatment.
Both Ohio Revised Code §3721.13 and Michigan’s Public Health Code (MCL 333.21761) mirror these protections. They mandate that residents must be treated with courtesy, allowed access to their records, and protected from physical or mental abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
Violating these laws isn’t just unethical — it’s actionable. Facilities that ignore regulations can face civil penalties, license revocation, and lawsuits for damages.
Types of Abuse and Neglect
Abuse and neglect can occur in many forms, often hidden behind polite explanations or medical jargon. Recognizing them early can prevent lasting harm or even save a life.
Physical Abuse: Unexplained bruises, fractures, or injuries caused by rough handling, pushing, slapping, or excessive restraint.
Emotional or Psychological Abuse: Verbal humiliation, intimidation, manipulation, or isolation that leads to fear or depression.
Sexual Abuse: Any non-consensual sexual contact or harassment, especially against cognitively impaired residents.
Neglect: Failure to provide food, water, hygiene, medication, or medical attention; ignoring bedsores or infection risks.
Financial Exploitation: Theft, misuse of checks or credit cards, or coercion to change wills or financial documents.
Medical Negligence: Medication errors, failure to follow care plans, or inadequate supervision resulting in injury or death.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 10 adults over age 60 experiences some form of elder abuse each year. However, only about one in 14 cases is ever reported, often due to fear, shame, or communication barriers.
Recognizing the Warning Signs
Abuse rarely begins with a single event. It develops gradually — through neglectful routines, lack of oversight, or dismissive staff behavior. Warning signs may include:
Sudden changes in mood or personality
Unexplained injuries or frequent hospital visits
Poor hygiene, dehydration, or malnutrition
Unusual financial activity or missing personal items
Staff preventing or limiting family contact
If you see repeated incidents or evasive explanations, it’s critical to document what you observe and contact state authorities or legal counsel immediately.
In Ohio, complaints can be reported to the Long-Term Care Ombudsman by calling 1-800-282-1206. In Michigan, residents and families can contact the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 1-866-485-9393. These agencies work alongside the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to investigate abuse allegations and enforce compliance.
When Neglect Leads to Tragedy: Wrongful Death in Nursing Homes
When neglect becomes fatal, families face unimaginable grief. A wrongful death in a nursing home often stems from preventable failures — such as untreated infections, falls, malnutrition, or medication errors.
Data from the National Institute on Aging indicates that approximately 30% of nursing home residents experience at least one fall each year, and many of these incidents result in severe injuries or death. Yet most falls are preventable with adequate staffing, supervision, and adherence to safety protocols.
A wrongful death claim allows families to pursue justice when a loved one’s death was caused by negligence or abuse. These cases uncover systemic failures and hold facilities accountable for the harm they’ve caused. Under Ohio and Michigan law, damages may include compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, funeral costs, and the family’s emotional loss.
For many families, the goal extends beyond financial recovery — it’s about demanding transparency and protecting future residents from suffering the same fate.
Holding Negligent Nursing Homes Accountable
When a nursing home fails to provide the care it promises, the impact on residents and their families can be devastating. Abuse and neglect in long-term care facilities are not isolated incidents — they are violations of trust and of state and federal law. Families deserve answers, and nursing homes must be held responsible when their negligence causes harm. Whether the abuse results in injury, emotional trauma, or the loss of a loved one, the legal system provides a path to justice for victims across Ohio and Michigan.
Understanding the Legal Process
Bringing a claim against a nursing home is not simple. These cases require navigating overlapping federal and state laws, detailed medical records, and strict administrative procedures. Every piece of evidence matters — from medication charts and care logs to staff schedules and surveillance footage — and facilities rarely hand over this information willingly.
How Attorneys Protect Your Case
A qualified nursing home abuse attorney can compel facilities to preserve and produce evidence. This includes issuing spoliation letters, interviewing witnesses, and consulting medical experts who can testify about whether the care provided met acceptable standards. Attorneys also know how to expose patterns of neglect — such as chronic understaffing, falsified reports, or ignored care plans — that often lie behind repeated violations.
Our Experience in Ohio and Michigan
At Gallon, Takacs & Boissoneault, we have spent decades representing victims of nursing home abuse, neglect, and wrongful death throughout Lucas, Wood, Sandusky, Hancock, and Monroe Counties. Our team understands how corporate-run nursing homes operate and how to hold them accountable under both Ohio and Michigan law.
We combine compassion with aggressive advocacy, ensuring every family we represent gets the answers — and the justice — they deserve.
Steps Families Should Take Immediately
When you suspect something isn’t right, it’s natural to feel uncertain — or even intimidated — about confronting a nursing home. But what you do in the first few days after discovering possible abuse or neglect can make all the difference. Acting quickly not only protects your loved one’s health and safety, it also preserves crucial evidence that could prove a facility’s negligence later.
Every family’s situation is different, but these immediate steps provide a clear path forward:
Ensure your loved one’s safety. If danger is imminent, contact emergency services or move your loved one to a hospital for evaluation. Medical providers are mandatory reporters and can create an official record of the injuries or conditions observed.
Document the evidence. Photograph visible injuries, unclean conditions, bedsores, or any signs of restraint. Record dates, times, and the names of staff members involved. Written notes and photos often become essential proof in an investigation.
Request facility and medical records. You have a legal right to access care plans, treatment notes, and medication logs. Under both federal CMS rules and Ohio Revised Code §3721.13, facilities must release these records within a reasonable period.
File an official complaint. Contact the Ohio Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program at 1-800-282-1206 or, in Michigan, the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 1-866-485-9393. You may also report directly to your state’s Department of Health or Adult Protective Services.
Seek legal guidance early. Consulting an experienced nursing home abuse attorney helps ensure evidence is preserved and prevents retaliation or cover-ups by the facility. An attorney can manage communication with investigators and the nursing home on your behalf.
These actions may feel difficult in the moment, but they give your family power — the ability to protect your loved one, demand transparency, and hold negligent nursing homes accountable under Ohio and Michigan law.
Our Commitment to Families
We understand the emotional toll these cases take. Families often carry guilt, wondering if they could have done more — but the responsibility lies with the facility that accepted payment and promised care.
For over seven decades, Gallon, Takacs & Boissoneault has stood beside families across Northwest Ohio, Southeast Michigan, and Northeast Indiana, providing compassionate representation and aggressive advocacy. We work on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you pay no legal fees unless we recover compensation for your family.
Our mission is simple: to restore dignity to victims, hold negligent institutions accountable, and protect others from future harm.
If You Suspect Abuse or Neglect, Take Action Today
Silence allows abuse to continue. If your loved one has suffered abuse, neglect, or wrongful death in a nursing home, you have the right to demand answers — and justice.
At Gallon, Takacs & Boissoneault, our nursing home abuse lawyers represent families across Ohio and Michigan who’ve experienced harm at the hands of negligent facilities. We know how to uncover the truth, protect your loved one’s rights, and hold those responsible accountable.
Your consultation is free and confidential, and you pay nothing unless we win.
Call 419-843-6663 or contact us online to speak with a compassionate, experienced attorney today.
Your loved one’s rights — and their story — matter. Together, we can make sure no family endures this pain in silence.
Michael Bell, is Partner and Personal Injury Attorney at GT&B since 2007. His entire career has been committed to protecting the rights of those injured through no fault of their own. Mike concentrates his practice in the areas of car wrecks, trucking accidents, medical negligence, wrongful death, birth injuries, defective products, nursing home abuse & neglect, dog bites, construction accidents and slip & falls.
