Abuse and neglect do not only happen in nursing homes. Hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, and hospice programs are also settings where vulnerable patients can suffer serious harm from understaffing, inattention, and outright misconduct. Patients in hospitals develop preventable bedsores, fall from beds without rails, receive wrong medications, and suffer infections from unsanitary conditions. Hospice patients — who are already at their most vulnerable — may be over-sedated, denied adequate pain management, neglected by home hospice aides, or subjected to billing fraud where services are charged but never provided.

South Carolina’s Omnibus Adult Protection Act protects vulnerable adults in all care settings, not just nursing homes. When a hospital, hospice provider, or rehabilitation facility breaches its duty of care, families have the right to seek accountability and compensation.

Hughey Law Firm represents families throughout South Carolina in cases involving hospital and hospice abuse and neglect. Our attorneys have experience holding large hospital systems, hospice corporations, and individual care providers accountable. Call (843) 881-8644 for a free, confidential consultation.

Hospital Abuse & Neglect

• Bedsores developed during hospital stays: Patients who are immobile after surgery or during illness must be repositioned regularly. Hospital-acquired pressure injuries are a recognized marker of substandard care.
• Patient falls: Falls from hospital beds, during transfers, or in bathrooms are preventable with proper protocols, bed alarms, and adequate staffing.
• Medication errors: Wrong medications, incorrect dosages, dangerous drug interactions, and failure to monitor for adverse reactions can cause serious harm or death.
• Hospital-acquired infections: Failures in hygiene, sterilization, or infection-control protocols can lead to sepsis, MRSA, C. diff, and other life-threatening infections.
• Delayed treatment or failure to respond: When hospital staff fails to respond to call lights, monitor vital signs, or escalate care for deteriorating patients, the consequences can be fatal.
• Improper restraint use: Physical and chemical restraints must be used only as a last resort. Improper use can cause injury, respiratory distress, and death.

Hospice Abuse & Neglect

• Inadequate pain management: Hospice patients are entitled to effective pain control. Failure to provide adequate pain medication can cause unnecessary suffering.
• Over-sedation and chemical restraint: Some hospice providers use excessive sedation to reduce the burden on staff rather than to manage the patient’s comfort.
• Neglect by hospice aides: Home hospice patients rely on aides for bathing, repositioning, hygiene, and monitoring. When aides fail to show up, rush through visits, or provide substandard care, patients suffer.
• Failure to provide promised services: Hospice billing fraud occurs when providers bill Medicare or insurance for services that were never delivered.
• Premature hospice enrollment: Some hospice providers enroll patients who do not meet eligibility criteria in order to generate revenue, denying those patients curative treatment.