San Jose Nursing Home Infection Lawyer

20+ Years Holding Nursing Homes Accountable for Infection-Related Neglect

When a nursing home resident develops a serious infection, it isn’t always bad luck. Many infections that strike elderly residents in care facilities are preventable, and when they occur because of neglect, poor hygiene, or inadequate staffing, families have legal options. At Needham Kepner & Fish LLP, we handle infection-related nursing home neglect claims throughout San Jose and Santa Clara County, helping families seek compensation for harm that should never have happened.

We take these cases from evidence-gathering through resolution, whether that means negotiating a fair settlement, pursuing mediation as an option that can lead to a faster resolution, or taking a facility to court when it won’t accept responsibility.

Infections Commonly Tied to Nursing Home Neglect

Certain infections appear repeatedly in neglect claims because they follow predictable patterns of inadequate care. Knowing what caused the infection is often the first step toward holding a facility accountable.

• Urinary tract infections (UTIs): Among the most common infections in care settings, UTIs frequently trace back to catheter mismanagement or failures in basic hygiene. Left untreated, they can progress rapidly in elderly residents.
• Pressure ulcers and bedsores: These develop when residents aren’t repositioned regularly. When wound-care protocols aren’t followed, sores can become deeply infected, sometimes requiring hospitalization or surgery.
• Aspiration pneumonia: This develops when food, liquid, or vomit enters the lungs, often because a resident didn’t receive proper feeding assistance or staff missed documented swallowing precautions.
• MRSA, staph infections, and C. diff: These spread in communal living environments when hand hygiene and sanitation standards aren’t enforced. Lapses in basic infection-control protocols put every resident at risk.
• Sepsis: When a localized infection such as a UTI or an infected bedsore goes unrecognized or untreated, it can enter the bloodstream. Sepsis is life-threatening and moves fast, making early detection critical.

How Neglect Creates the Conditions for Infection

Understaffing is a common factor: when caregivers carry too many residents, hygiene tasks get skipped, wound checks are missed, and early symptoms go unnoticed. Malnutrition, which facilities are responsible for preventing, slows healing and weakens the immune response, leaving residents more vulnerable to infection and less able to recover from it.

Age-related changes can mask early infection symptoms, so residents who aren’t closely monitored may not receive treatment until an infection has progressed significantly. Caregivers without adequate infection-control training may skip hand hygiene between residents, reuse supplies, or fail to recognize warning signs. These aren’t unavoidable outcomes. They’re failures of care.

The Legal Basis for an Infection-Related Neglect Claim in California

To pursue a claim, your family must show that the nursing home’s negligence directly caused the infection or its complications. That means establishing what the facility knew or should have known, what protocols it failed to follow, and how those failures harmed your loved one. We gather medical records, witness statements, and expert testimony to build that connection.

California’s Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (Welfare and Institutions Code section 15600 et seq.) gives nursing home residents additional legal protections. In cases involving recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice, it can allow recovery of attorney’s fees on top of other damages. These claims are generally subject to a two-year filing deadline under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, running from the date of the injury or its discovery. Acting promptly can help protect your ability to pursue the claim.

Compensation Available in an Infection-Related Neglect Claim

The damages available reflect the real costs your family has faced. Medical and hospitalization expenses, ongoing care costs, and compensation for your loved one’s pain and suffering may be recoverable. When an infection proves fatal, surviving family members may also pursue wrongful death damages, including funeral and burial costs and compensation for the loss of companionship.

Why San Jose Families Work With Needham Kepner & Fish LLP

Our attorneys have more than 20 years of experience handling nursing home abuse and sepsis-related cases. We know how to investigate these claims, what evidence a facility is likely to downplay, and how to deal with insurance representatives who want to minimize what happened to your family member. Our firm carries the resources of a larger practice alongside the direct, personal attention you’d expect from a smaller one.

Because infections in elderly residents can worsen quickly, we also recognize that families sometimes want resolution without years of litigation. That’s why we offer mediation alongside full litigation representation. Mediation can offer a faster, less adversarial path when a facility is willing to engage honestly. When it isn’t, we’re prepared to pursue every available avenue.

Steps to Take If You Suspect Neglect

Evidence in nursing home cases can disappear quickly. Photographs of wounds, medical charts, staffing logs, and wound-care records are all valuable, and facilities can alter or lose documentation before you realize you need it. Begin preserving records as soon as you suspect something went wrong.

You can also file a complaint with the California Department of Public Health’s Licensing and Certification district office, which investigates complaints against skilled nursing facilities in Santa Clara County. Reporting suspected neglect to CDPH can trigger an investigation independent of any legal action your family pursues. Contacting our firm at the same time means you can have guidance on both fronts from the start.

Free Consultations for Nursing Home Neglect Cases

If your family believes a nursing home infection resulted from neglect, you deserve a clear-eyed assessment of your options. We offer free consultations for nursing home abuse and neglect cases with no obligation and no cost to find out where you stand.