Nevada’s senior population is growing rapidly, and the Las Vegas metropolitan area’s nursing home and assisted living facility sector has expanded to serve this demographic — but elder abuse, neglect, and facility malpractice remain a serious and underreported problem across Clark County. Nursing home abuse in Nevada takes several forms: physical abuse by staff members; sexual abuse by staff or other residents; financial exploitation; emotional and psychological abuse; and neglect — the failure to provide adequate care, nutrition, hydration, hygiene, medication management, and supervision that meets the needs of a vulnerable resident. Nevada law provides elder abuse victims and their families with civil remedies beyond ordinary medical malpractice, including the Elder Abuse, Exploitation, and Neglect statutes (NRS Chapter 41.1395) that provide for attorney’s fees, costs, and punitive damages in egregious cases. Marathon Law Group represents Las Vegas nursing home abuse and neglect victims and their families in civil claims against negligent facilities and their operators throughout Clark County and Nevada.
Nevada Nursing Home Standards, Regulatory Investigations, and Elder Abuse Civil Claims
Nevada nursing homes are licensed and regulated by the Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance (BHCQC) under the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, and are subject to federal oversight under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities. Federal nursing facility standards under 42 CFR Part 483 establish residents’ rights and minimum care standards including: the right to be free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation; the right to adequate nutrition and hydration; the right to appropriate pressure injury (bedsore) prevention and treatment; medication error prevention requirements; and minimum staffing standards. When a resident is harmed, CMS survey records and BHCQC investigation records — available through public records requests — often contain documented deficiencies, prior citations for the same types of failures, and substantiated complaint investigation findings that are powerful evidence of systemic negligence in civil litigation. Nevada’s elder abuse statute (NRS 41.1395) provides enhanced civil remedies — including attorney’s fees and punitive damages up to two times compensatory damages — when abuse or neglect is intentional or reckless, making it a more powerful remedy than ordinary negligence in appropriate cases. Common nursing home negligence injuries in Las Vegas civil cases include: pressure ulcers (bedsores) ranging from Stage 2 through the most severe Stage 4 wounds with bone exposure, caused by failure to reposition immobile residents; fall injuries from inadequate supervision and fall prevention programs; medication errors causing adverse drug events; dehydration and malnutrition from inadequate nutrition monitoring; and elopement injuries when residents with dementia wander from unsecured facilities. Marathon Law Group investigates the full regulatory and clinical record in Nevada nursing home cases and pursues all available remedies for elder abuse and neglect victims and their families.