Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 2903
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.33 (2026)

Patient abuse and neglect in care facilities definitions

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORCcodes.ohio.gov (official) Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
Effective:
September 29, 2013
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 59 - 130th General Assembly
PDF:
Download Authenticated PDF
 

As used in sections 2903.33 to 2903.36 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Care facility" means any of the following:

(1) Any "home" as defined in section 3721.10 of the Revised Code;

(2) Any "residential facility" as defined in section 5123.19 of the Revised Code;

(3) Any institution or facility operated or provided by the department of mental health and addiction services or by the department of developmental disabilities pursuant to sections 5119.14 and 5123.03 of the Revised Code;

(4) Any "residential facility" as defined in section 5119.34 of the Revised Code;

(5) Any unit of any hospital, as defined in section 3701.01 of the Revised Code, that provides the same services as a nursing home, as defined in section 3721.01 of the Revised Code;

(6) Any institution, residence, or facility that provides, for a period of more than twenty-four hours, whether for a consideration or not, accommodations to one individual or two unrelated individuals who are dependent upon the services of others.

(B) "Abuse" means knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person or by the inappropriate use of a physical or chemical restraint, medication, or isolation on the person.

(C)(1) "Gross neglect" means knowingly failing to provide a person with any treatment, care, goods, or service that is necessary to maintain the health or safety of the person when the failure results in physical harm or serious physical harm to the person.

(2) "Neglect" means recklessly failing to provide a person with any treatment, care, goods, or service that is necessary to maintain the health or safety of the person when the failure results in serious physical harm to the person.

(D) "Inappropriate use of a physical or chemical restraint, medication, or isolation" means the use of physical or chemical restraint, medication, or isolation as punishment, for staff convenience, excessively, as a substitute for treatment, or in quantities that preclude habilitation and treatment.

Last updated October 20, 2025 at 2:02 PM

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14 cases (7 in the last 5 years), 1991–2026 · leading case: Heigel v. MetroHealth Sys., 2024 Ohio 1471 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Heigel v. MetroHealth Sys., 2024 Ohio 1471 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 4× “Ohio Revised Code Heigel also relies upon the following Ohio Revised Code sections: R.C. 2903.33, 2913.02, 3727.02 (and Chapter 3727 et seq.”
State v. Ridley, 2022 Ohio 2561 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022). “” R.C. 2903.33(B) states that abuse means “knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person * * *.”
State v. Simmons, 2011 Ohio 2068 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011). “{¶ 78} “Abuse” is defined in R.C. 2903.33(B): {¶ 79} “‘Abuse’ means knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person or by the inappropriate use of a physical or chemical restraint, medication, or…”
State v. Webb, 2025 Ohio 456 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025). “” R.C. 2903.33(B). Webb argues that the evidence at trial demonstrates that the only knowing and purposeful act he engaged in was to protect his coworker from harm and that the evidence fails to support the requisite mens rea requirement of the statute.”
State v. Briscoe, 617 N.E.2d 747 (Ohio Ct. App. 1992). “]” R.C. 2903.33(B)(2) defines the term “abuse” as follows: *574 “(2) ‘Abuse’ means knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person or by inappropriate use of a physical or chemical restraint, medication,…”
State v. Cox, 2014 Ohio 2201 (Ohio Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 2× ““Caretaker” does not include a person who owns, operates, or administers, or who is an agent or employee of, a care facility, as defined in section 2903.33 of the Revised Code. {¶ 29} Cox does not argue that the exception set forth in the second sentence of R.”
State v. Caraballo, 2012 Ohio 5725 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 2× “” In R.C. 2903.33(B), “abuse” is defined as “knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person * * * .”
State v. Hustead, 615 N.E.2d 1081 (Ohio Ct. App. 1992). “” Under R.C. 2903.33(B)(2), “abuse” means knowingly causing physical harm by physical contact.”
State v. Evans, 2014 Ohio 2081 (Ohio Ct. App. 2014). “" Pursuant to R.C. 2903.33(B), "abuse" means "knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person.”
State v. Curry, 601 N.E.2d 176 (Ohio Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 2× “]” *180 “Abuse” is in turn defined in R.C. 2903.33(B) as follows: “(2) ‘Abuse’ means knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person or by the inappropriate use of a physical or chemical restraint,…”
State v. Hahaj, 2025 Ohio 52 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025). “” See R.C. 2903.33(C)(1) (defining “gross neglect” as used in R.”
State v. Goins, 2022 Ohio 985 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022). “” R.C. 2903.33(C)(2). Reckless-mental culpability is defined under R.”
Show all 14 citing cases →
Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.33(A): 1 case
State ex rel. Woznak v. Cuyahoga Cty. Prosecutor's Off., 2026 Ohio 2191 (Ohio Ct. App. 2026).
Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.33(A)(1): 1 case
Heigel v. MetroHealth Sys., 2024 Ohio 1471 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). “Ohio Revised Code Heigel also relies upon the following Ohio Revised Code sections: R.C. 2903.33, 2913.02, 3727.02 (and Chapter 3727 et seq.”
Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.33(B): 8 cases
State v. Ridley, 2022 Ohio 2561 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022). “” R.C. 2903.33(B) states that abuse means “knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person * * *.”
State v. Simmons, 2011 Ohio 2068 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011). “{¶ 78} “Abuse” is defined in R.C. 2903.33(B): {¶ 79} “‘Abuse’ means knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person or by the inappropriate use of a physical or chemical restraint, medication, or…”
State v. Webb, 2025 Ohio 456 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025). “” R.C. 2903.33(B). Webb argues that the evidence at trial demonstrates that the only knowing and purposeful act he engaged in was to protect his coworker from harm and that the evidence fails to support the requisite mens rea requirement of the statute.”
State v. Caraballo, 2012 Ohio 5725 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012). “” In R.C. 2903.33(B), “abuse” is defined as “knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person * * * .”
Heigel v. MetroHealth Sys., 2024 Ohio 1471 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). “Ohio Revised Code Heigel also relies upon the following Ohio Revised Code sections: R.C. 2903.33, 2913.02, 3727.02 (and Chapter 3727 et seq.”
Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.33(B)(2): 3 cases
State v. Briscoe, 617 N.E.2d 747 (Ohio Ct. App. 1992). “]” R.C. 2903.33(B)(2) defines the term “abuse” as follows: *574 “(2) ‘Abuse’ means knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person or by inappropriate use of a physical or chemical restraint, medication,…”
State v. Hustead, 615 N.E.2d 1081 (Ohio Ct. App. 1992). “” Under R.C. 2903.33(B)(2), “abuse” means knowingly causing physical harm by physical contact.”
State v. Curry, 601 N.E.2d 176 (Ohio Ct. App. 1991). “]” *180 “Abuse” is in turn defined in R.C. 2903.33(B) as follows: “(2) ‘Abuse’ means knowingly causing physical harm or recklessly causing serious physical harm to a person by physical contact with the person or by the inappropriate use of a physical or chemical restraint,…”
Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.33(C)(1): 2 cases
State v. Hahaj, 2025 Ohio 52 (Ohio Ct. App. 2025). “” See R.C. 2903.33(C)(1) (defining “gross neglect” as used in R.”
State ex rel. Woznak v. Cuyahoga Cty. Prosecutor's Off., 2026 Ohio 2191 (Ohio Ct. App. 2026).
Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.33(C)(2): 1 case
State v. Goins, 2022 Ohio 985 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022). “” R.C. 2903.33(C)(2). Reckless-mental culpability is defined under R.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.