South Florida Personal Injury Blog

Florida is home to an unusually high percentage of elderly residents, many of whom come to Palm Beach and Broward Counties to spend their retirement years in the sun. As they age, some move into retirement homes, assisted living facilities, and even nursing homes, depending on the level of care required to maintain their health. Unfortunately, some nursing homes and assisted living facilities do not adequately provide the care that they are obligated to give their residents. In other cases, they actually engage in extremely negligent behavior, neglecting residents’ needs, like the treatment and prevention of bedsores. Worst of all, there are regular news reports about incidents in which the elderly residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities are actually abused. Palm Beach nursing home abuse lawyer Andrew Alitowski believes that the elderly should always be treated with respect and receive the care that they deserve.

A Delray Beach resident of an assisted living facility in Palm Beach County was found dead this week on the facility’s grounds. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call regarding Marcella Dublar, 84, who was found dead, floating in the water of a pond on the grounds. She apparently wandered away from the dining room at approximately 1:45 p.m. and was found in the pond an hour and a half later. Dublar had only recently come back to the assisted living facility after spending some time in a rehabilitation center for more extensive care.

West Palm Beach nursing home abuse attorney Alitowski knows that the differences between retirement communities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes can be confusing for the elderly and the general public. A retirement community is one usually available only to residents of a certain age – perhaps 55 and older. They live separately, either in condominiums, villas, or homes, but within the same property. They pay a fee, like dues to a homeowners association, which covers the groundskeeping and other services. The retirement community generally has activities and services for the residents. It may also offer very low levels of assistance to residents.

Assisted living facilities are built upon the same model as a retirement community, but have more nursing care and other assistance available fore the residence. For example, nurses may dispense medicine, help with bathing, or monitor a resident’s eating to make sure she is healthy. An assisted living facility is still substantially different from a nursing home, however, which provides extensive nursing care. A nursing home usually houses residents in rooms with hospital beds. Staff and nurses may help residents eat, administer all medication, and provide all care. Nursing home residents have little independence compared to residents of retirement communities or assisted living facilities.

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Palm Beach injury attorney Andrew Alitowski believes that nursing home abuse runs rampant in Florida, especially in light of the large population of elderly individuals who retire in the state. South Florida newspapers regularly run stories detailing horrifying cases of nursing home neglect, such as inadequate feeding. Families trust nursing homes to provide comprehensive care for their aging relatives, especially nursing care that would be difficult to provide in the family home. The elderly are extremely fragile, particularly when they are ill enough to require round-the-clock care from a nursing facility. West Palm Beach nursing home neglect lawyer Andrew Alitowski represents families when nursing homes fail to provide for the basic needs of their elderly relatives.

In some cases, visiting family members stumble upon evidence of nursing home abuse or neglect, such as unexplained bruising, rapid weigh loss, dehydration, bedsores, and other physical injuries. Family members may initially chalk up symptoms to advanced age or illness, but should always be vigilant to ensure that their loved ones are receiving the top notch care they deserve. The fragility of the elderly can lead to rapid deterioration if they do not receive proper treatment.

The family of a man who resided in a Minnesota nursing facility filed a civil suit against the nursing home earlier this month. Dean Cole was 72. His family placed him in the nursing home due to his ongoing problems with dementia, which had advanced to the point that he could not properly care for himself and required supervision. Although Cole resided in the facility for only 21 days, he died as a result of damage to his brain and kidneys, which his family alleges was as a result of dehydration. Cole lost a large amount of fluid during his brief stay at the nursing home. The family has sued the nursing home for his wrongful death.

A recent study of elder abuse resulted in astounding figures. Over a million older Americans are abused by a caretaker annually. Since a nursing home is legally required to fulfill its duty to care for residents, but all too often do not, families should contact an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer immediately if they believe that their loved one is not receiving acceptable care.

Unfortunately, horrendous nursing abuse and neglect cases do not often receive media attention. However, a particularly heinous case in Volusia County received attention following the death of a neglected man earlier this week:

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Unfortunately, Broward County residents are becoming all too familiar with allegations of abuse in nursing homes in south Florida and elsewhere. Although Florida has taken special precautions to protect the elderly, such as heightened sentencing for certain crimes against people over age 65, the problem persists. In fact, Florida has some of the most protective laws in the country regarding the elderly. A Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorney can advise you believe your loved one has been abused or provided with inadequate or improper care in a nursing home.

Recently, the case of a 77-year-old woman who lived in a Florida nursing home was raped by another resident, 83-year-old Ivey Edwards. Although the stereotypical image of nursing home residents may be feeble, Edwards was a known sex offender. Fort Lauderdale families looking for care for their loved ones may inquire about the quality of the medical care and the attentiveness of the staff, but should they also be worried that a nursing home will not adequately screen other residents?

In another newsworthy case, the Florida Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that nursing homes – unlike other health care facilities – do not have to provide patients’ records. The Court determined that the nursing homes were not health care facilities in the sense of doctor’s offices or hospitals. Since the Florida Constitution requires that patients have a “right to know,” or to check their medical records for medical malpractice.

The Florida Supreme Court decision arose out of the death of Marlene Gagnon, whose five children sued a nursing home after her death. The nursing home maintains that Gagnon died of a heart attack, but her children believe that she actually died from choking on coleslaw. Her doctors forbade her from eating that food due to the risk. The nursing home has refused to release their internal incident report on the matter. With the new interpretation of the Florida Constitution, the nursing home does not have to divulge the records. Their Florida personal injury lawyer was critical of the decision, saying, "This strips constitutional rights from the elderly. . .This is just an invitation to more elder abuse." Nonetheless, the Gagnon family’s Florida injury attorney believes that they have obtained enough other relevant documents to prove that Gagnon died from choking rather than a heart attack.

If you or a loved one has suffered in a nursing home or due to a physician’s medical malpractice, contact Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers Andrew Alitowski and William Moore to learn about your options. Although monetary damages cannot erase your experiences, they can defray other expenses and provide a strong disincentive for nursing homes to allow future abuse.

Continue reading "Broward Injury Attorney: Protecting the South Florida Elderly from the Horror of Nursing Home Abuse" »