According to a recent Miami Herald investigation, incidents of Florida nursing home neglect are more rampant than we realize. The newspaper cites a number of examples that resulted in patient deaths, including:
• A 74-year-old woman at a Kendal assisted living facility that died after she was restrained too tightly for more than six hours.
• A 71-year-old mentally ill patient that died from burn injuries he sustained after he was left in the bathtub with scalding water at a Hialeah nursing home.
• A 75-year-old patient with Alzheimer’s was ripped apart by an alligator after he wandered from a Clearwater nursing home. This was his fourth elopement incident while at the facility.
According to the Miami Herald, the Agency for Health Care Administration has failed to properly oversee Florida’s 2,850 nursing homes and its operators, investigate dangerous practices, or act on notifications submitted by its own inspectors about possible incidents of nursing home neglect.
Our Miami nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers take allegations of patient neglect or abuse very seriously. Please contact us right away if you even suspect that a resident is being abused or neglected at a South Florida assisted living facility.
More Florida nursing home negligence facts:
• 26 Florida facilities have been closed by the AHCA since 2005.
• In the last year, about 13,250 calls have been made by police to assisted living facilities in Broward County-that’s one call every four hours.
• 1,732 nursing homes have been caught employing illegal restraints, including chemical restraints, on patients since 2002.
• At least once a month a ALF patient dies from Florida nursing home abuse or neglect.
• Out of 70 nursing homes that Florida regulators could have shut down for severe violations in the last two years, only seven facilities were closed.
Signs of possible Florida nursing home abuse or neglect:
• Overmedication or too much sedation
• Broken bones
• Sudden weight loss or gain
• Unexplained bruises or welts
• Frequent illnesses
• Bedsores
• Malnutrition
• Dehydration
• Unsanitary conditions
• Poor hygiene
• Infections
NEGLECTED TO DEATH | Part 1: Once pride of Florida; now scenes of neglect, Miami Herald, April 30, 2011
Florida is taking elderly down a dark, deadly path, Orlando Sentinel, May 15, 2011
Related Web Resource:
Agency for Healthcare Administration
More Blog Posts:
Bills Seeks to Cap Florida Nursing Home Negligence Damages Over Wrongful Deaths, South Florida Injury Lawyer, April 20, 2011
Florida Nursing Home Neglect?: Maggots Found in 76-Year-Old Patient at Assisted Living Facility with Palm Beach County Ties, South Florida Injury Lawyer, September 14, 2010
Contact our Palm Beach nursing home negligence lawyers.