Disabled Patient Abused With Stick at Florida Group Home
The elder and disabled populations are some of our most vulnerable citizens. Often, the elder and disabled require assistance in providing necessary care and protection. Long-term care facilities are home to those elders and individuals with disabilities that depend on the caretaking of others.
When placed in long-term care facilities, residents with disabilities and elder residents have the unwavering right to receive adequate and appropriate health care and protective support services, including social services. These are the patients’ “Bill of Rights.” The rights vary depending on whether an individual is placed in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or adult family care home. Notwithstanding these rights, nursing home abuse is an unfortunate reality.
Florida Nursing Home Worker Arrested For Abuse of Elderly Patient
Recently, the Florida Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit uncovered abuse at a nursing home in Winter Haven, Florida. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested a house manager at a Medicaid-funded group home for abusing a disabled patient.
The house manager apparently used a “hit stick” to intimidate and punish the disabled patient. Allegedly, the house manager struck the patient on his hand using a two-foot bamboo stick. The house manager faces up to 5 years in prison and a possible $5,000 fine.
Signs of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
Nursing home abuse and neglect can cause patients serious physical and emotional injuries, and in extreme cases, can cause death. It is imperative to recognize the signs of abuse before they develop into something more serious. Common signs of abuse include:
Bruising, cuts, sores and scratches;
Depression and anxiety;
Physical and emotional withdrawal from daily activities; and
Torn or bloody clothing or sheets.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, you should immediately take action to protect your rights. An experienced nursing home abuse or neglect attorney can help you protect your rights. You may be able to recover compensation for your injuries.
In addition, assisted living facility residents or adult family care home residents can contact Florida’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program by calling 888-831-0404.
Contact a Miami, Florida Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer
Unfortunately, the Florida Attorney General’s office has limited resources and cannot investigate nor prosecute all claims of nursing home abuse and neglect. Consequently, too often nursing home abuse and neglect claims go unreported and the elderly patients in nursing homes suffer. Nursing abuse and neglect, however, should not go unreported and unpunished.
If you or a loved one has been abused or neglected by a nursing home and its staff, you should contact a Miami nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer. The Perez-Gurri Law Firm has extensive experience prosecuting a variety of nursing home abuse and neglect cases. From investigating your claims to litigating your claims in court, we will vigorously represent your interests to ensure that you obtain the compensation you deserve. You can visit our office in Coral Gables, Florida for a free case consultation or contact us by phone at 305-661-1200.