South Florida Personal Injury Attorney Blog

South Florida is decorated in pink this month, and for good reason. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month and it brings the Law Offices of Robert Rubenstein great pride to put charitable donations into such a cause. Through our firm's Facebook fundraising campaign, we're building local business relationships and donating money to Susan G. Komen for The Cure. (There are still a few days left in October to click "like") But what many young people don't know is Komen is giving back by offering college scholarships to students directly affected by breast cancer.

In 2001, Komen established the college scholarship program to help students with financial burdens due to the loss of a parent to breast cancer or their own breast cancer diagnosis at age 25 or younger. The award is a generous scholarship of $10,000 a year for up to four years to attend a state university. Scholarship recipients are selected based on scholastic achievement, community service, financial need and demonstrated leadership potential. The Komen website has more on eligibility and this year's deadline to apply is November 15th.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women in the United States (behind skin cancer). According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among women in the United States this year. 40,000 of women will die this year. But the good news is today there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the US. Every member of our firm knows someone affected by the disease; we hope you'll join us in raising the breast cancer survivor rate this year!

South Florida nursing home abuse is a sad fact for some retirees who come south for the beautiful weather. When being an active senior turns into being an elderly person in need of extra care for daily living, we face the difficult task of finding the right facility. There truly are good nursing homes and bad ones. Relying solely on convenient location or good prices could mean the difference between quality of life and abuse or neglect.

Just last year, Florida passed a law that states any operator of an Assisted Living Facility (ALF) or Nursing home who has a criminal record must lose his/her license to operate. When "the system" to monitor facility owners fails, abuses go unnoticed and undocumented. Unfortunately, there is an rising trend in which the elderly care professionals either do not provide the proper level of care or harm the people they are supposed to assist. Making matters worse, the Florida Legislature weakened the laws requiring Nursing homes and ALFs to carry adequate insurance coverage. That means victims of abuse and neglect, no matter how heinous their injuries, cannot be compensated. In extreme cases, the elderly can be left needing more expensive care as a result of their neglect or abuse. Without insurance coverage on the facility where the abuse happened, those additional costs come out of the pockets of the victims and their families. It's important to remember better facilities have better insurance.

A high-profile trial is getting under way this month in Miami-Dade of a man accused of giving counterfeit or diluted drugs to cancer patients in his facility, failing to stop a woman with dementia from drinking cleaning fluid (she ultimately died), and about 180 other violations in Miami and Broward counties since 2006. In my professional experience with Nursing home abuse cases, these violations are, sadly, not uncommon. If you have a loved one who has been victimized in his or her facility, you have rights under Florida law. You simply have to know what to look for and know who to contact.

What are warning signs of nursing home abuse or neglect?

There are a number of warning signs for nursing home abuse. Some of these include poor hygiene, bruises, malnutrition, weight loss, broken bones, and dehydration. Also, some abuses can point toward verbal, mental, and other forms of non-physical abuse. Contact one of our nursing home abuse lawyers immediately if you suspect mistreatment has occurred.

Are nursing homes monitored for possible abuse and neglect?

In the state of Florida, the Agency for Health Care Administration monitors nursing homes by performing routine inspection and responding to any complaints. You can visit the Agency for Health Care Administration website to learn about assisted-living center violations.

Can we settle a nursing home abuse case without going to court?

Yes, it is possible to settle a nursing home abuse case outside of court. In fact, 90 percent of cases are settled before actually going to trial.

If we are suing the nursing facility of our loved one, should we move them?

If you are involved in a nursing home abuse claim with a facility, you should definitely move your loved one. If your loved one remains in that facility, he or she may be subject to more abuse and mistreatment by disgruntled nursing home personnel.

It can be devastating to discover someone you love is being mistreated or even placed in life-threatening situations. In many cases, the abused victim cannot speak for himself. At the Law Offices of Robert Rubenstein, we're here to speak for the abused and make sure it doesn't happen again.