Tampa Medical Malpractice Lawyer Discusses Rehab Neglect

Question:

My father is really sick. He has a lot of health issues and was in the hospital in May for bleeding ulcers. Within the 2 month stay in the hospital he got severe bed sores. He was removed from that hospital and sent to a rehab to get off life support. He was moved to a nursing home to get healthy so he could get strong enough to have a double leg amputation and wound care help for his bottom. He had got an infection and the nursing home sent him to the hospital where they did a double above the knee amputation.  I have filed a DCF report of neglect. The hospital and Rehab have neglected my father! Now I found out he has a stent that is stuck inside him. The stent was placed in March and it only lasts 3 months.

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Answer:

You may have a claim against the Rehabilitation center because patients have a guaranteed right to appropriate health care under the chapter governing rehab centers.  I advise clients as a Tampa Medical Malpractice Lawyer that it is much harder to pursue a claim against a hospital or a doctor.  You can report the providers to the Agency for Healthcare Administration and the Florida Board of Medicine, and you can certainly speak to the risk manager at the facility.  However, if anything happens to your father during the pendency of a civil action in Florida – there must be a surviving spouse or child under the age of 25 who is partially dependent in order to recover monetary damages.  It is an awful, awful law, but we have not been successful in getting it off the books.

If you have a parent who is being neglected in a rehab facility, contact our experienced Tampa Medical Malpractice Lawyer.

This legal question was provided by a Avvo and answered by Betsey Herd an experienced Tampa Medical Malpractice Lawyer.  This does not consent an attorney client relationship.