The last thing that patients at a psychiatris hospital need when they feel like there are bugs crawling on their skin is to actually have bugs crawling on their skin. The new Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Parsippany, NJ, is the battling a bedbug infestation.
CBS News reports that the $200 million hospital that just opened last year spotted bedbugs on Nov. 11. While no patients have been bitten, and the hospital is aggressively handling the situation with an extermination company that uses dogs that "sniff out" the bedbugs, could the new facility be handed a lawsuit?
It seems like, with over 500 beds on the premises, there might be are a number of lawsuits if the biting were to begin; however since there have been no reported cases of bites, is there any way to claim a personal injury?
Since this is a psychiatric hospital, it would seem that it is held up to equal standards of sanitation and cleanliness with a hospital. So, a bedbug infestation does not promote the healthiest atmosphere. Also, if the infestation was caused by negligence, then the hospital might be at fault. But would any one be able to label themselves as a victim?
Depending on how serious the infestation is, Nation Geographic explains that a person could get bitten 500 times a night. This could result in anemia, which might be an injury that a New York injury attorney could make a case out of.
Even if there are no bites, the patient may be able to claim that they have suffered emotionally. Since they are in a psychiatric hospital, their mental stability is already in need of repair, so to have their safe heaven not providing the comfort and serenity that was promised to them, or necessary for them to heal psychologically, that might be grounds for a case as well.
In a case where there is no physical injury, there could still be emotional injury (FindLaw "Some Special Situations"). Whether you are in your own home, a hospital, or a rented apartment, you have rights to a clean living space. Since these cases are more difficult to provide evidence for and prove, I would think that having the help of a New York injury attorney would be beneficial.
If you are dealing with a small problem, you might be able to stop it with the help of a New York injury attorney before it becomes an infestation of epic proportions (on your life).
ShareThis
