Bed Bugs

There has been a recent outbreak of bed bugs in a number of states. Florida has taken a stance on the bed bug issue by awarding damages for negligent bed bug attacks that have occurred in Florida hotels. As a result, hotels and other members of the hospitality industry will have to compensate guests injured by bed bugs if they do not take a proactive stance in terms of inspecting for bed bugs and terminating bed bugs.

Bed bugs are bloodsucking insects that reach hotel and motel guests via mattresses, couches, chairs and other hotel room furniture. It is possible to carry bed bugs from an infested hotel room back to your own home. Getting rid of bed bugs is difficult and expensive. In most cases, bedding, clothes, furniture and other property must be replaced because it is so hard to kill bed bugs and their eggs permanently.

Florida Bed Bug Attorneys

Lisa Levine is a personal injury and medical malpractice attorney dedicated to representing clients who have been harmed by another’s negligent behavior. She has been featured on Good Morning American and NBC News and she is also an advocate for women’s health issues.

Mark Glassman is a personal injury and medical malpractice attorney who has worked as an expert witness in malpractice cases. He specializes in personal injury and medical practice litigation. Mark Glassman also focuses a lot on injuries resulting from defective and dangerous drugs and injuries cause by another’s negligent behavior.

The attorneys of Levine & Glassman are fully-versed in personal injury law and can help you receive the best possible compensation for the damages suffered after being the victim of a bed bug infestation.

Bed Bug Information Center

• What are bed bugs?
• Where do bed bugs hide?
• How did I get bed bugs in my home?
• What are the signs and symptoms of bed bug bites?
• How do you treat bed bug bites?
• How do you get rid of a bed bug infestation?
• How we can help

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What are bed bugs?

The technical name for bed bugs is Cimex lectularius. A bed bug is a parasite usually about ¼ of an inch long as an adult. Within 15 minutes of attaching itself to a human being, a bed bug can fill its body with enough blood to become 3 times its usual size.

Adult female bed bugs can lay up to 200 eggs in a lifetime. Newly hatched bed bugs require 5 blood feedings before reaching adulthood. Bed bugs shed their exoskeleton by molting as they continue to grow.

Bed bugs feed on the human blood, but they can suck the blood from other animals too. Birds and mice are the most common animals bed bugs feed on. Bed bugs typically feed at night when people are asleep. They inject a salivary secretion into the wound after the bite to prevent the blood from clotting. The fluid can make a person’s skin itch and become swollen. Scratching can cause sores which can become infected. Bed bugs are not known to transmit any human blood-borne pathogens.

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Where do bed bugs hide?

Bed bugs are small so it is easy for them to hide in a variety of places. Some of the most common places to find bed bugs include:

• Electrical outlets in walls
• Behind wallpaper
• Around base boards
• Around picture frames
• Between creases of mattresses and bedding materials
• Drapes and curtains

If you suspect that you have bed bugs in your home, it could be necessary to replace curtains, bedding, and clothing. In addition to replacing these items, the baseboards, electrical outlets and other narrow crevices will have to be thoroughly cleaned.

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How did I get bed bugs in my home?

Sometimes it can be difficult to ascertain the source of bed bugs. You might not notice signs and symptoms of bed bug bites until weeks after an infestation. Usually bed bugs end up in homes from the following places:

• Hotel Rooms
• Cruise Ship Cabins
• Clothes
• Luggage
• Furniture
• Humans
• Animals
• Pets

Typically when people go on vacation, bed bugs can be hiding in the hotel rooms or the cruise ship cabins. When people put down their luggage and clothes, the bed bugs can attach themselves to the items and get carried home. Sometimes it is difficult to know exactly when the infestation occurred because you might only start getting bites from bed bugs months after the original infestation.

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What are the signs and symptoms of bed bug bites?

People have different reactions to bed bug bites. The most commonly reported signs and symptoms from bed bug bites include:

• Raised bumps on the skin
• Flat welts on the skin
• Intense itching around the bump or welt
• Red marks on the skin
• Skin infections
• Anxiety
• Emotional distress
• Insomnia
• Other allergic responses such as inflammation of the skin

Bite marks may not be immediately visible. In some cases, it took up to 9 days for the red marks to appear. The itching is sometimes intense and people vigorously scratch the affected areas and break the skin. The excessive scratching invites skin infections and may even cause permanent scarring.

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How do you treat bed bug bites?

There are many ways to treat bed bugs. Most patients use corticosteroids to treat the itching and burning associated with the bed bug bites. Also antihistamines have been found to reduce the itching in some cases, but they do not affect the appearance and duration of the lesions or scars.

Other suggestions include frequently washing your skin with warm water and soap. Apply anesthetic cream or lotion to the affected areas. You can also apply ice packs to soothe the skin and relieve itching.

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How do you get rid of a bed bug infestation?

In most cases, bed bugs are extremely hard to get rid of permanently. You need to start by inspecting all areas where bed bugs might hide. You may see evidence of bed bugs such as the exoskeletons or skin casts, crawling insects and blood spots. It would be helpful to vacuum as you inspect. If you have furniture that can be taken apart such as cabinets and dressers, it is advisable to take them apart to search for bed bugs.

After you complete a complete inspection for the bed bugs, it is best to hire a pest company to come and exterminate the bed bugs. After the pest company exterminates the house, it might be a good idea to replace clothing, bedding and furniture to make sure that the bed bugs are gone.

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How we can help

Most of the cases of bed bug infestation start at a hotel, motel or cruise ship cabin. If you see bed bugs or any other suspicious looking type of bug, contact the management immediately. If at all possible, ask for a room change. If you feel that you have gotten be bugs from a hotel or some other facility, it is possible to initiate a lawsuit to recover some of your damages. It is necessary to speak with a personal injury attorney in Florida devoted to making sure that you get some compensation for your financial and physical problems caused by management negligently allowing bed bugs to infest their establishment.

Resources

Bed Bug Registry – This page is a free, public database of user-submitted bed bug reports from across the United States and Canada. It is handy if you are traveling to see if your destination has an outbreak of bed bugs.

Entomological Society of America – The Entomological Society of America (ESA) is the largest organization in the world serving the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines.

Levine & Glassman, P.A. – Florida Bed Bug Lawyers

The attorneys at Levine & Glassman have extensive experience at evaluating and pursuing medical negligence claims in Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding areas of Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties. Contact our firm at (954) 332-6100 or using out online contact form and one of our attorneys will evaluate your potential bed bug lawsuit, explain the process of filing such a claim, and answer any other questions you may have.