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Bedbug Victims Bite Back

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Baltimore, MDAmerica has a bed bug problem according to attorney Daniel Whitney from Whitney LLP in Baltimore, Maryland. The veteran attorney and his team of lawyers have successfully resolved hundreds of bedbug lawsuits achieving six figure results on behalf of people who have been ravaged and mauled by the tiny bloodsucking insects.

“I think more attorneys are getting involved in filing cases,” says Whitney. “They have been inspired by some of the results we have achieved in Maryland and there’s a group of lawyers throughout the country that are actually viewing these cases as viable.

“In the past a typical lawyer would say where are the damages,” says Whitney. “They didn’t see a lot of medical records or property damage so they did not appreciate the value of the non-economic damages component to these cases.

“But when you get these cases in front of a jury, they react and they understand the misery that people go through.

“We have gotten $200,000 settlements, $100,000 settlements, $50,000 settlements and more so we are talking real money.”

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes the cimex lectularius, or the common bedbug as a “public health pest”. These tiny apple seed sized reddish brown bugs do not spread disease but they feed on the blood of human hosts leaving them with itchy bite marks. Victims of a bedbug infestation often find the experience psychologically disturbing, embarrassing and extremely disruptive.

The proliferation of bedbugs is blamed on increased air travel, the bedbug’s resistance to chemicals, ineffective pest control management and a lack of knowledge. They’ve been found in hotels, apartments, schools, libraries, planes, nursing homes, hospitals, buses --- almost anywhere and everywhere.

“This problem is much more prevalent than it was 15 years ago,” says Whitney. “It is accelerating and picking up speed. The increasing problem was blamed on bedbug resistance to chemicals and more international travel. Back then, that may have been true. That is no longer the case. What is happening is people stay in hotels and live in apartments were bedbugs are not being treated. They then go out and spread bedbugs to other places.”

The lawsuits usually turn on whether or not the apartment building, hotel or any other place with a bedbug infestation did its duty with respect to eradicating the pests. Even though landlords and hoteliers often deny the problem Whitney says it is reasonably easy to prove the case.

“If someone spends the night in a hotel and two hours later they wake up and they are itching and they have 20, 30, 40 or 100 bedbug bites – well, that is not a case where the person brought the bedbugs with them. These are resident bedbugs and we can prove that even if it is flatly denied there was a problem.

“With the apartment cases most of the time a family will move into a residence that has pre-existing problems. Within a few nights of moving they are being bitten. Often, we can track down a prior tenant who will say, ‘Yes, I moved out because of the bedbugs’,” says Whitney.

It all comes down to the standard of care – it the facility is not diligent about watching for bedbug infestation the court may consider them to be negligent and see merit in plaintiff’s lawsuit.

“Many hotels do follow a standard of care and have educated management and staff.

“You have housekeepers who are trained to watch for signs of bedbugs with each cleaning. You can watch for bedbug excrement and bedbugs in the linen. If you have a room with a history of infestation then the maintenance should be doing more thorough inspections.

“If they find bedbugs, they have to quarantine the room and promptly call an outside qualified pest control company to treat the room,” he adds. “This is what pest control companies recommend and this is the protocol at dozens of major hotel chains.

“America is not dealing with its bedbug problem,” says Whitney. “There are major hotels that do not have a written bedbug protocol or adhere to the standard of care.”

In the past, bedbug bite victims would often be offered “points” to stay at another hotel in the chain or a few hundred dollars in compensation. But these days, many people are demanding a lot more than that for going through what many people describe as a horrific experience – and they’re biting back in the courts.

READ ABOUT BED BUG INFESTATIONS LAWSUITS

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READER COMMENTS

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In the past fifteen years here in my city of LOUISVILLE KY. I have lost all my personal belongings twice because of negligence of duty by slum landlords who charge high dollar prices to live in Roach and bedbug infested apts. The city does nothing to these persons nor does it regularly regularly inspect to make sure "hot water" is being used in the laundromats!! Hence when the poor people do their laundry at laundromats because there is "no hot water" being used, we are just spreading scabies, head lice roaches, and bed bugs into our community!!! I have complained numerous times as I said before earlier in the beginning of this letter I've lost my every belongings "TWICE" now and then homeless for two and a half years because of negligent slumlords who refuse to keep up their property and because of negligent City officials who do not give a damn thank you

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