As medical malpractice and nursing home abuse lawyers, the Mininno Law Office sees a lot of sick and vulnerable people in need of our help. We do our best to provide the justice that they deserve, but we cannot help them all through the legal system. That is why we want to encourage the support of various charities that are doing their best to help those in need.
Retirement Housing Foundation
Retirement Housing Foundation (RHF) was founded in 1961 and is one of the nation’s largest non-profit providers of housing and services for more than 17,000 older adults, persons with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged families. RHF was founded by two United Church of Christ clergy and a layman who wanted to provide quality housing and services for seniors. The foundation is currently present in 160 communities in 24 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The main service that RHF provides is apartment units for those who cannot afford today’s high costs of living. Most of the units are for the elderly and the retired whose only source of income in social security or a small pension, but they also provide units to the disabled and low-income families. “We believe that everyone deserves a safe, secure, affordable place to live and we invite you to help us make that possibility a reality,” said President of RHF Rev. Laverne R. Joseph, D.D. To donate to the Retirement Housing Foundation you can call 562-257-5141 or click on the “Donate Now” button on their website page.
Operation Smile
Operation Smile is an international charity that has been providing free surgeries to children around the world for almost thirty years to help fix their cleft conditions that would otherwise go untreated. Dr. William Magee Jr., a plastic surgeon, and his wife, Kathleen, a nurse and clinical social worker, founded Operation Smile in 1982 when they traveled to the Philippines to repair children’s cleft lips and cleft palates. Since then, they have a presence in over 60 countries and have helped over 160,000 children go on to lead a life without facial deformities. This medical humanitarian organization is “dedicated to raising awareness of this life-threatening issue and providing lasting solutions that will allow children to be healed, regardless of financial standing, well into the future.” They believe that children deserve to live a life with dignity and a cleft lip or cleft palate, which can cause a child to be unable to eat, speak, socialize or smile, is something that no child should have to live with. To volunteer or donate to Operation Smile, you can visit their website www.operationsmile.org.
Alzheimer’s Foundation of America
The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s mission is “to provide optimal care and services to individuals confronting dementia, and to their caregivers and families—through member organizations dedicated to improving quality of life.” AFA is made up of more than 1,600 member organizations across the country that are all dedicated to meeting the needs of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and their families. They believe that by raising awareness and educating both medical professionals and the public of this horrible disease, they will help remove the stigma associated with Alzheimer’s, improve on the early detection rate and proper treatment, prompt greater use of already in place community resources, and improve the quality of life of those with the disease. One of the services that AFA provides is a toll free hotline where licensed social workers and other professionals knowledgeable about Alzheimer’s disease and related illnesses will answer your call and help you with any problem you may have. This is a great resource that can help you feel like you are not alone with this disease. To call the hotline or to make a donation to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America call 1-866-AFA-8484 or to donate online go to www.alzfdn.org.
Mininno Law Office: Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
These three charities have a similar goal to the Mininno Law Office, to help the vulnerable populations of the elderly, disabled and children born with facial deformities. We hope that you will also support these charities so that they can continue the great work they have done for so many years. If you believe that your loved one in a nursing home or long term care facility is being abuse or neglected, if you are a victim of medical malpractice or if you have a child with a cleft lip or cleft palate birth defect as a result of taking the drug Topamax, please contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
According to a report issued by the Minnesota Department of Health Facility Complaints Office, the man fell from his wheelchair on March 8th and suffered a “large hematoma, approximately four centimeters by three centimeters, on his left forehead.” He had bleeding that was putting pressure on his brain and depriving him of oxygen. The patient was examined 30 minutes after the fall, but no vital signs or neurological tests were done for at least three hours. Four hours after the fall, he was unresponsive and his vital signs were not stable. The nursing home transferred him to a hospital where he died two days later on March 10th. The death certificate states the cause of death as a “massive intracranial hemorrhage.”
An 82-year-old man from Illinois died this month at Heartland Healthcare nursing home. According to the police report, Irvin W. Brackett was found by nursing assistant Annette Payton at 10:30 p.m. on the floor with an oxygen tube and electrical cord wrapped around his neck and tied to an assistance lever that was hanging over his bed. Payton immediately called other nurses for help. They removed the constraints and began emergency resuscitation. An ambulance was called to help but nothing could be done and the nursing home called for the coroner at 12:16 a.m. Brackett was pronounced dead at the scene by the Knox County Coroner Mark Thomas. According to Thomas: 
On April 17, Grove called an ambulance to her home because she believed she was overdosing on drugs. While in the home, police found the elderly couple injured and in unsanitary conditions. The 77 year old husband was found in his urine soaked bed with blood and feces smeared on the bed and bed frame. Both victims were taken to the hospital. the husband was taken for facial bruises, broken ribs, and a partially collapsed lung, and his 82 year old wife was taken for a hand and wrist injury which she said she received when Grove pushed her wheelchair across the room and pinned her hand against the wall. The wife also told the police she heard Grove beating her husband on several occasions. The couple is bedridden/confined to wheelchairs, the husband has had part of his leg amputated, and the wife recently had hip surgery. The husband was in the hospital several weeks prior to this when he had to have one of his eyes surgically removed after a TV set fell on him, which his wife believes was an injury from Grove.
Our 
The Duques brought their baby girl to Nebraska for a transplant after she was born with congenital defects. Almariah received a pancreas, liver, and small bowel transplant in late December of 2009. She was discharged from the hospital a few months later but quickly returned as she developed an infection.