Yes, you can sue a nursing home for bedsores if you can prove they developed because a nursing home failed to provide proper care. Bedsores are usually preventable but difficult to treat. They can cause chronic pain, infections, a reduced quality of life, and death. Even with treatment, bedsores can take months or years to heal, and some never heal. They are also known as pressure ulcers because they develop from prolonged pressure to the skin usually over a boney prominence. These conditions most often occur when nursing home staff fail to reposition immobile residents frequently enough.
You may be able to sue direct care staff and the nursing home itself if your loved one has contracted a bedsore. Our compassionate California bedsore lawyers have over 75 years of combined experience with a proven track record of holding nursing homes accountable. We can gather evidence against the facility, find the care your loved one needs, and file your nursing home abuse claim. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.
How to Prove a Bedsore Claim
Even though they should never occur at a nursing facility, bedsores are one of the most common types of nursing home injuries. They develop when prolonged pressure restricts blood flow to bony areas of the skin, including the tailbone, buttocks, hips, heels, elbows, and shoulder blades. The risk increases if a resident experiences excessive pulling, friction from clothing or bedding, excessive moisture, and malnutrition.
Nursing home staff contribute to bedsores by failing to reposition immobile residents at least once every two hours, leaving them in wet or soiled clothing, not providing pressure-relieving mattresses or cushions, and neglecting daily skin inspections.
To prevail in a nursing home bedsore claim, you must prove that all of the following elements of negligence occurred:
- The nursing home owed a duty to prevent bedsores.
- The nursing home breached its duty by not providing the care your loved one needed.
- Your loved one developed bedsores that they would not have developed except for the breach.
- The breach of duty is the actual and proximate cause of the bedsores.
Although bedsores point to negligence, their presence alone isn’t enough to prove a bedsore lawsuit. Your evidence must establish a causal link between the bedsore and nursing home negligence.
Evidence Needed in a Bedsore Claim
You will usually need the following evidence to support a bedsore claim:
- Medical records documenting the development and progression of bedsores
- Medical bills for the treatment of bedsores and their complications
- Expert witness testimony about how the bedsores developed and their lifetime costs
- Eyewitness statements from staff, residents, and family members
- Photographs of the bedsores
- Nursing home staffing records to show whether understaffing contributed to the bedsores
- The nursing home’s policies and procedures for preventing bedsores
Most nursing homes are large corporations that fight injury claims. They often erect hurdles to keep residents and their families from gathering evidence. They may hide behind an extensive bureaucracy, bury you in paperwork, or ignore you.
Most nursing homes will not take you seriously unless you have a reputable nursing home abuse lawyer working for you. At Lanzone Morgan, LLP, nursing home abuse is all we do, so we know how these facilities operate. We can get past the smokescreens, pressure the nursing home to furnish documentation, and obtain the necessary evidence to prove your claim.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Bedsore Injuries?
Identifying the responsible parties in a nursing home injury case requires a detailed investigation into individual nursing staff and the administration. While you may be able to hold a particular CNA or nurse liable for failing to provide the necessary preventive care, the real problem usually lies with the nursing home itself.
Nursing home corporations often understaff their facilities to maximize profits. They expect direct care staff to care for more residents than they can reasonably handle, forcing them to prioritize care and leave some residents behind. When this happens, the facility may be liable for its negligence.
Our experienced California nursing home abuse lawyers have a proven record of holding nursing homes accountable, and one of the first things we look at is staffing, as it is a primary cause of the type of nursing home neglect that leads to bedsores.
The following parties may be liable for your loved one’s bedsores:
- Nurses
- CNAs
- Therapists
- Doctors
- Administrative staff
- The nursing home
How Serious Are Pressure Ulcers?
Bedsores differ from cuts, scrapes, bruises, and other skin injuries. They begin in the outer dermal layer and can quickly progress to deeper layers of the skin and may impact muscles, tendons, and bones. As the injury deepens, the tissue dies, and the pressure ulcer can connect to internal body systems, increasing the risk of serious, life-threatening infections. The complications of pressure sores include the following:
- Gangrene – death of the tissue, which may necessitate amputation
- Cellulitis – a bacterial skin infection that can spread throughout the body
- Sepsis – a life-threatening response to an infection that can damage organs
- Bacterial meningitis – an infection of the brain and spinal cord’s protective covering
- Endocarditis – inflammation of the heart lining, valves, and chambers
- Osteomyelitis – bone infections
- Septic arthritis – joint infections
- Necrotizing fasciitis – flesh-eating disease
If your loved one has developed a bedsore in a nursing home, don’t wait to contact an attorney. If you cannot trust a nursing home to prevent a bedsore, there is no basis to trust the facility to treat it promptly or effectively. Consult the reputable elder abuse lawyers at Lanzone Morgan, LLP, to ensure your loved one receives the necessary treatment to prevent further complications.
Compensation Available in a Pressure Sore Lawsuit
Suing a nursing home for bedsores may allow you to recover economic, non-economic, and potentially punitive damages.
Economic damages compensate for the monetary costs of pressure sores, such as current and future medical expenses, the cost of transferring a loved one to another facility, and lost wages.
Non-economic damages cover subjective losses related to quality of life, such as pain and suffering.
Punitive damages are awarded to punish defendants and deter similar future conduct when you have proof of gross negligence, fraud, or intentional misconduct.
If your loved one died from the complications of pressure ulcers, you may be able to recover economic, non-economic, and punitive damages through a wrongful death lawsuit. Economic and non-economic damages may include the following:
- Funeral expenses
- Loss of financial support
- Loss of estate value
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of parental guidance
- Mental grief and suffering
- Physical pain and suffering
Our California nursing home neglect lawyers are proven trial lawyers dedicated to helping you recover the maximum compensation available. We will not settle for less than you deserve, and you can trust that we will be ready to present your case to a jury if the defendants refuse to pay a fair settlement.
Our Nursing Home Bedsore Settlement Amounts
We have recovered over $200 million in compensation for injured elderly and dependent adults. Below are just a few examples of our bedsore settlements:
- $3 million for a dependent adult who developed a coccyx bedsore at a skilled nursing facility
- $1.25 million for an assisted living facility resident who developed a bedsore
- $1.125 million for the family of an elderly nursing home resident who died from pressure ulcer complications
- $1 million for an elderly woman who developed a horrific bedsore at a skilled nursing facility
- $850,000 for a nursing home resident who developed a bedsore
- $800,000 for the family of a nursing home resident who fell, developed a bedsore, and then died from the injuries
- $750,000 for a resident who developed a coccyx bedsore at a skilled nursing facility
- $750,000 for an elderly victim who developed an advanced-stage bedsore at a skilled nursing facility
- $750,000 for a nursing home resident who became severely dehydrated and developed multiple bedsores
Factors that Can Impact Your Bedsore Settlement Amount
Our clients commonly wonder how much their bedsore lawsuit is worth. Before answering such a question, our attorneys must consider factors that might affect your bedsore settlement, such as the following:
- The severity of the bedsore. Advanced bedsores take longer to heal, require more medical care, and may cause long-term and fatal complications. They incur higher costs and prompt greater pain and suffering.
- The weight of the evidence. Nursing home defendants will often settle for higher amounts in the face of strong evidence against them to avoid the risk of losing in a trial.
- The cost of medical care. Medical expenses often comprise the majority of the economic damages in a pressure ulcer lawsuit. Economic damages are an important component when evaluating non-economic damages
- The skill and experience of your attorney. Nursing homes hire lawyers to minimize liability, and you will need a skilled attorney on your side. We are an experienced law firm with a proven record of holding nursing homes accountable.
Let Our Attorneys Help with Your Bedsore Lawsuit
Bedsores are serious injuries that should never happen to a nursing home resident. They almost always point to negligence. We are an experienced elder abuse law firm dedicated to representing elderly and dependent adults and their families. We understand how devastating it is to trust a nursing home with your loved one’s care, only to have that trust broken. With our help, you can sue a nursing home for bedsores and get justice and compensation.
Everyone at our firm has empathy and compassion for nursing home neglect victims, and we do not take the faith you put in us lightly. We will represent your loved one with passion and precision as if they were our own family. We handle cases throughout California.
Call our dedicated attorneys today at (888) 887-9777 for a free case review.