Jacksonville Nursing Home Bedsore Attorneys
Nursing home bedsores, which are also referred to as pressure sores, pressure ulcers, and decubitus ulcers, are injuries to the skin and underlying tissue that result from constant and prolonged pressure on a particular area of the skin. This prolonged pressure causes decreased blood flow to the area of skin under pressure, which is what causes the sores to develop. Bedsores typically develop on areas of the skin that cover bones and that are in constant contact with a bed or wheelchair like the tailbone, hips, heels, ankles, back of the head, shoulder blades, elbows, spine, and buttocks.
Who is at Risk of Developing Bedsores?
People that are most at risk of bedsores are those with medical conditions or issues that limit their ability to move or change positions in their bed or seat, require them to use a wheelchair, or confine them to a bed for long periods of time.
Many of those individuals who are confined to a wheelchair or a bed for long periods of time are elderly residents of nursing homes or assisted living facilities; a population that is especially susceptible to abuse and neglect.
If you believe a loved one is being neglected in his or her nursing home and as a result has developed bedsores, contact the nursing home abuse attorneys of Abbott Law Group to discuss your potential right to file a bedsore lawsuit against the nursing home.
Nursing Home Neglect is One of Leading Causes of Bedsores
Nursing home abuse takes many forms with the neglectful treatment of elderly residents by the staff of nursing homes and assisted living facilities being one of the most common. Nursing home neglect includes failure of the nursing home staff to provide adequate medicine, food, clothes, and shelter to the residents, as well as failing to change the clothes and sheets of the immobile patients and changing their positioning in bed.
The results of neglect may include bad personal hygiene, dehydration, malnutrition, dirty living conditions, a variety of untreated health problems, and bedsores. In fact, nursing home neglect has been shown to be one of the leading causes of the development of bedsores in the elderly population. A National Nursing Home Survey found that 11% of nursing home residents had bedsores and that the longer one resided in a nursing home, the more likely he or she were to develop bedsores.
Bedsore Injuries
While bedsores begin simply as sores on the skin, they can lead to more serious injuries and even death. Some of the bedsore lawsuits filed against nursing homes in the past have shown a number of different types of medical complications and injuries that came about as a result of bedsores, including:
- Skin infections (Cellulitis),
- Wound infections,
- Blood infections (Sepsis),
- Bone infections (Osteomyelitis),
- Joint infections (Septic arthritis),
- Tissue death,
- Gangrene,
- Cartilage and tissue damage, and
- Skin cancer.
In addition to the pain and discomfort that bedsores cause, these subsequent complications can cause even greater pain, suffering, and emotional distress on the elderly.
Bedsore Lawsuit Compensation
If your loved one developed bedsore, subsequently developed other medical complications, or died as a result of bedsore, the nursing home or assisted living facility in which your loved one resided could be held legally liable. As explained above, bedsores developed while residing in a nursing home are likely the result of the nursing home staff neglecting the resident. This form of nursing home abuse is often the result of the nursing home’s failure to hire qualified employees, under-staffing the nursing home, or failing to properly train its employees.
If you or a loved one developed bedsore in a nursing home, he or she may be eligible to receive compensation from the nursing home for any medical bills paid to treat bedsore or other subsequent complications, pain and suffering, punitive damages, and other damages.
Also, If your loved one experienced any form of nursing home abuse, you should contact an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer as soon as possible as the Florida Statute of Limitations restricts the time one has to file a lawsuit. The attorneys of Abbott Law Group have provided representation to the elderly and their families in the Jacksonville and St. Augustine areas for over thirty years. Contact us today for a free consultation.
Resources
Mayo Clinic – Bedsores Symptoms and Causes
WebMD – Stages of Pressure Sores