When you are caring for a loved one in a nursing home, assisted living facility or home healthcare, it’s understandable you are concerned about potential neglect. After all, you are investing a great deal into excellent care for your friend or family member. Unfortunately, bedsore lawsuits often arise due to neglect or abuse. What does everyone with an elderly loved one need to know about bedsore lawsuits in Maryland?
What Are Bedsores?
Pressure sores are also known as bedsores and decubitus ulcers. They are injuries to the skin and underlying tissue due to extended periods of compression. Bedsores typically occur at places in the skin covering bony areas, like the hips, ankles, lower back and heels. Elders and people who are bedridden with limited mobility are at the highest risk of developing pressure sores, which is why they are such a problem in nursing and care facilities.
Bedsores happen due to a lack of blood flow to the area being compressed. Without nutrients and oxygen from blood, the tissue around the point decays and can die. According to the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research, over 2.5 million patients suffer from pressure sores every year. A National Nursing Home Survey in 2004 found that 160,000 nursing home residents had bedsores every year, meaning that approximately 1 in 10 residents have them. Tragically, pressure sores are estimated to be the originating cause of 60,000 deaths annually.
Bedsore Lawsuits
Because pressure sores are such a unique injury that requires an extended period of pressure without movement, they are almost always preventable. Even completely immobile patients can avoid developing bedsores with the right attention and care. As a result, it’s always appropriate to question the standard of care when a patient develops pressure sores.
Nursing homes and assisted healthcare facilities have a duty to prevent severe and debilitating bedsores. While pressure sores can occur naturally without neglect, serious, life-threatening bedsores cannot. At the first sign of bedsores, appropriate medical care should be offered.
Why Your Attorney Matters
Bedsore lawsuits can be complex, as the mere presence of a pressure sore is not enough to prove fault. Our lawyers know how to understand the medical documentation that nursing homes and hospitals keep and build a compelling case. If your loved one received a bedsore, it is not their fault, and they deserve the opportunity for recourse if it happened as a result of neglect.
Need Help with Bedsore Lawsuits? Call Mobley and Brown, LLP
If you are concerned about bedsores or pressure sores that your loved one received while in someone else’s care, contact Mobley and Brown, LLP today. Our experienced legal team will work with you to meet your needs. Call us now at (410) 385-0398 or toll-free at (833) 355-9897.
