Bedsores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers

Florida Nursing Homes Investigated for Severe Abuse and Negligence

June 3, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

According to a shocking Miami Herald expose that our Hartford County, Maryland nursing home abuse attorneys have been following, nursing homes throughout Florida are being accused of horrific cases of elder abuse and neglect. The series of articles in the Herald highlight an alleged breakdown in the state’s nursing home enforcement system—leaving thousands of residents in conditions that are both dangerous and decrepit.

The Herald spent a year examining assisted living facilities and found that as the number of homes have increased to accommodate the state’s major elderly population increase, Florida has failed to protect the very people it was meant to safeguard. Although the number of new nursing homes has totaled 550 in the last five years, the state has reportedly dropped necessary home inspections by 33%, allowing homes with the worst abuse and neglect offenses to remain open.

Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration oversees 2,850 facilities, and has allegedly neglected to monitor nursing home operators for abuse or neglect, investigate nursing home reports citing dangerous practices, and shut down the homes with the worst offenders—many of which lack necessary staffing, disregard nursing home regulations and deprive their residents of the most basic needs, like food, water and safety.

The investigation found that nearly once every month, residents die from nursing home abuse and neglect. In one incident, a 75-year-old dementia resident, who was at high risk for nursing home wandering, walked away from the Pinellas County nursing home, and reportedly had his body torn apart by alligators. In another home, a 71-year-old resident with a mental illness was burned so severely from being left in a bathtub that was carelessly filled with scalding hot water, that he died from a result of the burns.

Many nursing homes, according to the article, are also regularly caught using restraints that are against the law, including ropes and powerful tranquilizers. In one assisted living home a 74-year-old woman was bound for over six hours, with restraints allegedly wrapped so painfully tight that the device her tore into her flesh, causing her death.

Husband Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit File After Wife Dies From Bedsores

May 18, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In recent news that our Baltimore nursing home negligence attorneys have been following, a wrongful death lawsuit has been filed by the husband of a 60-year-old Portsmouth Regional Hospital patient, who alleges that the hospital’s negligence and sub-standard care caused his wife to die from infected bedsores.

According to the lawsuit filed last month, Robert Vozzella claims that the hospital failed to detect and treat his wife’s pressure sores, or decubitus ulcers, that developed on her backside while she recovered from surgery. The bedsores reportedly weren’t discovered for three days, and although Vozzella went through two months of pressure ulcer surgeries, the sores became infected due to reported fecal contamination—that led to her wrongful death.

As our Maryland nursing home attorneys have recently discussed, pressure ulcers affect nearly one million people every year, causing nearly 60,000 deaths from complications of serious bed sore development.

Pressure sores often develop in hospitals or nursing care facilities, where patients are immobile for long periods of time without moving. When patients are immobile, often recovering from surgery, or receiving medication, it puts pressure on certain parts of the body, causing the areas to lose circulation—leading the skin to breakdown and develop pressure ulcers.

With proper bed sore care and prevention, pressure ulcers are entirely preventable and even reversible, if discovered quickly enough and given the right treatment and necessary environment for comprehensive healing.

Nursing Home Fall Awareness and Prevention

May 6, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year, 1 in 3 elderly adults over the age of 65 suffer from falls, many of which happen in nursing homes—with falls being the leading cause of injury-related death in the age group.

A recent Los Angeles Times article discussed the prevalence of nursing home falls, and that as people get older and more frail, falls can have a life-altering and devastating impact on seniors—often talking a long time before the person can get back to their pre-fall health status, if ever.

To combat the problem of hospital and nursing home falls many programs across the country are being formed to improve fall awareness and prevention. In Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center, senior balance classes are offered for their patients, as well as a yearly event for seniors that screen individuals to see who is at risk for falls.

In Lake County, California, a Falls Prevention Task Force has reportedly been implemented with hospitals, fire departments and senior centers, to distribute prevention and awareness literature and sponsor strength and balance classes to improve lower-body strength in seniors.

According to Lake County, when seniors suffer from broken hips due to a fall-related injury and are admitted to a hospital, over 50 percent of the seniors must spend time in a nursing facility or rehab center before going home. Twenty percent of these elderly patients will die within a year of the fall-related injuries.

Nursing Home Sued For Negligence after Patient Died from Pressure Sore Complication

May 4, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

According to recent news that our Baltimore nursing home attorneys have been following, a nursing home in West Virginia is being sued for negligence, after a patient living in the home for three years allegedly experienced neglect and wrongful death.

HCR Manorcare is reportedly being sued by Angela Black, claiming that family member Arcel Rose was neglected while living at the home from 2006 until his death in 2009. Black claims that the nursing home caused Rose’s deterioration of health and physical condition beyond what is caused by the normal process of aging—leading to dehydration, infections, pressure sores, malnutrition and death.

Black claims that while under the nursing home’s care, Rose experienced serious emotional and physical trauma, causing extreme and unnecessary pain, degradation, unnecessary hospitalizations, disfigurement, and loss of personal dignity.

As our attorneys have discussed in a related Maryland nursing home lawyer blog, pressure sores pose serious threat to nursing homes across the country, with around one million people affected every year, causing nearly 60,000 deaths from complications of the advanced bed sore development. As our lawyers have previously discussed, with proper nursing home care and prevention, pressure ulcers are entirely preventable and even reversible, if they are discovered quickly enough and given the immediate treatment and environment for proper healing.

Family Awarded Nearly $10M in Nursing Home Neglect and Wrongful Death Lawsuit

April 22, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Our Hartford County, Maryland nursing home attorneys have been following a recent nursing home neglect and wrongful death lawsuit trial, where a Georgia jury awarded the family of a resident with over $9 million after finding the nursing home responsible for her neglect and mistreatment.

The lawsuit claimed that Charlotte Paulette Dean, a 51-year old resident of the County Crossing Assisted Living and Hutcheson Home Health Care, who suffered from cerebral palsy, was found to have various infected decubitus ulcers, or pressure sores, after being rushed to the hospital in 2006.

Dean reportedly died the following day in the hospital, and her family claims in the lawsuit that Dean’s personal injuries and wrongful death were caused by the nursing home’s negligence and mistreatment, and failure to properly care for Dean while she was a resident of the home. The trial reportedly lasted for one week, wherein the jury decided to award Dean’s family with $9,502,683 to cover pain, suffering, wrongful death, and funeral expenses.

Under the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987, all residents living in assisted living or nursing homes are entitled to receive quality care and attention with a supportive environment that improves and maintains the quality of their physical and mental health. If a Maryland assisted living or nursing home resident becomes injured or dies because of nursing home neglect, the home could be responsible for Maryland nursing home wrongful death or negligence.

Daughter Sues Nursing Home for Negligence After Mother Dies from Pressure Sores

March 10, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Baltimore County nursing home injury attorneys, we have recently read about yet another nursing home negligence lawsuit filed in Illinois, where a health and rehabilitation center is being sued for failing to properly care for Betty Dressel, a resident suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, who reportedly developed pressure ulcers all over her body while residing at the home that her family claims led to her wrongful death.

Decubitus Ulcers, also known as pressure ulcers or bedsores often occur with elderly nursing home residents suffering from Dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease, who are resting in the same position for long periods of time without moving—causing areas on the body to lose circulation, which leads to skin breakdown, a problem that our lawyers recently stated in a Maryland nursing home injury blog, is entirely preventable.

Without proper nursing home staff attention, pressure sores often progress into the four stages of bedsore development, where small sores turn into deep painful craters as a result of skin breakdown, damaging joints and tendons and causing major infections which can lead to personal injury or even death.

The lawsuit claims that Betty Dressel was treated at Cedar Ridge Health Care and Rehab Center with substandard care, and as a result of her deteriorated mental condition, they restrained her to her bed, placing her at a high risk of physical deterioration. According to her daughter, this negligent treatment lead to the development of pressure sores that reportedly formed on Dressel’s back, legs, buttocks and feet that became infected, causing sepsis, a potentially fatal infection of the blood.

Types of Elder Abuse and Neglect in Nursing Homes

March 8, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As Baltimore, Maryland nursing home injury attorneys we have recently discussed the topic of elder abuse in a nursing home abuse blog, and the prevalence of abuse in health care facilities and communities across the country, unlawfully causing harm, personal injury, and even death to older and vulnerable adults.

According to the NCEA and the NCCNHR, types of elder abuse include emotional, physical, verbal, sexual, and psychological abuse, as well as neglect, intimidation, abandonment, and exploitation.

• Physical abuse includes inflicting physical pain or injury on an elder, or the threat of inflicting pain. Physical abuse also includes hitting, pinching, slapping, shoving, and force-feeding, along with rough handling during nursing home care and treatment, when being moved, cared for, fed or given medicine. Physical abuse can also result from a nursing home staff member or an outside intruder or visitor.

• Emotional or psychological abuse inflicts mental pain, anguish, or distress on an elderly person or nursing home resident through verbal and non-verbal acts, which includes ridiculing or cursing a resident, threats of punishment or deprivation, rejection or isolation.

• Sexual abuse is non-consensual sexual contact where a resident is tricked, forced, threatened or coerced into performing acts of a sexual nature.

• Neglect is the failure to provide elderly adults with basic needs, such as proper health care and medical treatment, shelter, protection or food, which can result in conditions like dehydration, malnourishment, incontinence, pressure sores, incontinence, depression and immobilization.

Nursing Home Negligence Lawsuit Accuses Rehabilitation Center of Decubitus Ulcers, Wrongful Death

February 16, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In a previous Baltimore nursing home lawyer blog, our attorneys discussed the risk of pressure sore development in nursing homes, and the importance of proper nursing home care for pressure ulcer prevention and maintenance, to avoid resident injury or complications that can result in death.

According to recent news, a wrongful death lawsuit has been filed by Donald Simonton, who is suing Teays Vallen Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Charleston Area Medical Center for the death of his mother, Linda Bea Simonton. Simonton claims that the home engaged in nursing home negligence that reportedly led to the development and worsening of her bedsores, or decubitus ulcers, leading to her wrongful death.

Simonton was reportedly a resident of the home from December of 2008 to January of 2009, to receive physical and occupational therapy as well as skilled wound-care treatment for her legs. Her son claims that while she was at the home, her leg wounds became much worse and she developed additional pressure sores that would not have formed if the center had provided adequate nutrition. Simonton claims that his mother also suffered from inadequate hydration, which led to acute renal failure, among other health conditions leading to her untimely death.

As our Baltimore County nursing home lawyers discussed in a previous pressure sore prevention blog, once a pressure sore starts to form, the wound needs to be cared for immediately, as the sores can be healed with proper wound-care management, to prevent further skin breakdown or tissue loss. According to the Mayo Clinic, diet is also an essential part of pressure sore prevention and healing, as balanced meals supply the necessary nutrients needed to keep residents healthy.

Decubitus Ulcers and Nursing Home Negligence

February 14, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

As our attorneys have discussed in a related Baltimore nursing home lawyer blog post, pressure sores, or decubitus ulcers, are a rampant nursing home and assisted-living problem plaguing around one million people across the country every year, with nearly 60,000 deaths from complications of the advanced stages of pressure sores. Decubitus ulcers are sores that are entirely preventable, with proper nursing home care.

Pressure sores often develop at nursing home or assisted-living facilities when patients are elderly, or have limited mobility and rest for long periods of time without moving positions, which applies pressure to specific areas of the body and cuts off blood circulation, leading to skin deterioration or breakdown.

With proper nursing home staff attention, pressure sores can be prevented before they develop into the four stages of pressure sore development, often leading to soft tissue loss, deep painful craters, damage of joints and tendons and massive infections like sepsis or osteomyelitis, which can lead to nursing home injury or even death.

Other contributing pressure sore factors include dehydration, poor nutrition and lack of vitamins and minerals, as well as understaffed nurses, and health care staff without proper bed sore prevention and treatment training, which can lead to nursing home negligence—where elderly or immobile residents are left to sit for long periods of time without being moved, without having soiled undergarments changed, or without properly being cared for.

Nursing Home Owner Pays Family $3.5M For Neglecting Resident’s Penile Cancer

January 25, 2011 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

A 3.5 million nursing home negligence settlement has been reached in the lawsuit against Washington-based Everett Care & Rehabilitation, that our Prince George’s County nursing home injury lawyers discussed in a recent blog, where the family of 97-year-old nursing home resident Charles Bradley sued the home for abuse and negligence after the resident tragically suffered from penile cancer that allegedly led to his wrongful death.

According to the lawsuit, in 2007, a nurse told the home’s care manager that Bradley was experiencing skin breakdown on his penis that needed treatment. The care manager allegedly neglected to tell the doctor about Bradley, who had been a resident since 2004. Four months after the initial report, Bradley started to lose weight due to an infection of the wound, yet allegedly continued to receive no care and remained untreated.

By the time Bradley reached the emergency room in March 2008, the doctors reportedly discovered a gaping skin wound and a severe infection that had led to the total disintegration of his genitalia. The court documents claim that Bradley’s skin wound was neglected and went untreated for months in the nursing facility, developing into life threatening penile cancer. Bradley died just over two weeks after entering hospital.

Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) reportedly began investigating Bradley’s case before his death, and cited the center for failure to provide a federal standard of care for Bradley as required by law.

The owner of Everett nursing home reportedly agreed to pay Bradley’s family $3.5 million, after the family sued Everett Care & Rehabilitation in 2009 for nursing home abuse and neglect for failing to protect and care for the elderly and for failing to provide Bradley with his lawful right to great nursing home care as well as his daily basic nursing home needs—causing serious harm to Bradley that allegedly resulted in his wrongful death.