Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog
Our Maryland nursing home negligence attorneys recently discussed a wrongful death settlement of 43.5 million in a blog, after a nursing home operator was found responsible for negligence that allegedly led to a resident’s death.
In another recent wrongful death lawsuit settlement from this week that our attorneys have been following, a Wisconsin nursing home will pay $2.25 million, after a resident died in the home from an infection.
According to the lawsuit, Cynthia Wilms was a patient at the Willows Nursing and Rehabilitation Center after a 2007 hip replacement surgery. The home is being accused of neglecting Wilms’ surgical wound, which led to sepsis, a blood disease that forms when bacteria enters the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body. Sepsis is a potentially lethal condition that progresses rapidly and can lead to organ failure. Wilms died a few weeks after the surgery.
In nursing homes across the country, sepsis often results from an infection of surgical wounds, surgical drains, intravenous lines, and stage IV pressure sores, and is often associated with nursing home neglect and abuse. Sepsis is very dangerous with nursing home residents, as their immune systems are often weak. Sepsis can cause death, as it is a blood infection that travels through the body rapidly. It is reported that every year, over 200,000 people in the United States die from different forms of sepsis.
Wilms’ attorneys claimed that this case shows the catastrophic events that can take place when nursing homes place profits over the health and safety of their residents. In 2007, Willows was listed as one of the 54 worst nursing home facilities in the country, by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). WISC-TV reported that the facility’s officials acknowledged the failures, but stated that the following two reviews had been positive.
Lebowitz and Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers represent victims nursing home abuse and negligence in Baltimore, Maryland and in Washington D.C. Contact our attorneys today at 1-800-654-1949 for a free consultation about your nursing home rights.
$2.25 Million Settlement Reached in Nursing Home Lawsuit, Channel 3000.com, September 21, 2010
Nursing Home Abuse Resource: Sepsis
Nursing Home Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit, Chicago Tribune, September 22, 2010
Related Web Resources:
National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA)