The family of a New Jersey woman is suing a nursing home after their loved one died as a result of a painful bedsore she reportedly developed while in the center’s care. This is unfortunately an all-too-common scenario for those who entrust their care to nursing homes. Bed sores are not a normal part of nursing home living. They are preventable and treatable if caught early. No one should die as a result of a bed sore infection.
NJ.com reports the 90-year-old woman was admitted to the facility two years ago with a broken right hip. She was confined to her hospital bed for a period of 100 days, after which point her insurance ran out. In all that time, her family alleges, the doctor and staffers at the facility either failed to notice or ignored the fact that she had developed and was suffering from a serious bed sore on her lower back.
When the woman was returned home to family after her insurance ran out, it was only then they discovered the sore on her back. Her family rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she was diagnosed with a Stage 4 decubitus ulcer. The sore was so far progressed, the woman was suffering from deadly sepsis.
Sepsis is a life-threatening blood infection that causes injury to tissues and organs. It’s an immune response to an infection. According to one study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 160,000 nursing home residents in the U.S. – about 11 percent of the total – had pressure ulcers. The most common of those were Stage 2 pressure ulcers, though stage 4 were the most serious. Our nursing home injury lawyers understand who are at the nursing home for less than one year are more likely to develop pressure ulcers than those who were in the facility for a longer stay.
In this case, it was determined there was nothing much that could be done to help the woman who suffered from the Stage 4 ulcer and sepsis. The bedsore had worked its way to her bowel, and there was no more treatment that could be effective. She was sent home with hospice care. She died several days later.
The cause of her death, according to official records, was complications from the bedsore.
Her family now alleges the nursing home displayed reckless indifference and deliberate disregard for her safety and well-being and further violated the New Jersey Nursing Home Responsibility and Rights of Residents Act. Specifically, the facility lacked proper supervision, was severely understaffed and intentionally underutilized the critical services patients needed, the lawsuit alleges.
The woman’s family said that although they did visit her, they did not see the bedsore because she was always on her back. It was not the duty of family members to turn her over, to undress her or to ensure she was receiving adequate care. All of this was the responsibility and duty of the staff. Further, it was the responsibility of the doctor of internal medicine to conduct a full medical exam that would have uncovered the existence of the developing sore. This failure to exercise reasonable care was the proximate cause of decedent’s injury and subsequent death, plaintiffs allege.
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Additional Resources:
Woman developed fatal bedsore while in nursing home’s care, suit claims, Aug. 13, 2017, By Anthony Attrino, NJ.com
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