By Dan Noll on April 3rd, 2024 in Nursing Home Abuse
Springfield Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Explain Can You Sue a Nursing Home for Bed Sores in Illinois
Bed sores and pressure sores are one of the most painful and debilitating types of personal injuries that occur in a nursing home. Despite them being “never” events, each year over 2.5 million people suffer bed sores in the United States. Unfortunately, approximately 60,000 people diagnosed with a bed sore will be wrongfully killed each year in the United States as a direct result. The Springfield nursing home abuse lawyers at the Noll Law Office know that the majority of those diagnosed with or killed by bed sores are older adults. Many of these individuals are residing in nursing homes and long-term care facilities where they expect to be properly cared for and monitored. Although many facilities do a good job at that, some do not. When residents suffer a bed sore, pressure ulcer, or another type of related injury, most victims and their families ask can you sue a nursing home for bed sores?
And that answer is generally yes. At the Noll Law Office, we know that “never” events like bed sores are caused by the reckless, careless, or negligent conduct of healthcare providers. Usually that is a nursing home and its staff, but it could also be other healthcare providers like hospitals, long-term care facilities, or other medical institutions. Whoever was at fault for a resident’s bed sore needs to be held responsible for their pain and suffering, medical bills, and other damages. To learn can you sue a nursing home for bed sores and how the Noll Law Office can help you, contact their compassionate and experienced nursing home abuse lawyers by dialing (217) 414-8889.
What are Bed Sores?
Bed sores are also known as pressure sores, pressure ulcers, bed ulcers, pressure injuries, or decubitus ulcers. They are generally all the same thing, and refer to a breakdown of skin and tissue due to pressure on the body. That pressure is usually prolonged, meaning that a person’s body remained in contact at the same points for a long period of time. The excessiveness refers to the amount of force on the body, which is different when a person is lying down on a hard surface versus a soft surface, or even a surface with a spring that is pushing back.
The combination of prolonged exposure to this pressure, as well as other factors like improper nutrition, inadequate hydration, and poor hygiene, can all contribute significantly to the breakdown in skin and tissue. As a result, bed sores develop and cause damage beyond the skin and go into the body, causing serious injuries that can be life-threatening.
There are four stages of bed sores. The first two are the mildest and refer to damage to the skin and just below the skin. Whereas a stage 3 bed sore is a very dangerous one that usually results in an infection, damage into the fatty tissue layer, and can cause bleeding, oozing, and other painful and uncomfortable symptoms. However, a stage 4 bed sore is the worst, which is when the damage progresses into a resident’s muscle layer and can damage bone. This type of bed sore is a life-threatening condition and can result in sepsis or multiple organ failure.
Can You Sue a Nursing Home for Bed Sores?
Yes, you can generally sue a nursing home for bed sores in Illinois. However, in order to do so, you will need to establish a few things. This includes everything from determining the stage of bed sore to who may have caused the bed sore, to when the bed sore should have been discovered and its progression should have been stopped and reversed.
What Stage is the Bed Sore?
Although all bed sores are indications of poor resident care and treatment, stage 1 and stage 2 bed sores are difficult cases to win. That’s because a bed sore lawsuit is generally not just about the fact that a resident developed a bed sore, but also that a nursing home failed to monitor, identify, diagnose, and timely treat a bed sore before it became a stage 3 or stage 4.
Thus, cases where a victim is diagnosed with a stage 1 and stage 2 bed sore are often difficult to win. They also have limited damages because the harm done – while absolutely painful and uncomfortable – still may be limited in what a court could award as compensation.
Whereas for stage 3 and stage 4 bed sores, the damages are much more severe and often lead to extreme pain and suffering. They can also be fatal in an extremely painful manner, causing horrific pain and suffering that was needlessly caused.
Who Causes the Bed Sore?
You’ll also need to determine who caused the bed sore. For a resident who was in a nursing home facility the entire time, that is usually an easy answer. However, many times residents are transferred from a hospital to a nursing home, or vice versa, and the different facilities will blame the other entity for bed sores. Sometimes the parties will even blame the victim for not explaining to the parties at a transfer any complaints of pain or discomfort in a discharge examination by one facility and the admission examination by the other.
Although this doesn’t matter and is a defense trick. As a victim, your Springfield nursing home abuse lawyer will be able to argue that there is “joint and several liability,” meaning that either both or just one of the defendants were negligent. This will require the defendants to argue amongst themselves who was truly at fault, or what percentage of liability they each have, without requiring the victim to have to figure that out. However, it still requires that a plaintiff sue the proper defendants in the first place, which is why it is important to hire an experienced personal injury law firm like the Noll Law Office.
Damages from the Bed Sore
Even if there is liability, or fault, determining can you sue a nursing home for a bed sore in Illinois still requires damages. However, in stage 3 and stage 4 bed sore cases, the damages are often very apparent. This type of condition is extremely painful and results in significant pain and suffering. It can also cause other financial harm, such as unexpected medical bills and the need for increased nursing home care and treatment.
Still Unsure Can You Sue a Nursing Home for Bed Sores in Illinois? Call the Experienced Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers at the Noll Law Office
If you or a loved one suffered any type of bed sore, pressure ulcer, or another type of serious or catastrophic nursing home injury in Illinois, call the Noll Law Office. Their compassionate and experienced legal team offers free consultations and pays the upfront costs of litigation upfront from families. These expenses are only reimbursed once they recover compensation for you, and their legal fees are only paid from a percentage of what is recovered. That means there is no cost to learn about your rights or to get started with their bodily injury law firm. To get started, contact their experienced nursing home abuse lawyers in Springfield to schedule your free appointment.