As innocent as the term may sound, when "pressure sores" progress, they should perhaps be more accurately referred to as "large open wounds" when they progress to their more advanced stages.  An advanced pressure sore remains one of the indelible emblems of poor care--- when the skin and tissue in the area of the wound gives way to a large opening in the body where the underlying organs and bone may be visible.

What makes pressure sores uniquely disturbing compared with other medical complications is that patients at many medical facilities are no less at risk for developing this complication than they may have been 10, 20... or even 100 years ago!  Unlike other medical complications that have been drastically reduced or eradicated with the implementation of medication and technological advancements, pressure sore prevention relies primarily on the backs of the staff members whom are responsible for caring for immobile patients.

By moving a patient from their bed or wheelchair at regular intervals, the bodies natural circulatory process of bringing is allowed to operate as nature intended.  Life-sustaining blood flow to brings nutrients to tissues in the body which may not have been receiving it due to unrelieved pressure on the person's body.

Unfortunately, the anatomical differences in people combined with the unique positioning of the individual in a bed or wheelchair commonly results in situations where the first indication of the build-up of unrelieved pressure on the body--- is a pressure sore in its primary stages.  While, pressure sores in their early stages may be healed with timely care-- too often early stage pressure sores simply progress to more advanced wounds when staff fail to make necessary interventions or in circumstances where patients are quite ill.

Without a tool to determine who needs to be moved--- and when, medical facilities typcially use a one size fits all approach and (theorretically) move patients at regular intervals .  While the regular "turning" may serve its purpose in terms of preventing pressure sores in a substantial number of patients, the frequency may be insufficient or impracticible for others. 

Perhaps the identification of the early stages of pressure sores is about to gets a much needed gift in the form of new medical technology?

I recently read about a new product to help in the assessment of mobility (and circulation) in bed-ridden patients.  The Mobility Monitor is a patient monitoring system used beneath the mattresses of physically compromosed patients, to alert staff when a patient needs to be moved-- or when they can rest.

Beginning in June, the system will be commercially available to nursing homes and hospitals as a much needed tool in the arsenal of pressure sore prevention.

I look forward to seeing this promising device in nursing homes and hospitals.  While the device promises to improve patient care, I would think that such a device would be welcomed by many facilities as the device appears to take much of the subjectivity associated with nursing care out of the patient-care equation and staff can focus more of their energy on actively listening to what the patient needs as opposed to worrying about adhering to a strict schedule.

Read more about the Mobility Monitor here.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries:

Bed Sore Prevention: Staff Must Turn & Reposition Bed-Ridden Patients At Regular Intervals

What devices or products can be used to prevent or relieve bed sores?

Medical Malpractice Lawsuits & Hospital Acquired Pressure Sores

$5 Million In Punitive Damages Awarded To Widow In Bed Sore Case Against Nursing Home & Hospital

While the origins of hospital-acquired pressure sore (bed sores) cases and pressure sores that originate during a nursing home admission are quite similar with respect to the underlying factors behind their development, the cases can vary substantially when it comes to a litigation perspective. 

Despite the relatively elementary reasons for their development, hospital bed sore cases can become quite complex when the necessary legal maneuvering associated with medical malpractice cases gets involved.

Unlike nursing home negligence cases which are typically based upon a standard of care set forth in the patient's 'care plan', hospital pressure sore cases lack the relatively 'cut and dry' standard of care and require the use of a treating physician or retained expert to establish how the medical facility veered off course with respect to caring for the particular patient.

Given the hesitancy of many doctors to testify against a peer in the medical community, many hospital pressure sore cases rely upon expert testimony to establish both the applicable standard of care (how hospitals in the community are to care for patients) and causation (how the deviation in the standard of care resulted in the patient developing pressure sores).

Consequently, we for most hospital pressure sore cases, we commonly utilize the services of medical experts including both physicians and nurses to assist in proving our cases--- even during our initial case reviews.  While, the utilization of these experts can prove to be fairly time consuming and expensive, these experts can identify cases that are indeed meritorious and those where there may be problems down the road.

Further, as a lawyer who represents families in hospital acquired pressure sore cases, I find that families genuinely appreciate hearing an assessment of their situation from an expert who has no horse in the race.  Similarly, from a settlement posture, the early retention of experts (with case reports) signals a level of preparedness to hospital administrators that your case is prepared and ready to do.  

While there will never can be a guarantee of a specific outcome in any lawsuit, getting your ducks in a row at an early stage can set the stage for the timely resolution of hospital pressure sore cases.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog entries:

Can a hospital be pursued for medical malpractice when a patient develops bed sores during a hospitalization?

Bed Sores Are Amongst Most Common Hospital Errors

Study Claims Hospitals Frequently Under-report Severe Bed Sores

Medical Facilities Need To Identify Pressure Sores As They Develop

Bed sores now join a list of dreadful occurrences such as: operations on the wrong body part, patient suicides, foreign objects left in during surgery and deadly falls in the hospital as situations that simply shouldn't occur in the presence of proper medical care.

According to reports in the Journal Gazette regarding serious medical errors in Indiana Hospital and surgery centers, the development of serious bedsores during an admission tops the list as the most common danger facing patients.

In addition to the recognition by individual state’s health departments as an unnecessary complication, the federal government has similarly categorized hospital-acquired bed sores (also referred to as: pressure sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers) as an inexcusable medical condition categorized as a ‘never event’.  As part of the government’s list of never events, hospitals are prohibited from submitting claims for reimbursement to Medicare for expenses related to bed sore care.

About Hospital Bed Sores

Like bedsores in other medical and long-term care settings, hospital bed sores result when staff allow patients to remain in one position for long periods.  Over time, the pressure from the individual's body restricts blood flow and causes tissue to die.  As the tissue dies, a wound-- commonly referred to as a bed sore develops.

Understanding the clear risks that bed sores can pose to patients--- particularly immobile ones---hospitals need to be mindful of the inherent risks and implement preventative measures such as: encouraging patients to be mobile and using specialized pressure relieving devices like air mattresses and cushions.

Given the overwhelming evidence that pressure sores can be preventable, their presence in a medical setting is inexcusable.  When they do develop, the patient or his or her family may be entitled to pursue a claim for damages against the hospital or medical facility.

Related:

Simple preventative techniques can drastically reduce the rate of hospital-acquired decubitus ulcers

Proper “Coding” Necessary for Hospitals Receiving Bed Sore Reimbursement

Why is it important to differentiate the type of facility where a bed sore developed?

Is The Lack Of Continuity In Patient Care Responsible For The Endless Bedsore Problem?

But what happens when a pressure sore begins to develop on a patient?

Even assuming that facilities have taken all of the necessary precautions in implementing pressure sore preventative techniques, from a medical / legal perspective their responsibility doesn't end there.  Facilities must monitor each patients condition and implement changes in the care plan when the need arises.  Simply continuing with the patients treatment plan after the patient has developed a pressure sore in not acceptable.

A prime example of a hospitals failure to recognize a developing pressure sore on a patient made the news headlines across the pond.  Forty-seven-year-old Angela Banks, received a horrific souvenir during her stay at a British Hospital when she developed a pressure sore (also referred to as: pressure ulcer, decubitus ulcer or bed sore).  Banks, who was born with spina bifida and remained confined to a wheel chair, developed multiple pressure sores on her buttocks during a hospitalization.

The pressure sores advanced to the point that the open wounds allowed an infection to infiltrate the bones in the area of her thigh and pelvis.  The infection was so severe that Banks required a surgery to remove a portion of her infected femur and required more than 30 months of treatment in the hospital for wound care.

Even after getting discharged, Ms. Banks remains impaired with further limited mobility and a heightened risk for developing more pressure sores in the future.

Alleging that the hospital staff should have identified the pressure sore and infection in a quicker manner, Mr. Banks successfully settled a negligence claim with the hospital where the wounds developed and progressed.

My take on untreated pressure sores...

Regularly working on pressure sore cases, I tend to see patients getting hit with a 1-2 punch after facilities negligently perform their pressure sore prevention tasks and then make matters worse by failing to identify and treat the wound.  While there frequently is no excuse in allowing a wound to initially develop, when staff ignore a developing wound--  things only get worse-- and further solidifies allegations of negligence against them!

Related:

Pressure Sores Must Be Timely Treated In Order To Maximize Chances Of Patient Recovery

Why are physically disabled patients at risk for developing bed sores?

If a lawsuit or claim is filed against a facility where a person developed bed sores, what type of damages is the person entitled to?

What are the signs of infection for people who have bed sores?

After all, the prevention of pressure sores is not rocket science!  

Basic preventative measures implemented by nursing homes, hospital and other types of long-term care facilities can significantly reduce the incidence of pressure sores.  Well-known preventative measures include:

• Turning patients at regular intervals
• Keeping patients clean and dry
• Ensuring patients are kept well nourished and hydrated
• Utilizing the latest advancements in pressure reduction technologies-- cushions, mattresses ect.

Particularly in patients who may already be disabled or elderly, the development of pressure sores is an especially cruel complication that can cause pain, disability and significantly increase the chances of patients acquiring complex complications such as: sepsis, gangrene or osteomyelitis.

With years of experience representing patients and families in cases involving the development of pressure sores at medical facilities and other types of institutions, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers understands the troubling issues as they weigh on the individual and family.  

Should the need arise to seek legal recourse in relation to the development of pressure sores, we invite you to review our expanded Pressure Sore Injury section to our firm website with pages devoted to: Pressure Sores in Nursing Homes, Pressure Sores in Hospitals, Pressure Sores in Assisted Living Facilities, Stages Of Pressure Sores and information on frequent complications such as: Sepsis, Osteomyelitis, Gangrene, Necrotizing Fasciitis and Death.

In reconciling these figures, the actuaries determined that an estimated 1.5 million measurable and preventable medical errors in 2008 resulted in significant increases in disability, death, lost productivity and increased medical costs. 

Though preventable medical errors can occur in a number of hospital and situations, 55% errors were due to:

• Pressure ulcers
• Postoperative infections
• Mechanical complications of devices or implants
• Post-laminectomy syndrome
• Hemorrhages complicating a procedure

The actuaries arrived at their calculations based upon an insurance claims database. However, as acknowledged by the authors of the study, the actual cost of preventable medical errors may be substantially higher  as a notable number of errors go unreported.

From a dollars-and-sense analysis of cases involving medical errors, it is undeniable that these situations need to be addressed by medical facilities both in order to improve patient care and to help improve their own financial well being.

Read more about this study on preventable medical errors here.

Related:

Hospital Acquired Pressure Sores Are Devastating Source Of Patient Injury & Death

States Move To More Transparency Regarding Medical Malpractice & Hospital Errors

Medical Facilities Can Reduce The Incidence Of Infection By Taking Some Basic Precautionary Steps

Hospital Errors: Study Finds Preventable Errors Continue To Harm Patients At Alarming Rate

Certainly, I'm not one to bicker about they way things were and how tough everything is now, but I certainly have developed a respect for both traditions and learning how to do things fundamentally correctly-- without the addition of all the new gizmo's that alway's promise to improve on the way things were done yesterday.

I began having a hankering for nostalgia after I read an article a colleague emailed me from England, "Why in the 21st century, are NHS patients dying in agony from bedsores?" The article readily references a new book on the British healthcare system, by Michael Mandelstam, "How We Treat The Sick: Neglect And Abuse In Our Health Services."  

Reading though the article and book references within the article, it appears that both authors blame modern developments in our healthcare system for the systematic increases in bedsores and other medical complications that are acquired by patients during their admissions to hospitals and nursing homes.  

In particular, the writers cite the lack of continuity of care from all types of hospital staff, nurses, orderlies, and doctors as one of the main reasons we are seeing the modern day bedsore epidemic at many medical facilities.

In the good ol days, nurses and doctors were assigned particular patients whom they typically cared for during their entire admission or stay.  While caring for the same patients day-in and day-out must have help ease patient nerves, it also encouraged the staff to care for patients with a sense of pride! After all, would anyone want their professionalism questioned when a patient developed a bedsore-- due to their inattentive care?

As Dr. Matin Scurr sums up the current situation:

I've written before about the lack of continuity of care as a result of destroying the 'firm'-- a paitent used to be assisnged to one firm (or team) of medics.  The firm comprised one or two house offices (recently graduated doctors), the senior house officers, registrars and, at the top of the hierarchy, the consultant.

This firm ensured continuty of patient care.  But the firm is no more.  No patient care has become like a high-risk version of pass-the-parcel -- patients are simply handled from doctor to doctor with notes in a folder and no one following them through.

I couldn't agree more with Dr. Scurr's assessment!  Particularly as evidenced by the development of bedsores during hospitalization or nursing home stay, it is important to remember their development is really a sign of systematic neglect--- as opposed to the inadequate care of a few caregivers. 

While we may indeed see the development of other types hospital-acquired complications (medication errors, dropped patients, ect.) derive from a situation involving an individuals poor judgment, bedsores are really emblematic of systematic neglect.  Even in the most fragile patients, bedsores-- particularly advanced wounds (stage 4 bedsores) develop over periods of days and weeks.

When evaluated as a progressive condition, it usually becomes apparent that not only was the staff not doing their job in terms of bedsore prevention--- but perhaps equally importantly-- staff may not have been implementing the necessary medical treatments as the wound progressed.

I can only imagine that forcing a personal accountability issue medical staff would lead to situations where patient care would inherently improve-- both out of the staff's personal pride and perhaps-- fear over personal responsibility over their visibly inadequate care.  Indeed, perhaps its time we take a page from the past and acknowledge seemingly improved efficiencies doesn't translate to better patient care.

Related:

Simple preventative techniques can drastically reduce the rate of hospital-acquired decubitus ulcers

Families Must Educate Themselves When It Comes To Bed Sores Acquired In A Nursing Home Or Hospital

How many hospital patients suffer from bed sores?

Reducing Decubitus Ulcers In Hospitals. How One Facility Managed To Reduce Hospital-Acquired Wounds By 63%

Under the new plan to improve the quality of care, Maryland Hospitals with medical complication rates higher than the state's average would be penalized by having lower rates of reimbursement provided by the state.  

Utilizing a list of 49 types of medical complications (including common problems such as: bed sores, falls, urinary tract infections and accidental nicks and cuttings during medical procedures), Maryland's Health Services Cost Review Commission would then look to see if indeed the condition developed during a hospitalization or if it was indeed related to an existing illness.

According to Dianne Deeney, Associate Director of Quality Initiatives of the Commission; 

We don't believe all these complications are absolutely preventable.  But we believe... there is great room for improvement in these complication rates.

As a lawyer who works on medical malpractice cases, I am frequently downright repulsed by the fact that many people who go into hospitals for medical care, come away far sicker-- or with completely unrelated complications like pressure ulcers during their admission.  I feel as if the time has come for hospitals and other medical facilities to implement well-known preventative measures such as: specialized staff training, emergency reviews and utilization of electronic medical records.

Hopefully this program will serve as a kick-in-the-rear for under-performing hospitals to clean up their act-- or face real economic consequences.  The time has come.

Related:

Nursing Home Injury Laws: Maryland

Md. hospitals fined for high infection rates, The Examiner

However, particularly when there are photographs of a gaping wound on a patient's buttocks or heels, many of these cases seem to miraculously get get resolved prior to when they get presented to a jury.  Perhaps some of the risk managers and lawyers defending these nursing homes and hospitals are providing useful advice to their clients to: settle, settle, settle?

Maybe the 'settle, settle, settle' message got confused in a recent case involving the development of bed sores during a hospital admission following a hip surgery.  The family of Alfred Gonzales, filed a medical medical malpractice lawsuit against Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center (New Mexico) due to the bed sores that developed on his heels during his hospitalization. 

The jury awarded Mr. Gonzalez's family $10.3 million.

Ignoring their own protocol, the hospital failed to provide Mr. Gonzalez with the appropriate care and devices to prevent the development of the bed sores (interchangeably referred to as: pressure sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers).  Tom Rhodes, the lawyer representing Mr. Gonzalez's family said it best;

Shift after shift, they didn't do what they were supposed to d.  After they know they had a problem, they charted saying that there was no problem.  It was haphazard and reckless, like they were really doing the stuff; they were just writing it down.  A lot of it had to do with the fact that he (Mr. Gonzalez) couldn't communicate well.

Obviously, the poor charting and blatant disregard for patient well being was conveyed to the jury in this matter.  The award is comprised on $595,000 in compensatory damages and a hefty $9.75 million in punitive damages.

There is no doubt that the significance of this verdict will travel to hospital administrators across the country.  Though many folks in hospital management positions may brush this case off as a freak situation, my hope is that a majority of the decision-makers take note of this case for the fact that jurors will no longer accept the fact that the development of bed sores during a hospital admission is an inevitable part of being hospitalized.

Related:

Why is it important to differentiate the type of facility where a bed sore developed?

Medical Facilities Are Not Doing Enough To Prevent Pressure Ulcers On Patients' Heels

$5 Million In Punitive Damages Awarded To Widow In Bed Sore Case Against Nursing Home & Hospital

What are some common defenses used by nursing homes and hospitals in lawsuits involving pressure sores?

Christus St. Vincent Medical Center slapped with $10.3M penalty in bed sore lawsuit by Phaedra Hayword, the New Mexican, February 18, 2011

Nursing Home Injury Laws: New Mexico

• Turning patients 

• Using pressure reducing mattresses and pads (pressure relieving devices) 

• Keeping residents clean and dry 

• Providing adequate nutrition and hydration 

• Performing skin checks 

• Bone/join infections (osteomyelitis, the infection spreads into your bones and can cause damage to tissue and cartilage) 

• Cellulitis (infection of the skin’s connective tissue, spreads quickly and can cause sepsis and meningitis, two life-threatening complications) 

• Sepsis (bacteria enters your bloodstream, life-threatening condition which can cause organ failure and shock) 

• Cancer (of the skin’s squamous cells)
• Death

• 45,500 hospital admissions had pressure ulcers as the primary diagnosis 
•  1 in 25 hospitalizations related to pressure sores resulted in death during the admission 
•  457,000 hospital admissions had pressure ulcers as the secondary diagnosis 
•  1 in 8 of these admissions ended in death 
•  Pressure ulcer related hospitalizations also cost more than the average hospital stay ($16,755-20,430 as opposed to about $10,000) and requires a longer hospital stay (13-14 days as opposed to only 5 days) 

From both a medical treatment and legal standpoint, families coping with a situation where a loved one has acquired a bed sore in a nursing home or hospital are quickly faced with difficult questions.

Let's face it, no one expects a loved one to acquire a bed sore.  When notice is received, most families are shocked to learn that they may be faced with making difficult decisions from both a medical and legal standpoint. 

Given the fact that the overwhelming majority of bed sores (similarly referred to as: pressure sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers) are the result of systematic neglect and improper care, medical facilities are frequently hesitant to supply answers to questions like:

What causes the bed sores to develop?

What types of medical treatments are available to treat this condition?

Is the facility responsible for this condition?

What is the legal recourse for a patient with bed sores?

Will my loved one survive?

You are not alone.  With more than 500,000 nursing home and hospital patients coping bed sores, there remains a shortage of complete, concise and updated sources of information.  In an effort to fill this void, we have developed a website devoted to proving the most comprehensive source of information related to bed sores on the internet-- Bed Sore FAQ. 

Bed Sore FAQ is more than a medical-legal website, it is an authoritative resource for families to gather information to assist in the decision making process.  In addition to answers to common questions, Bed Sore FAQ has an expended Bed Sore Resource Center highlighting the following topics:

• Bed Sore Glossary
• Bed Sore Treatment Specialists
• Bed Sore Articles
• Bed Sore Research Studies
• Websites Devoted To Bed Sores

For more than 30 years, attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have fought for injured patients and families who have been harmed due to carelessness or neglect of others.  Put our experience in the fields of nursing home negligence and medical malpractice to work for you!  We invite you to speak to our lawyers for a free case analysis today.

While the underlying causes of heel-related pressure sores remain similar to their peers:

• mmobility
• Friction
• Shear
• Unrelieved pressure

These factors combined with the physical structure of the foot make the heel area particularly susceptible to developing pressure sores in both the acute care (hospitalization) and long-term setting (nursing homes).

As many as 1 in 3 patients in acute or long-term care setting may develop some type of pressure sore on their heel during their admission.  While heel pressure sores, certainly can very in their degree of severity, advanced pressure sores are painful, disabling and embarrassing for the patient.

Factors relating to the development of pressure sores

The physical make up of the foot also makes the treatment of heel pressure sores difficult for the facility and particularly disabling for the patient.  The calcaneus is the largest bone in the foot, yet covered be relatively little muscle making it particularly susceptible to damage from unrelieved pressure.

Even relatively young and healthy patients in nursing homes and hospitals are at risk for developing pressure sores on their heels because many staff in nursing homes and hospitals are simply unaware of the potential risk and commonly used bed sore risk assessments may not take into consideration elements unique to heel pressure sores.

In particular, patients with suffering from hip and leg fractures are at risk, along with patients in intensive care who may have compromised blood pressure due to trauma are at an increased risk for developing pressure sores on the heels. Facilities need to be focused on these groups of patients --- and any patient with limited mobility, as they remain at risk for developing heel, foot and ankle pressure ulcers.

Preventative Techniques To Reduce Heel Pressure Sores

There is no secret to reducing the incidence of heel-related pressure sores.  Rather, facilities need to be attuned to common sense precautions to reduce the amount of pressure exerted on the heels.

Common preventative techniques to reduce the development of pressure sores on the heels include:

• Using pillows and towels to prop up the patients legs, thereby eliminating or reducing the contact between the heels and the underlying surface
• Use of specially designed foam boots on patients feet
• Use of specialty mattresses

Treatment For Patients With Heel Pressure Sores

As with pressure sores that form in other areas of the body, it is far easier to prevent pressure sores on the heels than to treat them after they develop.  Treatment plans generally include keeping the wounds clean and dry to allow the tissue to heal. 

In situations involving advanced pressure sores (stage 3 or 4), the wound may need a procedure referred to as a debridement where the dead tissue is removed during a surgery. When heel pressure sores advance or become infected, there may be few options other than to amputate the leg. 

Prognosis for Patients With Heel Pressure Sores

Most medical experts remain cautious when issuing a prognosis for a patient with pressure sores on their heels.  Even after the wound on the heel is tended to, heel pressure sores are particularly disabling for people of all ages and put patients at risk for other medical complications that may arise from prolonged immobility.

Given the severity of pressure sores on the heel and foot that developed during an admission to a medical facility, a careful analysis of the care should be evaluated from a medical-legal standpoint.  If the facility failed to employ proper care, a lawsuit may be initiated by the patient or family for medical expenses, pain and disability.

Related:

If you are looking for a comprehensive article on the development of pressure sores on patients’ heels, I suggest that you take a look at: Heel Pressue Ulcers: Stand Guard, Adv Skin Wound Care. 2008 Jun;21(6):282-92; quiz 293-4. Langemo D, Thompson P, Hunter S, Hanson D, Anderson J. University of North Dakota College of Nursing, Grand Forks, ND, USA.

Are bed sores on the heels common?

Are assisted living facilities responsible for the prevention of bed sores in their patients?

Are the development of bed sores at a nursing home considered to be a form of nursing home abuse?

The case, believed to be the first of its kind in terms of awarding punitive damages against a nursing home in Philadelphia courts, was allocated: $1.5 million against Jeanes Hospital and $3.5 million against Hillcrest Convalescent Home. 

According to widow's lawyer, Steven R. Maher, Jeans Hospital failed to diagnose the man's urinary tract infection that contributed to the development of bed sores (also referred to as: pressure sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers) and then the man was transferred to Hillcrest Nursing Home where the bed sores worsened.  Despite his wife's best efforts to care for her husband at home, the man succumbed to the bed sores approximately two years after he developed them.

This punitive damage award is in addition to a $1 million compensatory damage award a jury had previously awarded in the case.   Incidentally, Jeanes Hospital is part of the Temple University Health System and Hillcrest is owned by Genesis HealthCare Corp., a large nursing home operator in the Northeast.

While punitive damages are rare due to the high threshold an injured party must prove, in this case 'outrageous and reckless conduct', it doesn't surprise me that these type of damages were awarded in a bed sore case.

Obviously, the plaintiff's lawyers did a great job presenting their case, but when jurors hear and see how devastating a bed sore can be, it most definitely evokes feelings of rage-- when they see how a medical facilities neglect resulted in such devastating injuries such as advanced bed sores.

Related:

Unusual damages set in Phila, bedsores case, Philly.com, March 17, 2010

Over 500,000 Adults Suffer From Bed Sores In Hospitals

New York Jury Punishes Nursing Home Where Man Develops More Than 20 Bed Sores

If a lawsuit or claim is filed against a facility where a person developed bed sores, what type of damages is the person entitled to?

Bed Sore Pictures, Bed Sore FAQ

Bed Sore Resources

Bed Sore Treatment Specialists

• Identifying decubitus ulcers on all new admissions
• Reducing use of diapers amongst patients
• Encouraging all staff to look for and document decubitus ulcers, even in their earliest stages
• Paying extra attention to patients who are bed bound or who's skin comes into contact with medical equipment like oxygen masks or tubing
• Implementing daily skin checks and intensive, hospital-wide skin checks on a quarterly basis to help the facility keep accurate tabs on how well its wound prevention program is working

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Entries

Over 500,000 Adults Suffer From Bed Sores In Hospitals

Pressure Sores In Hospitals On The Rise

In For Rehab. Out With Bedsores.

Proper Wound Documentation

Bed Sore Resources

Federal and State regulations require nursing homes to conduct a thorough assessment of all new admissions.  The assessment evaluates the individuals skin integrity and attempts to determine who is susceptible to develop of pressure sores.  This initial assessment is designed to help nursing home staff implement preventative pressure sore care.

Hospitals on the other hand, are not governed by the same regulations and consequently are not as attuned to pressure sore prevention.  Many hospitals fail to train their staff to identify pressure sore risk and implement policies for pressure sore prevention.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the number of hospital patients who develop pressure sores (also known as pressure ulcers, bed sores or decubitus ulcers) has increased by 63% since 1996. 

Pressure sores are caused by unrelieved pressure to the skin which cuts off blood circulation to the area.  Hospitalized seniors are particularly vulnerable to development of pressure sores because many have limited mobility and may be bedridden. 

Further increasing the risk of pressure sores amongst the elderly is the fact that many seniors have lost a considerable amount of muscle and fat that would normally help relieve the pressure in younger people.  Most pressure sores develop in areas where there is a 'bony' prominence.  Common areas where pressure sores develop are: the sacrum, coccyx, heels, elbows and ankles. 

Pressure sores are graded by their severity (1, 2, 3 and 4).  A stage 1 pressure sore may be a reddened area with some blistering.  By the time a pressure sore advances to stage 4, a deep wound has developed and may also involve organs and bones.  The AHRQ determined the average duration of a hospital stay for treatment of pressure sores to be 13 days, with an average cost of $37,500.

Pressure sores are preventable.  Hospital staff need to focus on patients factors and take necessary steps to assure patients remain free from pressure sores during their stay.  Among the steps hospitals need to take to prevent development of pressure sores are:

• Changes resident's positioning every two hours
• Use pressure relieving air mattresses
• Make sure patients are receiving proper nutrition
• Keep the resident clean and dry

We can help you

Don't let hospitals get away with providing substandard care. If you or a loved one has developed a pressure sore during a hospitalization, put our experience litigating pressure sore cases to work for you.  We have successfully recovered money for our clients from hospitals throughout the country. Contact the pressure sore lawyers at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers for a personalized case consultation. All consultations are confidential.   We will come to you. 

Resource: About.com