A nursing home negligence lawsuit was recently filed in Chicago’s Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of a disabled man who suffered the amputation of his leg following the development of bed sores during his admission to a Joliet, IL nursing home. The lawsuit alleges that Hillcrest Nursing & Rehabilitation Center was negligent in the… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers
Subscribe to Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers RSS FeedBogus Bed Sore Ointment Manufacturer Charged With Medicaid Fraud
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, Whistleblower / Qui Tam ClaimsBed sores are a never ending problem facing nursing home and hospital patients who may be disabled or have limited physical mobility.When patients are permitted to sit or lay in one position for extended periods of time, the physical weight of their bodies pressed against the supportive surface (bed or wheelchair)– over an extended period… Continue Reading
Family Settles Bed Sore Lawsuit Against Chicago Nursing Home
Posted in Abuse In Chicago Nursing Homes & Other Communities Within Illinois, Bed Sore Lawsuit, Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersI can’t imagine a more difficult decision than selecting a nursing home to care for loved one. While family and friends may visit when then can, the truth is that when a family member is placed under the care of skilled nursing facility, the individual’s care is surrendered to the staff at the facility—as it… Continue Reading
$12 Million Bed Sore Verdict Is A Mixed Blessing For Family
Posted in Bed Sore Lawsuit, Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersThere’s a misconception that when a person receives a large verdict in a personal injury or medical malpractice case the person becomes wealthy overnight. Aside from the fact that the individual presumably suffered some type of loss in the first place and was merely being compensated for those losses by a jury– the fact is… Continue Reading
To Turn, Or Not To Turn. Can Nursing Home Patients Effectively Choose To Develop Bed Sores?
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersThere was an interesting thread on The National Review Online written by Wesley Smith, “Should Patients Be Allowed To Die From Bed Sore?” which discusses the ethical considerations involved when a patient effectively refuses medical care. Taking the concept of ‘refusing’ medical care one step further, Smith raises a point which I found to be… Continue Reading
Jury Recognizes Nursing Home Neglect After Patient Developed Pressure Sores
Posted in Bed Sore Lawsuit, LitigationOne of the most common defense strategies employed by nursing homes in jury cases, is to make the case more complicated than it really is. The theory behind this tactic is my making the underlying case about medicine– as opposed to a facility simply not doing their job the waters will begin to get more… Continue Reading
Using A Wound VAC To Treat Pressure Sores
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersPressure sores, once started, can be difficult to treat and heal, even by the best medical staff. Though prevention is still the best medicine in the case of these painful and deadly sores, there is a treatment that uses a machine called the wound VAC that seems to accelerate the healing while also protecting the… Continue Reading
All Bed Sore Cases Are Automatic ‘Money In The Bank’? Right? Wrong!
Posted in Bed Sore Lawsuit, Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, Hospital Bed SoresIt would seem that patients who have been neglected in nursing homes to the point that they are suffering from pressure sores would be an easy case to prove. However, that is not always the case. First off, the large conglomerates often own these nursing homes and have teams of legal counsel that are very… Continue Reading
Study Reveals Correlation Between Hospital Bed Sores & Patient Mortality
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, Hospital Bed SoresWe all know that the development of a bed sore during an admission to a medical center is indeed problematic for the patient from both a medical and humanistic perspective. But until recently, there was precious little data regarding the true impact of a pressure sore on the prognosis of a patient. Study Regarding Hospital… Continue Reading
Early Identification Of Pressure Sores Can Stop Further Development
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, Hospital Bed Sores, Stages of Bed SoresMedical facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes that have bed-ridden patients should be well aware of the early signs of pressure sores. It is a too common problem for them to be unaware of how they form and what to be on the look for. Despite this knowledge, many pressure sores go unnoticed and… Continue Reading
The Fallacy Of A Kennedy Ulcer In Nursing Home Patients
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersOver the last twenty plus years, the medical community has termed certain types of pressure sores or ulcers under the name Kennedy Terminal Ulcers (KTU). This severe form of pressure sores has been a source of conflicting opinions and data. Some medical experts claim that these KTU’s are not preventable by nursing home staff and… Continue Reading
Pressure Sore Lawsuit Alleges Neglect Resulted In Infected Wound & Amputation of Leg
Posted in Bed Sore LawsuitFor a 57-year-old veteran, a short-term admission to a nursing home in California is proving to be more destructive to his body than serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. Like many stroke patients, Rahn Hoskins lost the use of his right side and went to the nursing home affiliated with Fairmont Hospital… Continue Reading
Understanding Pressure Sores In Nursing Homes & Other Medical Facilities
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, Osteomyelitis, Sepsis, Stages of Bed SoresA study by Gosnell and VanEtten finds that pressure ulcers affect approximately 1 million Americans each year. The overwhelming majority of these patients are residents in a care facility, especially elders in a nursing home. Knowing and recognizing the signs of pressure ulcers is your loved ones’ best defense against the neglect that leads to… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Staff To Receive More Training On Patient Toileting Needs
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, SepsisA particularly disturbing trend in the nursing home industry remains the wide-spread use of undergarments amongst ‘healthy’ nursing home patients. In other words, patients who have bladder and bowel control, being forced to use undergarments as opposed to being allowed to use the toilet. In addition to the incredibly dehumanizing aspect of the practice, encouraging… Continue Reading
Improving Nursing Home Care To Prevent Medical Malpractice
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, Guest PostsA massive study involving 162 nursing homes in New York revealed what common sense tells us—workers who feel like they are appreciated and part of a team do better work. The study from the Health Services Research journal, Nursing Home Work Environment and the Risk of Pressure Ulcers and Incontinence examined the care over 46,000… Continue Reading
Bed Sore Risks Increase With Use of Feeding Tubes
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, Feeding Tube ComplicationsIt has been believed for a long time that feeding tubes lowered the risks for developing bedsores in the elderly, but the results of a recent study strongly disagree. According to the study, feeding tubes not only increase the risk, but may in fact contribute to the development of bedsores in elderly patients. What has… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Abuse? Or Perfectly Adequate Care? Is There Any Way To Reconcile The Divergent Views Of Juries & Investigators
Posted in Bed Sore Lawsuit, Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersWe’d like to think that beauty of our jury system is that it allows reasonable people to hear evidence about a dispute and render a rational decision based upon the evidence presented. After all, the people on the jury are in the best position to render a fair and impartial decision— right? Similarly, if a… Continue Reading
New Technology May Help In The Prevention Of Pressure Sores In Nursing Home & Hospital Patients
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, Hospital Bed SoresWhen it comes to medical complications that realistically pose a serious threat of disabling— or even killing– patients in nursing homes and hospitals across the country, few conditions can compare to pressure sores. As innocent as the term may sound, when “pressure sores” progress, they should perhaps be more accurately referred to as “large open… Continue Reading
Jury Awards Family Of Deceased Nursing Home Patient $3.2 Million In Response To Bed Sore Lawsuit
Posted in Bed Sore Lawsuit, Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersBed sores are a progressive complication that can afflict any immobile patient in a nursing home or other type of care facility. When bed sores (also referred to as: decubitus ulcer, pressure ulcers or pressure sores) develop, the open wounds expose the patient to a risk of complications including infection of the surrounding tissue, bone… Continue Reading
Keeping Elderly Patients Mobile During Short Hospital Stays May Save Lives
Posted in Hospital Bed Sores, Medical MalpracticeFor many elderly people, a short trip to the hospital can bring about justifiably intense fears. A recent study in the medical journal Neurology found that more than half of elderly patients experience dramatic cognitive decline after short hospital stays. The study took a look at 1,870 people up to 12 years after their treatments…. Continue Reading
Medical Malpractice Lawsuits & Hospital Acquired Pressure Sores
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, Hospital Bed Sores, Litigation, Medical MalpracticeThe overwhelming number of hospital-acquired pressure sore cares derive from a medical system that is focused on treating a patients acute care needs as opposed to maintaining the patient’s overall well-being. 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… Continue Reading
Delay In Providing Care For Patient With Pressure Sore Results In Fines Against Facility
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersThere’s no doubt that preventing pressure sores is much easier than healing them. Unfortunately, once developed in, a pressure sore requires months (if not substantially longer) of medical care that is usually painful, expensive and downright de-humanizing. In reality, pressure sores will continue to develop in patients in nursing homes and hospitals for a… Continue Reading
New Device Hold’s Promise For Preventing The Development of Pressure Sores In Immobile Patients
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersThe origins of pressure sores have been well documented for centuries— the combination of unrelieved pressure and force put upon the body. However, from a technological perspective, relatively little progress has been made towards reducing the rates pressure sores in patients with heightened risk factors. From a preventative standpoint, the most widely suggested preventative technique… Continue Reading
Jurors Recognize The Sad Emblem Of Nursing Home Neglect: Pressure Sores
Posted in Bed Sore Lawsuit, Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersOne of the more difficult social responsibilities that we have is serving on a jury. In addition to the obvious inconvenience and time away from family and work responsibilities, jurors have the difficult task of determining who to believe in a situation where completely contradictory explanations of an incident are being offered. At most… Continue Reading