Family Settles C. Diff Case With Nursing Home
The family of a deceased Mississippi nursing home patient that died from complications related to Clostridium Difficile (C. Diff) has settled a claim with the nursing home where she contracted the infection. WREG reported that the family of Virgina Valentine settled their wrongful death claim with Trinity Mission Health & Rehab for an undisclosed amount of money due to the alleged C. Diff infection of their loved one.
Shortly after her admission to Trinity Mission, Ms. Valentine became weakened to the point that she was taken to a nearby hospital. While at the hospital, doctors diagnosed her with C. Diff and began administering antibiotics to kill the infection. Despite the medical intervention, Ms. Valentine was unable to fight off the C. Diff and passed from complications.
Even though Ms. Valentine had executed an Alternative Dispute Resolution Agreement at the time of her admission to Trinity Mission, which called for all disputes to be resolved via arbitration, her family was successful in invalidating the agreement based upon multiple errors on the part of the facility. Read more about the settlement of this nursing home claim here.
C. Diff In Nursing Homes
In the course of the past few years, C. Diff has received much attention due to an increasingly aware medical community that has become more attuned the risks associated with this infection-- particularly among the elderly.
C. Diff is a bacterial infection can cause diarrhea and more serious intestinal conditions, such as colitis. C. Diff bacteria are found in the feces of an infected person. The bacteria is primarily spread when caregivers come in contact with the feces of an infected patient and fail to wash their hands before treating another patient.
Many elderly in nursing homes and hospitals are at a heightened risk for contracting C. Diff due to the fact that they may be taking antibiotics for other. The influx of antibiotics is believed to weaken their bodies ability to fight off the C. Diff bacteria.
When diagnosed early on, C. Diff may be treated with a course of specialized antibiotics. However, the effectiveness of the antibiotics becomes compromised when a diagnosis is delayed. Advanced cases of C. Diff may require surgery in the bowel or colon and may deadly.
Related:
Left Untreated, Stomach Aches Can Be Deadly For Elderly Nursing Home Patients
C-Diff Infection Alleged To Blame For Death Of Nursing Home Patient
Comments (2)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endRobert Finney PhD - May 22, 2011 9:49 AM
The nursing home industry has hijacked healthcare to promote its products and companies to the detriment of the taxpayers who fund it. eg:
Kaiser Permanente Death Panel Cost Containment
Original, documented investigation on Kaiser Permanente’s rigged end of life counseling, “Birth of a Real Life Death Panel,” is posted on www.hmohardball.com at http://www.hmohardball.com/Death%20Panel%20Birth%20&%20Attachments%201st%20in%20Series%202-14-2011.pdf
Twenty years ago, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, ObamaCare’s ethics engineer, published that he had invented a scheme that induced 70% of patients to reject treatment and life support in a 15 minute end of life counseling session. He would deny Rep. Giffords’ care, because she may not be able to “meaningfully participate” in the American "polity."
POLITICIANS, BUREAUCRATS, AND DR. STRANGELOVE PHYSICIANS ARE “BENDING THE COST CURVE,” BUT BREAKING THE PATIENTS AND DESTROYING THE DOCTOR- PATIENT RELATIONSHIP.
Robert Finney, Ph.D.
julie - March 20, 2012 7:32 PM
My elderly mom contracted c-diff after iv antibiotics and I now find out that she was on nexium for years and you have three times the risk of developing c-diff just for being on nexium alone.
She was given vancomycin and flagyl and c-diff returned. when I asked about the strong probiotic s. boulardi I was told to buy it and give it to her myself . It worked! her stool cultures were negative. worth a shot! maybe other people could be helped also !