Nursing Home Faces Lawsuit for Neglect
April 09, 2014 | The Rooth Law Firm Nursing Home Abuse
Stearns Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, located in Granite City, Illinois, along with a handful of other defendants, found themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit last month filed by a Granite City man on behalf of his father who was a resident at the facility. According to the complaint, the father suffered a stage 4 bedsore on his coccyx during his stay at the facility. Michael Wardein filed the suit on behalf of his father, Robert Wardein, further alleging that the Stearns Center provided improper care and neglected his father in violation of the Illinois Nursing Home Act.
Being capable of only limited mobility, Robert developed several bedsores on his body while in the care of the Stearns Center in April 2012, including a particularly severe stage 4 sore on his coccyx. Bedsores take a considerably long time to heal and require a lot of care, so when Robert was admitted to the hospital in November 2012, his sores had gotten worse and he was also suffering from a urinary tract infection, sepsis, malnutrition, and dehydration so severe that it was exacerbating his acute kidney disease. The damage done to Robert’s coccyx by the bedsore was so severe that doctors had to remove the damaged bone and tissue up to the sacrum.
Bedsores are a Sign of Neglect Since Prevention of Bedsores is the Best Approach
Bedsores can be very painful, costly, and require intensive care to treat. When bedsores go untreated for long enough, they can even become fatal. That is why it is so important to prevent bedsores from happening in the first place. Prevention is the best approach when it comes to bedsores.
A bedsore, or pressure ulcer, results when the skin holds a heavier than usual amount of body weight for an extended period of time. The skin effectively becomes pinched between the chair or bed surface and the weight of the person’s body. That being said, bedsores can be prevented by simply moving, or repositioning, the body periodically. For someone who is mobile and capable of moving him- or herself, this is an easy way to avoid developing bedsores.
However, individuals who are immobilized or paralyzed require assistance with repositioning their bodies. These nursing home residents are generally dependent upon nursing staff, and when staff is too few in number to provide the appropriate care to each resident, or if the nursing staff is engaging in neglect of the residents, an immobilized or paralyzed resident may not get the assistance they require to change positions as often as needed, and they may ultimately develop bedsores.
Contacting a Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney
If your loved one has developed a pressure ulcer while staying at a nursing home facility, you should not hesitate to contact an experienced nursing home abuse and neglect attorney today. Bedsores are almost always a sign of neglect or improper care. Please feel free to contact the experienced attorneys at The Rooth Law Firm either online or by telephone today by calling 877-356-3007.
Photo Credit: Neil. Moralee via Compfight ccSources:
Daun Lee, Illinois Nursing Home Facing Lawsuit for Neglecting Patient’s Bedsores, Nursing Home Abuse News, April 1, 2014