Hello, my siblings and I are considering bringing litigation against a facility which housed my mother. They provided very poor care. She developed an unstageable pressure sore which caused her demise, or at least that is what we believe.
We are wary of litigation, but we are seeing online that there really is no excuse for bedsores to form.
We are furious at the care she received and we want to make a difference. With four of us, the money we get in a settlement won't matter much. We are doing this out of principle. We want closure and the righting of this wrong done to my mother.
Has anyone had experience suing a nursing home for this? Did it provide the closure you were seeking?
1. Find a medical malpractice attorney (or better yet, a firm) that's interested. Post again if you need assistance with this.
2. The attorney chosen will order medical records from the nursing home, and have them reviewed by either a nurse (sometimes on staff), PA or NP, or physician, in the field related to the medical issue in question.
3. If a med po confirms that the "standard of care" for that geographic area was not met, he/she may recommend litigation.
4. However, and this is important, other contributory factors, other co-morbidities, will be reviewed and evaluated. If any or more of these factors were present, and were life threatening, the reviewer would evaluate and opine on whether or the pressure ulcer may or may not have contributed to death.
5. A GOOD and competent med-mal attorney generally would not institute litigation w/o corroborating medical opinions, as this med pro would likely be asked to testify if the case went to trial.
6. Standards for what constitutes med mal gradually became tighter over the years. A friend's daughter lost a lung to the incompetent misdiagnosis of a doctor who concluded the lung was diseased. After removal, and left with one lung, for some reason she saw another doctor who reviewed the records and x-rays and concluded the lung was not defective.
I recommended a few med mal law firms I thought were good, and at the top of the field. Neither would take the case, as she still had one lung left and could live off that. I was stunned. When I worked in that field years ago, that case would have been litigated. But standards changed.
7. If you do need to do something, find a med-mal attorney and have him/her order the records and have them reviewed. If there are divergences from standard of care in your area, contact the Ombudsperson, Medicare, state registry of physicians or nursing homes, or other governing bodies. They might be able to accomplish more than a lawsuit could do.
I'm sorry for the tragic loss of your mother, and hope that you find some closure, or another way to share your story (such as providing it to AARP, for publication in its Bulletin).
My condolences on your mother’s passing, and I am sorry that you are faced with wondering if your mother received proper care.
My father recently passed away in a nursing facility and these thoughts have reared up in us as well. Some of them valid and some just the very human attempts to control the uncontrollable - death.
I asked a nurse there what my father had actually died of, and she said “natural causes” and I guess you would call it that - the body’s natural result of breaking down. My father had many awful sores on his body that appeared in the last six weeks prior to his death, though he was only bed-bound the last few days of his life.
Yes, if you go online you will find many entries for bedsores, and nursing home neglect, and lawyers wishing to take your case, but be sure to also look up SCALE (skin changes at life’s end). My father had swallowing difficulties and had been hospitalized twice for aspirational pneumonia two months before he died. He had lost a great deal of weight even with attempts to feed him on a puréed diet. He had made a decision to not have a feeding tube. His skin suffered as a result of this, especially on his lower half. As I understand it, the dying body will reserve all its energy to the heart, lungs, and brain, leaving the skin undefended. I saw a sore develop on his calf in the short time he was in the emergency room as his leg rested against a metal bar.
What makes the appearance of SCALE so difficult is that not everyone dying in a malnourished condition experiences it. My father had always suffered from issues with skin cancers and various lesions, so it does not surprise me that his skin would be what took him down. Even with wound care, and repositioning, and antibiotics, skin will not heal if the body is dying. His skin erupting in “bedsores” was a result of the dying process. Yes, I have concerns. Was he repositioned enough? Did he get adequate wound care? Was he offered enough thickened fluid? The last two weeks before he died, my siblings and I were there daily, all day. Would any of this have extended his life? My father was no longer eating, and having trouble swallowing even thickened liquid. Since his death, there have been a few posters anguished over the fact that their loved one has been languishing for weeks, and even months, in the dying process even without eating. I am grateful that my father did not suffer long.
I have been around this forum long enough to know that many times family members question others and themselves over the deaths of their loved ones. There are some issues that I have yet to take up with the nursing home, but a lawsuit? No. I am so sorry that in the midst of your grief, you are dealing with this. If you really feel she was neglected, and you are determined to pursue it, at least give yourself some time to grieve first.
Did your mother have an alternating pressure air mattress? Did they call in a wound care doctor? Was your mother on Hospice? What caused her to require nursing home care?
We did not move her because we were assured "everything is fine" and "this is normal"
I now am learning that they should have repositioned her and that this bed sore could have been prevented
https://seniorjustice.com/florida-nursing-home-abuse-attorneys/bed-sores/
lf the roles could have been reversed ? No, I thought so. Let it go Girl and move on with Yer Lives and Pray every day for Your beautiful Mother and leave Her Rest in peace. Of coarse You can take Your chances in Court but You are playing a very high stakes game then, there by risking Your home and Life savings and in the end, Your mind. You must bring this to a closure and invite peace and joy back into Your Lives.
Peace to You Alexis and Your Family.
Adding to Barb's questions, were any of these factors?
Diabetes, frailty/loss of muscle, swallowing difficulties, poor nutrition, poor hydration, incontinence, circulation/vascular/heart problems.
I have seen many many bedsores. Sometimes even with the protective practices like nutritional suppliements, repositioning & air mattresses pressure injuries (bed sores) will still develop & worsen. These do help but each person will differ in their ability to prevent bed sores & repair.
I am very sorry for your loss.
You believe the pressure sore caused her death, based on what medical evidence? Was an autopsy performed? What health concerns had her in a nursing home in the first place? How old was she?
As far as bed sores go, they can form on people receiving the very best care. And they can be very difficult to treat.
nursing homes, yet the nursing homes continue to remain open. I over saw my Mother's care while in the nursing home and it was so frustrating. They never have enough staff to
adequately care for the residents. It is so sad. My Mother
fell several times when in the nursing home because of neglect, yet they always had a lame excuse. Once when I
discussed my concern about my Mother's falls with the Social Director she told me they can not watch over the
residents 24/7 and if I wanted her to be monitored more closely that I can hire someone to come watch over her.
nursing home. Nursing home care has a lot to be desired unfortunately.
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