Miami Area Attorneys Helping Nursing Home Bedsore Victims

Last updated on August 14, 2024

When a nursing home resident is left in their bed for too long or experiences other forms of prolonged pressure against the skin, bedsores can develop and cause serious injuries. Bedsores happen to more than 10% of the residents in a nursing home. Thankfully, we can help you hold the responsible party accountable for harming your loved one in a nursing home. At Ford, Dean & Rotundo, P.A., our attorneys have been representing nursing home residents for years and have secured millions of dollars on their behalf.

Bedsores – otherwise known as pressure sores or decubitus ulcers – are extremely painful wounds that result from staying in the same position for too long. The body’s weight and lack of blood circulation create sores in areas such as the hips, heels, sacrum and buttocks. Left untreated, they can cause deep tissue damage, penetrating into muscle tissue and bone. They can also lead to life-threatening infections – especially in patients whose health is already compromised.

What Does A Bedsore Look Like?

You can identify a bedsore by its red or discolored area on the skin. The afflicted area can feel warm or appear swollen and tender. If the bedsore has been neglected for too long, then the skin can break down, exposing fluids and forming an open wound. In extreme cases, the wound can expose muscle tissue, tendons and bones. If you suspect your loved one is suffering from a bedsore, it is vital that they get medical attention immediately.

What Causes Bedsores?

Bedsores are completely avoidable with proper care. When a patient develops these sores, it’s a sure sign of neglect.

Bedsores often develop when nursing staff fails to:

• Turn and reposition the patient every two hours
• Inspect the patient’s skin on a regular basis
• Promptly obtain a pressure-relieving mattress when warranted

In hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, it’s the responsibility of staff members to prevent bedsores. They’re also responsible for identifying sores and securing proper treatment.

How Are Bedsores Treated?

Depending on the severity of the bedsore, there are several levels of care that may be necessary for treatment:

• Reliving pressure from the bedsore, often through the use of special mattresses and pillows
• Cleaning and dressing the wound to avoid infection or worsening conditions
• Removing dead or infected tissue, otherwise known as debridement
• Prescribing medications to fight infection and treat any pain
• Surgery for extreme cases that can call for a skin graft

It is important that someone suffering from a bedsore seek medical attention to ensure that they are getting the help they need to fully recover.

How Severe Are They?

Bedsores start at Stage I, as red patches of irritated skin. They’re highly treatable at this stage. However, they can quickly deteriorate if they’re not caught and cared for. Once these wounds progress to Stage II, III or IV, they become much more difficult to treat – and to survive.

Severe sores require immediate transfer to a hospital or better-equipped care facility. In fact, Florida law makes it illegal for assisted living facilities to continue caring for residents with Stage III or IV bedsores. They simply aren’t capable of meeting these patients’ needs. Failure to transfer patients in these situations is a serious example of negligence.

What Should You Do If You See Bedsores On A Family Member In A Nursing Home?

Ideally, you’d never see bedsores on an aging family member that weren’t already being treated. If you do, it likely means one of two things: either the staff has been too inattentive to notice or they have noticed but failed to respond promptly with treatment. Both suggest negligence and neglect.

Unfortunately, this is a common problem in nursing homes in Florida and throughout the country. Below, we’ve listed steps you can take after discovering untreated bed sores on your loved one. While following these steps, please carefully document everything in writing and with pictures, as you may need evidence for future legal action.

Step 1: Seek outside care right away. Take your loved one to a hospital or a specialist in wound care to ensure they get prompt and competent treatment.

Step 2: Report the problem to the nursing home and push for a plan of action. Your loved one will likely be returning to that nursing home after being treated, which means the staff will need to provide ongoing care for their wounds. Make sure that nursing home staff is aware of the bedsores and ask administrators to provide a detailed written plan for treating existing wounds, preventing new ones and monitoring your loved one.

Step 3: Have a medical professional check the proposed action plan. The wound specialist or other doctor you visited previously would be able to tell you if the nursing home’s proposed treatment plan seems sufficient to resolve the issues. If the plan is inadequate and nursing home administrators are not receptive to feedback, you will likely need to find alternative living arrangements for your loved one.

Step 4: Consult with a nursing home abuse and neglect attorney. Our attorneys have an in-depth understanding of the rights of nursing home patients and the legal responsibilities of staff and administration. If your loved one was a victim of negligence, our firm can help you seek justice and compensation.

Get Help For Your Loved One

If your loved one has developed bedsores, bruises, abrasions or suspicious wounds during a stay in a hospital or nursing home, neglect may have played a role. At Ford, Dean & Rotundo, P.A., we can help you evaluate the situation. Our bedsore lawyers provide caring and compassionate representation for victims of neglect.

Based in North Miami Beach, our attorneys have stood up for the rights of vulnerable people across Florida for years. They have a strong record of results in bedsore cases and other nursing home abuse and neglect lawsuits, including:

• $17 million in a fatal case involving Stage IV bedsores
• $12.3 million in a similar case
• $975,000 in another fatal bedsore case
• $650,000 in a Stage IV bedsore case, where the patient eventually recovered

When you come to us for help, our nursing home bedsore attorneys will look carefully into whether your loved one has been abused or neglected. You can rely on us to conduct a thorough investigation, file appropriate lawsuits, hire the best experts and work hard to obtain justice for you and your loved one.