Bedsore Lawsuit in 2024 | Who Can Claim Bedsore Settlement
As bedsores can affect the quality of life of a patient, it’s vital for residents and families to take an instant action in the event they suffer from such injury. Filing a bedsore lawsuit can help a person get a claim for their mental, physical, and financial hardships suffered due to bedsore.
What are bedsores?
Bedsores, also known as pressure sores, skin lesions, and pressure ulcers, are wounds caused by constant pressure on your skin. Although bedsores can develop anywhere, in most cases they form on skin that covers bony parts of your body – ankles, hips, heels, and tailbone.
According to various surveys, people who sit in a wheelchair or lie in bed for long hours are most susceptible to bedsores. Without proper treatment, bedsores can lead to life-threatening complications, such as infections.
Four Stages of Bedsores
- Stage 1. Your skin isn’t yet broken but looks red or discolored.
- Stage 2. Your skin is broken and looks like a pus-filled blister.
- Stage 3. Your sores have gone through the second layer of your skin into the fat tissue.
- Stage 4. Your sores are deep wounds that might reach your muscles, ligaments, or even bones.
Causes of Bedsores
- Immobility.
- Incontinence.
- Medical conditions that affect blood circulation like diabetes.
- Medical conditions that result in a loss of sensation, including spinal cord injuries.
- Poor nutrition and hydration.
Steps to stop bedsores from developing or getting worse
- Clean the patient’s bedsores and dry them mildly.
- Feed patients a healthy diet and give them plenty of water.
- Monitor bedsores for infection.
- Prescribe medication, if necessary.
- Relieve pressure on the bedsores by changing a patient’s position frequently.
Bedsore-related negligence and malpractice include:
- Patients aren’t regularly being turned or repositioned.
- Patients don’t get proper nutrition and hydration.
- Bedsores are not caught in the early stages.
- Bedsores are not adequately cleaned and dressed.
- Understaffing which leads to bedsore negligence.
Who can sue for bedsore injuries?
Any person with bedsore injuries can sue the facility and care providers for those injuries. However, if the injured person is not capable of suing due to age, illness, or disability, their family member or legal representative might be able to file Bedsore lawsuit for them.
How to sue care providers for bedsore injuries?
If you or your loved one develops serious bedsores at a facility, you can sue the facility or care providers with a hassle-free procedure. All you have to do is show a connection between your bedsores and substandard care at the facility.
You can sue a nursing home or other care facility for negligence or potentially file a medical malpractice lawsuit. In addition, you can also have a wrongful death claim if your relative dies from bedsore complications.
Here is some of the evidence you need to show for your case:
- Facility and providers owed you a duty of care.
- Facility and providers violated that duty.
- The violation caused you to develop bedsores or made your bedsores worse.
- You suffered losses due to those bedsores.
If you want a lawyer who cares about you and the outcome of your bedsore lawsuit, choose Ethen Ostroff. He and his professional connections will ensure you get every dollar possible for what you went through.
