Can You Sue a Florida Nursing Home for Bed Sores?
Pressure ulcers, more commonly referred to as bed sores, are a serious and painful condition that impact individuals in long-term care settings such as assisted living facilities and nursing homes. Nursing home residents are at particular risk of developing bed sores if they have limited mobility. Bed sores are one of the most common signs of nursing home neglect and can result in serious medical complications such as tissue damage, infections, and even death.
If your loved one developed bed sores in a nursing home, you may wonder if you can take legal action against the facility. Below, our Tampa bed sores attorneys advise when you can sue a nursing home for this type of injury.
When Nursing Home Negligence is Grounds for a Lawsuit
If you wish to file a lawsuit after a loved one develops bed sores, you must prove the facility’s administrators or staff members were negligent and caused the injury. Common grounds for nursing home bed sores lawsuits are as follows:
- Failing to reposition: Nursing home residents who are bedridden or bound to a wheelchair often require regular repositioning to prevent injury. Failing to do this can result in a buildup of pressure, resulting in ulcers.
- Improper hygiene: Nursing home staff members must regularly bathe nursing home residents and ensure they are kept clean to prevent the skin from breaking down and developing an infection.
- Insufficient training: Nursing home owners and administrators have a legal duty to ensure their staff members are properly trained in bed sore prevention. When staff members do not receive the proper training, the people on staff may become neglectful.
- Failing to monitor and treat: Nursing home staff members should regularly inspect residents’ skin to detect bed sores in their early stages and take action immediately if they develop.
When nursing home administrators or staff members exhibit the above types of negligence, or any other, it is grounds for a lawsuit.
Compensation Available in Bed Sores Lawsuits
Lawsuits based on bed sores in a nursing home are meant to compensate residents for the harm they have suffered. There are many different types of damages available in these cases and they include:
- Medical expenses such as medications, hospital stays, surgeries, and rehabilitation
- Cost of future medical care required to treat bed sores
- Pain and suffering for the physical pain and mental anguish caused by the bed sores
- Wrongful death damages, such as compensation for funeral and burial expenses if a nursing home resident lost their life due to bed sores
In rare cases, punitive damages may also be available. These damages are meant to punish defendants and they are only awarded when nursing home administrators or staff members exhibit gross negligence or wrongdoing.
Our Bed Sores Attorneys in Tampa Can Prove Your Case
Although you may be able to file a lawsuit after your loved one develops bed sores, you must prove certain elements of your case to ensure your family receives full damages. At Kohn Law, our Tampa bed sores attorneys can collect the necessary evidence to prove your case and give your family the best chance of a successful outcome. Call us today at 813-428-8504 or chat with us online to schedule a consultation and to get the legal help you need.
Source:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0400/0400.html
