Bedsore Lawyer Easton, PA
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At The Law Offices of Edward P. Shaughnessy, our bedsore lawyers in Easton, PA, are dedicated to helping hospital patients and nursing home residents who develop bedsores and pressure sores due to medical malpractice or negligence. Bedsores or pressure ulcers are typically an indicator of hospital or nursing home neglect. If your loved one is suffering after developing pressure ulcers, you need legal representation from an experienced bedsore lawyer in Easton, PA. Our personal injury law firm offers a free consultation for victims of bedsore injuries, so clients don’t owe any legal fees unless our Easton bedsore attorneys secure a fair settlement in their bedsore cases.
Our compassionate Easton bedsore lawyers understand the devastating effects bedsores can have on nursing home residents and hospital patients. Our law firm is ready to hold the negligent nursing home or hospital accountable for elder abuse and neglect that caused your family member to develop bedsores by seeking financial recovery for medical bills, changing nursing homes, and other damages related to the hospital or nursing home abuse.
Whether your family member has developed bedsores or is at risk because of worsening pressure injuries, our bedsore lawyers in Easton, PA, are ready to help you seek financial compensation for the harm caused by inadequate patient care. If your loved one is suffering from preventable bedsores or serious pressure sore injuries, call 610-258-9955 for a free consultation with an experienced Easton bedsore attorney.
Can I Sue If My Parent Has Bedsores in Lehigh Valley?
Bedsores, also known as decubitus ulcers, can develop when nursing home residents or immobile patients in hospital settings are neglected. These painful injuries are often the result of prolonged pressure and inadequate care in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or hospitals.
If your family member has developed bedsores due to neglect in a nursing home or assisted living facility in Lehigh Valley, you may have the right to pursue a medical malpractice claim.
Bedsores, or decubitus ulcers, often indicate a lack of proper care within a nursing home or hospital. These nursing home injuries develop when elderly patients are left in the same position for extended periods, leading to prolonged pressure and restricted blood flow in certain areas of the body.
Hospitals and nursing homes that fail to provide the minimum level of patient care required to prevent pressure ulcers can and should be held responsible. Families can seek financial compensation by filing medical malpractice lawsuits to cover medical expenses, pain and suffering, and resources to relocate the patient.
Risk Factors for Pressure Ulcers
Elderly patients are at serious risk of developing bedsores or pressure ulcers, especially those in nursing homes. Nursing home residents often develop bedsores due to prolonged pressure that restricts blood flow to the affected area, such as the shoulder blades, buttocks, or legs. Restricting the blood flow leads to preventable bedsores. Once preventable bedsores occur, they will worsen quickly if the hospital or nursing home staff doesn’t ensure they are treated properly.
Understanding the specifc risk factors for hospital patients or assisted living facility residents who are at risk of developing bedsores is critical for pressure ulcer prevention. Other risk factors, like peripheral vascular disease, limited mobility, poor sensory perception, or inadequate nutrition increase the likelihoods that bedsores develop.
According to healthcare research, the following are at an increased risk for developing pressure ulcers:
- Limited mobility: An immobile person or patient with limited mobility is at a higher risk of developing bedsores when not provided with proper care.
- Inadequate nutrition: When a hospital patient or nursing home resident, especially a patient that is an immobile person, isn’t given adequate nutrients, they’re more likely to develop bedsores. Nutrients are critical for those with compromised immune systems, and lack of nutrition further increases the risk of developing pressure sores.
- Peripheral vascular disease: Peripheral vascular disease can also increase the risk that bedsores develop due to blood flow problems.
Nursing homes and hospital facilities should always take reasonable steps to prevent bedsores and pressure sores, especially for hospital or nursing home patients with other risk factors our Easton pressure ulcer lawyer group mentioned prior.
Bedsores are serious injuries that cause the elderly serious pain and can lead to squamous cell carcinoma or sepsis if the healthcare facility does not ensure the bedsore injuries are treated properly.
Families who’s elderly loved one has suffered due to negligent pressure ulcer prevention or serious pressure ulcer mitigation can file a personal injury lawsuit against the negligent medical facilities. This includes the nursing home or hospital, for medical bills, costs to move the resident to a new nursing home facility or assisted living facility (if applicable), and other damages related to the medical malpractice or nursing home abuse.
Contact the experienced Easton bedsore lawyers at our law firm for a free case evaluation to learn more. Our nursing home abuse and medical malpractice lawyers have extensive experience handling bedsore cases in Lehigh Valley. See how our pressure-sore attorneys can help with your case.
Causes of Pressure Sores in Lehigh Valley
Pressure sores, also called pressure ulcers or bedsores, can develop in a nursing home or hospital setting because of prolonged pressure on the skin, which reduces blood flow to the affected areas. Elderly victims of nursing home neglect and nursing home abuse or medical malpractice in a healthcare facility, nursing home, or assisted living facility who developed bedsores typically suffer from a lack of proper nutrition and are left in the same exact position for over four hours at a time. Hospital or nursing home staff does this repeatedly.
When an immobile person or someone with limited mobility develops bedsores and pressure injuries on certain parts of the body, such as the hips, back, or shoulder blades, they’re suffering from elder abuse, as they cannot move their body weight to relieve pressure themselves.
Without adequate pressure ulcer prevention, patients are at risk of serious injuries, such as sepsis, or, in worst-case scenarios, untimely death.
If your loved one is developing pressure ulcers or pressure sores due to negligent medical care in a nursing home or hospital, a bedsore attorney in Easton, PA, from our law firm can help you seek financial compensation and justice through a personal injury lawsuit.
Kennedy Ulcer vs Pressure Ulcer
While Kennedy ulcers and bedsores, also called pressure ulcers, seem similar, these serious injuries have distinct causes and characteristics.
Bedsores and pressure injury cases develop gradually because of prolonged pressure, which restricts blood flow, leading to a large open wound. The constant pressure causes the skin to break down, especially in the hips, buttocks, and shoulder blades. Bedsores and pressure sores are preventable when hospitals or nursing homes provide proper care, such as repositioning patients who are bedridden or patients with limited mobility to relieve pressure.
In contrast, Kennedy ulcers are linked to hospital or nursing home patients’ final stages of life. They consistently appear quickly, within a couple of hours to a few days maximum.
Sometimes, hospital or nursing home staff members will tell the family that their loved one had a terminal Kennedy ulcer, knowing the patient died from a lack of proper care and failure to prevent bedsores. They do so in order to avoid a medical malpractice lawsuit or nursing home abuse lawsuit.
If your elderly loved one died, and your family believes that the “Kennedy ulcer” was truly a preventable pressure sore, call our Easton bedsore lawyers for a free case evaluation. A wrongful death lawyer in Easton, PA, from our law firm has extensive experience with bed sore cases in which hospital or nursing home staff were dishonest about the lack of medical care and pressure ulcer prevention within the healthcare or nursing home facility.
Pressure Ulcer Staging
If you believe your loved one is developing pressure ulcers on their hips, groin area, or shoulder blades, understanding the different stages of bedsores is crucial in identifying the severity of their bedsores.
Bedsores, also called pressure sores, are categorized into four stages of bedsores, as well as unstageable bedsores, based on the amount of damage. A patient with bed sore caught early and provided with proper treatment will have significantly better outcomes than patients with bedsores that have advanced to the stage 3 bed sore or stage 4 bed sore levels.
The stages of bedsores aren’t just used in hospital or nursing homes; the pressure ulcer staging system is used in healthcare research and terminology for medical devices universally.
If your loved one has developed a stage 3, stage 4, or unstageable bedsore, contact an Easton personal injury lawyer from our law firm for a free consultation.
Stage 1 Pressure Ulcer
A stage 1 pressure sore is the earliest sign of a developing bed sore. It begins as a persistent red area that doesn’t fade after staff chooses to relieve pressure for their nursing home or hospital patients with limited mobility. Though the skin is unbroken, the lack of blood flow can lead to more severe damage if not treated properly.
Stage 2 Pressure Ulcer
A stage 2 bed sore evolves into an open wound. The affected skin will break open, forming a shallow crater. Stage 2 bedsores include damage to the patient’s outer and underlying layers of skin. Stage 2 bedsores will have exposed tissue and are extremely painful. Patients with stage 2 injuries are at risk for infection.
Stage 3 Pressure Ulcer
A stage 3 bed sore injury is described as a more serious pressure ulcer extending into the fatty layers beneath the damaged skin. Stage 3 bedsores look like deep craters, and some will include dead tissue. Patients with stage 3 bedsores have been left in their beds or medical devices for extended periods and show obvious signs of infection, like draining pus. In short, stage 3 bedsores are never medical complications or side effects but instead obvious forms of gross medical malpractice or nursing home abuse.
If your loved one has a stage 3 bed sore, call our Easton bedsore lawyers quickly, as getting proper care and legal representation could potentially save their life. Our medical malpractice lawyers in Easton, PA, are dedicated to holding negligence nursing homes and medical facilities accountable for allowing a serious pressure ulcer to develop to the stage 3 level. Patients of all ages have legal rights, and our Easton bedsore lawyers will often pursue punitive damages against the hospital or nursing home staff for levels of gross neglect and abuse.
Stage 4 Pressure Ulcer
Stage 4 bedsores are extreme signs of neglect and gross lack of proper treatment within a healthcare facility or nursing home. A stage 4 bed sore is a gaping open wound that puts patients at risk for osteomyelitis, bone infection, and septic shock. Patients who’ve developed stage 4 pressure ulcers and bedsores display obvious and serious symptoms, such as exposed tendons, muscles, and bones. Stage 4 bedsores are excruciating for patients and typically drain pus consistently.
A stage 4 bed sore in hospitals and nursing homes requires both significant and repeated lapses of care. Failure to prevent an injury is one thing; allowing a serious injury to progress thus far demands legal action. Hospital-acquired bedsores or nursing home-acquired bedsores that have reached these stages of bedsores show a level of medical malpractice that constitutes punitive damages.
Our hospital malpractice and nursing home abuse lawyer in Easton, PA, will work tirelessly to ensure your loved one is quickly treated by a qualified physician experienced in treating advanced bedsores. Then, our Easton bedsore lawyers will explain your legal rights to pursue a bedsore lawsuit for abuse or malpractice.
Stage 4 Bedsore Life Expectancy
When a nursing home resident or patient has developed stage 4 bedsores, their health can decline quickly due to life-threatening complications, such as bone infection or septic shock. When hospitals or nursing homes allow a personal injury to advance to the stage 4 bed sore level, this indicates gross negligence abuse. Our Easton bedsore lawyers are ready to help your family seek justice.
Unstageable Pressure Ulcer
With unstageable pressure ulcers, the full depth of the bedsore injuries is unknown because of the amount of dead tissue. Unstageable bedsores require careful care to treat and assess the injury.
If your loved one developed unstageable bedsores, our bedsore lawyers in Easton, PA, can explain your family’s legal rights to file a bedsore lawsuit. Our Easton pressure ulcer lawyer group has extensive experience helping families file personal injury lawsuits against the hospital, assisted living facility, or nursing home responsible.
Nursing Home Bedsore Lawyer Easton, PA
A nursing home bedsore lawyer in Easton, PA, can be critical if your loved one or family member develops bedsores due to elder abuse or neglect by nursing home staff. When nursing homes or assisted living facilities provide improper care, our Easton bedsore lawyers can help hold the nursing home facility accountable.
If you suspect your family member has developed bed sores due to negligent care at their nursing home facility, you should seek legal advice promptly and schedule a free case evaluation with our experienced nursing home abuse lawyers.
Prevention of Pressure Ulcers in Nursing Home Residents
Preventing bedsores and pressure injuries in nursing homes is not only critical to elderly patients’ well-being, but it is also a legal duty of the assisted living facility staff. Pressure injuries and bedsores occur when nursing home residents, especially those with limited mobility, are neglected by nursing home staff members, enduring prolonged pressure and often a lack of proper nutrition, as well.
Nursing home staff and assisted living facility staff are responsible for treating and preventing nursing home residents from developing bed sores. Failure to provide care is considered nursing home neglect in Pennsylvania. If a nursing home resident suffers from preventable bed sores, the medical facility can (and should) be held liable.
When bed sores reach the level 3 or 4 stages, this is a direct result of inadequate care by nursing home staff members. Families should immediately seek legal advice to ensure their loved one’s legal rights are safeguarded.
Lawsuit for Hospital-Acquired Decubitus Ulcers in Lehigh Valley
If your loved one has developed hospital-acquired bedsores during their stay in a Lehigh Valley hospital, you may have grounds for a lawsuit. Pressure injuries often develop when a bedridden patient is left for hours, repeatedly without being repositioned, restricting blood flow and causing skin issues.
Medical facility staff members have a legal duty to provide care and prevent bedsores and pressure issues. Failure to reposition elderly patients or provide proper nutrition in a nursing home or hospital setting is considered malpractice.
Filing bed sore lawsuits can help hold the medical facility accountable for its failure to provide the most basic level of care required for patients developing bedsores. Families can seek financial compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and in many cases, punitive damages caused by hospital-acquired bed sores.
If your loved one has developed bedsores in a negligent Lehigh Valley hospital, seek legal assistance from our experienced bed sore lawyers in Easton, PA.
How an Easton Pressure Ulcer Lawyer Can Help
An Easton pressure ulcer lawyer can provide legal representation for family members whose loved ones have suffered from preventable bedsores. Bed sores are often signs of grossly inadequate care in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. When staff members fail to provide proper treatment, such as repositioning bedridden patients or ensuring proper nutrition, these serious injuries can develop.
Our bedsore lawyers in Easton, PA, help family members investigate the care prior to the patient developing bed sores, determine liability, and file personal injury or malpractice lawsuits to hold negligent facilities accountable. The bedsore lawyers at our law firm are dedicated to ensuring our elderly community receives adequate justice and compensation.
Financial Compensation for Bedsore Injury Victims in Lehigh Valley
Nursing home residents who have developed bedsores are often entitled to financial recovery for the pain, suffering, and medical expenses caused by their preventable bedsores and pressure injuries.
Compensation from bed sore lawsuits can help cover medical treatments, rehabilitation, and ongoing care costs and help family members relocate their loved ones.
Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations Pennsylvania
The statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in Pennsylvania, including cases involving bed sores or pressure ulcers, is generally two years from the date the injury was discovered. This means family members have a limited window to explore their legal rights against a negligent nursing home, hospital, or assisted living facility for failing to prevent bedsores.
Seek legal representation from the compassionate Easton bedsore lawyers at our law firm to ensure your medical malpractice claim is filed within the legal timeframe. Missing this deadline can result in losing the right to pursue compensation for your loved one’s bed sore injuries.
Bedsore Injuries FAQ
What Do Bed Sores Look Like?
Bed sores start as red or discolored skin that doesn’t fade when pressed. In the early stages, the skin may be warm, painful, or itchy. As bed sores worsen, the damaged skin can break open, forming wounds or blisters. In severe cases, bed sores can become deep, exposing muscle or bone, and may become infected.
How to Prevent Bed Sores on a Bedridden Patient?
To prevent bed sores on bedridden patients, it’s important to reposition them to relieve pressure on vulnerable areas regularly. Maintaining proper nutrition and hydration is also key to keeping the skin healthy.
How Does Poor Nutrition Cause Pressure Ulcers?
Poor nutrition weakens the skin and underlying tissues, making a person more susceptible to developing bedsores. Without adequate nutrients like protein, vitamins, and minerals, the body can’t maintain healthy skin or repair tissue, increasing the risk of pressure ulcers.
What is an Unstageable Pressure Ulcer?
An unstageable pressure ulcer is a bed sore where the extent of damage is not immediately visible because the affected skin is covered by dead tissue or a scab. This makes it difficult to determine how deep the bed sore is until the covering is removed, revealing whether the tissue damage extends to deeper layers, such as muscle or bone.
How Long Does it Take for a Bed Sore to Form?
A bed sore can begin to form with 4 hours of constant pressure. If a nursing home resident or hospital patient is not repositioned regularly, the lack of blood flow can cause skin breakdown, leading to the development of a bed sore.
Are Bedsores Considered Medical Malpractice in Pennsylvania?
Yes, in Pennsylvania, bedsores can be considered a form of medical malpractice if they result from improper care in a nursing home or medical facility. If medical staff doesn’t take reasonable steps to prevent bed sores, such as regularly repositioning patients, they can be held legally responsible.
Where to Report Nursing Home Neglect in Pennsylvania?
In Pennsylvania, you can report nursing home neglect to the Pennsylvania Department of Health by filing a complaint through their website or by calling their complaint hotline at 1-800-254-5164. You can also report nursing home neglect to the Pennsylvania Long-Term Ombudsman Program at 717-783-8975.
How Much is a Bedsore Lawsuit Worth in Pennsylvania?
The value of a bedsore lawsuit in Pennsylvania varies depending on the severity of the injury, the cost of medical treatment, the level of pain and suffering, and any long-term effects or complications. Compensation can range from thousands to millions of dollars, especially in cases involving severe bedsores, nursing home neglect, or wrongful death.
Easton Bedsore Attorney
If your loved one has suffered from bed sores due to neglect in an Easton nursing home or medical facility, it’s time to take action. Our bedsore lawyers in Easton, PA, are dedicated to holding negligent facilities accountable and seeking the compensation your family deserves.
To learn more about your legal rights and pursue a bedsore lawsuit, contact our law firm to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced bedsore attorneys in Easton, PA.
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