Florida Nursing Home Lawyer Blog
Trial of a $4 million nursing home negligence lawsuit has commenced, with representatives for the alleged victim asserting the people who were supposed to care for her were negligent in their duty, resulting in severe injury.
According to court documents in Carmon-Rogers v. Sentara Life Care Corp., the patient, a widow, had resided in the nursing home since 2008, after suffering a stroke. She was a full-assist patient, meaning she depended on the nursing staff to meet all of her basic daily needs. As she was unable to get out of bed, she was not able to reposition herself regularly, as necessary to prevent pressure sores.
In March 2014, plaintiff alleges a licensed practical nurse was changing patient’s bed linens when patient was rolled onto her right side at the edge of the bed. The bed linens were then pulled out from underneath her, and the patient rolled out of bed, falling onto the floor. As a result, patient suffered fractures to her right shoulder, left leg, right foot, right ankle and right lower leg. The leg fractures were potentially life-threatening because the tibia became detached from her foot.
But it got worse.
It was revealed during her hospital stay that her feeding tube had been “malpositioned” in her abdominal tissue, rather than in her stomach, where it should have been. It had to be surgically removed and temporarily replaced with a nasogastric tube through the nose. For at least seven days prior to that, she was without any nutrition – something nursing home staffers failed to catch, despite the fact that tubes are supposed to be checked by a nurse during each shift. No documentation on her charts indicates hers was regularly checked.
Her left leg required splints, and she developed sores on her left foot and heel. Both these required extensive care to treat. The bone is still displaced and the fracture remains prominent.
At the time of her fall from the bed, she suffered from two bed sores. Over the course of the next several months, after she returned to the nursing home, she developed a total of 13 sores, including to her buttocks, legs, feet and heels. The one on her foot stretched from the bottom of the foot all the way around her calf and up her shin.
As a result, four months after the incident, she was forced to undergo an amputation on her right leg, above the knee. She continues to be at high risk for a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism.
Our Broward nursing home abuse lawyers recognize these facts as providing the strong foundation for a civil lawsuit against the facility.
Plaintiffs allege defendant nursing home failed to provide a safe environment for the patient, did not follow the care plan developed for her, negligently rolled her out of the bed, failed to use reasonable care in providing her assistance with her daily needs, neglected to provide adequate skin care, nutrition and hydration and didn’t consult with a wound care specialist in a manner that was timely. There were also reported medication errors made throughout the course of her treatment.
Defendant nursing home, plaintiff asserts, is vicariously liable for the negligent action and inaction of its nursing staff and employees.
Plaintiff, granddaughter of the alleged victim, later told a news organization that she on one occasion had to bring her own bandages for her grandmother and dress the wounds herself. She asserted the facility was understaffed, nurses were overworked and many of the patients at the facility required critical care that they did not receive.
The case is being tried by the circuit court in Norfolk, VA.
Call Freeman Injury Law — 1-800-561-7777 for a free appointment to discuss your rights. Now serving Orlando, West Palm Beach, Port St. Lucie and Fort Lauderdale.
Additional Resources:
$4M lawsuit against Norfolk nursing home going to trial, Nov. 24, 2015, By Marcella Robertson, 13News Now
More Blog Entries:
Study: 10 Percent of Older Americans Are Victims of Abuse, Nov. 28, 2015, Broward Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog