My husband had a slight pressure sore on his tailbone that we were treating at home in conjunction with an outpatient wound center.
Then he went into the hospital with altered mental state. He was there for 3 weeks. All the hospital did for his wound was padded bandages and change positions. I mentioned once during a bandage change ‘shouldn’t you put something on it?’
My answer was ‘Oh no! Wound care said not to put anything on it under a bandage!’ Thus the wound opened and was very bad when he was discharged.
He went to rehab, then back to a *different* hospital where they fully debreeded the wound. There was so much necrotic tissue that the tailbone is exposed.
He’s now on hospice, so we aren’t pursuing aggressive treatment, but it is, of course, his main complaint.
I have many pictures. Is it worth pursuing a suit against the hospital, or would it just end up to be years of stress to no end? NO ONE should ever have a sore like this. Even visiting nurses have been shocked.
katiekate:
I intend to do just that and have been given the name of an attorney to talk to.
Countrymouse:
That’s exactly why I want to follow through with this, in whatever way. So it’s brought to light with higher levels in the hospital. Apparently it was Wound Care who instructed the nurses how to care for the wound. I know there are ways to treat them because we were working with another wound center to do just that.
GardenArtist:
I bet you don’t regret getting out of that field!
I’m not blaming the pressure sore for him being in hospice. He definitely has other chronic issues. Some of which could affect healing this wound. But the 2nd hospital was able to address it and actively treat it. This kind of wound is avoidable.
AlvaDeer:
thank you for your obviously very experienced opinion. I will indeed speak to a lawyer about doing this on contingency. I didn’t know about the JCAHO (thanks also Jo123456). It’s making the hospital’s life miserable and getting them to pay more attention that is my goal.
he had also previously gotten an antibiotic-resistant bacteria UTI at this hospital from a catheter which took him a year to kill. When we returned there at some point, I told them no catheter in ER and was told ‘oh no, we don’t automatically use a catheter just because someone can’t get out of bed.’ So, apparently that policy changed sometime in the past year.
It is not acceptable for pressure sores to be low priority! Even under the best circumstances it would have taken this sore months (how many??!) to heal. And it is making his final weeks just miserable. Like screaming level of miserable. His tailbone is exposed.
**Quality of life** matters!
thanks again everyone.
Oh, well....
I should clarify that my experience with MedMal suits was through working for both plaintiff and defense law firms with specialties in these areas, but it was more than a few decades ago. I got out of that field and never regretted it.
Please read the responses on this thread, very similar to yours in terms of pressure ulcers and the possibility of litigation:
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/should-i-sue-nursing-home-for-allowing-bed-sore-453427.htm
W/o "tooting my own horn", please read my post and the list of factors that contribute to a decision to sue, as well as those that affect the determination of whether or not malpractice existed.
Your profile doesn't address other co-morbidities your husband may have had. Are they factors in his current situation, contributing to being in hospice? If so, any suit would have to provide proof in medical records, likely supported by medical testimony from another doctor, that the pressure ulcer contributed to factors now affecting his life.
Given that it was subsequently addressed, although it's definitely been damaging, I'm wondering if in fact it could be considered a contributory factor to his being in hospice.
Jo123456,
I'm not criticizing, but I'd think twice about the suggestion of posting on a open forum, especially FB. FB is aggressive in pursuing its own interests, and if Pritchard did post and include the hospital's name, FB could consider a libel case against Pritchard. FB used to include in its TOS indemnification obligations for posters. I don't use that site at all so I don't know if the indemnification is still mandatory for posters, but given FB's past behavior, I suspect it is.
If the hospital sued for libel, it would name both Pritchard and possibly FB for allowing the post. FB could and probably would require Pritchard to "hold harmless, indemnify and DEFEND", which means it would demand that the cost of its defense be paid by Pritchard.
Think seriously about this issue, and what you could possibly gain by sharing on FB. It's better to contact medical agencies that can actually do something about the hospital's negligence.
the “helper” on that site generally has satisfied my problems faster than other “physical sites” within businesses.
Those folks generally know the “ropes” within their business and have directed me helpfully.
I was assuming that the patient’s health was what is of the actual importance ( and that of others to come).
I did not intend to be so confusing, and in a small town like ours, it is not good to be an enemy to our meager healthcare.
That's what you have to prove: that the deterioration was a direct result of an action or omission on the part of the hospital which also constituted a failure in their duty of care to their patient. I think you would have trouble proving that one essential link between cause and effect. The pictures I'm sure are appalling, but they don't prove that there was anything amiss with the treatment or care provided - there can be absolutely dreadful ulcers, abscesses, infections and necroses without it being anybody's fault.
Do you have detailed records of his care? Anything in those you could work with?
What you really want to know is what the hospital staff have to say for themselves, and what they are going to do about their wound care procedures so that it is never allowed to get so far advanced again with their future patients. Try to pin down the person who has actual responsibility for this and hold him or her to account.
Saym for instance that they injured a young lawyer so badly by an act of negligence that he cannot think--his brain is dead-- and cannot support his family but he will live forever in that way and need 24/7 care. So you must have an injury that is ongoing and costly in order for it to be "worth the time" of a lawyer to take the case. And you must be able to prove that it was negligence only that CAUSED the injury, not old age and bad skin and poor nutrition and an act of nature and an act of god and on and on. Hospitals hate and fear skin ulcers and can lose licensure for too many as these ulcers in the aged or immobilized are life threatening. So it should certainly be pursued in the hospital. But you must show loss. In a person that is dying there is little to say about loss, and it is unlikely that the person would have gone on to live many productive years without this occurance. It is very complicated, but the long and short is that current laws make almost any suit for medical negligence worthless. You might try googling to get the skivvy on all this under some catchy phrase such as "why are so few suits brought for medical negligence".
Pressure sores are nasty bad things. As a nurse they were our enemy constantly, and coming in with a pressure sore, no matter how small (most of the damage is not seen early on because the skin is dying but not yet dead, and the damage goes all the way from surface to bone through all the many layers of skin before it is seem at times. So his coming in with a "slight pressure sore" will get them off the hook very quickly. Once started they go on with almost a certainty.
My experience with lawsuits and with pressure sores comes of a long experience as a nurse. Now, all that said there is no reason that you cannot visit a compensation lawyer to ask if he will take this case on contingency. You will learn quickly and without cost (the consult for free) that he or she will not take it on contingency. Now, any lawyer, if you insist, will take a case in which you pay all legal costs. Pick a name out of the NYC phone book and they will be happy to sue that name if you want to pay to do so. But that would be your time to run, not walk, away.
Jo123etc is absolutely correct. It is the Joint Commission on accreditation of Hospitals you should report to here, the JCAHO. They will make the hospital's life a misery over this, and if there is a history of bed sores could put their license in a probation situation. I would however, discuss with your MD first if what happened is worthy of such a charge. Having entered with the beginning of a bedsore I would say "not".
Apparently bedsores (decubitus) are not a priority these days, but there is a chain of command/complaints.