Do Nursing Homes Have to Pay for Bedsore Injuries?
Yes nursing homes must pay for bedsore injuries, if the nursing home, rehab center, or other care facility was negligent.
Basically, negligence is a lack of care. We outline the primary elements of a negligence case below. A victim/plaintiff must prove every element by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not).
These cases are very complex, mostly because out-of-state holding companies legally own most SoCal nursing homes and other such facilities.
Only an experienced Carlsbad personal injury lawyer can obtain a high settlement in such cases. In fact, the average attorney-negotiated settlement is over five times higher than the average non-attorney-negotiated settlement.
Duty
Depending on the circumstances, a duty (legal responsibility) to provide reasonable care or utmost care could apply.
As property owners, most long-term care facilities have a duty of reasonable care to provide safe and secure spaces. In California, the extent of the property owner duty of care varies, based on factors like:
- Likelihood of guests on the property,
- Likelihood of serious injury,
- Cost of preventing injury,
- Landowner’s control over the area, and
- Landowner’s knowledge of the injury-causing hazard.
For a Carlsbad personal injury lawyer, the cost of preventing bedsore injuries, which is miniscule, often drives up the settlement value of these cases. If staffers turn over patients in bed once every two or three hours, those patients do not get bedsores.
In some cases, usually if the victim was directly under a doctor’s care, a higher duty of care applies. Doctors have a fiduciary duty of care, which is a step above reasonable care. Doctors cannot simply react to problems. Instead, they must go all out to keep their patients safe and secure.
Breach
A breach of duty is a lack of care. Usually, nursing homes breach their duty of care if they do not regularly monitor patients and/or staffers don’t know what to look for in terms of bedsore injuries.
In this context, understaffing often plays a role in patient injuries. Most SoCal nursing homes operate with dangerously low staff levels, especially during low-census periods (nights, weekends, and holidays).
To make up for this shortage, many nursing home managers send patient care techs on patient rounds. These professionals often cannot distinguish between Stage I bedsores, which aren’t serious, and Stage II bedsores, which are potentially disabling.
Cause
In California, the bedsore, or other negligence injury, must substantially cause injury. Many factors contribute to bedsores, such as physical weakness. However, staff neglect substantially causes most bedsore injuries. Plenty of “weak” people go to bed every night and don’t wake up with bedsores.
Additionally, the injury must be foreseeable (possible). This element is difficult to establish in many car crash and other negligence claims. But this element is relatively easy to establish in bedsore cases. A bedsore is a medically-documented risk of staying in bed too long in only one or two positions.
Damages
If the bedsore is a physical injury, and it almost always is, damages usually include compensation for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.
Attorneys must account for prior and likely future compensatory damages during settlement negotiations. A failure to do so usually leaves the victim financially responsible for these future costs. Therefore, thorough preparation is essential.
Additional punitive damages are also available, in some extreme nursing home negligence cases. Usually, the victim/plaintiff must prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant intentionally disregarded a known risk.
Reach Out to a Dedicated San Diego County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Carlsbad, contact the Pursley Law Firm. Virtual, after-hours, and hospital visits are available.
Source:
scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2282&context=hlr
