Plant City Hospital Bed Sores Attorney
Bed sores often begin in hospitals after an elderly patient has undergone a medical procedure or is in the hospital for treatment. When a person sits or lays in one position for an extended period of time and does not get sufficient movement, that person can develop pressure ulcers, which are also known as bed sores. As WebMD explains, bed sores develop when the weight of a person’s own body “against the surface of the bed or chair cuts off blood supply.” They are common in assisted-living facilities residents who are on bed rest or who require wheelchairs. Bed sores can be extremely painful and debilitating, and it is important to hold the hospital or specific health care providers accountable for negligence.
Serious bed sores should never occur with adequate care. If you have an elderly loved one who developed bed sores while receiving care in a hospital in or around Plant City, you should seek advice from one of our Plant City hospital bed sores attorneys to learn more about filing a claim for financial compensation.
Types of Bed Sores in Plant City Hospitals
According to WebMD, there are multiple stages of pressure ulcers that are classified based on severity and other features:
- Stage 1: Least serious bed sores that can heal with movement and adequate cleansing;
- Stage 2: More serious pressure ulcers that could become infected and should be cleaned and inspected by a health care provider;
- Stage 3: Much more serious pressure ulcers that go below both layers of the skin and into a patient’s fat tissue, and will require fast medical attention; and
- Stage 4: Most serious type of bed sore that requires immediate care from a health care provider and may affect a person’s tendons, ligaments, and muscles.
Stage 3 and Stage 4 bed sores, and in some cases even Stage 1 and Stage 2 bed sores, may be signs of negligent health care at a hospital in Florida. With proper care, a patient should never develop serious bed sores that can put them at risk of a life-threatening injury and severe pain.
Many Bed Sores Begin in Hospital Settings
While we often think about bed sores as a sign of nursing home neglect or assisted living negligence, Harvard Health reports that a large percentage of bed sores actually begin in hospitals. Indeed, some studies suggest that more than one-third of all nursing home patients who are diagnosed with bed sores (about 35 percent, in fact) actually enter the facility with bed sores they developed in a hospital.
Bed sores also occur in hospital settings much more frequently than they should. More than 6 percent of older adults, according to Harvard Health, enter hospitals for reasons unrelated to bed sores and are diagnosed with pressure ulcers within three days of hospital care.
File a Lawsuit with Help from a Plant City Hospital Bed Sores Lawyer
If an older adult in your family developed serious bed sores in a Florida hospital, it is critical to hold the hospital accountable and to seek compensation for your loved one’s health care needs. One of our Plant City hospital negligence attorneys can assist you. Contact Kohn Law today for assistance with your case.
