Bedsores are one of the most common preventable causes of infection, including severe infections that trigger deadly sepsis, organ shutdown, and death. Unfortunately, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities often fail to recognize and promptly treat bedsores in their earliest stages, which can lead to infections.
When nursing home caregivers fail to prevent bedsore infection and death, it’s not only ethically unconscionable, but Arizona’s civil liability laws consider it a wrongful death, allowing family members to seek compensation and a sense of justice with the help of a Phoenix nursing home abuse lawyer.
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Death From Untreated Bedsores (Stage IV)
Recognizing the Cause and Stages of Bedsores
| Bedsore Stage | Description | Severity | Treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Red or darkened, inflamed skin; mild pain; skin feels warm to touch | Early skin damage; no open sores | Frequent repositioning, keeping area clean and dry |
| Stage 2 | Partial thickness skin loss; open sore or blister | Increased risk of infection | Topical antibiotics, wound care, monitoring for infection |
| Stage 3 | Full thickness skin loss; extends to underlying fat; necrosis (blackened tissue) | Severe pain, high infection risk, potential sepsis | Surgery (wound closure), antibiotics, intensive wound care |
| Stage 4 | Extends through skin and fat to muscle or bone; large open wound; blackened or dead tissue | Life-threatening infections, sepsis, organ failure | Emergency medical treatment, surgery, IV antibiotics, aggressive care |
An immobile or bedridden person may be unable to adequately shift and relieve pressure against bony areas like the tailbone, the back of the head, and the heels. Unrelieved pressure in these and other regions causes a lack of circulation, resulting in damage and eventual death of skin cells.
Stage-one bedsores present as red or darkened, inflamed skin in one or more spots, causing mild pain, discomfort, and skin that feels warm to the touch. Stage-one bedsores are treatable by frequent position shifts and extra attention to keep the area clean and dry.
Left untreated, stage-one bedsores progress to more advanced stages. When bedsores advance to stage two, the damaged skin begins breaking down and develops an open sore or pressure ulcer.
Stage-two bedsores allow bacteria to enter the wound, often leading to infection. As the open bedsore penetrates through the layers of skin to the underlying fat, the sore has reached stage three with necrosis or tissue death, showing as blackened, dead skin around an inflamed open sore.
Stage-three bedsores cause excruciating pain and may require surgery to close the wound and antibiotic treatments to heal the infection and prevent sepsis. Without adequate, timely treatment, bedsores advance to stage four.
Understanding the Severity of Stage-Four Bedsores
Stage-four bedsores penetrate through the skin and fat layers and advance to the muscle and bone below. Stage four bedsores show the following symptoms:
- A widened hole or crater exposing the flesh and bone
- Uneven edges of dead, blackened skin
- A reddened, swollen, and hot-to-the-touch area of inflamed skin around the open sore
- Foul-smelling pus
Stage-four bed sores cause severe pain and fever as the body fights the infection. Unfortunately, without aggressive treatment, stage four bedsores may trigger a cascade of events that lead to sepsis, organ shutdown, and death.
How Do Untreated Bedsores Cause Death?
Sepsis occurs as a deadly autoimmune reaction to infection. Bedsores are commonly infected due to the open sore and exposure to bacteria. As the infected person’s body identifies the serious source of infection, it triggers the release of bodily chemicals known as cytokines, meant to fight infection. Unfortunately, the immune system may trigger an overly aggressive flood of cytokines known as a cytokine storm.
Cytokine storms cause massive inflammation within the body’s cells rather than the mild inflammation that helps fight infection. This overly aggressive immune reaction is known as sepsis. Sepsis kills healthy cells in the organs as well as the bacteria. As a result of sepsis, organ failure occurs in the kidneys and other organs, eventually causing death.
Treating Bedsores to Prevent Sepsis and Death
Long-term care facilities have a legal duty of care to prevent and promptly treat bedsores in immobile residents. Proper treatment includes:
- Regular repositioning of bedridden or wheelchair-bound residents
- Immediate care at the first sign of skin redness or irritation
- Stage 2 treatment: topical antibiotics and bandages
- Stage 3 treatment: surgical intervention and intensive wound care
- Stage 4 treatment: emergency medical care, IV antibiotics, and surgery
It’s an egregious form of neglect when facilities allow bedsores to advance to stage four before seeking emergency medical care to prevent death.
Liability for Untreated Bedsore Death
Although it’s unimaginable that immobility can result in open, infected wounds and a painful death, bedsores are responsible for an alarming 60,000 or more fatal infections each year. Nursing homes are the most common liable parties in bedsore wrongful death claims. Typical claims are filed against nursing home administrators or owners due to their failure to hire qualified staff, failure to provide adequate bedsore prevention training, or failure to monitor their staff’s caregiving. Proving a nursing home or other facility’s fault requires substantial evidence demonstrating that the case meets the following standards of liability:
- The facility owed a duty of care to the resident or patient
- They violated their duty of care through negligence
- The negligent violation of duty directly caused the bedsore death
- The death caused economic losses to the family as well as grief and anguish
Bedsore infections and death are entirely preventable with prompt, appropriate care. Unfortunately, wrongful death is sometimes the result of nursing home negligence in preventing or treating bedsores, leaving the facility liable for damages.
What Damages Are Available After a Nursing Home Wrongful Death From Bedsore Infection?
A wrongful death claim doesn’t bring back a loved one or erase grief, but it demands financial accountability for the death and brings a sense of justice to grieving loved ones. Common damages recovered in bedsore wrongful death cases Arizona and elsewhere recover damages, such as the following:
- Medical expenses
- Out-of-pocket costs
- Funeral and burial expenses
- A family member’s lost wages
- Compensation for the decedent’s pain and suffering experienced before the death
- Compensation for the family’s emotional grief and anguish, and the loss of a loved one’s guidance and support
In Arizona, only a spouse, parent, or adult child may file for wrongful death compensation. If the decedent doesn’t leave close family behind, then their representative or one assigned by the court may file a wrongful death claim on behalf of the estate. Then, the terms of the decedent’s will or the state’s intestacy laws for inheritance determine who inherits the estate.
How Can a Nursing Home Neglect Attorney Help?
Nursing home neglect and untreated bedsore deaths are egregious violations of the duty of care that caregivers have for the elderly or immobile. If you lost a loved one due to untreated bedsores, reach out to an experienced Phoenix nursing home bed sores attorneys at Knapp & Roberts for representation to give your lost loved one back their voice for justice.