Bed sores are preventable in many cases and when caught early on by medical professionals, bed sores can be treated without causing patients to suffer life-threatening complications. But when patients do not receive adequate medical treatment in Will County nursing homes and other medical facilities throughout the state of Illinois, patients are at risk of suffering fatal injuries from these preventable ailments.
It has been almost two years since one Illinois woman died from complications from bed sores. Last month, the woman’s family filed a lawsuit against a hospital in Belleville for causing the woman’swrongful death. The family believes that the hospital and its staff were negligent and responsible for causing the woman to suffer fatal complications from bed sores. The lawsuit argues that the hospital failed to diagnose the woman’s bed sores, which delayed treatment that could have saved her life.
The lawsuit states that the Illinois woman had been living at a nursing home before she was admitted to a hospital in Belleville. Staff noticed that the nursing home resident was becoming very weak. The woman had remained hospitalized for 10 days in October 2010 before she was released.
The woman was readmitted to the same hospital the same day she had been discharged. The woman’s symptoms included rapid heart rate and seizure-related symptoms. The woman remained hospitalized for nearly a month before she was discharged again. However, the woman had open ulcers and blisters when she was discharged the second time from the hospital, the lawsuit states.
In December 2010, the woman was taken to another hospital where she was diagnosed with severe bed sores and several other ailments. By the time the woman’s bed sores were finally diagnosed, doctors were unable to successfully treat the woman’s condition.
The woman died in January 2011 from complications caused by the untreated bed sores. The family claims that the hospital failed to diagnose the woman’s bed sores when she first suffered health problems in October. The lawsuit is requesting that the family be compensated for their loved one’s funeral expenses and other damages.
Source: The Madison-St. Clair Record, “St. Elizabeth’s Hospital named in suit,” Andrea Dearden, Nov. 14, 2012
