When you put a family member in a nursing home, you expect them to be safe and cared for. If a facility breaks that trust and your family member develops a painful bedsore, we are here to help you fight back.
DM Injury Law will hold the right people accountable and demand the justice your family deserves. Our nursing home bedsore attorneys will prove that your loved one's facility was negligent when caring for your family member. We'll help you get the justice and compensation you need to cover any medical bills, relocation costs, and other financial burdens this experience has caused your family.
Contact DM Injury Law today to schedule your free case consultation. Our team works on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing up front or out of pocket. There is no financial risk in calling us.
Call 816-888-7500 or contact us online today
Why Choose DM Injury Law for Your Bedsore Injury Claim?
Finding out that an older family member was hurt by the people who were supposed to protect them is heartbreaking. Bedsores are a clear sign of neglect. When you need to fight back against a negligent facility, you need a powerful legal team on your side.
DM Injury Law has a long history of standing up to large, powerful insurance companies and nursing home chains. Over the years, our dedicated legal team has secured over $1 billion for our clients. We know how to investigate these facilities, uncover the truth, and get you the money you need to make things right.
We Work on a "No Fee Unless We Win" Policy
We understand that after a serious injury, money is tight. You might be looking at huge medical bills or paying out of pocket to move your loved one to a safer facility. The last thing you need to worry about is how you will pay for your bedsore lawyer.
That's why we work on a contingency fee. This means you do not pay us anything up front. We cover all costs, from investigating your claim to fighting the insurance company. We only get paid if we win your case. If we do not win, you owe us nothing.
Our Attorneys and Support Staff Work for You
When you are fighting a big nursing home facility and their insurance company, you need a law firm that has the resources to fight back. At DM Injury Law, we have a massive team of experienced attorneys and a large support staff. We have in-house investigators, medical record specialists, and case managers to help you with every aspect of your case. From gathering your loved one's medical records to talking to witnesses, our team handles all the hard work.
Signs and Causes of Bedsores
Bedsores, also known as pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers, are painful wounds that develop when a person is left in the same position for too long. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 1 in 10 nursing home residents suffer from a pressure ulcer. These injuries are a serious medical condition and are entirely preventable with proper care.
What Causes Bedsores?
Bedsores can form when pressure cuts off the blood flow to the skin. When blood cannot reach the skin, the tissue begins to die. This lack of blood flow can cause a severe wound to form in a very short amount of time. Bedsores are most often caused by:
- Unrelieved pressure from sitting in a wheelchair or lying in a bed without being moved.
- Friction from a resident's skin rubbing against rough bed sheets.
- Moisture from sweat, urine, or stool when a resident is not properly bathed or changed by the staff.
When nursing home staff neglect basic care, such as failing to reposition residents with limited mobility, change bedding, or assist with hygiene, vulnerable patients can develop painful and preventable bedsores.
Signs to Watch Out For
Bedsores usually form on bony areas of the body, such as the heels, ankles, hips, tailbone, back, and elbows. Signs that a bedsore is forming include:
- Red or pink skin that does not turn pale when you press on it.
- Skin that feels unusually warm or cool to the touch.
- Areas of the skin that are swollen, tender, or painful.
- Blisters, open sores, or deep craters in the skin.
If you see these signs, you need to speak with our pressure sore lawyers immediately so we can help you protect your loved one and hold the facility accountable.
Call 816-888-7500 or contact us online today
Stages of Bedsores
Medical professionals categorize bedsores into different stages based on how deep and severe the wound is. According to the Cleveland Clinic, bedsores get worse quickly if they are ignored. The stages include:
- Stage 1: The skin is not broken, but it looks red or discolored. The area may be painful, firm, soft, warmer, or cooler compared to the surrounding skin. This is the earliest warning sign of neglect.
- Stage 2: The skin breaks open, wears away, or forms an ulcer. The wound is usually shallow and looks like a scrape, blister, or shallow crater. It is very painful and requires immediate medical attention.
- Stage 3: The sore gets much worse and extends into the tissue beneath the skin, forming a small crater. Fat may show in the sore, but you will not see any muscle, tendon, or bone.
- Stage 4: The bedsore is very deep, reaching into the muscle and bone and causing extensive damage. Damage to deeper tissues, tendons, and joints may occur. This stage is life-threatening and requires extreme medical intervention, often surgery.
Unstageable: Sometimes, a bedsore is covered by yellow, brown, black, or dead tissue (eschar). A doctor cannot see how deep the wound is until this dead tissue is removed. These are extremely dangerous.
Potential Complications of Bedsores
When nursing home staff fail to treat a bedsore properly, it can lead to severe health problems. Older adults are vulnerable, and an open wound can quickly turn into a fatal emergency.
Some of the most serious complications include:
- Cellulitis: A painful bacterial skin infection that causes redness and swelling.
- Bone and Joint Infections: If a bedsore reaches the bone, the infection can spread into the joints and bones, making it very hard for the person to move.
- Sepsis: This is a deadly blood infection. If bacteria from the bedsore enter the bloodstream, the body's immune system can shut down the organs. Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in nursing home residents with bedsores.
- Cancer: Long-term, non-healing wounds can occasionally develop into a type of squamous cell carcinoma.
Compensation Available to Bedsore Injury Victims
When you file a claim against a nursing home, you are asking the law to force the facility to pay for the harm they caused. Our pressure sore attorneys fight hard to get the maximum settlement check or verdict for your family's suffering.
By filing a claim, you can recover compensation for:
- Medical Bills: The cost of hospital stays, surgeries, emergency room visits, wound care, and any future medical care your loved one will need.
- Relocation Costs: The money it costs to move your loved one out of the bad nursing home and into a safe facility.
- Pain and Suffering: Money to compensate your loved one for the intense physical pain and emotional fear they experienced while being neglected.
- Wrongful Death Damages: If your loved one passed away from a bedsore complication, you can get money to pay for funeral costs, burial costs, and the loss of their companionship.
Our Midwest Offices and Bedsore Injury Lawyers
DM Injury Law is proud to serve families all across the Midwest. We have local offices ready to help you wherever you are located. When you need Midwest bedsore lawyers who know the local court systems, you can reach out to our dedicated teams in these cities:
- Kansas City nursing home bedsore lawyer
- St. Louis nursing home bedsore lawyer
- Columbia nursing home abuse lawyer
- Topeka nursing home abuse lawyer
- Wichita nursing home bedsore lawyer
- Oklahoma City nursing home bedsore lawyer
- Tulsa personal injury lawyer
- Omaha personal injury lawyer
FAQ for Our Bedsore Lawyers
Who Can Be Held Liable?
- The Nursing Home Facility: The facility itself is often to blame. Many nursing homes are understaffed, leading to resident neglect and failure to move, bathe, or feed residents properly.
- Nurses and Caregivers: Specific staff members can be held responsible for failing to provide the necessary care to your loved one.
- Medical Professionals: Doctors and medical staff may be liable if they fail to diagnose, treat, or order proper care for a bedsore. We are highly experienced in medical malpractice claims and will pursue negligent doctors.
What should I do if my loved one has a bedsore?
If you believe your family member is in immediate, life-threatening danger, follow these steps:
- Get medical help.
- Once they are safe, take photos of their injuries and ask for copies of their medical records.
- Write down everything the staff tells you about the situation.
- Call our legal team as soon as possible so we can start an investigation and fight for the justice your loved one deserves.
How do you prove a nursing home caused the bedsore?
Proving neglect requires hard work because the nursing home will try to hide their mistakes. Our investigators will collect medical charts, read the facility's internal staff shift logs, interview former and current employees and residents, and hire independent doctors to testify that the injury was caused by neglect.
Contact DM Injury Law's Nursing Home Bedsore Attorneys for a Free Consultation
Finding out that a nursing home facility hasn't taken care of your loved one is devastating. Our team will listen to your story, explain your legal options, and stand by your side through this entire process.
Contact DM Injury Law today to schedule your free case consultation. You pay nothing unless we win your case.
Call 816-888-7500 or contact us online today