Pressure Ulcer
Our client went to the hospital with shortness of breath and pneumonia where he was intubated, placed on a ventilator, and admitted to the ICU. He was at very high risk of developing a bedsore (or pressure ulcer) due to his immobility and the severity of his illness. No pressure ulcer risk assessment was performed, and no interventions were implemented to prevent him from developing a bedsore as he laid in bed day after day in the same position. A week after admission, our client was noted to have a pressure ulcer. Orders were entered but not followed, and the wound worsened, but nurses never informed him or his wife. When he was discharged to another facility three weeks after the wound developed, the new facility took photographs, documented the wound, and showed the client and his wife. We initiated a claim, and the hospital admitted liability because it knew the nurses’ behavior was not appropriate. The claim resolved at an early mediation without ever needing to be litigated, which is extraordinarily rare in medical malpractice cases.