In a recent bedsore lawsuit, a nursing home resident’s son alleges her caretakers’ negligence led to dangerous bedsores.

Plaintiff Actwood B. files the bedsore lawsuit on behalf of his mother Patricia B. in Virginia federal court. The lawsuit was filed on July 17, 2018.

According to the bedsore lawsuit, Patricia was an adult resident of Warrenton, Va., who became a resident of Brookside Rehab and Nursing. However, as a result of the nursing home’s alleged negligence and recklessness, Actwood says Patricia was overdosed on opiate medications and contracted severe wounds during her stay at the facility.

Actwood alleges his mother’s bedsores were so severe that local police and the Virginia Adult Protective Services were called to intervene. Protective services confirmed the nursing home neglect, he claims.

According to the bedsores lawsuit, Brookside Rehab’s “failure to provide adequate care to [Patricia] was due to dangerously low staffing levels motivated by profits.”

The complaint says that Patricia was first admitted to Brookside on Oct. 20, 2016, for short-term rehabilitation from her recent hospitalization when she underwent a right leg amputation. She was only supposed to be at Brookside for a short time for physical therapy, Actwood says. During her admittance, she and Actwood were allegedly under the impression that Brookside would be safe and provide good care.

Actwood claims that although the nursing home knew of Patricia’s medical conditions and of her risk for developing pressure ulcers, she suffered “very severe and disturbing wounds or skin tears on her buttocks.” The wounds on her buttocks were described as being covered in dry gangrene and “unstageable” and “painful.”

On Dec. 8, 2016, Actwood says she was found hypotensive and confused. A narcotics overdose was later confirmed, the complaint says.

The bedsore lawsuit was filed on multiple counts including negligence, negligence per se, violations of the Virginia consumer protection act, fraud, punitive damages, respondeat superior/vicarious liability, and injunctive relief/declaratory judgment.

Overview: Nursing Home Neglect

Thousands of nursing home neglect lawsuits are filed by victims or victims’ families that may come from a number of unlawful acts such as physical abuse, abandonment, and sexual abuse. Neglect can be defined by being any individual or party that is responsible to another in providing necessities such as food, shelter, and protection.

The Nursing Home Abuse Center reports that “1-2 million U.S. citizens 65 years of age or older have been mistreated, exploited or injured by a caregiver.” Signs of nursing home neglect may include fractures from falls, dehydration, chronic infections, urinary tract infection, malnutrition, and pressure sores.

When it comes to the different kinds of mistreatment that seniors may become victims of they can include:

• Sexual abuse- including non-consensual sexual contact such as the witnessing by a senior of sexual acts.
• Abandonment- The desertion of the care for a vulnerable person by a responsible party including in the event of a natural disaster.
• Physical abuse- Such as the deprivation of necessities or inflicting physical pain.

The Bedsore Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-00887-AJT-MSN, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.