The family of a woman who needed surgery for a bedsore that became serious has been awarded $700,000 in a pressure ulcer lawsuit.

Marie B., 88, was determined to have a bedsore, also known as a pressure ulcer, on her right buttock on Dec. 20, 2012, according to the pressure ulcer lawsuit. Her family alleges the bedsore was discovered when she was in the midst of going back and forth between two different facilities for issues with a feeding tube’s insertion.

According to the pressure ulcer lawsuit, Marie became a patient at Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth, N.J. on Dec. 9, 2012. She was discharged from the hospital on Dec. 14, 2012.

Marie allegedly was staying at the Brother Bonaventure Extended Care Center from Dec. 14 until Dec. 20, which is when she had to go back to Trinitas Regional Medical Center, where staff found the bedsore.

According to the pressure ulcer lawsuit, Marie returned to the care center on Dec. 26, 2012 until she eventually moved in with her daughter on Jan. 18, 2013.

To live at her daughter’s house, Marie needed to receive in-home nursing care. The family says that on Jan. 23, 2013, the visiting nurse was conducting a wound assessment when she discovered that bedsore on Marie’s right buttock. At that time, the wound allegedly was 2.5 centimeters deep.  The nurse deemed it a stage three bedsore, the family says, which means that the loss of skin has led to fat becoming visible in the ulcer and because of the depth of the wound, rolled, rounded edges are apparent around the wound.

Marie underwent surgery on Feb. 2, 2013, to remove an abscess (infection) that had formed inside the bedsore.

After undergoing the surgery to remove the abscess, Marie filed a lawsuit against Trinitas Regional Medical Center and Brother Bonaventure Extended Care Center. In her pressure ulcer lawsuit, she insisted the bedsore could have been avoided if both facilities would have taken better care of her. She accused both the hospital and the nursing home of negligence.

Marie died in 2016 of causes unrelated to the bedsore, but her daughter continued to pursue the pressure ulcer lawsuit.

The trial lasted five days. Trinitas Regional Medical Center nurses were accused of failing to use pillows and wedge pillows to keep Marie’s own weight off of her buttocks. They also were accused of not repositioning Marie every two hours to keep pressure ulcers from taking root.

Brother Bonaventure Extended Care Center was accused of failing to examine Marie on a weekly basis for such wounds. The failure to conduct a weekly wound assessment was a violation of the nursing home’s policies and procedures, alleges the pressure ulcer lawsuit.

Both the hospital and nursing home were represented by the same attorneys, who said that Marie’s health had deteriorated to the point that the pressure ulcers were consequences of her nutritional deficiencies combined with other medical co-morbidities. They also indicated that records showed Marie was repositioned on a regular basis by staff at both the hospital and the nursing home.

In May 2018, a jury found Brother Bonaventure Extended Care Center totally liable for Marie’s pressure ulcer. Trinitas Regional Medical Center was found to have zero percent liability.

The Union County jury awarded $700,000 in damages to Marie’s daughter as a result of the pressure ulcer lawsuit.