Bedsores
Our Bedsore Lawyers
Our bedsore lawyers have significant experience in evaluating and litigating a bedsore case, and it is always important to get in contact with an attorney as soon as possible. As experienced bedsore lawyers, we have seen many cases involving this sort of malpractice. Bedsores sometimes occur to patients at hospitals, nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities due to the failure of medical care providers to follow standard protocol. A bedsore is also referred to as a pressure ulcer or a decubitus ulcer, and it is a painful injury to the skin and underlying tissue that is often the result of immobile patients not being properly repositioned with sufficient frequency, along with a variety of other factors that may cause a bedsore to develop. Bedsores are caused when there is pressure against the skin limiting blood flow to the skin and nearby tissue. This will occur when the skin is trapped between a wheelchair or bed and the bone with sustained pressure over a period time. This may also occur as a result of shearing, a process that occurs when the skin of a person stays in one place as the skeletal muscle slides down. The skin is most vulnerable to bedsores where there is not a significant amount of fat or muscle between the bone and the skin so they most commonly occur near the hips, spine, pelvis, heels, knees, ankles and elbows. When someone is not moved frequently enough, there is an increased likelihood that this sustained pressure or shearing on the skin will occur in one of these areas, causing a bedsore.DEDICATED LEGAL ADVOCACY
Justice for New York Injury Victims
Our bedsore lawyers have significant experience in evaluating and litigating a bedsore case, and it is always important to get in contact with an attorney as soon as possible.
The facility that treats patients must have a procedure in place to evaluate a patient’s risk of developing a bedsore, and the most commonly accepted method to perform such an evaluation is know as the “Braden Scale“, wherein a patent’s risk factors are analyzed on a numerical scale. Once a patient is determined to be at high risk of developing a bedsore, the treating medical care provider should implement protocol to prevent the formation of a bedsore, which should consist of the following:
- Systematic skin assessments with special attention to bony prominences
- Turning and repositioning the patient on a frequent basis
- Avoid vigorous massage over bony prominences
- Ensuring that the skin in the vulnerable area is kept dry, and that proper care is implemented when a patient is incontinent
- Use of support pillows or orthotic devices for pressure redistribution
- Ensuring means of transportation for the patient which do not add further irritation to the area at risk
