Nursing Home Ordered to Pay $1.25 Million for Elderly Patient’s Wrongful Death
A jury has ordered a US nursing home to pay a woman $1.25 million for her father’s wrongful death. Melvin Raybon died in 2004 after suffering from an infected bed sore caused by nursing home negligence. He became a resident at the Tucker Nursing Center in 2002. Nine months after his admission, he was sent to the hospital for treatment of a bed sore on his left buttock.
The wrongful death lawyer for Raybon’s estate says the home did not have enough staff members to provide the 67-year-old with the proper care so he could be turned over every two hours to prevent bed sores from occurring. After the hospital stabilized his infection, Raybon’s condition deteriorated, and he suffered from malnutrition, more bed sores, and infections leading up to his death.
According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality:
• In 2006, 503,3000 patients who were admitted to US hospitals were suffering from bed sores.
• This figure is a dramatic increase from 1993, when only 281,300 hospital patients were treated for the same condition.
• The majority of patients suffering from bed sores were seniors, 65 years of age or older.
• According to the American Hospital Association, the increase in bed sores may be due to the increase in elderly patients being admitted to US hospitals.
Bed sores can lead to serious health complications for nursing patients, especially for those who are sick or frail. Nursing homes are responsible for making sure their workers turn bedridden patients on a frequent basis—every two hours is recommended—so that infections don’t arise.
Hospitals Face a New Epidemic: Bedsores, New York Times, December 8, 2008
