Chicago Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer | Dinizulu Law Group, Ltd

CHICAGO, IL – Infections are one of the leading causes of death in nursing homes throughout the country. Unfortunately, nursing homes can be inattentive to the conditions that give rise to infections and then leave the infections untreated, putting nursing home residents at risk.

An infection that is left untreated can turn into a very dangerous condition called sepsis. When someone develops septic shock, this is how an infection can kill. Sepsis happens when an infection you already have – in your skin, lungs, urinary tract, or somewhere else – triggers a chain reaction throughout your body. A toxic agent is introduced into the bloodstream because of the infection and will begin to result in organ failure. If you do not seek medical treatment in a timely manner, sepsis can rapidly lead to tissue damage, organ failure, and death.

There are numerous symptoms that may occur, with some of the more severe ones including:

Abnormal heart function including a very rapid heart rate
Significant pain and discomfort
Difficulty breathing
Disorientation or delirium
Unconsciousness

The Stages of Sepsis

Stage One: Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS)

Sepsis can be difficult to identify but is typically denoted by a very high or low body temperature, high heart rate, high respiratory rate, high or low white blood cell count and a known or suspected infection. For sepsis, two of the mentioned SIR signs, as well as an infection, must be present.

Stage Two: Severe Sepsis

Severe sepsis is diagnosed when acute organ dysfunction begins. Severe sepsis can be diagnosed when sepsis is present along with hypotension, or low blood pressure, or hypoperfusion, the decreased blood flow through an organ.

Organ dysfunction can be characterized by symptoms such as a sudden change in mental state, decreased urine output, decreased blood platelet count, difficulty breathing, abnormal heart pumping function and abdominal pain.

Stage Three: Septic Shock

Septic shock is the most severe stage of sepsis. Septic shock is defined as the presence of hypotension, induced by sepsis, despite fluid resuscitation. Septic shock has the highest chance of mortality, with estimates that range from 30% to 50%.

Symptoms of Septic Shock

Septic shock is accompanied by the following symptoms:

Little to no urination
Blood clots throughout the body that can lead to organ failure
Very low or high temperature
Extremely low blood pressure
Palpitations

Even if the nursing home resident is about to survive septic shock, it will have long-term ramifications on their health and they likely will not make a full recovery.

Early detection of sepsis is necessary in order for a nursing home resident to have a better chance at survival; however, when a resident is a victim of nursing home neglect, they likely are not receiving the care that they need to notice the signs of sepsis and begin prompt treatment. This becomes more of a problem at understaffed nursing homes that are prone to neglect.

Medical Treatment for Patients with Sepsis

When a nursing home does diagnose and treat sepsis, the course of treatment begins with antibiotics. Some patients may need to have procedures to remove dead skin or tissue depending on the severity of the infection. Patients may also need oxygen or other intravenous fluids to maintain the level of oxygen and blood going to the organ so organ failure can be prevented. Patients can recover from mild sepsis in about three to ten days; however, more severe cases can take longer to recover if the patient is able to survive at all. Severe sepsis requires critical care for a month or more.

Sepsis and Pressure Ulcers

Sepsis is also how pressure ulcers can become fatal. There are four stages of a pressure ulcer: Stage I and II is the first discoloration of the skin and a small ulcer. Stage III is when a small crater in the skin begins to degenerate to a Stage IV pressure ulcer where the hole in the skin gets deeper and can reach the muscle. When the hole in the skin becomes large enough and is untreated, the resident can develop sepsis from the infection. A pressure ulcer can become septic, though the ones that are more advanced have a higher change of becoming infected. The wounds can leak puss and give off a foul smell. There can also be an increased in pain in the area and a fever.

Pressure ulcers should not form in the first place, but if they do, they should not reach the level of sepsis. If your loved one has developed sepsis, there is a high chance that the nursing home did not provide the level of care that it was legally obligated to, causing your family member to develop a life-threatening infection.

Nearly 25,000 residents in nursing homes will die from sepsis, and most of these deaths are preventable. Thousands of nursing homes each year are cited by the federal government for their failure to prevent and treat pressure ulcers.

Has Your Loved One Been Injured by a Nursing Home’s Failure to Treat an Infection? Get Legal Help Now

The experienced attorneys at the Dinizulu Law Group have handled numerous cases over the years where nursing home residents have died from infected pressure ulcers and other severe infections due to nursing home negligence. If your loved one has been injured or died from neglect at a nursing home, call us today at (312) 384-1920 to set up your free consultation. Please visit our website for additional information.

Do you have a loved one that is residing in a nursing home? Do you trust that the facility is taking the utmost of care with your loved one? What happens when they break that trust? How can you expose what you believe to be untruths? Let’s take a look at the steps involved.

When you search for a nursing facility for your loved one, you are looking for a home that you trust will follow through with their promises of care. This is usually one of the statements that nursing administrators promise when you tour their facilities. They promise that they will take special care to meet all of your loved one’s medical and dietary needs. When they don’t deliver on the promise, it is a cause for action.

Let’s look at a previous case of mine. I had a woman come to me whose father had been staying in a nursing facility. She had found a home that she liked, and had moved her father to that home. She alerted the staff that he was at a higher risk for developing bed sores, and they assured her that they would take all of the precautions necessary. Within three weeks, he had developed bed sores.

The first thing that I did was to investigate his medical records. When searching through his files, I noticed that there was a lack of re-positioning notes. A re-positioning note is one that states the date and time a resident is re-positioned. This is important because if a resident is not re-positioned frequently, they are likely to develop bed sores. These are caused by too much pressure being put on the bony extrusions of the body. The client’s father developed bed sores that developed into sepsis, a blood infection.

After noting that there were no re-positioning notes, we took sworn statements from the nurses and staff. The nurse in charge of the patient’s care assured us that she did re-position him and that she didn’t make any errors. We took that statement, along with the lack of re-positioning records, to the nursing home administrator. We also took a look at the nurse’s files and saw that she had previously been reprimanded for not re-positioning patients. With all of this information at her feet, the nursing home administrator knew she was at an impasse. She had been caught lying, and she decided to settle the case. Watch the video to learn more.

If you have questions about what to do when you suspect a nursing home of neglecting your loved one or lying about the care they have been given, please contact us at 1-312-384-1920 or 1-800-693-1LAW. Our experienced Chicago nursing home abuse lawyers are here for you. You may also find more videos about nursing home neglect laws on our media page.