Bedsores: The Parasite Health Risk
by Neil S. Siskind, Esq.
Often, while medical professionals and a patient’s family are involved with curing a medical problem during a prolonged hospital visit, they forget that another medical enemy is lurking close behind and just waiting to pounce- the bed sore.
Bed sores are a localized area of tissue injury that develops when soft tissue is compressed between a bony prominence and an external surface for a prolonged period of time. The external surface may be a mattress, a chair or wheelchair, or even other parts of the body. The soft tissues of the body, such as skin and muscle, depend upon blood vessels to carry nutrients to the tissues, and to remove waste products. Bed sores result when prolonged pressure prevents sufficient blood flow to supply the tissues with nutrients. The resulting bed sore represents the death of the involved soft tissues.
It is the job of the nurses to ensure that the patient who is otherwise incapacitated is managed properly. Pressure on areas of the body and infection of the skin should be avoided and prevented. This means turning the patient, keeping the skin clean and nourished, and ensuring the patient’s proper nutrition. If a patient does form bed sores, it could be hard to prove that a patient was improperly and not regularly repositioned, and even harder to prove whether it was done 1 time per day, 5 times or 10 times. It could be a nurse’s word vs. that of the patient or his or her family- and the patient may not even know the answer, as he or she may have been in a coma, in pain, on medication, or unconscious or medicated. On the other hand, no person should get bed sores just from lying in bed. So the infection could be in and of itself, evidence of negligence.
The problem of bed sores also arises in nursing homes and assisted living facilities where elderly people have to rely on the staff, who are often overworked, underpaid, and many times, under-qualified, to reposition them properly with some regularity.
When your loved one goes in the hospital and is expected to stay, be sure to remember to work with the medical staff to not only cure the primary health concern, but also to prevent the parasitic problem of bed sores. As a family member, it is your duty to ensure that the nurses attend to this as necessary- or do it yourself.
The Siskind Law Firm can assist you if you or a loved one has been injured by bed sores as the result of improper medical care.
