Hello friends,

My 67-year-old father-in-law recently passed away after fighting an 18-week long battle with complications due to Covid-19. He spent 18 weeks in hospitals and rehab centers, moving 9 different times, and experienced multiple setbacks. At the very first hospital in which he received treatment he developed a bedsore which eventually progressed into a 3" x 3" infected sore that was 1.5" deep down to the bone. It was so bad that wound/bone treatments and surgeries did not help, and the official cause of death on his death certificate was sepsis (of course from the bedsore). The secondary cause of death was complications due to Covid-19.

Based on my research, bedsores are 100% preventable. So much so that Medicare does not even cover treatment of them. They are caused by neglect. I would like to understand what options my mother-in-law has regarding possible litigation and/or settlements related to his bedsore which ultimately led to his death. What is the best course of action and what steps should we take? How do we collect all medical records? Who should we contact? We don't really have much experience with lawyers or how to find a good one that would take a case like this. Any experienced insights and help would be greatly appreciated. If you prefer, feel free to contact me directly at the email address in my profile.

Thanks for your time.

Chris

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chris17404,

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What is the best course of action and what steps should we take?

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Who should we contact?

Taking a shot at but maybe a lawyer.

I’m so sorry for your loss. I wish I could offer advice, but the only thing I can think of is waiting for someone from your neck of the woods to chime in.

First of all I want to express my condolences to you and your family for the loss of your father-in-law. Bed sores should definitely be preventable if the facilities were doing what they should and rotating his body positions as long as that was possible.

As others stated I would contact a lawyer and also contact your state agency who oversees those facilities he was in. In Texas for example, it would be the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and there are divisions who investigate various allegations depending on the facility and type of allegation.

I wish you the best of luck as I have witnessed first hand how facilities do not do what they are supposed to.

Sorry about your dad. We are currently going through something similar. Nip was hospitalized 5 years ago with Influenza A and pneumonia and developed a bedsore on her butt cheek. Fast forward to a year ago, she had surgery to remove the cyst that was at the base of it and ended up with an infection from some stupid vac-pump.
She went into in-patient rehab after the 2nd surgery and ended up with 2 more infections while in their care, coding once at the hospital. After all was said and done, what started out the size of a dime ended up the size of my iPhone XS. She is doing better now and healing up at home and I get to change the bandage a few times a day, I tell her it's just so I can play with her butt.
We started by calling the state Ombudsman and filing a complaint. A DHS investigator called and went over the case with her and they are planning an unannounced visit to the facility shortly. The injury lawyer she contacted said to wait until the state's investigation is over and then start the mistreatment suit. I hope this helps you and nobody should have to have gone what your dad went through while in their care.

Sorry for the loss to your family. ..... From personal experience it took us 9 (yes 9)years to get the doctor into the courtroom for malpractice resulting in sudden death of 16yr old daughter . Biggest problem was to find doctors who would testify for our side and be going after other doctors(good-old-boy-network). Here in Louisiana we went before a review board consisting of our side/ his side/ local doctor review group. If it was determined that the standard of care was given then all things come to a stop with nothing to follow. But in our case we were able to proceed but it took 9 years to come to the courtroom with the outcome in our favor. Did not really go after the doctor for money but was hoping to stop this so any other family would not got through what happend to us. By the time we made it to the courtroom the doctor had retired from medical practice. ............................ Yes our side won a judgement against the doctor....... Good luck in you quest. ..... drill sgt.

I'm not a lawyer BUT as I understand it, medical malpractice is a very specialized field. You should find a firm that is equipped for it.

The meanest nurse I ever worked with went to law school and got hired by Virginia's biggest personal injury law firm. She got to make a lotta money and to be very nasty -- which for her translated into orgasmic euphoria.

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I'm not a lawyer BUT as I understand it, medical malpractice is a very specialized field. You should find a firm that is equipped for it.

This is a clear case of it, with plenty of blame to go around, and is what you need to do.

Decubitus ulcers are nasty. Was he on an eggcrate mattress or an airflow mattress(these are used in the ICU so they will not turn the patient especially if he was on a vent, was he overweight, diabetic? Get a good attorney and I hope all works out well for you.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Bedsores on one's butt are very difficult to treat and can be deadly. I believe that Christopher Reeves ( the Superman who broke his neck by being thrown off a horse) eventually died from a bedsore, that got into the bone and made him septic.

I'm neither a lawyer nor a doctor. I believe that a case like yours would end up looking at "complicating factors" such as a history of smoking, obesity, diabetes. They would also be looking at the complexity of the case. Was he able to move himself or did he need to be turned every 2 hours? Was he on medications that bring his blood pressure up ( that can restrict blood flow to the bodies' periphery to shunt more blood to major organs)? Did he spend time in "shock" which is another way to say inadequate blood flow? Was he on a ventilator and needed to be sedated so he could tolerate being on it ? Did he have clotting problems from Covid ?

There are a myriad of potential issues that would have needed to be dealt with , often all at the same time. "Malpractice " needs to show that the patient died due to lack of care or neglect or obviously given the wrong care. I would expect that the hospital lawyer will try to prove that the care was not malpractice even though the outcome ( of your loved one) was death. Having the patient die is not proof of malpractice.

The hospital may be willing to settle out of court but if this were me, I wouldn't take it to trial....you'll just feed the lawyers.

Sorry for all that you are going through.....mike

Sorry for your loss. I'm sure this is a very frustrating situation for the family.

I think the suggestion to find a firm that does a lot of medical malpractice is a good suggestion. They can help answer your questions up front.

Look into a PA Department of Health complaint.

Hello everyone,

Thank you for the well wishes and for the thoughtful replies regarding our options. I appreciate it. Just wanted to let you all know that I've contacted a local attorney's office experienced in these types of cases and discussed the details. They provided an overview of everything that's involved and the complexities, and were open and honest with expectations and the process. They will be discussing the case within the law firm to decide if it's something they can reasonably take on and let me know. I'll keep you all abreast of any developments. Thanks again.

Chris

Hi everyone. Here's the final update...

We heard back from the law firm I had called to discuss the case. Unfortunately, they will not be able to move forward with it. On May 6, 2020 Governor Wolf signed an Executive Order providing immunity to healthcare workers who are providing COVID-19 treatment or services in good faith. This means that healthcare workers are protected against civil liability for ordinary negligence. Based on the details I provided, the law firm concluded that the conduct of the hospitals did not rise to the level of willful misconduct or gross negligence. Consequently, the law firm believes their conduct would fall under the immunity protection. We can certainly get a 2nd opinion, but at this point we don't think it's worth it.

Thanks for the feedback.

Chris

I'd get the second opinion. It costs you nothing, and after reading Governor Shithead's order, it applies to the provision of "Emergency Services" and "Disaster Services" neither of which is defined in the order.

I would argue to counsel that ordinary care, even if covid related, is neither an Emergency Service nor is it a Disaster Service. It's ordinary care, and they breached a duty in ordinary care.

You need a ruthless bloodsucker for this one.

I.e, I'm not suing you because he died of Covid in your facility. I'm suing you because he died in agony from bed sores because you didn't take correct, basic care of him.

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Originally posted by ArtieS:
I'd get the second opinion. It costs you nothing, and after reading Governor Shithead's order, it applies to the provision of "Emergency Services" and "Disaster Services" neither of which is defined in the order.

I would argue to counsel that ordinary care, even if covid related, is neither an Emergency Service nor is it a Disaster Service. It's ordinary care, and they breached a duty in ordinary care.

You need a ruthless bloodsucker for this one.

I.e, I'm not suing you because he died of Covid in your facility. I'm suing you because he died in agony from bed sores because you didn't take correct, basic care of him.

Also, you don't need an actual "technical" win.

You just need to present a spectre of doubt in the defense case, and you'll likely end up in mediation with an insurance defense company.

If the fact pattern looks bad on the hospital, even little cracks in a legal defense can be leveraged. 80% of cases, generally, end up settled.

I agree wholeheartedly with Artie - get a second opinion. Whether the conduct at issue amounts to gross negligence would seem to be a question of fact, not of law, which means it's for a jury to decide. I would rather be you than the defendants if the case went to a jury.

I would add that I have a lot of doubts about the constitutionality of many of these COIVD-related declarations. At a minimum, extinguishing this claim because it has some relationship to COVID but permitting the exact same claim from someone in the next bed who had a non-COVID condition raises a pretty serious equal protection issue. That doesn't mean you have to invalidate the immunity statute to win - the defendants may prefer to settle your case rather than risk having the entire statute invalidated.