Sometimes, infections cannot be avoided, but when your loved one’s caregivers leave infections untreated, they may not be giving consistent, high-level of care your loved one deserves. Untreated infections can cause pain to your loved one and might lead to more serious conditions, such as sepsis. Ultimately, infections left untreated may claim your loved their life.
Call a Berwyn untreated infections lawyer at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm today if you notice one or more untreated or under-treated infections on your loved one’s body. Your loved one may be the victim of negligent care and could be eligible for compensation as a result.
Infections Left Untreated Can Turn Deadly in Elderly Residents
According to The Mayo Clinic, sepsis, one of the most common results of an untreated infection, can lead to death. The elderly suffer a greater susceptibility to infection, and caregivers own the responsibility of regularly bathing, rotating, and tending to your loved one so that an infection does not result in sepsis or other potentially life-threatening health problems.
How Infections in Nursing Homes Occur
Because infections more commonly occur in the elderly, nursing homes must maintain a knowledgeable, attentive staff at all times to detect and treat any infections that develop in their residents. According to a paper published by German medical journal Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie, three of the following infections in the elderly develop more frequently among nursing home residents than in “community-dwelling” elderly individuals:
- Pneumonia.
- Infected bedsores, referred to clinically as “pressure ulcers.”
- Urinary tract infection.
The threat of such infections in the elderly population, which likely includes your loved one, is established knowledge in the medical community. Nursing home facilities should train their caregivers on the threat of these and other infections, and staff should know how to treat such infections promptly and properly.
Nursing Home Neglect Often Leads to Infections in the Elderly
Your loved one’s developed untreated infections might have resulted from any of several situations, including:
- Caregivers are not regularly washing your loved one and applying moisturizer to their skin to lower the risk of bedsores.
- Caregivers are not regularly rotating your loved one in the bed, chair, or any other location where they may develop bedsores.
- A nurse or doctor is not regularly monitoring your loved one for signs of pneumonia, bedsores, urinary tract infection, and other infection types.
These risks improve the likelihood that your loved one will suffer from an infection that, given enough time, could cause death. A nursing home where caregivers are not properly monitoring your loved one could also enable other forms of mistreatment.
For a free legal consultation with a Untreated Infections Lawyer serving Berwyn, call (800) 794-0444
Infections Not Treated May Indicate Elder Neglect
Your loved one’s untreated infection warrants a greater skepticism about management and acute care in their nursing home. Such blatant neglect could indicate structural problems in the nursing home, including:
- Management that prioritizes profits over patient care and safety.
- Not adequate staffed, a common problem in nursing homes that abide only by the minimum standards for caregiver staffing, according to PBS.
- A lack of accountability among direct caregivers, which may result from relaxed policies from upper management.
- Poor vetting of employees, which may lead to inexperienced, unskilled, or unmotivated individuals supervising your loved one’s health.
- A toxic culture that downplays the patient’s health as a low priority.
These types of big-picture problems inevitably impact the quality of care in any nursing home, and they may exist at the root of your loved one’s infection. If you suspect that your loved one’s infection resulted from negligent care and management, you should look into filing a nursing home lawsuit against the responsible parties. Call a Berwyn untreated infections lawyer at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm today to discuss your case for free.
Berwyn Untreated Infections Lawyer Near Me (800) 794-0444
You Can File a Lawsuit for Neglect in a Nursing Home
Civil courts exist to provide an outlet for those who have been harmed and want to seek amends. You may have a case for negligence if a nursing home or one of its staff members did not properly care for your loved one. An attorney can provide specific guidance based on the details of your case and will handle all your legal needs.
You can expect a lawyer to:
- Make sure your case reaches court before the statute of limitations for your type of lawsuit expires.
- Investigate the circumstances surrounding your loved one’s infection.
- Speak with your loved one, if they are capable, to elicit firsthand details of how they developed the infection; the sort of care that was (or was not) provided; and any other examples of the nursing home’s negligence.
- Consult medical professionals who can testify that your loved one suffered from an untreated infection, and that inadequate care may have enabled the condition.
- Interview witnesses regarding any negligent culture in the nursing home and to extract specific details of inadequate care that affected your loved one.
- Provide legal services from the beginning of your case through the finish.
- Ensure the preservation of your loved one’s rights.
A nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer will aim to hit the legal standard for proving negligence and in doing so, may enable you to collect compensation for your losses.
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Potential Awards from a Nursing Home Neglect Case
Negligent care can cause serious injury, and in extreme cases, it may result in death. If you file a negligent care claim that did not lead to death, you may receive compensation for:
- The pain and suffering your loved one experienced from their untreated infection, as well as any other mistreatment inflicted on them while in a nursing home.
- Medical treatments to treat the effects of the untreated infection.
If you lost a loved one due to negligent care, you could collect additional compensation for:
- Funeral-related expenses.
- The loss of comfort and companionship provided by the deceased.
- Pain and suffering on behalf of your family.
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Contact a Nursing Home Neglect Attorney Serving Berwyn Today
We will help you pursue the compensation that you or your loved one deserve. Call our team at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm today for a free consultation. We work on a contingency-fee-basis, so you pay nothing out of pocket or upfront.
Call or text (800) 794-0444 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
