septic, nursing, shock, treatment, home, sepsis, elderly, bedsores, patients, blood
Sepsis, or serious infection of the blood, is one of the top reasons nursing home residents are sent to hospitals. Septic shock among the elderly results in death about 20% of the time, costing grave emotional and financial harm on families and the health care system overall. Nursing home negligence lawyers at Pintas & Mullins highlight new research that point to better ways to save elderly patients from sepsis.
One of the more prominent studies focuses on patients with septic shock who are treated using a catheter to monitor blood-oxygen levels. This practice is relatively new, and is now widely practiced at hospitals throughout the country. The study, published in the
New England Journal of Medicine, examined over 1,300 septic shock patients at more than 30 different hospitals. Researchers found that the catheter treatment did not improve patient outcomes any more than older and simpler therapies.
The newer treatment, called early goal-directed therapy (EGDT), is more expensive and can
cause more health problems than older treatments. These new findings suggest that elderly patients are being treated using a needlessly riskier therapy, which does not improve survival rates over other treatments. This is an immense problem, particularly when considering that this treatment is being used on one of our nation’s most vulnerable population.
Sepsis in Nursing Homes
Among the elderly, sepsis is most often caused by untreated bedsores, or pressure ulcers.
Bedsores occur from remaining in one position for long periods of time, such as in a bed-ridden or wheelchair-restrained resident. The prolonged pressure on that area, commonly the backside, results in injureis to the skin and underlying tissue.
Bedsores often develop quickly, particularly among the elderly whose skin is already fragile, and can be difficult to treat. If a nursing home resident suffers from any mobility issues, the risk of bedsores should be noted on their care plan. Furthermore, if staff fails to recognize, diagnose, treat and adequately monitor bedsores, it could lead to sepsis infection, and ultimately septic shock.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans die from septic shock in the U.S. every year. In addition to untreated bedsores, sepsis can also occur from post-surgery infections, pneumonia, and urinary-tract infections.
EGDT uses a catheter in the jugular (neck) vein to diagnose low blood oxygen. To raise oxygen levels, doctors then start a red blood cell transfusion and sometimes drugs are prescribed. The practice was created by an American doctor in 2001, and by 2008 experts started questioning how rigorously he analyzed the risks and benefits.
More traditional septic shock therapies involve less aggressive instructions than EGDT, but similar methods such as IV fluids and antibiotics. Catheters are not required, and red blood cell transfusions are only recommended if hemoglobin levels drop below a certain point.
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Regardless of type of treatment, the only factor that significantly affects patient survival is how quickly treatment begins. The earlier sepsis and septic shock is diagnosed, the better chance of full recovery the patient has. Overall, medical experts suggest that septic shock patients should be treated with less costly, low-risk, and effective treatment regimens.
Our team of nursing home negligence lawyers reconfirms that prevention is the most important goal – and this is the responsibility of the nursing home. Any failure to diagnose or treat serious bedsores is grounds for an elder abuse lawsuit. According to our nursing home abuse lawyers from California, you could file a claim or a lawsuit against the staff responsible for the abuse, the nursing home’s administration, or the facility’s parent company. In many cases, civil claims go side by side with criminal charges. In civil lawsuits, statistics show that plaintiffs can be awarded significant compensatory and punitive damages.
Our law firm has been working on these types of cases for nearly three decades and have won millions for our nursing home clients. Contact our firm with any questions you may have. Our case reviews are free, no-obligation, and available to concerned families nationwide.
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