Portland Nursing Home Malpractice Lawyers Share Costs of Pressure Sores Due to Oregon Medical Malpractice
Pressure sores are one of the most painful and damaging types of personal injuries that victims of Oregon nursing homes malpractice may suffer. These injuries are extremely devastating and incredibly painful. Some types of pressure sores start off as minor inconveniences and discomfort, but they can quickly cause necrotic and horrifyingly painful injuries. Because of this, pressure sores usually have high pain and suffering. Pressure sores can also generate extreme medical bills due to treatment and surgeries. The costs of pressure sores is staggering. Our Portland nursing home malpractice lawyers know how catastrophic pressure sores can be when they are caused by Oregon nursing home abuse and neglect.
Pressure sores are also incredibly expensive mistakes, especially due to Oregon nursing home malpractice. According to government research, pressure sores cost the United States between $9.1 and 11.6 billion per year. For an individual person suffering from a pressure sore, the cost could range between $20,900 to $151,700 per incidence. These are significant and devastating financial costs for both the United States healthcare and for individual patients. The worst part is many times the individual patients who suffer the most, usually residents are Oregon nursing homes and assisted living facilities, could have had their injuries completely avoided with proper care and treatment.
What is a Pressure Sore?
A pressure sore is a type of injury caused by constant or reoccurring pressure and friction on the same location of the body. Pressure sores usually occur on the lower back, pelvis, hips, or heels of a person. This is where the pressure of bedsprings and the friction of being on a flat surface (the bed or even a wheelchair) and slowly place pressure on body tissue. Over time, these tissues slowly begin to break down due to the constant force applied to them. This means that victims sustain breaks in skin and tissue.
The longer that the pressure and friction is allowed to remain against the damaged skin, the more damage and the deeper the damage can go into the body. This can result in damage all the way to the bone. Unfortunately, the longer that the pressure is allowed to exist, the more likely that the skin and tissue will begin to deteriorate, become infected, and become necrotic. This means that skin, muscle, tendons, bone, and other tissue will begin to rot away. This is incredibly painful and costly, as well as life-threatening.
Damages to Oregon Nursing Home Malpractice Victims
Residents are nursing homes are very susceptible to pressure sores. This is why nursing home staff need to constantly turn and rotate residents to keep them moving. This is also why residents need to be constantly checked and adjusted to prevent prolonged fiction are one spot of the body. The costs of pressure sores are very high when healthcare providers and nursing homes do not do this.
In a personal injury action, which a nursing home abuse case would be, a victim like a resident at a nursing home or elder assisted living facility would be entitled to “damages.” There are many forms of damages, but personal injury actions are usually in the form of compensation. The most common forms of monetary compensation from pressure sore damages include the following:
- Past pain and suffering (from injury to award or settlement);
- Future pain and suffering (from award or settlement to end of life expectancy);
- Medical bills, both past and future;
- Lost wages and lost earnings (if any, not usually with nursing home residents but other individuals with prolonged hospital stays may have lost wages or lost earnings);
- Loss of society and companionship with loved ones due to the injury;
- Need for special medical equipment, live special wheelchairs, beds, or wound cleaning devices; and
- Other potential costs.
Did a Loved One Suffer from a Pressure Sore? Get Your Damages Estimated From our Portland Pressure Sore Lawyers
If you or a loved one have been seriously injured or killed as a result of nursing home abuse or neglect contact the Oregon Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers at Kuhlman Law at our number below or fill out the intake form. We offer a free initial case evaluation and handle cases on a contingency fee which means that you pay no money unless we recover.
Our law firm handles cases throughout the state including Bend and Portland Oregon, Redmond, Central Oregon, Sisters, Madras, Multnomah County, Deschutes County, Salem, Eugene, Corvallis, Lane County, Medford, Gresham, La Grande, Albany, Medford, Beaverton, Umatilla, Pendleton, Cottage Grove, Florence, Oregon City, Springfield, Keizer, Grants Pass, McMinnville, Tualatin, West Linn, Forest Grove, Wilsonville, Newberg, Roseburg, Lake Oswego, Klamath Falls, Happy Valley, Tigard, Ashland, Milwakie, Coos Bay, The Dalles, St. Helens, Sherwood, Central Point, Canby, Troutdale, Hermiston, Silverton, Hood River, Newport, Prineville, Astoria, Tillamook, Lincoln City, Hillsboro, and Vancouver, Washington.
We also have an office in Minneapolis, Minnesota and take Nursing Home Abuse cases throughout the Twin Cities, including St. Paul, Hennepin County, Ramsey County, Dakota County, Washington County, Anoka County, Scott County, Blaine, Stillwater, and Saint Paul Minnesota.
Please act quickly, there is a limited time (Statute of Limitations) in which you can bring a claim under the law.
