NURSING HOME ELOPEMENT
When I was in Middle School, my Grandfather gave me a $5 bill and asked me to go buy him a pack of Lucky Strikes and bring them back to him at the nursing home.
I hesitated, explaining I wasn't old enough to buy the cigarettes, and didn't think he was allowed to smoke anyway.
My Granddad hadn't asked me to buy his Cigs because he was confused. He asked me because he wanted a smoke. He read the Washington Post cover to cover every day. He knew exactly what he wanted and made a simple request.
Not all nursing home patients have the same "where-with-all" that my Grandfather did.
Sometimes, a change in scenery, medication, a UTI, dementia, memory loss and many other factors, can cause a great deal of confusion in nursing home patients. And if the patients are ambulatory, they may try to leave the nursing home because of this confusion.
Despite the development of amazing technologies, many nursing homes are not equipped to provide care for these residents, and yet, families are told that these facilities can provide care for their loved ones.
I recently read that over 75% of elopement cases end in death and over 50% of elopements happen in the first 48 hours of the patient's admission.
Neither of these statistics surprised me.
Dan and I are very experienced in elopement cases. If someone has been injured after escaping from a nursing home unaccompanied and they did not have the capacity to be alone, there is likely a strong case of negligence.
It is always tragic to learn of a loved one's death or injury. But the fear of knowing they left the facility alone, can make an already complicated situation, even worse.
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FAILURE TO PREVENT WOUNDS or
PROVIDE WOUND CARE = MALPRACTICE
It seems as if Lauren and I are currently investigating, prosecuting or trying to resolve at least 10 cases regarding negligent skin care of Virginia nursing home and hospital patients.
According to the CDC, at least 159,000 patients in American Nursing Homes in 2004 were being treated for pressure ulcers alone.
$2.8 billion dollars is spent annually to treat 3-5 million wounds in the United States each year.
And what is the precipitating factor causing all of these wounds?
Sometimes, wounds cannot be prevented because of patient's vascular status. Most of the time however, wounds can be prevented.
That is why we are currently seeing so many wound cases. Nursing staff is failing to take the time necessary to prevent the development of pressure ulcers and other wounds.
Hospital Wound Care
Health care providers failing to turn post surgical patient leads to stage III pressure ulcer in Virginia Hospital. Patient requires wound-vac, home therapy and subsequent hospital re-admission for wound debridement. Case settled in 2010 for $325,000.
Nursing Home Wound Care
Elderly nursing home patient is not turned sufficiently, not given adequate nutrition, develops stage IV pressure ulcer on sacrum which becomes infected and leads to sepsis and death. Case settled for confidential amount in 2008.
Failure to initiate pressure relieving measures is often the direct cause of wound development. And once a wound has started, infection, gangrene, and death often result.
$2.8 billion dollars spent on wound care is too much money. What a great trend it would be if all patients were cared for correctly in the first place, and preventable wounds did not occur.
Until that day, let us know if we can help you or your clients evaluate a wound care case in Western Virginia.
Dan Frith
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IMPORTANCE OF AN APOLOGY
When I was a child my Mother would make my twin brother and me sit on the stairs and hold hands until we had each apoogized for what ever act of terror we had just performed.
Often times, we would resist and remain on the stairs for what felt like hours, silent.
Finally, one of us would mutter an apology and the other would respond in kind, the exercise over.
The lesson is not simply relevant for small children learning the consequences of their actions. When families come to our office with a potential nursing home or medical malpractice case, they are often in need of reconciliation, an apology from the healthcare provider.
I am sorry I didn't read your wife's chart...
I am sorry I didn't know your Mother was allergic to...
I am sorry your sister got out of the nursing home without us seeing her...
I am sorry I didn't see that aneurism...that fracture... that....
On a great majority of cases, families tell us that had the facility and or doctor simply apologized, they would never have consulted an attorney or filed suit.
SERIOUSLY.
They would have taken a heart felt apology over hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the facility's cold response or doctor's cool explanation caused greater pain and in many, a need to seek reparation by other means.
And the ironic part is, that in Virginia, physicians can indeed apologize without fear that the sentiment will be used as an admission in Court.
Virginia Code § 8.01-581.20:1. Admissibility of expressions of sympathy states: "In any civil action brought by an alleged victim of an unanticipated outcome of health care, or in any arbitration or medical malpractice review panel proceeding related to such civil action, the portion of statements, writings, affirmations, benevolent conduct, or benevolent gestures expressing sympathy, commiseration, condolence, compassion, or a general sense of benevolence, together with apologies that are made by a health care provider or an agent of a health care provider to the patient, a relative of the patient, or a representative of the patient, shall be inadmissible as evidence of an admission of liability or as evidence of an admission against interest. A statement of fault that is part of or in addition to any of the above shall not be made inadmissible by this section."
So why are we so hesitent to admit our mistakes?
I don't know the answer, but I do know that from a plaintiff's perspective, the more health care providers begin to indeed make benevolent gestures expressing symptahy, the fewer cases Dan and I will have to file.
Certainly something to think about.
Lauren |
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