Close

Maryland Nursing Home Bed Sore Lawsuit Against Genesis

Hall v. Genesis Healthcare, LLC

(filed on January 4, 2016)

Prince George's County

DefendantsHospitals Involved in Care of Patient
  • Southern Maryland Hospital
  • Washington Adventist Hospital
  • Georgetown University Hospital
Summary of Plaintiff's Allegations

A sixty-nine-year-old woman is discharged from Southern Maryland Hospital after a stroke. She is sent to Crescent Cities Center, a Genesis subsidiary, in Oxon Hill for physical and occupational therapy. At the time, she has good rehabilitation potential, and her prognosis is favorable. Because she is obese, has dementia, and is relatively immobile, she is clearly at risk for developing bed sores.

Crescent Cities Center fails to take the proper precautions to prevent pressure ulcers from forming on the woman's body. Approximately ten months into her stay, Crescent Cities Center documents that the woman has contracted new, large wounds covering her sacrum, buttocks, and thigh. Crescent Cities Center notes that these wounds could only have been contracted during her time at its facility.

Three months later, Crescent Cities orders hospice care without even consulting the woman's two sons. Two weeks later, one of her sons sees the state she is in and calls 911. She is taken to Washington Adventist Hospital. The doctors diagnose her with a Stage IV sacral pressure ulcer. Stage IV is the most advanced stage of a bed sore and can be fatal. Underscoring just how much this woman has deteriorated, she now weighs seventy pounds less than she did at the time of her admission to Crescent Cities Center.

A week later, the woman is transferred from Washington Adventist Hospital to Georgetown University Hospital. Three days later, she is transferred to Patuxent River Health and Rehabilitation Center where she remains until her death.

Her two sons, residents of Laurel, Maryland, filed a wrongful death nursing home lawsuit in Prince George's County alleging that Genesis violated the standard of care by:

(1) failing to properly assess the woman's condition, (2) failing to design, implement, and continually evaluate/modify an appropriate care plan for the woman, (3) failing to provide necessary care and services to ensure that the woman maintained highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being, (4) failing to ensure that the woman did not develop pressure ulcers unless clinically unavoidable, and (5) failing to provide necessary treatment and services to promote healing of existing wounds, prevent infection, and prevent new sores from developing.

The sons contend that Genesis' negligence resulted in (1) their mother's injuries including severe pressure ulcers, weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration, and infection, (2) pecuniary losses she incurred in the form of medical expenses, and (3) her eventual death.

Parenthetically, this was the first medical malpractice lawsuit filed in Maryland in 2016.

Negligence

Defendants breached the standard of care by failing to:

  1. Properly assess the woman's condition;
  2. Design, implement, and continually evaluate/modify an appropriate care plan for the woman;
  3. Provide necessary care and services to ensure that the woman maintained highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being;
  4. Ensure that the woman did not develop pressure ulcers unless clinically unavoidable; and
  5. Provide necessary treatment and services to promote healing of existing wounds, prevent infection and prevent new sores from developing.
Specific Counts Pled
  1. Survival Action
  2. Wrongful Death
  3. Negligence
Plaintiff's Experts and Areas of Specialty
  • Eleanore E. Tache, RN, LNHA, CDON: a registered nurse with 30 years of experience; certification from the National Association Directors of Nursing Administration for long-term care; serves as Director of Nursing for the Meadow Park Rehabilitation & Health Care Center in Flushing, New York.
  • Mario Cornacchione, DO, CMD, FAAFP: licensed physician board certified in geriatric medicine by the American Board of Family Practice and long-term care by the American Medical Directors Association based in Scranton, Pennsylvania; a significant portion of her practice is devoted to geriatric care.
Getting a Nursing Home Attorney

If you or a loved one has been harmed, abused or neglected at the hands of a nursing home, we can help you learn about whether you have a claim and your options for cash compensation for the harm that has been done. Call us today at (800) 553-8082 to discuss strategies to bring justice. There is NO COST OR FEE for this free case evaluation. You may also get a free online case review.

More Nursing Home Claim Information
  • Sample mediation statement in a nursing home case
  • A 2017 wrongful death bed sore lawsuit filed in Annapolis against a Glen Burnie nursing home
  • Another bedsore lawsuit filed against a Genesis nursing home, this one located in Annapolis
  • Another example 2016 bed sore lawsuit, this one against a hospital (MedStar).
  • Another example 2016 heel bed sore suit against a nursing home
  • Genesis is a frequent flyer defendant in Maryland. This is another lawsuit filed in Montgomery County against a Genesis facility that involved a fall that led to a fractured neck.
  • What does it mean to be granulating?
  • Often, the defense in bed sore cases is that the patient had a Kennedy terminal ulcer which, if the facts support it, can be a formidable hill for plaintiffs' lawyers to climb. But typically the defense has little facts to support this rare event.
  • What is the value of a Maryland nursing home wrongful death claim?
  • CALL (800) 553-8082 or get a free online Maryland nursing home claim evaluation

Client Reviews
★★★★★
“When my sister was killed, we turned to Miller & Zois to fight for us. They stood by us every step of the way and we ended up getting more money than we asked for.” C.B. (Baltimore City)
Contact Us for a Free Consultation

I understand that submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship. I also understand that Miller & Zois works with multiple law firms on these claims and that I may be contacted by an affiliated law firm working with Miller & Zois on these lawsuits.