Maryland Nursing Home Bed Sore Lawsuit Against Genesis

(filed on January 4, 2016)

Prince George's County

• Genesis HealthCare, LLC
• Crescent Cities Charities, Inc. d/b/a Crescent Cities Center

• Southern Maryland Hospital
• Washington Adventist Hospital
• Georgetown University Hospital

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.

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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.

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.

1. Survival Action
2. Wrongful Death
3. Negligence

• 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.

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.

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• CALL (800) 553-8082 or get a free online Maryland nursing home claim evaluation