Southern California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog
Walton Law Firm recently settled the case of A.Q., a 78-year-old woman who died tragically after acquiring multiple bedsores that developed and worsened while she was under the care and treatment of a San Diego home health care agency. Ms. Q was survived by her three children who brought a legal action for both wrongful death and elder abuse and neglect, contending that the result of careless and reckless conduct committed by a license vocational nurse (LVN) who ignored the development and worsening of Ms. Q’s wounds, and failed to notify a physician of the severity of the wounds or make a request for Ms. Q to be sent to the hospital.
Walton Law Firm initially argued that the pressure sores suffered by Ms. Q were the result of negligence, and that such negligence was a substantial factor in her premature death. The home health provider, it was argued, failed Ms. Q when it 1.) failed to obtain an air mattress for Ms. Q as requested by caregivers, 2.) failed to obtain additional nursing care for her when it was obviously needed, 3.) failed to have Ms. Q seen by a registered nurse or mobile physician, and 4.) failing to have Ms. Q transferred to a hospital where she so obviously need to go.
In addition, Mr. Walton also contended that the treatment of Ms. Q was so egregious, that it rose to the level of elder neglect under California law. In order to show neglect, Ms. Q (through Walton Law Firm) had to show that the home health agency either failed to use the degree of care a reasonable person would have and/or failed to protect Ms. Q from health and safety hazards. It has had to show these failures were done with the conscious disregard for the rights and safety of Mr. Q.
In the case, Mr. Walton argued that the home health providers never requested more nursing care, never requested a nurse or a mobile physician come see Ms. Q, and never recommended she go to a hospital, despite her multiple and worsening wounds. The defense took the position that it continually recommended that Ms. Q be taken to a skilled nursing facility and that her wounds did not worsen until the very end of her stay. None of this, however, was documented by the home health agency.
The case was litigated for seven months and settled at mediation for several hundred thousand dollars.
