Bed Sores in Long Island Nursing Homes

The nursing home abuse attorneys at Duffy & Duffy represent individuals on Long Island and the surrounding area who have suffered bed sores or other injuries as a result of a facility’s carelessness or abuse. We understand the physical pain and emotional distress that these situations can cause victims and their families, and we fight aggressively to seek proper compensation from all parties responsible. Our attorneys have decades of combined legal experience, including nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, and other personal injury matters.

Harm Caused by Pressure Sores

Bed sores and pressure sores are the most common type of harm suffered by victims of nursing home negligence. They are a type of ulcer that forms on areas of the skin, like knees, hips, elbows, and the back of the head, that are continuously pressured, including by long stints in a bed or wheelchair. These sores develop quickly and are often difficult to treat.

They are usually a sign of neglect or negligence by a nursing home and its staff. The lack of blood flow that causes the sores to develop may stem from the home staff’s failure to regularly turn immobile residents in their beds, properly change linens, and scan residents for bed sores.

Assert Your Right to Compensation

If you or a loved one has endured pressure sores as a result of nursing home or caregiver abuse in Long Island, you have the right to seek a remedy for your injuries. These cases often revolve around claims of negligence, a legal theory that holds people and entities responsible for engaging in needlessly dangerous behavior. To prevail, the person suing (plaintiff) has to show that the person or entity being sued owed the plaintiff what is called a “duty of care,” that the defendant failed to meet this duty, and that the breach of the duty caused the plaintiff to suffer injuries and incur damages.

Nursing homes and the doctors and other staff who work there owe residents a higher duty of care based on their background, training, and professional standing. They are required to take all reasonable steps to ensure health and safety, and their actions (or inactions) are compared against other professionals in the field in determining negligence.

A victim who successfully proves a claim against a nursing home is entitled to seek compensatory damages to cover medical bills and additional costs incurred because of bed sores or other injuries. In certain cases, a plaintiff may also be able to seek punitive damages. These money awards are intended to punish defendants for particularly egregious behavior.