Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC Home
Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
Serving Clients in Illinois & NationwideOver $250 Million Recovered for Our Clients Contact Us now For a Free Consultation
Chicago Sepsis Lawyer
When you place a loved one in a nursing home, you have a right to expect that they will be well cared for and healthy. Staff in an assisted living or long-term care facility negligently care for patients at high risk of developing infections.
Did your loved one develop sepsis in an Illinois assisted living facility due to negligent care? If so, the personal injury attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC can hold the facility accountable for its negligence.
Our Chicago nursing home abuse lawyers have assisted families with sepsis cases and look forward to helping you with your personal injury civil lawsuit during this trying time. Call our Chicago office toll-free today at (888) 424-5757 for a free legal case review.
What Is Sepsis?
Sepsis (septicemia) is a life-threatening illness caused by a bacterial infection in the bloodstream that frequently enters the body through open wounds or pressure sores. The poor infection control program in nursing homes can lead to sepsis outbreaks.
Doctors characterize sepsis as a severe infection that spreads throughout the body.
The deadly condition, sometimes called severe sepsis, sepsis infection, septic trauma, severe sepsis, or septicemia, must be diagnosed and treated as early as possible to improve the patient's chance of survival and diagnosed and treated as early as possible to improve the patient's chance of survival and possibility of recovery.
Sepsis is diagnosed through a comprehensive physical examination and tests that include:
- Heart rate above 90 beats per minute
- Hyperventilation (more than 20 breaths per minute)
- White blood cell count below 4000 cells/mm
The condition can trigger an inflammatory response that may result in organ damage, blood clots, and other permanent damage.
Critical care medicine is a branch of medicine concerned with diagnosing and managing life-threatening conditions such as sepsis.
Our law firm has prosecuted cases where elderly and disabled patients developed sepsis during admission to Chicago, IL, long-term care facilities.
Septic Shock in Nursing Homes
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) define septic shock as a "medical emergency that occurs when an infection causes your body to respond by going into widespread inflammation." When the body becomes septic, it can lead to multiple organ failures and death when proper medical attention is not given.
Sepsis Alliance is a nonprofit organization that works to improve sepsis awareness and education for medical professionals and the general public.
Responsibility of Nursing Home Staff to Prevent Sepsis & Infections
Elderly and disabled adult care facilities have a legal responsibility to provide patients with medical care that complies with industry standards-- including infection prevention protocols.
For example, nursing homes need to implement basic infection prevention techniques such as:
Staff regularly wash hands, particularly when caring for new patients.
- Wearing personal protective equipment and removing it after providing medical attention
- Disposing of single-use medical equipment after use
- Isolating patients with known infections
- The registered nurse must be alert to the signs and symptoms of sepsis
- Cleaning rooms and bathrooms with proper sanitation
- Maintaining cleanliness around patients that have weakened immune systems
As a result, when staff fails to meet the standard of care, they may be held accountable if their abuse or neglect results in injuries or avoidable sepsis infections to residents.
The timely and aggressive management of sepsis in assisted living facilities can be life-saving.
Family members shouldn’t visit a sepsis patient when ill, even if it is just a cold, because a sepsis patient's immune system is already compromised. They could easily catch something more serious from a sick family member.
Why Nursing Home Residents Are at an Increased Risk of Developing Sepsis
The body's reaction to fight an infection causes chemicals that release an inflammatory response at one or more points in the body.
Other risk factors and medical conditions associated with elderly patients developing sepsis in nursing homes include:
- Advanced Age: Most cases of sepsis in nursing homes in the United States involve elderly people.
- Injuries or Wounds: The healing process in the elderly is often significantly longer than in younger, healthier patients, making it challenging for a wound or injury to heal completely.
- Compromised Immune System: Many assisted living facility residents’ will develop weakened immune systems while battling multiple diseases.
- Medical Malpractice and Medication Errors: Staff members making mistakes can lead to severe problems, including infected wounds.
- The Use of Breathing Tubes and Intravenous (IV) Catheters: These devices can create an ideal environment for bacterial growth that could, over time, degrade to a blood infection (sepsis) due to the resident's compromised immune system.
- Poor Health and Assisted Living Residence: Poor care and battling more than one illness at a time could stress the body to the point where it cannot fight off a sepsis infection.
- Negligent Care: Forced bed rest, lack of repositioning, improperly cut or maintained intravenous lines, unattentively caring for patients with medical problems that make it difficult to move.
Although patient transfers to hospitals are often necessary, they are also disruptive, leading to poorer outcomes.
Signs and Symptoms of Sepsis in Your Loved One
A quick diagnosis and immediate treatment of sepsis are crucial to the patient's survival. Because of that, it is essential to understand how the infection presents itself in a Chicago, IL, area resident at an assisted living facility.
Immediate medical care is required if your loved one is experiencing:
- Fast heart rate
- Intense chills
- Abdominal pain
- Blood poisoning
- Hyperventilation (quick breathing)
- Difficulty urinating
- A drop in blood pressure
- Unexpected high fever
- Hypothermia (lower than average body temperature)
- Cognitive impairment, including memory loss
- Difficulty breathing
- Blood clots
- Kidney failure
- Confusion
- Pale skin
After sepsis occurs, patients are at a higher risk of suffering an organ dysfunction.
The emergency department visits for sepsis have increased in the United States over the past decade. A federal report on sepsis in assisted living facilities also says this life-threatening condition is rising.
The Link Between Nursing Home Resident Abuse and Sepsis
Several studies have looked at the link between assisted living abuse and sepsis. One study found that nearly one-third of assisted living residents diagnosed with sepsis had also experienced abuse or neglect at residents' assisted living facilities.
The most common abuse linked to sepsis was physical abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse.
Another study found that residents of nursing homes diagnosed with sepsis were more likely to die than those not diagnosed with the condition.
A Sepsis Rash
A sepsis rash is usually a red or purple skin discoloration that does not blanch when pressure is applied. The rash may be one of the first signs that a person has sepsis.
The body's inflammatory response to infection can cause sepsis.
Clinical outcomes for residents with sepsis in nursing homes are variable and often poor due to the high prevalence of comorbidities and functional impairments. Sepsis patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) often require aggressive treatment and close monitoring.
Hospital transfers are a vulnerable time for nursing facility residents. In particular, those who are cognitively impaired or have comorbidities are at higher risk for developing sepsis.
The sepsis survival rate is low in assisted care facilities. One study found that the 30-day mortality rate for elderly and disabled patients with sepsis was 26.9%.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sepsis
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by an infection. When sepsis occurs, the body's response to the infection can cause injury to its tissues and organs.
The patient's blood pressure, respiration, and body temperature are monitored for changes. If any of these vital signs drop suddenly or the patient's skin becomes mottled or discolored, it may be a sign of sepsis.
Kaiser Health News (KHN) on Sepsis
Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. According to Kaiser Health News, more than 1 in 4 nursing home patients will suffer from sepsis yearly. And, of those, 1 in 3 will die.
Sample Chicago, Illinois Sepsis Settlement
Our law firm secured a $550,000 settlement for a patient's family who developed a stage four pressure sore during an admission to a Cook County assisted living facility.
Even though the facility provided wound care, the patient eventually developed internal septic trauma, which resulted in his death. The settlement was achieved during pre-litigation negotiations with our Chicago nursing facility's sepsis attorney and the insurance company.
Chicago, Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Working on Nursing Home Sepsis Cases
Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC understands the devastation caused by a nursing home resident developing sepsis.
Our Chicago assisted living abuse lawyers draw upon our network of nursing and sepsis care experts. We are prepared to fully evaluate Chicago sepsis cases and hold the negligent facility accountable.
As Illinois assisted living facility sepsis lawyers who regularly prosecute these cases, we pride ourselves on the detail-oriented nature of our case evaluation, where we anticipate many of the defenses raised in these cases from the inception of our involvement.
The preemptive mindset allows our consulting physicians to review the case and provide evidence for a successful resolution in prosecuting your sepsis lawsuit.
Nursing Home Sepsis & Infection FAQs
Below are frequently asked questions from families with a loved one who developed sepsis in a retirement or assisted living facility.
If you have additional questions, we welcome you to contact our law firm for a free legal case review with one of our experienced sepsis lawyers.
Hiring a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer to Resolve a Nursing Home Sepsis Lawsuit
If your family member developed sepsis at a nursing home, we invite you to discuss your case with a Chicago sepsis attorney.
Call us at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone call) for a free case evaluation today. We accept all assisted living care center cases through contingency fee agreements.
The arrangement will postpone payment of all our legal services until we successfully resolve your case through a jury trial or negotiated settlement.
Schedule Your Free Consultation
Our law firm discussions with you during your free consultation will remain confidential through an attorney-client relationship.
If you have any questions concerning nursing home neglect or abuse, contact us today for a free case review of your or your loved one's sepsis case today.
Our Chicago, Illinois law firm currently represents clients throughout the United States and Illinois, including the following localities: Cook County, DuPage County, Kane County, Lake County, Will County, Aurora, Naperville, LaSalle, and Berwyn.