Nursing homes and hospitals must be held accountable for the complications they cause.
“The repercussions from criminal prosecution of nursing home personnel may eventually spread to hospitals. It is no secret that in the past decade, the number of nurses has been reduced in hospitals. This is done to maximize profits and reduce operating expenses,” states Vincent Di Maio, MD from Homicide by Decubitus Ulcer, The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. 2002.
Greg Vigna, MD, JD, wound care expert and national malpractice attorney explains, “Until the government understands that there is a decubitus ulcer epidemic in the United States, which is a fancy name for a bedsore, caused by inadequate care at the bedside related to hospital and nursing home administrations diverting money to the pockets of shareholders as opposed to providing adequately levels of trained staff, this will continue without end. In time, I expect that States will take notice and act to treat these deaths as a homicide which is defined as the killing of one person by another.”
Dr. Vigna continues, “Decubitus ulcers are preventable except in end-stage conditions where death is imminent such as metastatic bone cancer and the pain caused by nursing personnel providing patient repositioning cannot be controlled with morphine. Even in these unusual situations, I would prescribe a Clinitron Bed, which allows for complete pressure relief without turns.”
Unfortunately, nursing homes and hospitals are run by businessmen and not medical personnel as Dr. Di Maio wrote, “Civil suits have become merely an operating expense of nursing homes…(and) when the suits become too burdensome, bankruptcy is declared.”
“There are nursing homes and hospitals across the country that I consider landmines for the citizens they serve that are clearly ‘Decubitus Ulcer Factories’.” — Greg Vigna, M.D., J.D.
Dr. Vigna adds, “There are nursing homes and hospitals across the country that I consider landmines for the citizens they serve that are clearly ‘Decubitus Ulcer Factories’. All my legal team can do is punish the ‘Decubitus Ulcer Factories’ across the country financially, report our cases to State Authorities, and proceed on, one case at a time. I expect in time, owners, operators, and corporations will be charged with homicide as the pattern of neglect at bedside is described by the depositions we obtain.”
Dr. Vigna concludes, “I was once a practicing physician and wound care medical director at a long-term acute hospital where we fixed several hundred Grade IV decubitus ulcers referred to us as far as four hundred miles away. I was proud to be part of a clinical team serving the patients at a nursing home in my community that made fundamental changes in care at bedside to make sure their patients were safe. In this nursing home, a bell went off every two hours which triggered the staff to provide turns for every dependent patient they were responsible to keep safe. When the bell sounded, administrators, secretaries, and other support staff would assist the nursing staff with patient repositioning. Until hospital administrators see this as their problem and not the sole responsibility of the nursing personnel, we will be very busy taking depositions at the Decubitus Ulcer Factories across the country.”
Visit the Decubitus Ulcer Help Desk to learn more from Dr. Vigna related to decubitus ulcers.
Greg Vigna, MD, JD, is a national malpractice attorney and an expert in wound care. He is available for legal consultation for families and patients who have suffered decubitus ulcers because of poor nursing care. Nursing homes and hospitals must be held accountable for the complications they cause. The Vigna Law Group, along with Ben C. Martin, Esq. of the Martin Law Group, a Dallas Texas national pharmaceutical injury law firm, including a license to practice law in Pennsylvania, jointly prosecute hospital malpractice and nursing home neglect cases, nationwide.
Greg Vigna, MD, JD
Vigna Law Group
+1 800-761-9206
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