Pre-Settlement Funding: Bedsore Lawsuit
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a bedsore, also known as a pressure sore or pressure ulcer, you probably have lots of questions. Bedsores are skin eruptions that occur when there are extended periods of pressure on one body area. They are commonly found over bony prominences like the elbow, tailbone, or ankle. This continuous pressure cuts off the blood supply to the area, robbing it of oxygen and necessary nutrients. Individuals who have limited independent mobility and are confined to a bed or a chair are at high risk for pressure ulcers. It doesn’t take long for a red spot to appear and turn into a deep, tunneling wound. Some can even involve joints, tendons, or bones.
Bedsore Prevention Protocols
It is of utmost importance to protect vulnerable populations from developing bedsores. Not only are these sores painful and unsightly, but they can also lead to additional medical conditions, like bacteria entering the bloodstream (sepsis), inflammation of tissue, infections to the bone and joint, abscesses, or even cancer. Bedsores can be challenging to heal and require a lengthy healing time. Depending on the overall health status of the patient, they may never completely heal.
Bedsore prevention is typically the responsibility of caregivers in a nursing home setting or a hospital. Patients need to be turned and repositioned every one to two hours to decrease the risk of continuous pressure to single body areas. Performing proper skin assessments, keeping the skin clean and dry, and reducing friction is also a part of the prevention protocol for bedsores. If caretaking staff starts to observe signs of a bedsore, they need to consult with the appropriate professionals such as nurses, wound care nurses, and doctors. If they are given specific orders on how to treat the wound, they need to follow them.
Do You Have a Bedsore Lawsuit?
If you or a loved one recently developed a bedsore, you might be entitled to compensation for your damages. Care providers in the hospital, long-term care facilities, and even private duty care aides and nurses at home have a duty to provide quality care. Bedsores are often the product of neglect because the patient is not being moved at appropriate time intervals to prevent pressure ulcers or because no one saw the symptoms, and the bedsore got worse. Sometimes both of these occur and contribute to the development and worsening of a bedsore.
When a care provider or facility as a whole fails to prevent bedsores, they have likely breached their duty to the patient and their family. As a result, the patient suffers physical and possibly emotional pain, incur increased medical costs, and is subject to other medical complications from the bedsore. Hospitalization may be needed, a life-threatening infection could develop, or multiple surgeries might be required.
An attorney can evaluate your case or the case of your loved one to determine if you have a legal claim. They will examine the care or lack thereof provided to you or your loved one, and the damages suffered as a result of the bedsore. If you or your loved one has a valid legal claim, they can help you pursue financial recovery from the care provider or nursing home.
Do You Need a Pre-Settlement “Loan”?
The time between your injury and receiving your settlement or court award can be a long and stressful one. You might have financial obligations to which you cannot attend because of your injuries or lawsuit. One solution to this problem that many lawsuit plaintiffs find helpful is obtaining a pre-settlement “loan.” Also known as lawsuit funding, these funds are a type of advance on your expected settlement. Taking out an advance can help decrease your financial worries and cover the bills that need to be paid while waiting for your settlement to come.
Take the first step to getting financial relief; click here to apply online, or call us at 1-877-USCLAIMS today. Once you are approved, you could receive your funds within 24 hours. We keep our process quick and straightforward for injured people who need money now.
USClaims transactions aren’t “loans.” Like other pre-settlement funding providers, USClaims works by purchasing a portion of a case’s anticipated settlement. In doing so, USClaims assumes all the risk; if the plaintiff loses the case, USClaims does not get its money back. If the plaintiff wins the case, the plaintiff’s attorney pays USClaims directly from the settlement’s proceeds.
