Maryland Nursing Home Disfigurement Lawyer
The idea of your loved one suffering disfigurement or severe scarring while in the care of their nursing home facility is probably not a foremost concern for families of most nursing home residents, but disfiguring injuries do take place in nursing homes.
If your loved one suffered a disfiguring injury after an accident or incident at their nursing home, consider speaking with an experienced nursing home abuse attorney. The facility or its management could be held liable for your loved one’s injuries and damages. A skilled Maryland nursing home disfigurement lawyer can help investigate and determine exactly what happened, and who may be responsible.
Disfigurement in Nursing Homes
Disfiguring injuries carry an extra potential for trauma, since they are often disabling, but also cause emotional pain. Some disfiguring injuries require plastic surgery and other costly surgical repair. If the nursing home is responsible for causing the disfiguring injury, they may also be responsible for compensating the victim for their damages, including medical bills, surgery, and pain and suffering.
There are many possible causes of disfigurement that could occur in a Maryland nursing home, including but not limited to scars, bed sores and pressure sores, burns, illnesses, lost digits on hands or toes, and other types of disfigurement.
Disfiguring Bed Sores and Pressure Sores in Nursing Homes
Bed sores can grow to be both disabling and disfiguring – and even deadly. What starts out as a small sore can quickly expand and become infected. Open wounds are dangerous and can cause widespread infection and even sepsis.
It can seriously impact mobility, and the pain can be so immense that residents lose their appetites, can no longer sit up, or are totally disabled while the sore is present. Some bed sores require surgical repair.
Even under the best of circumstances, when a bed sore closes and heals, the skin may never be the same. Painful scar tissue can develop, affecting movement and causing itching, pain and emotional trauma.
Burns in Maryland Nursing Homes
Most fires that occur in nursing homes are cooking fires, but even when residents are not exposed to open flames or uncontained fires, they may suffer burns from overly hot food, drink, or dishes, scalding water while bathing, electrical fires, and malfunctioning appliances.
If the nursing home is responsible for the burn – by not setting its hot water heater at a safe temperature, for instance – it could be found liable for the victim’s damages in a personal injury case.
Loss of Limbs, or Fingers and Toes
While loss of limbs or digits is not as common in nursing homes, this type of injury does happen. One of the most common causes of losing fingers or toes in a nursing home is when a resident gets their limbs caught in a moving wheelchair, or crushed in an apparatus, such as a moving bedrail.
Scarring from Illnesses and Infections
Certain infections, such as severe herpes outbreaks, shingles, warts, scabies, and cellulitis can cause widespread scarring. Nursing homes have an obligation to take steps to minimize outbreaks, maintain good hygiene in residents, vaccinate residents and staff, and treat outbreaks as they happen. If an illness or infection goes untreated for too long, disfigurement can occur.
Reach Out to a Maryland Nursing Home Disfigurement Attorney Today
No matter what type of disfigurement your loved one suffered or how severe their injuries, an experienced Maryland nursing home disfigurement lawyer can investigate the circumstances of the injury and determine whether your loved one may have a valid claim for compensation from the nursing home.
