$125,000 Settlement in Nursing Home’s Failure to Prevent and Treat Pressure Sores

Cecil Smith Sr. was admitted to the Sandpiper Rehab & Nursing facility. Shortly after his admission, he developed a deep sacral pressure ulcer or bed sore that became infected. The opening in the skin caused by the pressure ulcer led to complications that caused Smith’s death less than a year after his admission to the nursing home. He was survived by his wife.

The Smith estate filed a lawsuit against the nursing home facility and other corporate entities, alleging claims under the state’s survival and wrongful death statute. The Smith family claimed that the defendants, the nursing home and its owners, chose not to prevent and treat the pressure ulcer by implementing pressure-relieving measures, providing adequate staff, properly training staff and properly communicating Smith’s needs to the treating nursing home personnel.

The defendants moved to compel arbitration, but the trial court denied the motion.

The parties settled before trial for $125,000.

The attorney handling this tragic case for the Smith family was Stephen A. Butaitis.

Smith v. Sandpiper Rehab & Nursing-Delaware, LLC, No. 17-CP-10-470 (S.C. Ct. Com. Pl. Charleston County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling nursing home abuse lawsuits, nursing home pressure ulcer negligence cases, nursing home wandering lawsuits, wrongful death lawsuits, and medical negligence cases for individuals, families and loved ones who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Palos Heights, Rolling Meadows, Palatine, Inverness, Wheeling, Mount Prospect, Des Plaines, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Glenview, Glencoe, Grayslake, Round Lake, Long Grove, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Vernon Hills, Waukegan, Joliet, Elgin, Zion, Naperville, Orland Hills, Tinley Park, Lynwood, Lansing, Frankfort, New Lenox, Long Grove, Downers Grove, Chicago (Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Portage Park, Old Irving Park, Belmont Cragin, East Garfield Park, Near West Side, Back of the Yards, Bronzeville, Washington Park, Hegewisch, East Side, Calumet Heights, Pullman, Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood, Marquette Park, Gage Park, Archer Heights, Little Village, North Lawndale, Ukrainian Village, Bucktown, Lakeview, Near North Side, River North, Fulton River District, Logan Square, Rogers Park, Wildwood, Forest Glen, Norwood Park, Jefferson Park), Park Ridge, Elk Grove Village, Schaumburg, Schiller Park, Hanover Park, Streamwood, Bartlett, Bloomingdale, Lake Zurich, Glendale Heights, Lombard, Villa Park, Westmont, Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale and Wheaton, Ill.

Robert D. Kreisman has been an active member of the Illinois and Missouri bars since 1976.