Emerson Straw represented the surviving spouse and Estate of a nursing home resident who suffered a fatal decline while residing at a skilled nursing facility.

The resident was a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic who required total assistance with activities of daily living, daily nursing and wound care, and ongoing care with a suprapubic catheter and colostomy. He was admitted to the nursing facility following a hospital admission related to an evacuation necessitated by a hurricane.

During his brief residency, the resident’s spouse raised concerns that he was not feeling well and something was wrong. Despite his significant medical vulnerabilities, the nursing home staff failed to adequately monitor and respond to his worsening condition. The facility failed to consistently document vital signs, failed to provide ordered wound and catheter care during the initial days of his admission, and failed to recognize and appropriately respond to signs of infection and clinical deterioration.

On the morning of his transfer to the hospital, the resident was suffering from severe respiratory distress, critically low oxygen levels, and an elevated heart rate. Emergency responders identified suspected sepsis and initiated an emergency transfer to the hospital. There, he was diagnosed with sepsis, septic shock, acute respiratory failure, multisystem organ failure, pneumonia, a urinary tract infection, and infected wounds.

Despite aggressive treatment, the resident’s condition continued to deteriorate. He ultimately passed away.

The nursing home, its management entities, administrators, nursing leadership, and direct-care staff failed to provide appropriate monitoring, assessment, wound care, infection prevention and treatment, documentation, and timely response to significant changes in the resident’s condition.

The case was resolved through a confidential settlement on behalf of the resident’s Estate and surviving spouse.