Individuals here in Illinois sometimes receive nursing care from a home health care agency. One of the types of care such agencies sometimes provide is wound care. It is incredibly important for home health care agencies and their nurses to not act negligently when it comes to such care. Improper wound care can cause substantial harm.
A case involving allegations of negligent wound care has recently arisen in another state. The case involves a home health care agency in Louisiana.
According to a man, nurses with the agency provided his wife with wound care in fall 2012. The man alleges that, during the course of this care, a dirty piece of gauze was negligently left inside of his wife’s wound.
The man alleges that this purported negligence caused his wife’s wound to become infected. Infections can be very impactful on a person. They can weaken a person’s health, leave them vulnerable to developing other harmful conditions and lead to them having to undergo additional procedures.
According to the man, his wife ended up needing three surgeries as a result of the dirty piece of gauze and the resulting infection.
Medical negligence not only can have major impacts on a patient, but also on their family. The above-mentioned man has brought a lawsuit against the home health care agency in connection to the alleged negligent care provided to his wife. The man claims that he has suffered a loss of consortium as a result of the alleged negligence and is asking for damages.
Source: The Louisiana Record, “Home health agency sued for allegedly leaving dirty bandage in patient,” Kyle Barnett, Nov. 13, 2013