Elder Abuse Concerns Custodial Neglect That Causes Bed Sores says California Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney Steven Peck

Written by Adam Peck Category: Elder Law January 26th, 2013 3 min read

As previously noted, a major step in an elder abuse case against an acute care facility is educating the various players that the neglectful acts at issue are custodial in nature, rather than professional says San Franscisco Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney Steven C. Peck.

Three seminal California cases on custodial neglect provide a strong starting point for this educational process and help dispel the defense argument that the development of a decubitus ulcer, for example, cannot rise to the level of custodial neglect under Welfare and Institutions Code Â§15610 et seq. In all three cases the courts held that the development of a decubitus ulcer was sufficient to constitute custodial neglect.

For example, the Covenant Care case dealt with the development of a Stage IV pressure ulcer. Plaintiffs in that case alleged that the decedent was left lying in his bed, unattended and unassisted for excessively long periods of time; he developed ulcers on his body that exposed muscle and bone and became septic. (Covenant Care, Inc. v. Superior Court (2004) 32 Cal.4th 771, 772.) The court held that under those facts, the plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged a cause of action under Welfare and Institutions Code Â§15610 et seq.

In Delaney, plaintiffs alleged that the health care providers allowed the decedent’s serious pressure ulcers to occur and worsen. It was also alleged that there were violations of medical monitoring and that plaintiff was not adequately turned and was neglected. (Delaney v. Baker (1999) 20 Cal.4th 23, 27-28.) Based on these allegations, the court stated that there “was substantial evidence that defendant’s failed, over an extended period of time, to attend to her advanced bedsores, and otherwise neglected her in such a way to contribute to her pain and suffering and eventual death, which was determined to be reckless, given defendants’ knowledge of decedents’ deteriorating condition and plaintiff’s repeated efforts to intervene in her mother’s behalf.” (Id. at 41.)

And in another seminal case on elder abuse, Mack v. Soung (2000) 80 Cal.App.4th 966, also involved the development of a decubitus ulcer. In this case as well, the court found that plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged a cause of action for custodial neglect under Welfare and Institutions Code Â§15610 et seq.

Most often, a decubitus ulcer case against an acute care facility will contain facts that are nearly identical to the facts identified in the above-referenced cases. Though this may seem obvious, point this out to the defense attorneys. Draw the logical conclusion – as in the cases discussed above, the acts and omissions of the defendant hospital, skilled nursing facility, long term care facility, that resulted in the development of decubitus ulcers constitute custodial neglect under Welfare and Institutions Code Â§15610 et seq.

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Written by Adam Peck

Expertise: Personal Injury

Adam J. Peck, ESQ is a principal with Peck Law Group, APC. In 2008, Mr. Adam Peck received his Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School where he graduated Cum Laude. His practice is primarily dedicated to representing Elders, Dependent Adults, along with their loved ones and family members, who have suffered horrific personal injuries.