Kenneth D. St. Pé secured a meaningful recovery in a complex medical malpractice lawsuit involving a 93-year-old vulnerable resident who suffered an unsupervised elopement (unauthorized departure from a care facility), a hip fracture, and fatal sepsis (a life-threatening systemic infection caused by the body’s overreaction to an infection) stemming from untreated toe gangrene (tissue death caused by a lack of blood flow or severe bacterial infection) due to facility failures in Louisiana.
Case Profile
- The Claimant: Vulnerable Adult / Long-Term Care Resident (93 years old with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes & Alzheimer’s Dementia).
- The Defendant: Corporate Long-Term Care Facility / Nursing Home Operator in Louisiana.
- Incident Dynamics: 1. Unsupervised Elopement: Failure to maintain and monitor electronic Wander-Guard security alarms, allowing a cognitively impaired resident to leave the facility unnoticed. 2. Undetected Infection & Lack of Audits: Failure of frontline nursing staff to conduct mandatory daily skin and nail checks, leaving a severe toe infection undetected until tissue became necrotic (dead tissue).
- Injuries & Medical Taxonomy: * Acute Left Femoral Neck Hip Fracture: A severe break in the upper portion of the thigh bone near the hip joint requiring surgical total hip replacement.
- Onychocryptosis: An ingrown toenail that was left untreated, leading to localized tissue breakdown.
- Necrotic Toe Gangrene: Tissue death in the toe resulting from severe, unmanaged infection.
- Severe Sepsis & Systemic Decline: A critical organ-damaging response to infection that ultimately led to the resident’s death.
- Jurisdictional Basis: Louisiana Patients’ Compensation Fund (PCF) / State of Louisiana.
Regulatory Breaches & Standard of Care Violations
The lawsuit successfully established multiple direct breaches of state nursing standards and federal eCFR: 42 CFR Part 483 — Requirements for States and Long Term Care Facilities (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act / OBRA regulations):
- Accident Hazards & Electronic Security Failure (42 CFR § 483.25(h)): The facility failed to maintain an environment free of avoidable hazards by failing to properly monitor Wander-Guard devices and exit door alarms, directly facilitating an unsupervised elopement and fall.
- Avoidable Skin Breakdown & Infection Prevention (42 CFR § 483.25(d)): Despite resident risk factors (diabetes and post-surgical immobility), staff failed to perform required daily skin audits, allowing a localized toe infection to progress to gangrene and fatal sepsis.
- Care Plan Failures & Record Alterations (42 CFR § 483.21): Subpoenaed records and depositions revealed that frontline nursing supervisors failed to review or implement the resident’s comprehensive care plan. Evidence showed post-incident alterations to nursing notes and incident logs in an attempt to conceal liability.
Consult a Board-Certified Medical Malpractice Attorney in Lafayette
If your loved one has suffered from an unsupervised fall, severe bedsores, or untreated infections in a nursing home or long-term care facility, contact our Lafayette office.
Kenneth D. St. Pé is an AV Preeminent, board-certified medical malpractice attorney with extensive experience holding negligent facilities accountable across Louisiana.
- Office Address: 700 St. John Street, Suite 401, Lafayette, LA 70501
- Direct Line: 337-534-4043
- Consultation: Free & Strictly Confidential