By Nursing Home Law Center
In Galveston, Texas, a family is suing a Texas City-based nursing home, saying it failed to properly care for their family member’s severe pressure sores. The bed sores, the family claims, resulted in Christopher Murphy’s early death.
According to court documents, Murphy was a patient at the Hearthstone at the Mainland nursing home from May - September 2010. Hearthstone at the Mainland is one of fifteen Texas facilities run by Houston-based Hearthstone Management, Inc. The documents say that Murphy, who was 69, suffered a fall about three weeks into his residency.
At the time, the court documents say, doctors told the Murphy family “that he did not have injuries related to the fall”. However, the suit alleges that doctors diagnosed Murphy with “infected wounds to the buttocks, feet and legs”, and “acute renal (kidney) failure”.
According to Murphy’s autopsy, the cause of death was determined to be sepsis (sometimes also referred to: severe sepsis, sepsis infection, septic shock, severe sepsis, septicemia) a severe infection caused by an advanced stage bed sore on Murphy’s sacral area. The autopsy also determined that Murphy had a urinary tract infection (UTI), as well as a colon infection. The plaintiffs in the case, Peter Murphy and James Joseph Murphy III, are suing Hearthstone Management for survival damages, and are seeking a juried trial. The court documents do not state the plaintiffs’ relationship to Christopher Murphy.
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