A widow is suing her late husband’s Denver nursing home, alleging that its staff members missed signs of broken bones and allowed a wound to become infected.
Jolaine Murrell filed the lawsuit Friday in Denver District Court. It alleges that HighPointe Assisted Living and Memory Care failed to notice problems and get proper care for her late husband, Fred Murrell, in the months leading up to his death on Feb. 9.
The lawsuit says Murrell developed a wound on his foot, which gave him trouble with movement. He fell in late December, breaking his hip and multiple ribs. Staff members didn’t notice the broken bones or seek medical attention, even though Murrell needed a wheelchair after the fall, it says.
The center’s staff also failed to change Murrell’s soiled diapers, allowing waste to overflow and drip on his foot wound, the lawsuit says.
After Jolaine Murrell had him transferred to another facility in late January, a medical exam found his broken bones and infected wound, which had led to sepsis, the lawsuit says. Sepsis is a condition that occurs when the body’s reaction to an infection gets out of control, resulting in organ failure and death in severe cases.
HighPointe administrators didn’t immediately respond to a call seeking comment on the lawsuit Monday.
A March inspection by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment mentioned a case that appeared to be Murrell’s, involving a man identified as Resident #19, who fell on Dec. 28, lost his ability to walk and died Feb. 9. (State and federal inspections always remove residents’ and staff members’ names.)
Staff members told inspectors that the resident became aggressive following his fall and grabbed their clothes or hands tightly, possibly signaling he was in pain, the inspection says.
The inspection also found the facility hadn’t reassessed a resident who had fallen 13 times or taken steps to prevent further falls, and it didn’t call an ambulance after a different resident reported severe pain from a fall. Following another fall the next day, that resident did go to a hospital, where an X-ray showed fractures in both hips.
A follow-up inspection in May reported that HighPointe had fixed the problems cited in March.
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