Salvador Palmieri was 86 when he underwent heart surgery and then experienced complications, which necessitated prolonged hospitalization in his hospital bed. A week after surgery, a nurse noticed new bedsores on his buttocks.
The hospital’s wound care nurse recommended cleaning and dressing the wound. However, a few months later, while Palmieri was still hospitalized, he became septic.
Palmieri was transferred to another hospital where he was diagnosed as having Stage IV sacral pressure sore, sepsis and other sores on his extremities. In spite of the medical treatment given, Palmieri died of sepsis, respiratory and kidney failure. He was survived by his wife and two adult sons.
One of Palmieri’s sons brought a lawsuit against the hospital claiming the staff there chose not to prevent and treat the bedsores among other things, timely and consistently repositioning the patient. The Palmieri family charged that the hospital had a policy of inadequate skin care at the facility as evidenced by its hiring of just one part-time wound care nurse who was responsible for as many as 600 patients.
The jury awarded $500,000 for the hospital’s negligence. The defendant hospital has filed post-trial motions, which are still pending.
The lawyers representing the Palmieri family were Sean J. Boolan and Benjamin Decker. The attorneys for the Palmieri family engaged experts in geriatrics and nursing. The defendant hospital brought forth an expert in internal medicine who testified at this jury trial.
Palmieri v. Staten Island University Hospital, et al., No. 150038/12 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Richmond County, Dec. 15, 2014).
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling medical negligence cases, wrongful death cases, nursing home abuse cases and birth injury cases for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 38 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Chicago (West Loop, Wrigleyville, South Shore, Sheffield, Pulaski Park, New Town, Chinatown, Greek Town, The Loop, McKinley Park, Morgan Park, Edgewater, Forest Glen, Englewood), Hinsdale, Bedford Park, River Grove, Franklin Park, Elmwood Park, Winchester, Frankfurt, South Barrington, Berwyn, Highwood, Flossmoor, Hillside, Elmhurst, Palatine and Palos Park, Ill.