Tampa Bedsore Lawyers
You brought your mother or father to the hospital to get better. Instead, they came home with a bedsore, a terrible injury the hospital’s own policies and procedures were designed to prevent, and that the federal government classifies as a “Never Event” that should not happen. If you or a loved one developed a pressure injury during a stay at a Tampa hospital, our Tampa bedsore lawyers want to see the records.
The Fernandez Firm Medical Malpractice Attorneys have recovered over $100 million representing clients against some of Florida’s largest hospital corporations, including a recent $1.1 million settlement for a 73-year-old hospital patient who developed an avoidable Stage 4 bedsore right here in Tampa.
At the Fernandez Firm, the consultation is free. We don’t get paid unless we win!
Why Does a Bedsore That Develops in a Hospital Point to Negligence?
Bedsores are not supposed to happen in hospitals. Federal regulators classify Stage 3 and Stage 4 hospital-acquired pressure injuries as preventable medical conditions, and do not reimburse hospital corporations for treating them. When one develops anyway, it usually means the hospital’s own prevention protocols were not followed by its nursing and support staff.
Three separate authorities treat these wounds as failures of care:
- CMS classified Stage 3 and Stage 4 hospital-acquired pressure injuries as Hospital-Acquired Conditions. In August 2007, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that Medicare would no longer pay for the additional costs associated with treatment of preventable errors, including Never Events.
- The National Quality Forum has classified them “Never Events” — medical errors that are serious, clearly identifiable, and preventable with proper daily health care and treatment.
- The Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals, treats pressure injuries as a sentinel event requiring formal reporting and review.
- Medicare/Medicaid Conditions of Participation, Hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health care agencies must track and report all hospital- and facility-acquired pressure sore injuries through CMS quality reporting programs. These programs require submission of patient safety data to CMS, which specifically includes in-house acquired pressure injuries.
How Hospitals Are Supposed to Prevent Bedsores
Hospitals know exactly what to do. Every patient is screened for the risk of skin breakdown on admission and daily using the Braden Scale, a standardized pressure sore assessment tool. From there, the standard of care requires nursing staff to:
- Turn and reposition patients regularly, at least every two hours
- Inspect the skin daily during each shift
- Use pressure-redistributing devices and mattresses to offload patients at risk
- Manage nutrition, moisture, and incontinence
When a patient still develops a pressure injury (often called a bedsore, pressure ulcer or decubitus ulcer), , the question is not whether something went wrong. It is what went wrong, and who was negligent and allowed it.
What Does “Present on Admission” Mean, and Why Does It Matter to Your Case?
“Present on admission” is the hospital’s official record of whether a wound existed before the patient arrived. Federal rules require hospital corporations to document pressure sores that are present upon admission; otherwise, they will lose reimbursement for treatment of pressure injuries that a patient develops while under their care. If this documentation is missing, or shows that the patient’s skin was intact on admission, the hospital cannot credibly claim your loved one came in with the bedsore. This one phrase can decide a case.
The most common hospital defense in a bedsore claim is that the wound was already forming at the time of admission, or that the patient was simply too fragile to prevent it. The admission records test that claim.
Records We Request in Every Tampa Hospital Bedsore Case
- The complete admission skin assessment
- Braden Scale scores for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk
- Turning and repositioning documentation
- Wound care notes and photographs
- Nursing documentation for every shift
Gaps in these records are often more revealing than what they contain.
Which Tampa Hospitals Do We Handle Bedsore Cases Against?
We handle pressure injury claims arising at hospitals throughout Hillsborough County, including those that occur within most major healthcare systems including Tampa General Hospital, AdventHealth Tampa, St. Joseph’s Hospital, HCA’s Brandon Regional Hospital and Memorial Hospital of Tampa, as well as the many home health care agencies, surgical centers and specialty facilities across the Tampa Bay area.
Size is not a shield. The largest hospital systems in Tampa are represented by experienced insurance defense firms that begin building their files the moment a claim surfaces. Our experienced attorneys have litigated, tried, and won cases against most of the major Florida hospital systems. We understand how they operate; we understand how they defend their financial interests and how to build a strong case on your behalf
Where Do Hospital Bedsores Most Often Develop?
The pattern is consistent, and it follows immobility.
Intensive care units. Sedated, ventilated, and critically ill patients cannot shift their own weight, turn or reposition without assistance, or tell anyone they are in pain. Consequently, ICU patients are among the highest-risk group in any hospital system, which means the obligation to turn and reposition and monitor these patients’ skin condition is at its highest in that setting.
During and after long surgeries. A patient under anesthesia lies motionless on a hard operating table, sometimes for hours. Perioperative pressure injuries can take two to three days to become visible, which means the wound that appeared on day three may have started in the operating room on day one.
Extended inpatient stays due to a stroke, fracture, dementia or major illness. Any patient who is unable to turn or reposition themselves independently – for physical and/or cognitive reasons – depends entirely on staff to do it for them. These patients are at high risk for developing bedsore injuries.
From medical devices. Oxygen masks, ventilator tubing, cervical collars, casts, and monitoring leads all press against skin. These device-related pressure injuries are often missed because they occur in areas no one thinks to check.
How Do You Know If a Tampa Hospital Was Negligent?
You may have a case if the hospital’s care fell below the accepted standard of care and that failure caused serious harm. In a bedsore case, that means a documented or undocumented deviation from accepted medical practice standards. The proof is usually found in what the hospital’s records fail to show.
Warning Signs in the Medical Records
- Turning logs that stop for entire shifts
- A Braden Scale score flagging high risk, with no matching care plan
- Wound documentation that begins at Stage 3, with no record of the Stage 1 and Stage 2 that had to come first
- Skin assessments charted but obviously never performed
Tampa medical malpractice is all we do. Our experienced attorneys work with the best medical experts in the United States, reviewing the records and consulting on every case we accept at no cost to you.
If you believe a Hillsborough County hospital was negligent and caused you harm, you may also file a complaint with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which licenses and inspects Florida hospitals. Filing a complaint creates an official record and does not affect your right to pursue a legal claim.
What Has the Fernandez Firm Recovered in Hospital Bedsore Cases?
$1.1 Million — Stage IV bedsore suffered by a bedbound 45-year-old hospital patient in Tampa.
That result came from a hospital case in this city, and it is the kind of case we are built to handle. Our broader record includes:
- $2.3 Million — Wrongful death settlement resulting from Stage 4 pressure injury in Orlando, Florida
- $1.1 Million — Stage 4 pressure injury suffered by a 76-year-old hospital patient in Tampa, Florida.
- $700,000 – Settlement regarding pressure injury suffered by a 73-year-old hospital patient in Tampa.
- $650,000 – Stage 4 bedsore injury suffered by a 65-year-old man in Hillsborough County
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case.
Why Choose the Fernandez Firm for Your Tampa Bedsore Case?
Because we know exactly how the large hospital corporations defend these claims, and how to eliminate their defenses.
The standard argument is that the patient was “very sick” and too medically fragile for the wound to have been avoided. That argument collapses under the hospital’s own documentation, or absence of it. We know which records to demand and which gaps matter most.
Florida’s pre-suit process under Florida Statute §766 makes these cases procedurally difficult. The law requires a good-faith pre-suit investigation, a corroborating expert opinion by sworn affidavit, and a formal written notice, called a “Notice of Intent”, served on each defendant before a lawsuit can be filed in Hillsborough County.
Once the Notice of Intent is served, the defendant has 90 days in which to respond. Missing any step in this process can permanently end your claim by Motion to Dismiss.
Who Will Handle Your Tampa Bedsore Case?
Frank F. Fernandez III and Jennifer Gentry Fernandez personally handle every case the firm accepts, start to finish. Your file will not be passed to a juniorassociate..
Frank F. Fernandez III has spent more than 30 years litigating medical malpractice cases throughout Florida, including in Hillsborough County. He has specialized in representing patients hurt by pressure injuries for decades. He has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” for the past ten years, named to Florida Trend Magazine’s Legal Elite, and selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America. Frank has tried cases against the biggest hospital chains and insurance companies in the state.
Jennifer Gentry Fernandez has litigated medical negligence cases since 1994 — initially defending doctors and hospitals, later representing only patients and families. She trained on Stetson University College of Law’s award-winning national trial team, has been named a Top Attorney by Tampa Bay Magazine, and has been recognized as a medical malpractice “Super Lawyer” for nearly a decade.
In September 2022, Frank and Jennifer received the Florida Justice Association’s Krupnick Guardian of Justice Award. A lifetime achievement award, this honor is only presented to one attorney each year by the trial lawyer association in Florida.
Tampa Bedsore FAQs
Real questions Tampa families ask before they call.
What is a “Never Event,” and how does it apply to my case?
A Never Event is a serious, preventable medical error that should not occur when proper medical care and treatment are provided to a patient. Stage 3 and Stage 4 pressure injuries acquired in a hospital fall into this category. This designation does not automatically win your case, but it establishes that the medical community and federal regulators consider these injuries absolutely preventable — which directly undercuts the hospital’s standard defense.
What records prove a hospital caused a bedsore?
The admission skin assessment, Braden Scale risk scores, turning and repositioning logs, wound care notes, photographs, nursing documentation for every shift, and the hospital electronic medical records’ audit trail. Gaps in these records are frequently more revealing than what they contain. We request the complete file, not the summary the hospital offers.
What compensation can a family recover in a hospital bedsore case?
Past and future medical costs to treat the wound and any resulting infection, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. If a pressure injury led to sepsis or death, a Tampa wrongful death claim may include funeral expenses, loss of support and services, and loss of companionship.
Can a bedsore actually be fatal?
Yes. A Stage 4 pressure injury that exposes muscle and bone creates a direct pathway for infection. Sepsis, a body-wide infection that spreads through the bloodstream, and osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone, are both serious complications that can cause or contribute to a patient’s wrongful death, particularly in elderly or medically fragile patients.
Will my case settle, or will it go to trial?
Most of our cases resolve through settlement — but usually only after the hospital’s in-house defense attorneys understand we are fully prepared to try the case before a Hillsborough County jury. We prepare every case for trial from day one.
Can I sue a hospital for a bedsore?
You can absolutely sue a hospital. Bedsores that develop during a hospital stay are classified by federal regulators as preventable conditions — hospitals are not reimbursed by most health insurers and Medicare for treating them. Hospital pressure injury cases are a core part of our daily practice; we have recovered millions for Tampa hospital patients.
My father was in the ICU and came out with a Stage IV bedsore. Is that negligence?
It very likely warrants investigation. ICU patients are the highest-risk group for pressure injuries precisely because they cannot move themselves or report pain — which raises, not lowers, the hospital’s duty to turn, reposition, and monitor these patients. A Stage IV sore means the injury progressed through multiple stages while under continuous professional observation.
The hospital says my mom’s wound was already there when she was admitted. How do I know if that’s true?
We can check and verify this by reviewing all admission records. Federal rules require hospitals to document any wound that was “present on admission,” because they lose reimbursement otherwise. If the admission documentation shows the patient’s skin was intact, or contains no reference to skin breakdown at all, the hospital cannot credibly claim the wound was present upon admission. We obtain and analyze these records, and all records — including prior medical records — in every case.
How long do I have to bring a bedsore claim against a Tampa hospital?
Under Florida law, you generally have two years from the date of the incident or injury to file a lawsuit. There are nuances that can change this timeline. Because Florida also requires a lengthy pre-suit investigation before a suit can even be filed, contact us promptly so we have adequate time to investigate your potential claim and protect your rights.
We Don’t Get Paid Unless You Win
You owe us nothing unless we win your case. No retainer, no hourly fees, no upfront costs of any kind.
We advance all costs of obtaining medical records, investigating your claim, retaining expert witnesses, taking depositions, and filing suit. Our fee is an agreed-upon percentage of your recovery, collected only if and when we win.
The consultation is always free.
Get Your Free Case Evaluation!
Contact Our Tampa Bedsore Attorneys
If you or a loved one developed a pressure sore injury during a hospitalization in Tampa, please talk to us before you sign anything or speak with any representatives of the hospital, its managers, or insurer.
Call (800) 222-8163 or contact us online. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Free Case Review — No Fee Unless We Win!
The Fernandez Firm – Tampa Office
2503 W Swann Ave #100,
Tampa, FL 33609
Phone: (813) 278-1032