Augusta man files lawsuit against nursing home in death of mother

Jun. 19--The son of a woman who died with a pressure sore so infected that the flesh was eaten away, exposing bone, has filed suit against the corporate owners of PruittHealth Augusta Hills nursing home.

Marque King Robinson filed the Richmond County Superior Court lawsuit on behalf of his mother, Laura Bulloch, who died Feb. 23, the day after she was transferred to the wound clinic at Doctors Hospital with the stage 4 pressure sore.

Bulloch was completely dependent on nursing staff for all of her daily needs, including turning and repositioning her body, according to the lawsuit.

Bulloch was 52 when first admitted to PruittHealth Augusta nursing home in December 2014. After a number of hospitalizations, she was transferred to PruittHealth Augusta Hills on Sept. 12, 2017. A doctor ordered a CT scan because the site where her feeding tube was inserted became infected in June 2017, but the test was cancelled because of an issue with insurance, according to the lawsuit.

On July 11, 2017, she was suffering from severe sepsis, a urinary tract infection and malnutrition when admitted to a hospital. She was back in the hospital July 31, 2017, with a fever of 110.7 degrees and an out-of-control glucose level, the lawsuit alleges. She needed emergency surgery because of the infection at the site of the feeding tube, and skin grafts, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleges her care was repeatedly negligent and was the cause of the stage 4 pressure sore, necrotizing fasciitis, sepsis, bilateral hand contractures, an insult to human dignity, a violation of rights, and the cause of pain and suffering, mental anguish and death.

According to the most recent inspection reports filed with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, PruittHealth Augusta Hills scored average for overall quality, below average for staffing and much below average for quality of care.

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