OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) - Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers treated a patient with such negligence after she sought emergency care for dizziness that she developed ulcers "the circumference of a man's fist" and "lost all sensation and use of her body below her neck," the woman claims in Alameda County Court.
The hospital left her lying in her own urine and feces for weeks, and her wounds are still open 4 months later, according to the complaint.
Raquel Martinez claims that Kaiser left her unbathed and with unchanged adult diapers on a regular basis, knowing she was unable to change positions on her bed to relieve pressure on her wounds.
Martinez's family claims Kaiser was unreceptive to their pleas for help.
After three weeks at Kaiser Medical Center in Walnut Creek, Martinez was transferred to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland, for surgery on an infection in her cervical spine, caused by Kaiser's negligence, the complaint states. After that surgery, she lost sensation below her neck, and the Kaiser staff again failed to turn her in bed and "failed to provide her with proper hygiene," the complaint states.
Upon being sent to a Kaiser rehab facility in Vallejo, a doctor there "was shocked" at the condition of her ulcer, "which was dirty," according to the complaint.
Four months after she sought care for pain and dizziness, Martinez remains hospitalized in a Kaiser "post-acute care center. ... Her stage IV wound remains open and she continues to receive wound vac therapy," according to the complaint.
She and her family seek punitive damages for negligence, dependent neglect, emotional distress, and loss of consortium.
Their lead counsel is Kathryn Stebner of San Francisco.
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