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The nursing home caring for your parent is usually liable for a bed sore, but it is rarely the only party responsible. Right now, you may be hearing a different answer from everyone you ask. The charge nurse says the wound came from the hospital, the doctor says staff never reported it, and the administrator sends a polite letter that explains nothing.
That runaround is exhausting, and many families quietly wonder whether they missed something themselves. You did not cause this wound. At The Elder Justice Firm, we help California families trace every person and company involved in a loved one's wound care, and we are glad to talk through what you are seeing.
A pressure ulcer, the medical term for a bed sore, forms when constant pressure cuts off blood flow to the skin. Several people usually have a chance to stop it, and the law can reach any of the following:
Which parties belong in a claim depends on who controlled the care as the wound worsened, and our California bed sore and pressure ulcer lawyers start by building that map.
Federal nursing home rules in Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) put a direct duty on the facility. Under 42 CFR 483.25(b)(1), the facility must ensure a resident "does not develop pressure ulcers unless the individual's clinical condition demonstrates that they were unavoidable." A resident who already has one must receive treatment to promote healing, prevent infection, and prevent new ulcers, which is why bed sores are treated as preventable neglect in most cases.
Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.57 defines neglect as the negligent failure of anyone with the care or custody of an elder to use reasonable care. That includes failing to provide medical care for physical health needs. Staffing matters too, since the state's staffing regulation, Title 22, section 72329.2, requires at least 3.5 direct care service hours per patient day, including 2.4 hours from CNAs.
Facilities sometimes call an agency nurse or wound care vendor when a sore worsens. Under 42 CFR 483.70(f), a facility that uses outside resources remains responsible for obtaining services that meet professional standards and for the timeliness of those services.
Individual nurses and aides can be named, but the facility is usually the focus because it trained and supervised them. A staffing agency may share fault for sending unqualified workers.
Many nursing homes operate through layers of licensees, operators, and management groups, and corporate offices often set staffing budgets. When those choices leave too few hands to turn residents, the companies behind them may share responsibility, as our guide on how liability reaches parent companies and administrators explains.
Health and Safety Code section 1430(b) lets a current or former skilled nursing facility resident bring a civil action against the licensee for violating resident rights under state or federal law. The licensee is also liable for costs and attorney fees, and an agreement waiving the right to bring this action is void.
A 2021 law, Assembly Bill (AB) 849, changed these damages to up to $500 per violation instead of $500 per lawsuit. That change can matter in bed sore cases, where the same lapse in care may repeat shift after shift.
If several providers touched your parent's wound care and each one is pointing elsewhere, we can help sort it out. Call The Elder Justice Firm at (855) 880-4500 for a free case evaluation.
Nursing staff provides daily care, but physicians set the treatment plan. Under 42 CFR 483.30, a physician must supervise each resident's medical care and see the resident at least every 30 days for the first 90 days, then at least every 60 days.
The facility's medical director has a broader role. Under 42 CFR 483.70(g), that physician is responsible for implementing resident care policies and coordinating medical care. When a wound signals a significant decline, 42 CFR 483.10(g)(14) requires the facility to consult the physician and notify the resident's representative so that a silent chart can point to failures on both sides.
California's Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act offers enhanced remedies against caretakers who neglect an elder. In Winn v. Pioneer Medical Group (2016), the state Supreme Court held that the Act reaches a health care provider only when that provider had a substantial caretaking or custodial relationship with the elder. The court also noted that the Act's heightened remedies require clear and convincing proof of neglect, plus recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice.
A physician who saw your parent once a month may not meet that test, so the claim often proceeds as a professional negligence claim. The courts' self-help guide on filing deadlines sets those claims at 1 year from when the injury was or should have been discovered, or 3 years from the injury, whichever comes first. The provider must also receive 90 days' notice before filing a lawsuit.
Bed sores often develop during transitions, when responsibility feels blurry to everyone involved. Two situations come up often.
Hospice enrollment does not end the nursing home's duty. Under the written agreement required by 42 CFR 483.70(n), the facility still meets the resident's personal care and nursing needs in coordination with the hospice. The hospice decides the appropriate course of hospice care.
The facility must also designate a team member to coordinate with hospice staff, and it must immediately tell the hospice about a significant change in the resident's condition. When a wound worsens because neither side acted, both may share responsibility.
Sometimes a sore begins during a hospital stay and deepens after transfer. The nursing home still must complete a comprehensive assessment within 14 calendar days of admission under 42 CFR 483.20 and a baseline care plan within 48 hours under 42 CFR 483.21. Those records show what the wound looked like on arrival, which helps separate the hospital's share from the facility's.
Not every senior care setting follows the same rules. The setting can change who is liable and how a claim begins.
Many assisted living communities in California are licensed as residential care facilities for the elderly, which follow their own regulations. Title 22, section 87615 bars these facilities from admitting or retaining residents with stage 3 or 4 pressure sores, apart from limited hospice-related exceptions. A community that keeps a resident with a deepening wound, without arranging a higher level of care, may face its own assisted living neglect claim.
Some skilled nursing units operate inside county or public district hospitals. According to the courts' guide to government claims, you generally must file a claim against a public entity for an injury within 6 months. The agency has 45 days to respond, and after a rejection, you have 6 months from the mailing date to file a lawsuit.
When more than one party contributed to a bed sore, the law splits some damages among them. Under California Civil Code section 1431.2, liability for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, is several only, meaning each defendant pays only the portion that matches its percentage of fault.
For example, if a jury found a nursing home 70% at fault, the prior hospital 20%, and the attending physician 10%, each would owe only its share of the pain-and-suffering award. Our team traces responsibility through the following steps:
At The Elder Justice Firm, that map shapes every claim we pursue.
Families often ask us these questions once they learn more than one provider was involved.
It can be. If the wound worsened after admission, we examine whether the facility's care fell short, while the hospital may share fault for the original injury.
Aides can sometimes be named, but claims usually focus on the facility, which trained and supervised them. Federal rules hold the facility responsible even for contracted staff.
No. Under federal rules, the nursing home still meets the resident's personal care and nursing needs alongside hospice, which may share responsibility for its part.
If staff ignored valid orders, fault usually rests with the facility. A doctor who ordered inadequate treatment or ignored a reported decline may face a professional negligence claim.
A claim against a public entity generally starts with a government claim filed within 6 months of the injury. We recommend reaching out quickly.
Generally, no. State rules bar residential care facilities for the elderly from admitting or retaining residents with stage 3 or 4 pressure sores, apart from limited hospice-related exceptions.
The admission skin check, the hospice agreement, and the doctor's wound orders each tell part of the story about how your parent's bed sore was allowed to worsen. Piecing that story together is hard when you are also spending your evenings at a bedside.
Our attorneys focus on elder and nursing home abuse, and we have secured more than 20 recoveries of $1 million or more for clients. From our Los Angeles office, we review the chart, contracts, and the facility's corporate structure to identify each party who may be responsible.
We handle these cases on a contingency fee basis, and your first case evaluation is free. Call (855) 880-4500 or contact us online to ask who is liable for your loved one's bed sores in California.
Rob Marcereau founded The Elder Justice Firm on a single conviction: Seniors deserve a lawyer who prepares every case for trial.
He is an award-winning trial attorney, licensed in California since 2000, who has built his practice around institutions that harm the people in their care. Nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and their insurers arrive with defense counsel already retained and a strategy already in motion. Families arrive with grief, a stack of medical records they cannot read, and a facility that has stopped returning calls.
Closing that gap is the reason this firm exists. To speak with a California elder abuse attorney about what happened to someone you love, call The Elder Justice Firm at 855-880-4500.
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