Baseball-Sized Bedsore Caused By Nursing Facility Neglect:Lawsuit

MALIBU, CA – A former model and her gardener brother saved their mother's life by removing her in 2015 from a nursing facility where neglect caused a bedsore on her back to develop into a crater-type wound have the size of a baseball, the siblings' attorney told a Los Angeles jury Tuesday.

"They would have literally killed her there," lawyer Peter Ross said of 82-year-old Linda Kuwata, a former patient at Camarillo Healthcare Center. He said the octogenarian's daughter and son took her to the facility to recover from the second and most serious of two falls she had in late 2014.

But defense attorney Dan Longo said Kuwata's wound was on its way to getting better and was healed by June 2015 under her son's care. He said while a graphic video of the bedsore shown by Ross to jurors looked "shocking" on its face, the view was much different to a nurse, Mary Ransbury, who testified for the defense that she treats such wounds, sees them often and believes Kuwata received proper care.

After the conclusion of the attorneys' final arguments, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury began its deliberations.

The lawsuit was brought in September 2015 by Kuwata and her daughter, model-turned entertainment television reporter Renee Esebag, and son, Hideichi Kuwata Jr. The defendants are Camarillo Community Healthcare, the Mission Viejo- based holding company the Ensign Group and other entities.

Ross said Camarillo Healthcare Center promised Esebag that her mother – who suffered a stroke 20 years earlier and was admitted to the facility in December 2014 after falling and injuring her head – would receive excellent care. Esebag was repeatedly assured that the staff would take care of her mother's wound, which she acquired before becoming a patient there, he said.

But by the time Esebag and her brother removed their mother from the facility and took her to Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura in April 2015, she had a stage IV pressure ulcer, according to Ross, who said Kuwata's wound would have healed had she been turned periodically in bed and not allowed to lie for long periods in her own waste.

"All it took was someone who cared and had the time to help," said Ross, who alleges the nursing home was understaffed and that Kuwata was not given proper nourishment.

"It's time to stop putting profit ahead of well-being," said Ross, who drew chuckles from jurors when he lay down on the counsel table to show jurors how staying in one position in bed for too long can bring about a bedsore.

Ross said Kuwata Jr., a gardener by trade, healed his mother's wound at home after giving her proper care as well as nourishment with nutritious shakes.

But Longo said Kuwata had numerous health problems, including diabetes and high-blood pressure, when she was brought to Camarillo Healthcare. He said she was transferred twice in 2015 to other hospitals and her bedsore worsened at the second of those facilities. He said the Camarillo facility's staff did not neglect Kuwata's wound.

"They were not ignoring Ms. Kuwata's condition; they were progressing with different treatments to try and get this wound resolved," Longo said.

While praising Kuwata Jr. for his work in caring for the woman, Longo said she received quality care at the nursing home. He said no damages should be awarded, but that if the jury was inclined to do so, they should be limited to about $315,000, compared to the millions of dollars suggested by Ross.

"He's asking us to make the Kuwatas wealthy. That's not what this case is about," Longo said.

Kuwata sued for alleged negligence, while her children are seeking damages for emotional distress.

City News Service; Image via Shutterstock