Bed Sore From a Hospital Stay in California: When a Pressure Ulcer Is Malpractice

How does a patient get a bed sore in the hospital?

A pressure ulcer is damage to the skin and the tissue under it caused by staying in one position too long. It usually forms over bony areas like the tailbone, hips and heels. Patients who cannot move on their own, such as those who are sedated, paralyzed, very weak or recovering from surgery, are at the highest risk. Sores are described in stages, and stage 3 and stage 4 sores go deep into tissue and can reach muscle or bone.

Hospitals are expected to check a patient’s skin on admission, assess the risk of pressure injury, and then reposition patients who cannot move themselves, keep their skin clean and dry, use pressure-relieving mattresses when needed, and watch nutrition. When those steps are skipped or not charted, a small red area can become an open wound within days. A deep sore can lead to infection, surgery and a much longer recovery.

Under California’s jury instructions, a health care professional is negligent if they fail to use the skill, knowledge and care in diagnosis and treatment that other reasonably careful practitioners would use in the same or similar circumstances (CACI No. 501). A bed sore case asks whether the nursing and medical staff did what reasonably careful staff would have done to prevent the sore and to treat it once it appeared.

Stage 3 and stage 4 bed sores must be reported to the state

California hospitals must report specified serious adverse events to the California Department of Public Health within five days of detection, or within 24 hours if the event is an ongoing urgent or emergent threat. The list includes a stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcer acquired after admission (Health and Safety Code 1279.1). That is why the skin check on the day of admission matters so much: it shows whether the sore was there when the patient arrived.

The California Department of Public Health can impose an administrative penalty on a hospital for a deficiency that is an immediate jeopardy to the health or safety of a patient (Health and Safety Code 1280.3). You can look up the hospital in our Los Angeles County hospital records hub, which shows each hospital’s state health department records and Medicare data in one place.

Those public records describe the hospital as a whole and are a useful starting point. Your own case depends on the chart: the admission skin assessment, the risk scores, the turning and repositioning records, the wound care notes and the photos the hospital took. Gaps in those records, such as hours with no repositioning charted, are often where a bed sore case is built.

Is a hospital bed sore elder abuse?

Many patients who develop bed sores in the hospital are older adults, and families often ask whether what happened counts as elder abuse. California law says that an elder abuse claim against a health care provider that is really based on professional negligence is governed by the laws that apply to malpractice claims, including MICRA (Welfare and Institutions Code 15657.2).

In practice, that means a bed sore claim against a hospital is usually analyzed under the malpractice rules on this page, including the 340.5 deadline and the MICRA caps. Whether any other claim is available depends on the specific facts of the care, and a lawyer should review the records before you decide how to frame the case. If your loved one was in a nursing home before or after the hospital, tell the lawyer, since that care may matter too.

How long do you have to sue for a hospital bed sore?

A California malpractice lawsuit generally must be filed within three years after the injury or one year after the patient discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury, whichever comes first (Code of Civil Procedure 340.5). The one-year period starts when you know of the injury and its negligent cause, or have information that would make a reasonable person suspect wrongdoing and look into it (Sanchez v. South Hoover Hospital (1976) 18 Cal.3d 93). For a bed sore, that may be the day the family first sees the wound.

Before filing, you must give the provider at least 90 days’ written notice of your intent to sue (Code of Civil Procedure 364). If the hospital belongs to a county, a written government claim generally must be presented within six months (Government Code 911.2); our page on suing a county or UC hospital explains it. See our guide to California malpractice deadlines for how all of these rules fit together.

How a hospital bed sore case is proved

Expert testimony is generally required in a California malpractice case to prove the standard of care, breach and causation (CACI No. 501, Directions for Use). In a bed sore case, a nurse or physician who reviews wound care usually explains what prevention and treatment the patient should have received. A physician often explains whether that care would have prevented the sore or kept it from getting worse.

In an injury case, the MICRA cap on non-economic damages in 2026 is $470,000 per category, and one case can have separate caps for doctors and for hospitals (Civil Code 3333.2). Lawyer fees are capped at 25 percent if the case settles before a lawsuit or arbitration demand is filed and 33 percent after (Business and Professions Code 6146). You owe no fees or costs unless we win.

If the patient died, the MICRA wrongful death cap is $650,000 per category in 2026. The three-year period runs from the date of death, and the one-year period from when the family discovered, or should have discovered, the negligent cause (Larcher v. Wanless (1976) 18 Cal.3d 646). Family members who can bring the claim include a spouse or registered domestic partner and children (Code of Civil Procedure 377.60); see wrongful death from medical malpractice.

What to do now

Take dated photos of the wound if you can, and keep taking them as it heals or changes. Request the records in writing. California patients and their representatives can inspect records within 5 working days of a written request and receive copies within 15 days (Health and Safety Code 123110). Ask for the admission skin assessment, risk assessments, repositioning records, wound care notes, wound photos and the nursing notes for the whole stay.

Write down when you first saw the sore, what staff told you and who said it. Keep any discharge papers that mention a pressure injury or wound care. Do not sign anything from the hospital’s insurer or risk management office before getting advice. Then call a lawyer soon, because the one-year period may start when you first saw the wound.

• Take dated photos of the wound.
• Request the skin assessments, repositioning records and wound care notes.
• Write down when you first saw the sore and what staff said.
• Do not sign anything from the hospital’s insurer before getting advice.

Michael Shemtoub founded Beverly Law in 2008 and has been licensed to practice law in California since 2007. He earned his law degree at UC Hastings, is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Central and Northern Districts of California, and has tried cases to verdict. As the firm’s managing attorney, he oversees its cases.

Common questions

Related pages

Los Angeles County hospital records · Los Angeles County nursing home records · California Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations

Important: This page is general information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Deadlines and damage limits depend on the facts of each case; talk to a lawyer about yours. MICRA amounts are for judgments, awards and settlements in 2026. Last reviewed: November 5, 2026.