Maggot Infestation Hastened Man's Death, Suit Says

A Tennessee man who was left in a persistent vegetative state after a car accident died from maggot-infested bedsores he developed while in a long-term-care facility, according to a wrongful-death lawsuit filed in state court.

The Nashville facility, Bordeaux Hospital, is accused of leaving Ricky Primm in a room infested with insects and allowing his body to become infested with fleas, pinworms and maggots.

Primm's sister Priscilla filed the suit on behalf of his minor daughter in the Davidson County Circuit Court against the Metropolitan Hospital Authority, which operates Bordeaux, and the private staffing agency that employed the unidentified nurse responsible for his care.

According to the complaint, Primm was left brain-damaged and in a persistent vegetative state as a result of an automobile accident Dec. 4, 2006.

He initially was hospitalized at Vanderbilt Medical Center and was transferred to Bordeaux in January 2007 for long-term medical care.

Primm remained at Bordeaux until that May, when he was taken back to Vanderbilt. He died there June 14, 2007.

The complaint says Primm relied on the nursing staff at Bordeaux for his basic needs but that the staff breached the standard of care in failing to provide him with appropriate medical care.

The defendants failed to implement effective bedsore care for chronically debilitated patients and failed to clean a pressure sore ulcer on Primm's scrotum on a daily basis, allowing the wound to become infested with maggots, the suit says.

The plaintiff is seeking $2 million in damages.

To comment, ask questions or contribute articles, contact West.Andrews.Editor@ThomsonReuters.com.