Casa Real Nursing Home in Santa Fe is being sued by the son of a woman who died there in 2010 from a bacterial infection that resulted from bed sores.

Albert Tanuz accuses Casa Real, at 1650 Galisteo St., and related entities, of the wrongful death of his mother, 85-year-old Antonia Tanuz.

According to the complaint, Antonia Tanuz was admitted to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center on Dec. 14, 2009, after she experienced difficulty walking, which was believed to be the result of Parkinson’s disease.

Before she was admitted to Casa Real four days later, hospital nurses noted that she was at risk of developing a pressure sore or ulcer on her skin, and should be put on an air bed and turned every two hours, the complaint says.

But, the complaint continues, it does not appear that Casa Real personnel followed these protocols and on Dec. 24, 2009, Tanuz became unresponsive and was readmitted to the hospital. There she was found to be incontinent, with a urinary tract infection, a kidney infection and a sore on her coccyx (tailbone).

After five days, Tanuz was transferred back to Casa Real with warnings that she was to be given treatment to prevent the sore from becoming worse. But when family members picked her up for a doctor’s appointment at the hospital, they found her lying in bed with garments and sheets soiled with urine and feces, says the complaint.

“When Antonia’s family complained to the nursing staff, they were told that there were only two persons there to care for 30 persons and they simply did not have the staff to attend to her,” according to the complaint.

On Jan. 2, 2010, after complaining of back and abdominal pain and having changes in her mental status, Antonia Tanuz was readmitted to the hospital where a physician found her skin excoriations were more prominent on her right buttock.

She was returned to Casa Real three days later, but on Jan. 25, 2010, she was readmitted to the hospital for a shallow wound on her left buttock, requiring a physician to remove a leathery eschar — a slough of dead tissue from the surface of the sore. She was then transferred back to Casa Real the same day.

On Feb. 3, 2010, Tanuz was taken to Christus St. Vincent again to have dead tissue removed from the sore on her right buttock, then returned to the nursing home after three days. But, the complaint says, the sore did not improve and on March 1, 2010, Tanuz died at Casa Real from a bacterial infection.

Albuquerque lawyer Zackeree S. Kelin, who filed the complaint Tuesday in state District Court, declined to discuss the case publicly. A director for Casa Real, owned by the Cathedral Rock Corp. of Texas, did not return a message seeking comment on the lawsuit.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.