A Mobile jury last week returned a $2 million verdict against Springhill Medical Center in a lawsuit filed by the family of a woman who died in 2018 of what was described as septic shock and an infected bed sore.

The suit was filed in 2020 by Jack Randy Lofton, the husband of Emma Catherine Lofton, a 68-year-old woman who was treated at the hospital for 15 days in September 2018.

Lofton died on Nov. 5, 2018. The family’s attorneys argued the death came as result of a pressure ulcer, or bed sore, she acquired during an 18-hour visit to the hospital’s ER for treatment for pneumonia on Sept. 8, 2018.

Attorneys for the plaintiff argued that after Lofton was transferred from the ER, the pressure ulcers were discovered. During the hospital stay, new sores developed, and at least one ulcer became infected.

Attempts to reach Springhill Medical Center for comment were not immediately successful.

The Lofton family was represented by attorneys Allan Brown and Jim Dailey.

“We hope it will prompt the hospital to make sure that the staff does their job to ensure patient safety,” Brown said.

Dailey said, “Hopefully what happened to Mrs. Lofton won’t happen to someone else.”