$2.24 Million Jury Verdict for Wrongful Death in Nursing Home’s Negligent Discharge

Opal Moore, 92, suffered from dementia with agitation. After a hospital stay, she was admitted to the memory care unit at Superior Care Home for rehabilitation.

When she was admitted, her family instructed various nursing home personnel and its owner that she had aggressive behaviors, such as spitting and cursing. A care plan was established, which included a psychological consultation.

However, the consultation was not done and her aggressive behaviors increased. Several months after her admission, she spat on another resident in the dining room. A nurse then contacted her attorney-in-fact and requested that the family provide sitters.

Although the family sent over a sitter to help Moore just one hour later, the nursing home’s owner called her son that night and asked him to take his mother to a geriatric psychiatric unit 25 miles away.

The family pleaded with the owner to allow her to remain at the facility until the next day. The following day, the family came and retrieved her. However, the geriatric psychiatric unit was not admitting patients at that time.

The family was forced to take care of her until they could arrange for a psychiatric evaluation and another transfer. In the meantime, she suffered a gastrointestinal bleed and a fatal cardiac event three weeks after being discharged from Superior Care Home.

Moore’s estate and family sued the nursing home’s administrator and owners alleging negligent discharge without adequate notice, negligent care, and choosing not to comply with her care plan. The lawsuit also alleged negligence per se, violation of the state’s Resident’s Rights Act, corporate negligence and breach of contract.

The estate asserted that the sudden transfer caused Moore to experience relocation stress syndrome and led to a deterioration in her health.

The jury’s verdict was $2.2 million, which included $1.65 million in punitive damages.

The attorneys successfully handling this matter for the Opal Moore family and estate were Tad Thomas, Brian N. Jasper and Lindsay Cordes.

Moore v. Superior Care Home Inc., No. KY 17-CI-00162 (Ky. Cir. Ct. McCracken County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling nursing home negligence lawsuits, nursing home abuse cases, nursing home injury lawsuits, wrongful death lawsuits and medical negligence cases for individuals, families and loved ones who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including New Lenox, Schiller Park, Glencoe, Northfield, Berwyn, Glendale Heights, Countryside, Tinley Park, Lockport, Naperville, Downers Grove, Vernon Hills, North Chicago, Kenilworth, Libertyville, Chicago (Near West Side, Back of the Yards, Fuller Park, Bronzeville, Kenwood, Woodlawn, South Shore, Chicago Lawn, Wicker Park, Bucktown, North Center, Avondale, Lakeview), Elmwood Park, River Grove, Oak Park and Joliet, Ill.

Robert D. Kreisman has been an active member of the Illinois and Missouri bars since 1976.