Nursing Home Negligence

January 24, 2017

$8.47 Million Verdict for Brain Damage to 8-Year-Old Child at Nursing Home

Jacob Saul was born prematurely with neurological deficiencies. He was later transferred to Cambridge Pediatrics Nursing Home for rehabilitation.

Jacob remained at the nursing home. At eight months of age, he was found unconscious and in respiratory arrest. It was later revealed that Jacob’s tracheostomy tube had dislodged and that his pulse oximeter machine had been turned off. As a result of this situation, Jacob suffered profound brain damage that led to his blindness, a seizure disorder and deafness. Jacob is now 8 years old.

Jacob’s parents individually, and on his behalf, sued the nursing home alleging that it had negligently cared for Jacob by, among other things, choosing not to ensure that his medical equipment was properly connected. The Saul family’s expert asserted that, but for the improper connection of the equipment and his resulting brain damage, Jacob would have been able to walk with braces and eat without assistance even given his prematurity and neurological injuries.

November 25, 2016

$303,000 Jury Verdict Entered Against Nursing Home In Which Staff Negligently Removed Skin Staples from Resident

by Robert Kreisman

Robert Lankford, 69, underwent abdominal surgery. He was admitted to Life Care Center Pensacola for his recovery period. One of the nursing facility’s nurses mistakenly removed Lankford’s skin staples, which led to a wound infection. Lankford required a second surgery to close the wound. Afterward, he was returned to Life Care Center where he was subsequently diagnosed with having C. difficile infection. Lankford later died of unrelated causes.

The Lankford family and estate filed a lawsuit against the nursing home and a related corporate entity claiming liability for its nurse’s blatant mistake of removing the staples and for the nursing home’s choosing not to adequately have in place infection control resources. The Lankford family maintained that had the nursing home been equipped properly, the infection could have been controlled, saving Lankford’s life.

The jury’s verdict was $303,300. The attorney representing the Lankford family was Clay Mitchell.

November 22, 2016

$30 Million Nursing Home Jury Verdict with Punitive Damages

by Robert Kreisman

Martha Pierce, 83, suffered a stroke and became partially paralyzed and weak on her right side. She required additional assistance from her nursing facility, the Allenbrooke Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. One of the nursing home’s staff members identified Stage IV pressure ulcers on Pierce’s right foot. Even in view of that serious condition, the ulcers were allowed to worsen and Pierce developed sepsis. As a result, she required an above-the-knee amputation of her right leg and died four months later.

Pierce’s estate and family sued the nursing home and several corporate entities, claiming negligence in violation of the state’s Nursing Home Protection Act. The jury entered a verdict of $30 million, which included $28 million in punitive damages.

The attorneys representing Martha Pierce’s family were Kenneth L. Connor, Carey Acerra and Cameron Jehl.

August 15, 2016

Nursing Home Resident Dies After Suffering Several Untreated Illnesses – Jury Enters Verdict for $5.56 Million

by Robert Kreisman

Sophia Alcon, 77, was admitted to Life Care Center of Pueblo, a skilled nursing facility. During the 7 months that she remained there, she suffered various injuries and illnesses, including urinary tract infections, bed sores, dehydration, malnutrition, pain, renal failure and aspiration pneumonia. She was brought to a nearby hospital where a staff medical provider noticed that her vagina was packed with dried feces. She died as a result of her medical conditions and is survived by her 10 adult children.

One of her sons, on her behalf and for the family, sued the nursing home and its corporate affiliates maintaining that they were responsible for her death. In the complaint it was alleged that the nursing home was negligent, was responsible for her wrongful death and was guilty of numerous consumer protection violations. Among other things, the Alcon family alleged that the defendants chose not to properly assess Sophia’s medical needs, formulate an appropriate care plan, provide adequate staffing and properly trained personnel at this skilled nursing facility.

The jury’s verdict of $5.56 million, included $5 million in punitive damages, which are designed to punish the defendants for the abusive treatment to Sophia Alcon.

March 22, 2016

Elder Abuse in U.S. Increases with the Size of the Older Population

by Robert Kreisman

According to recent reports by the National Center on Elder Abuse — Administration of Aging (Department of Health and Human Services), America’s expanding elderly population has led to an increase in elder abuse.

It is predicted that by 2050, people 65 and older will make up 20% of the total U.S. population. Today, the fastest growing segment of America’s population consists of those 85 years and older. In 2010, there were about 5.8 million people 85 or older. By the year 2050, it is projected that there will be 19 million people over 85.

“Elder abuse” is defined as intentional actions that cause harm or create a serious risk of harm (whether the harm is intended) to a vulnerable elder by a caregiver or other person who is in a trust relationship with the elder. Other abuse includes the failure of caregivers to provide the basic needs of an older adult or to protect the elder from harm from others.

February 8, 2016

$650,000 Jury Verdict for Nursing Home’s Failure to Prevent and Treat Bed Sores

by Robert Kreisman

Genevieve Thompson, 74, was hospitalized and required assistance with all activities of daily living due to her long list of health problems. One of them included morbid obesity.

During her hospitalization, she developed a Stage II pressure sore, which was documented two days before she was transferred to a nursing home for rehabilitation.

About a week and a half into the nursing home residency, she was transferred back to the hospital where she was diagnosed with sepsis. She required debridement and other wound treatment for the bed sores, which by then had worsened. She required institutional care at the hospital for the next several months.

January 19, 2016

$1 Million Jury Verdict in Nursing Home Abuse Case for Failure to Assist Resident and Prevent Pressure Sores

by Robert Kreisman

Mary, 77, suffered from an end-stage renal disease and required a wheelchair due to left-sided weakness that resulted from a stroke. Mary lived at a nursing home facility, Beachwood Pointe Care Center, with her husband who also used a wheelchair.

When the nursing home’s staff chose not to bring Mary to the facility’s dining room, her husband threw a belt over his shoulder and “towed” Mary — in her wheelchair — to the eating area. As the couple rounded a corner, Mary’s wheelchair caught on a doorframe, which caused her to fall to the floor. Mary suffered a broken leg in the fall, but it went undiagnosed for two days until the nursing home’s staff at her dialysis center noticed the injury and sent her to the hospital.

After Mary returned to the nursing home, she developed multiple bed sores. This included two Stage IV sores on her buttocks, which became infected and led to sepsis from which she later died.

January 8, 2016

Nursing Home Sued by Resident for Improper Administration of Medications

by Robert Kreisman

Edward Fiala and his wife were residents of Bickford Senior Living Group. He was confined to a wheelchair and suffered from a disorder that affected his motor control and cognition. The healthcare power of attorney was held by Fiala and his children. The nursing home staff from the beginning of his residency were instructed that Fiala was not to get any medicine without their prior consent and that Paxil specifically was prohibited. These instructions were made apparent in Fiala’s nursing home medical chart.

In spite of that specific instruction, the nursing home staff members, who found Fiala difficult, administered Paxil and other medicines from time to time. There was no prior consent to allow it over the original instructions prohibiting it.

Fiala believed that the staff gave him medication to chemically sedate him to make him easier to work with. Sometimes, the drugs left him in a catatonic state. Other times the medicine caused him to be agitated and behave violently.

December 2, 2015

State Supreme Court Finds That Nursing Home Abuse Case Was Filed Properly and Was Not Applicable to the Medical Malpractice Act

by Robert Kreisman

In an interesting Louisiana Supreme Court case, it was held that in the matter of Lessie Porter, a nursing home resident at Southern Oaks Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, her abuse and treatment by a nursing home nurse was not a medical malpractice issue under the state’s Medical Malpractice Act. The court ruled that the treatment was not such that mandated the case to be handled under the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act, La. Rev. Stat. Ann. ¶ 40: 1299.41.

In this matter, Porter, the nursing home resident, on one particular evening began leaving her room by crawling down a hallway. The attending nurse became frustrated and asked several nursing assistants to drag Lessie to her bed. Lessie was then dragged across a brick floor and injected with a tranquilizer.

Before she died, she sued the nursing home for her injuries claiming negligence, breach of contract and breach of the state’s nursing home resident’s bill of rights. The nursing home moved for summary judgment claiming that the claim brought by Porter fell under the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act (MMA) which required involvement of a medical review panel. Lessie’s family also moved for partial summary judgment. The trial judge ruled in favor of her family holding that her claims were not medical treatment related.

November 17, 2015

Cook County Jury Verdict for Injured Senior Who Fell From Wheelchair During Transport to Doctor’s Appointment

by Robert Kreisman

A Cook County jury signed a $150,600 jury verdict for injuries suffered by Ruth Ratowitz on Oct. 17, 2011. She was wheelchair-bound and was being transported by Rich Township to and from her healthcare appointment at Ingalls Memorial Hospital’s Professional Office Building in Harvey, Ill. She was 67 years old at the time. The transportation program was sponsored by the Rich Township Dial-A-Ride Program for Rich Township residents.

The township provided the transportation in a van specifically outfitted with a Q’Straint Restraint System for the purpose of keeping passengers secure in wheelchairs.

The plaintiff filed this lawsuit against the Rich Township and its driver, Horace Morgan, claiming that they chose not to properly secure her wheelchair in the van for the return trip and was speeding and making sharp turns during the transit causing her to fall from her wheelchair inside the van where she suffered a fractured tibia.