Nursing Home Death
$500,000
Too often our elderly are neglected in nursing home settings. A few examples will show you just how deplorable conditions can be. An elderly dementia patient fell out of her bed onto the floor against the wall. When nurses did the rounds to check on patients, they did not even notice her on the floor until the breakfast call. She had fallen against the wall where the electric heater was and sustained severe painful third degree burns. They elected not to send her to the hospital but called the facility doctor instead who prescribed powerful pain medications in order to give the woman relief. However, the doctor did not take into account that she had severe COPD. The pain medications slowed her respiratory rate down so low that she ended up succumbing. Probate was commenced, the son appointed Administrator of the estate, letters sent and suit commenced against the facility, the doctors and the head nurse. There was no binding arbitration required so the case involved robust discovery.
Nursing Home Death
$450,000
Another nursing home death involved a former town veteran’s official who was in the nursing home for rehabilitation after falling and hitting his head. He was agitated at the nursing home due to his injury and needed 24/7 supervision. His wife stayed there 12 hours a day. He wanted to come home, but was not yet ready to be discharged. One day, after she left and turned over supervision to nursing staff, the man got up out of bed, walked down the hallway, through a set of double doors past the nursing station unnoticed and then opened an unlocked door. Thinking it was an exit, he walked out, only to fall down a flight of stairs and die due to a subdural hematoma. The surviving wife was appointed Executrix under the will. Attorney Goodman commenced suit and took numerous depositions to establish the lapse in supervision. The action was resolved to the satisfaction of the widow, with an apology and acknowledgment of wrongdoing by the facility.
Nursing Home Death
$425,000
Another case involved an elderly woman who was bedridden with no mobility. She required frequent turning and repositioning. However, this was not done as often as required by standards, rules and nursing home federal nursing guidelines. When family members uncovered the sheets when she was moaning and complaining, they discovered a very deep Stage IV pressure sore or ulcer, commonly known as a bed sore. She was transferred to a hospital and the wound debrided, but infection had already set in. Despite IV antibiotics, the sepsis evolved quickly into deadly septicemia which spread through her body and killed her. The suit was settled once the self-insured giant nursing home chain saw the color pictures of the deep wound on the decedent’s buttocks.