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Nursing Home Abuse / Neglect Representative Cases
Bacterial Infection Cases Settled - In the first three months of 2005, five residents of Lakeview Assisted Living Center in Roanoke, Virginia became sick and tested positive for Strep A streptococcus, a bacteria that can lead to necrotizing fasciitis, also known as the “flesh eating bacteria.” Frith Law Firm represented two of these residents; the first lost her leg due to the infection and the second lost her life. Our investigation revealed that Lakeview failed to take proper, but simple, precautions to prevent the bacteria from spreading and did not warn residents, or their families, about the presence of infection.
In all, the Health Department found 18 residents and staff who tested positive for the bacteria. Most likely, the bacterium was spread to the residents by employees who were unaware that they were carrying the bacteria and displayed no symptoms. Health Department Investigators could not determine the source of the outbreak. Frith Law Firm, on behalf of our clients, settled both cases prior to trial for confidential amounts.
Our success in these cases was significant with regard to overcoming the defenses asserted by the assisted living facility. The facility argued that it was nothing more than a hotel for its residents and had no requirement to look after their health and welfare. The defendant facility argued that, unlike a nursing home, it had no duty to provide reasonable healthcare to its residents. As a result of extensive discovery and the involvement of experts from the assisted living industry, our firm was able to convince the defendant of the weakness of its position.
Wrongful Death Against Assisted Living Facility - An 82 year old female resident was taken to Abingdon Manor (a Virginia assisted living facility) to stay for a few weeks while her family was out of town. On September 17, 2005, another resident in the facility violently attacked the female resident, and she died a few days later from head injuries sustained during the attack. Our investigation revealed the female resident was the 11th or 12th resident or staff member who had been physically assaulted by the attacker. Despite his known violent manor and propensities, the facility neither removed him from the facility nor reported his actions to law enforcement. The attacker was charged with attempted murder for attacking the female resident but found mentally incompetent to stand trial. He is currently receiving treatment and evaluation at a state mental facility and will again be evaluated by the Court to determine if he has capacity to stand trial. The family of the female resident settled their claim for payment of the facility’s available insurance policy limits plus $75,000 from the owner of the assisted living facility. Settlement was reached after our investigation but prior to filing suit.
Wrongful Death Against Assisted Living Facility - The 82 year old female decedent suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease and entered the defendant’s assisted living facility on July 4 and remained a resident until September 17, 2005, on which date she was attacked by another resident at the facility. The attacker grabbed the decedent and threw her to the floor knocking her unconscious. She was taken from the assisted living facility to a local hospital and then transferred to a larger hospital facility where she died 11 days later on September 28, 2005. Plaintiff’s evidence would have been that the decedent’s death was caused as a result of complications from a subdural hematoma suffered during the attack. The assisted living facility was not operating as a nursing home and was therefore not supervised and regulated by the Center for Quality Health Care Service and Consumer Protection of the Virginia Department of Health. As an assisted living facility, oversight responsibility was placed with the State Department of Social Services. The State Department of Social Services investigated the events surrounding the accident and plaintiff’s counsel obtained a copy of their file via a Freedom of Information Act request. The investigation revealed that the aggressor had assaulted and caused injury to numerous residents and staff at the facility for many months prior to the fatal attack on the decedent. Further, plaintiff’s investigation uncovered that defendant facility had taken few, if any, steps to reduce the potential for injury to other residents at the facility. The attacker was subsequently charged with second degree murder but was subsequently found incompetent to stand trial and institutionalized in a psychiatric facility. The facility had a $100,000 “wasting limits” liability policy. Accordingly, the cost of defense, experts, etc. would reduce the available policy limits as litigation progressed. The carrier offered its policy limits which we refused. The case ultimately settled upon the defendant offering an additional $75,000 to the policy limits for a total settlement of $175,000. The decedent was survived by five adult siblings.
Nursing Home Negligence / Product Liability - The decedent was admitted in August of 2002 to a nursing home for total medical management and remained at that facility until her death the following month. The decedent, 97 years old, was discovered by the nursing staff during the morning shift change. The decedent had fallen out of her bed between two (split) side rails. Her neck was entrapped between the side rail and the bed mattress and her buttocks rested on the floor. Her death was caused by positional asphyziation. A claim was filed against the nursing home and settled. A second suit was filed against the manufacturers of the nursing home bed and bed side rails. Decedent's counsel discovered that the FDA had issued a safety alert for entrapment hazards for similar-type beds and side rails in 1995. The FDA alert notified hospitals, nursing homes, as well as the manufacturers of 102 head and body entrapment incidents which resulted in 68 deaths and 22 injuries. In 1999, the FDA, with representatives from the hospital bed industry, patient advocacy groups, and others, formed the Hospital Bed Safety Workgroup. The Workgroup issued clinical guidelines for the assessment and use of bed rails in hospitals and long-term care facilites in April 2003. The plaintiff (adult child of the decedent) alleged that the manufacturers were negligent by (a) failing to design safe and effective products; (b) failing to manufacture safe and effective products; (c) failing to warn long-term care facilites of the dangerous nature of its products; and (d) failing to provide adequate instructions and warnings regarding the proper use of its products. The manufacturers of the bed rails and mattress settled the decedent's claim early in the litigation.
Nursing Home Negligence - An
elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer’s dementia,
congestive heart failure, and other heart problems was
transferred from an out-of-state hospital to a local
nursing home. The woman fell several times during her
stay at the nursing home. Her family felt that the
nursing home staff failed to properly restrain and
monitor her in order to prevent repeated falls. The
last fall resulted in a serious head injury. The woman
was transferred to a local hospital where she
developed pneumonia and subsequently died. The woman’s
neurologist stated that her death was caused by the
pneumonia she developed secondary to her injuries from
her last fall. We were able to prove that the nursing
staff was aware of her repeated falls and failed to
follow their own fall prevention policy. This case
settled before trial.
Nursing Home Negligence / Malpractice -
The decedent was admitted to the defendant nursing home for total
medical management. He suffered a mild stroke while at the
nursing home, experiencing left-side weakness and periods of
aphasia. As a result, the decedent became quite dependent upon
the nursing home staff for all activities of daily living. The
decedent became malnourished, dehydrated and developed several
severe ducubitus ulcers on his left elbow, left and right ankles,
buttocks, and sacrum. Shortly before his death, he was found
unresponsive in his room and transferred to a local hospital for
evaluation and treatment. Significant laboratory findings at
the time of admission to the hospital included blood glucose of 600
(normal 60-110), sodium of 169 (normal 135-145), Creatinine of 3.3
(normal 0.5-1.2), and a BUN of 127 (normal 6-20). The 82 year
old decedent remained hospitalized for several days but was unable
to overcome his condition. His final diagnosis included non-ketonic
hyperosmolar state, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus,
multiple decubitus ulcers and aspiration pneumonia.
Plaintiff's expert were prepared to testify that the nursing home
failed to monitor the decedent's weight and failed to provide him
with proper hydration and nutrition. Plaintiff was prepared to
offer expert testimony that the combination of these acts of
negligence (resulting in a weight loss in excess of 20 pounds in
thirty days) resulted in the decedent's subsequent death. A
confidential settlement was reached approximately one week prior to
trial.
Nursing Home Negligence / Malpractice -
The decedent (84 years old) was a resident at defendant's nursing
home from July of 2000 until October of 2001. Plaintiff's
evidence and the testimony by its experts established that the
resident suffered from severe malnutrition and dehydration, losing
43 pounds or 27% of his body weight during his stay at the
defendant's facility. Additionally, the decedent developed
contractures of his lower extremities and decubitus ulcers and was
ultimately transferred to another facility where he died. The
Virginia Department of Health, Center for Quality Healthcare
Services and Consumer Protection conducted a thorough investigation
of the defendant's facility and substantiated many of the complaints
relative to the decedent's care. The local Ombudsman and
Department of Social Services also investigated the care provided to
the decedent an photographed the decedent in a very deteriorated
state. Plaintiff, through her experts, was prepared to prove
that the defendant's facility was chronically understaffed and
therefore incapable of providing appropriate care to the decedent.
The defendant's nursing experts were prepared to testify that the
resident received appropriate nursing care. The defendant's
physician expert was prepared to testify that the nursing staff's
treatment of the decedent did not result in his dehydration or
malnutrition and that his death was not the proximate result of any
alleged negligence by the defendant. Plaintiff's experts were
prepared to contradict each of the defendant's experts' opinions.
The decedent's wife and children were the statutory beneficiaries of
this wrongful death claim which settled a few days before trial.
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