Dorothy’s son took his mother to the defendant nursing home while waiting for a space to open at another home. Mrs. Douglas suffered from Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s disease and several other conditions. Admission records noted that Mrs. Douglas could walk, speak and recognize family members but was subsequently labeled a fall risk and confined to a wheel chair. When she was transferred to her home of choice, three weeks later, she was unresponsive, had lost 15 pounds and was severely dehydrated. She was taken to the local hospital where she died the next day.
The jury found that the nursing home workers were responsible for her death and failed to feed and care for her causing her to die of complications from dehydration. The jury found that the nursing home did not have enough nurses on staff to care for Mrs. Douglas. Several former workers at the home testified that properly caring for all all the residents was impossible given the nursing homes business model which revolved around keeping the number of residents high, and the number of staff low. It was also found that the employee turnover rate in the year Mrs. Douglas died was 112%. Most chilling was the fact that this nursing home is owned by corporations that control hundreds of nursing homes nationwide and that the parent company reported earnings of about $4 billion in 2009! To add insult to injury, subsequent to Mrs. Douglas’ death, this particular nursing home was cited by state inspectors 28 deficiencies-more than double the state’s average of 13.
Nursing home neglect and abuse is a tragic and unnecessary occurrence. Grazian and Volpe has advocated for victims and their families for over 25 years and are pleased to see any verdict that harshly punishes the perpetrators of these abuses and helps raise awareness of this dark condition. Please follow us on myaccidentlaw.com/blog for more informative articles that will help you protect and advocate for loved ones and clients and please watch John Grazian on WCIU, You and Me in the Morning where he often answers viewer questions on this important topic.
