Charleston nursing home abuse attorneys came across a Kentucky suit that recently awarded a monumental sum of $42.75 million to the family of a man who, allegedly, died due to negligent care in a nursing home. The amount was granted by a Hopkins County jury in Lexington, Kentucky and according to court documents the jury awarded $1 for the man’s pain and suffering, $1.75 million for his wife’s loss, and $40 million in punitive damages.
The suit claimed that a 92-year-old man’s death was caused because of a Madisonville nursing home’s negligent behavior by not ensuring he had enough water to live. Despite having a feeding tube the elderly man became lethally dehydrated. The man was only in the nursing home for nine days before being transferred to a regional medical center where he ultimately died.
The experienced wrongful death lawyers at Howell and Christmas understand the possibility of abuse or neglect in a nursing home is a serious consideration when a resident suffers from dehydration. Other considerations include malnourishment, falls, bedsores, or injury due to lack of supervision of staff.
In this case, the family alleges that the home’s staff neglect caused their loved one to suffer from all of the aforementioned considerations in determining nursing home abuse and neglect. Adult Protective Services officials of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services substantiated these allegations. A document attained from the cabinet’s Office of Inspector General showed the nursing home received a citation for failing to prevent bedsores, other documents were not available, but the plaintiff’s attorney said this citation was not the most serious.
According to a Lexington news source, the administer of the facility where the man was allegedly neglected is extremely unhappy with the verdict and the large monetary award granted to the man’s family. The administer said, “We feel the size of the verdict is outrageous and totally inappropriate based on the facts presented in the case,” and that,”the outsized punitive damages assessed against us bear no relation to our conduct.”
The facility maintains that they provided quality care to the deceased man. Given this position and the award, they intend to challenge the jury’s decision through the appeal process.
