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Jury Awards $1.25 Million to Family of Nursing Home Resident Who Dies Due to Bedsores

By Beth Janicek

Melvin Raybon died four years ago after suffering a great deal of pain. A DeKalb County jury determined that the suffering was caused by neglect at the Tucker nursing home where he lived for nine months. Raybon was admitted in 2002 at the age of 67. Nine months later, he had to go the hospital for treatment of a bedsore that infected his left buttock to the bone.

Nursing assistants from the nursing home testified that there were not enough staffers to provide adequate care. Raybon should have been turned over every two hours to alleviate pressure that leads to bedsores, but was only turned over every four hours. (Every expert I have ever heard testify on this issue has stated that residents need to be turned every two hours).

After the hospital stabilized him, Mr. Raybon was admitted to another nursing home in Buckhead. Unfortunately, his condition continued to deteriorate. He suffered from malnutrition as a result of the original infection, which lead to more bedsores and infection. Mr. Raybon died in June of 2004.

In a four-year lawsuit the jury awarded Raybon’s daughter, Yolanda Latimore, $1.25 million for the care that her father received at the Tucker Nursing Center. The attorney for the Tucker nursing home owner said that the decision was “an enormous award just for pain and suffering from bedsores.” He further stated that the court would not allow the jury to hear evidence that state regulators found no violations in connection with the case, and said that it was not the care at the Buckhead nursing home that caused Mr. Raybon’s condition to deteriorate. (Every case I have handled, the claim is always that their underlying condition caused the bedsore not the fact the staff was not getting them up and moving them).

Nursing home neglect is one topic that I blog on quite frequently. As I have noted in a previous post, damage caps in Texas and the lack of any thorough state investigations, are preventing nursing homes from being held accountable for the poor care they are giving. There would be much fewer injuries and the quality of life would increase dramatically for the residents of nursing homes if the issue of understaffing were regulated more strictly.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Beth Janicek

Full post as published by San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer on January 13, 2009 (boomark / email).