Elder Law

Jury Awards $11 Million Verdict in Assisted Living Case

By Levin & Perconti

A jury awarded a landmark verdict of $11 million to the widow of a 36-year-old man who died after ingesting foreign objects while in the care of Liberty Manor Residency. The nursing home verdict awarded $2 million for the decedent, $5 million for the wife and $4 million in punitive damages. The decedent had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury as a result of a car accident. He then needed to be placed into an assisted living facility. One day she received a call saying her husband had been vomiting. After the wife rushed him over to the hospital, he continued vomiting and died in her arms. The autopsy showed that he had ingested a number of items, including plastic bags, unopened ketchup packets, candy wrappers and paper towels in the victim?s stomach and small intestines. At trial, it was discovered that the assisted living facility had made numerous false entries in their charts in regards to the man?s care. To read more about the nursing home verdict, please click the link.

Full post as published by Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog on March 24, 2009 (boomark / email).