Monday, May 17, 2010

Jury Awards $29.1 Mil in Nursing Home Death

Jurors have determined a Northern California-based nursing home chain should pay nearly $30 million in damages over the death of a 79-year-old former Stockton woman.

The award comes after the Sacramento County Superior Court jury on Wednesday found Colonial Healthcare of Auburn and its parent company, Rocklin-based Horizon West Healthcare Inc., guilty of elder abuse in the 2005 death of Frances Tanner.

After hearing testimony about the company's finances, jurors on Thursday determined the companies should pay $28 million in punitive damages to Tanner's estate and her daughter, Elizabeth Pao.

The punitive damages are in addition to the $1.1 million in compensatory damages the jury awarded.

Pao said Tanner was suffering from mild dementia, when she moved into the home in March 2005. After suffering a broken hip in a fall seven months later, Tanner died from an infected bedsore, Pao said.

During the trial, jurors heard testimony of chronic understaffing and poor medical documentation at the facility.

Full Article and Source:
Jury Awards $29.1 Million in Nursing Home Death

2 comments:

Judy/Judy said...

Good! it's about time. Understaffing so the profits go to the top people - KARMA

I hope those who could have stopped this meet the same end - an eye for an eye

StandUp said...

If more big awards like this were given out, nursing facilities would have an incentive to clean up!