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Nursing Home Found Negligent by Jury

Posted by: euser
August 08, 2006
Topic: Personal Injury / Car Accidents / Wrongful Death


Nursing Home Found Negligent by Jury
Care home is found negligent

$1 million awarded to the estate of man who died while living there

For your legal questions regarding nursing home care, call Bush & Powers at 704-342-4357.  The consultation is free. 

A very disturbing case regarding a North Carolina Nursing Home.  Involves bedsores and substandard care.
By Titan Barksdale

JOURNAL REPORTER: A Forsyth County jury awarded $1 million Wednesday to the estate of a local man who died while in the care of Springwood Care Center of Forsyth, an adult care home run by Novant Health.
Fred Johnson Brown was admitted into Springwood in August 2003 after a stroke two months earlier. He developed pressure sores on his feet within a week, and died on Oct. 26, 2003. He was 86.Attorney David Pishko filed a lawsuit against Springwood in 2005 on behalf of Tanya Dawkins, the executor of Brown's estate. The lawsuit included claims of personal injury and wrongful death.

"The jury found that the pressure sores did not cause Brown's death, but (the sores) were caused by negligence by the staff at the nursing home, and that caused him pain and suffering," Pishko said. "Mr. Brown's family is pleased that the jury saw that the care Brown had gotten at Springwood was not up to the standard, and that the jury would be willing to do something about that," he said.

Springwood is below the state and national average for its number of health-care deficiencies, according to a U.S. Government Web site for Medicare recipients. In an inspection this year, the center was found to have five deficiencies. Six is the average number for adult care homes in North Carolina; nationwide it is eight.
Thirteen percent of Springwood's 196 residents are high-risk residents who have pressure sores, the Medicare Web site says. The center has 200 beds and is one of the largest adult-care homes in Forsyth, according to Novant's Web site.

Freda Springs, a spokeswoman for Novant Health, said that an appeal would likely be filed.
"We were happy that the jury found that we did not cause the patient's death," she said. "We were disappointed and confused about the financial decision."

The stroke that Brown suffered in July 2003 left him unable to move and put him at a high risk of developing the sores, the lawsuit says.

"Springwood had a duty to assure that its staff provided adequate care to assure that Brown did not develop pressure sores or other skin breakdowns," the lawsuit says.

Employees did not reposition Brown frequently and did not put him on a pressure-relieving mattress, the lawsuit says. As a result, the sores increased in size, and he was moved to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

A doctor at the hospital recommended amputating his legs to stop the spread of infection, the lawsuit says. Doctors instead decided to discharge him to hospice care. Brown died at Kate B. Reynolds Hospice Home.

To view the original story on journalnow.com click here



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