Attorneys Joey Morris and Mark Andrews of Morris, Andrews, Talmadge & Driggers, LLC have been able to secure an $850,000 verdict for their clients, who sued a nursing home for neglect that led to a patient’s death. The verdict amount marks the largest arbitration award in Alabama for a nursing home abuse case of this kind. It is also an amount that is more than double what the defendant’s made during mediation.
Details of the Nursing Home Death Lawsuit
Most of the details of this lawsuit will be undisclosed out of respect of the privacy of the family.
An elderly woman who was in a semi-vegetative state was staying at a nursing home facility in Alabama. She was completely dependent on the care of the orderlies for her survival, as she could not perform basic day-to-day activities on her own any longer. While she was being transported from her bed to her chair in her room at the nursing home, the hoyer lift – a mechanical, sometimes-electrical sling system for lifting patients – being used to move her dropped her onto the floor. She suffered a brain injury from the impact and ultimately passed away from complications and symptoms close to three weeks later.
During the discovery process of the lawsuit, it was determined that the nursing home staff deviated from accepted safe practices while using the hoyer lift. Two people are required to assist in the lifting of a patient when using a hoyer lift, but the defendant only had one orderly present. Additionally, a safety clip on the hoyer lift that helps secure the patient and prevent falling was missing at the time of its use.
Despite the evidence against them, the defendants denied any liability for the elderly woman’s fall and claimed that it was not linked to her death. After mediation was failed due to their stubbornness, it was taken to a Montgomery arbitrator. It was during arbitration that the landmark $850,000 verdict was won for the firm’s clients.
For more information about Morris, Andrews, Talmadge & Driggers, LLC, or to retain the help of the firm’s Montgomery & Dothan personal injury attorneys, you can call (844) 654-6228. Interested parties can also contact the firm online to request a free initial consultation.
