California Nursing Home to Pay $28 Million in Death
A nursing home near Sacramento, California has been ordered to pay $28 million in punitive damages for the death of a resident. The nursing home was found to be deliberately understaffed and to provide substandard care. The large punitive damages amount is a record for Sacramento county and was meant to send a message to the home that they can no longer save money by cutting corners.
According to the Sacramento Bee, 79-year-old Frances Tanner died in early 2006, seven months after moving into Colonial Healthcare, a nursing operated by Horizon West Healthcare, which operates 33 nursing homes, mostly in Northern California.
According to Tanner's daughter, Tanner was bedridden after a fall caused by a hip fracture that had gone undiagnosed. While confined to her bed, she died of a bed sore. The Tanner case was the fourth in recent years in which Colonial had been cited in the death of a resident.
Tanner's family was earlier awarded $1.1 million for their pain and suffering. The $28 million punitive damage verdict is intended primariy to punish Horizon West for their negligence and remove the financial incentive to provide substandard care.
As in many cases, Tanner's death was caused by a variety of factors resulting from abuse. Solomon and Relihan's Nursing Home Advocates website offers informational pages on all of these symptoms of abuse:
You should also visit Nursing Home Advocates to learn how to detect abuse and neglect and stop it before it's too late.
