On August 19, 2024, a Prince George’s County, Maryland nursing home malpractice jury returned its verdict against the defendant nursing home in the amount of $8.5 million ($8 million for the Estate and $500,000 for the decedent’s daughter). Pursuiant to Maryland’s cap on noneconomic damages, the verdict will be reduced to $845,000 (the amount of the cap at the time of the nursing home negligence).
The 83-year-old nursing home resident was admitted twice to the same Maryland nursing home in the fall and winter of 2020-2021. She was noted to be at risk of malnutrition during both admissions. During the second admission, she weighed 112 pounds at the time of admission in June 2020, but lost 13 pounds in one week, with no new interventions implemented to address her malnutrition She continued to be weighed for a few weeks yet no new diet or other interventions were implemented. For 68 days, she was not weighed at the nursing home. Within eight months, she lost 25% of her body weight, weighing 95 pounds in October 2020, and then only 81 pounds in January 2021 (the nursing home failed to record the resident’s weight from the end of October 2020 to the beginning of January 2021). A feeding tube was inserted in the end of January 2021, but the resident died nonetheless in February 2021.
The Maryland nursing home negligence lawsuit further alleged that the defendant nursing home failed to place the resident back on Eliquis, a blood thinner, following surgery, which led to her developing a blood clot that migrated to her lungs and brain, which was the cause of her death.
After the verdict was rendered, the plaintiffs’ Maryland nursing home malpractice lawyer stated with regard to the statutory reduction of noneconomic damages: “The caps allow for justice not to be served. A jury determined the compensation that our clients should receive, and these caps artificially and unnecessarily prevent people from receiving justice. Even if this type of verdict was not rendered, I think that justice was reached because my clients got to tell their story. Our clients were very adamant that they get up on that stand and talk to the jury about what happened to their loved one. In that respect, justice was served.”
The defendant nursing home states on its website: “Our mission is to provide the highest level of professional care to our residents … We strive to create and maintain a caring and supportive environment committed to the highest quality of life and standards of professional care … Our skilled nursing services consist of an interdisciplinary team approach focused on the individual needs of our patients and residents. Our nurses are available 24 hours a day to assist in meeting the needs of our patients.”
If you or a loved one may have been injured (or worse) as a result of nursing home malpractice in Maryland or in another U.S. state due to nursing home pressure ulcer (nursing home bedsore) negligence, nursing home infection, nursing home fall, nursing home aspiration, nursing home neglect, nursing home negligence, nursing home abuse, nursing home understaffing, or the nursing home failing to properly care for a vulnerable adult, you should promptly find a Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your nursing home malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a nursing home malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click here to visit our website or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find medical malpractice attorneys in your state who may assist you with your nursing home claim.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.