$9 Million Bedsore Verdict: A Baltimore County Maryland nursing home negligence jury returned its verdict in favor of a nursing home resident who developed bedsores at a local nursing home where he had been a resident for about six months after he suffered a stroke.
The six-person jury awarded $8 million following seven days of trial to the former pastor’s estate for the pain and suffering he experienced before his death from sepsis, and $1 million for the noneconomic damages suffered by his family due to his death. However, the total verdict will be reduced to $1.037 million due to Maryland’s cap on noneconomic damages in healthcare malpractice cases.
The family’s Maryland nursing home negligence lawsuit alleged that the nursing home failed to periodically reposition the resident while he was lying on his back as required by the standard of care so that he would not develop a pressure ulcer, and that he was left lying in his own feces for long periods of time, leading to the development of the pressure ulcer that became infected and developed into sepsis that took his life (the death certificate noted severe sepsis from the infected bedsore as a cause of his death).
One of the family’s nursing home negligence lawyers noted after the verdict that Maryland’s cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice (nursing home negligence) cases is more than $1 million less that the noneconomic damages cap in wrongful death cases in Maryland that do not involve medical malpractice, stating after the verdict, “There’s no reason to conclude that the pain and suffering of the Mack family or other victims of healthcare malpractice would be any different than those experienced by plaintiffs in a non-medical malpractice wrongful death case. That really highlights the injustice and irrationality of this cap.”
The Maryland nursing home states on its website: “The Stella Maris team of highly trained professionals includes nurses, certified nursing assistants, social workers, pastoral care chaplains, therapists and other caregivers. A large pool of dedicated volunteers, who offer their time and talents to Stella Maris, enhance the care and comfort of the patients and residents.
The competent and compassionate care provided by the Sisters of Mercy and the Stella Maris staff focuses on mature adults – from retirement through the end of life. Although the campus has dramatically changed through the years, the tender, compassionate care for each individual has remained constant.”
If you or a loved one may have been injured (or worse) as a result of medical malpractice in a nursing home in Maryland or in another U.S. state due to nursing home pressure ulcer (nursing home bedsore) negligence, a 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 medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a nursing home medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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