High-Profile Nursing Home Abuse Cases

People in America have no tolerance for the abuse of the elderly. Cases involving nursing homes which fail to provide proper care for those who can no longer care for them self have gained headlines across the country and produced huge jury awards.

Cases of nursing home abuse have produced some of the largest jury awards in United States history. It would appear that juries have a particular soft spot when cases of elder abuse are presented. In Texas, the operators of a nursing home in San Antonio were ordered to pay $160 million dollars to the estate of an 81-year-old man who was murdered by his roommate. The attorneys for the plaintiff were able to show that the nursing home operators should have known better than to put Tranquilino Mendoza in the same room with a patient who had a history of mental illness. The roommate had a long history of violence and the nursing home was found to be negligent.

The newspapers have been filled with other examples of victorious lawsuits where the victim or their family was paid several million dollars. In Saint Louis, a jury ordered a Missouri nursing home to pay $6.5 million dollars in damages over the death of a patient from dehydration. In San Diego, an $11 million dollar jury award was given to the widow of a man who died from an obstruction in his intestines. The patient had ingested a number of non-food items while living in a long term care facility. An autopsy found ketchup packets, plastic bags, candy wrappers and other material in his stomach and the nursing home was held liable.

Jury awards in lawsuits are meant to not only compensate victims for any damages that they have suffered but also to discourage similar behavior in the future. By handing down a large award for punitive damages the hope is that other facilities will take note and take action to prevent similar problems. If you suspect abuse at a nursing facility, consult with a national nursing home abuse attorney to make sure that your loved one is getting the type of care that they deserve.