Attorney Bruce Bentley of Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer won a $1.16 million verdict for the widow and estate of a man who suffered serious fall injuries due to negligent care at a Corbin, Kentucky nursing home.
A Laurel County jury found the Hillcrest Health and Rehabilitation Center was negligent in its care of the 86-year-old man who had been admitted for rehabilitation after suffering a stroke. A lack of proper supervision allowed the man to fall multiple times, eventually causing him to sustain fractures to his leg and foot and suffer agonizing pain.
After a five-day civil trial in Laurel County Circuit Court, the jury awarded $465,000 in compensatory damages and $700,000 in punitive damages to the widow and estate of the man for the harm they suffered.
Our Kentucky Courage attorneys are ready to stand up for your family if your loved one has been harmed due to nursing home negligence.
Attorney Bruce Bentley said the verdict showed that the jury recognized that the nursing home failed to keep its promise to deliver safe and appropriate care and had not provided adequate training and supervision of its staff.
“Nursing homes provide services to the most vulnerable people in society,” Bentley said. “They are well compensated for what they do. They need to do their job.”
“The verdict shows that folks in Laurel County recognize that people are entitled to be compensated when they aren’t treated properly,” he said.
The man suffered two falls in November 2014, the month after being admitted to the facility. The following February, he suffered a third fall while trying to get out of a wheelchair, causing multiple fractures to his leg and foot.
“He was supposed to be in a well-populated area any time he was out of bed,” Bentley said. “There were a number of occasions where the nursing staff would leave him unattended in his wheelchair. He was unsupervised in his room when the third fall occurred.”
The bone fractures were not detected initially because the nursing home sent the man to the hospital for examination of his hip after the fall. Two days later, he was in agony in the nursing home with untreated broken bones. He was sent him back to the hospital, where the bone fractures were diagnosed.
“It’s a great deal of relief that I was able to get these folks a really good result showing that their concerns for their dad and mom were justified and there is some accountability for what happened,” Bentley said.
The personal injury attorneys at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer stand up for Kentuckians and their families who have been harmed due to the negligence of others. If you have a loved one who has suffered mistreatment at a nursing home, contact Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer to discuss the situation and learn how we can help you demand justice. Our attorneys have the Kentucky Courage to stand up for what is right.
