Info. on the $750,000 Verdict in Hinds County Nursing Home Case
On Saturday a Hinds County jury returned a $750,000 verdict in a nursing home case involving Manhattan Nursing and Rehab. Center in Jackson. I believe that Manhattan is part of the Tara Cares chain. All the damages were non-economic damages.
The case was a wrongful death case involving Mannie Williams, aged 87. Ms. Williams fell and suffered a fractured pelvis at home. She went to Manhattan for short term rehab. with a plan to return home. While in the nursing home, she suffered multiple pressure sores, also known as bed sores. The pressure sores included a stage IV sacral (tailbone area) wound that became infected and caused Ms. Williams' death.
Stage IV pressure sores are serious injuries. If you doubt the severity of a stage IV sacral pressure sore, go to google images and search “stage iv sacral pressure sore.” But don't do it right after a meal. Wikipedia has a good explanation of pressure sores here. Pressure sores are usually preventable with regular turning.
The case was tried before Judge William Gowan. The trial started on Wednesday and ended on Saturday.
Eric Stracener and Andrew Neely of Jackson and Jake Adams of Brandon represented the plaintiff.
Davis Frye, Barry Ford and Brad Moody with Baker Donelson in Jackson represented the defendant.
That BD team had a couple of successes reported on this blog, including holding a jury verdict down to $25K vs. this same plaintiffs' team. Win some, lose some!
Aren't arbitrary damage caps wonderful? Instead of reducing litigation, they give pompous over-powdered defense lawyers and greasy claims reps incentive to "throw it against the wall and see if we can do better." Where's the incentive to settle a case of clear liability? Where's the incentive to prevent these kinds of pathetic injury situations in the first place. Arbitrary caps are a typical legislative overreaction to a problem that exists in just a few jurisdictions. At least this one turned out correctly.
I'm not a fan of caps, but nursing homes I represent are usually eager to "settle a case of clear liability." Note that this same blog reported a defense verdict for the same facility in a pressure-sores case.
Pressure sores are usually preventable, but not always, depending on the resident's other conditions. In a case like this, I have to infer that either (1) the facility had documented aggressive treatment of the wounds, or (2) the parties couldn't get together on a settlement number.
Note that Medicare liens are making these cases harder to settle. If this resident had been on Medicare/Medicaid for years, that might've made the case impossible to settle. Lots more of that in the future, I fear.
Not to mention that various jurisdictions all over the country are issuing scattered opinions on the obligations of litigants and attorneys under the MSPRA.
Right you are, Roland. "You must follow the law today -- whatever it turns out tomorrow to be!"
Hopefully the 5th Cir. will take it up at some point and least give us here in some Mississippi some controlling law on the issue.
Rumor is that the plaintiffs wanted $500K to settle -- essentially, the max they could win at trial under the damage cap.
I suppose the facility could've saved the cost of a trial, but having won a case with the same lawyers a few months ago, they probably thought rolling the dice was reasonable.