$54 million verdict for neglect and cover-up

Here is an article discussing the recent $54 million verdict in a nursing home neglect case in New Mexico.

Lori Keith was awarded the compensatory and punitive damages against ManorCare Inc., a nursing home corporation out of Toledo, Ohio, for neglecting her mother causing her death.  At the time of her death, Barbara Barber was due to leave the ManorCare Camino Vista facility within a week to stay with family, Keith said. So when a phone call came about Barber’s death, Keith said she knew something was wrong.

The verdict reached yesterday in Albuquerque includes four million dollars in compensatory damages and 50 million in punitive damages over the 2004 death of 78-year-old Barbara Barber.

The doctor who did the autopsy said Barber died of internal bleeding. The family’s attorneys produced evidence that the bleeding had been going on for several days without response.

Tthe nursing home tried to cover up the death by taking away sheets and other items in the room.

The corporation was responsible for the death, jurors decided, and they said the corporation owed Barber’s family for it.   The company declined to comment on specific details of the litigation.