Nursing Home to Pay $54M For Resident Who Bled to Death

Ric Davis

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In the largest personal injury verdict in state history, a New Mexico jury awarded $54 million to the family of a woman who bled to death in her nursing home. The plaintiff's lawyer, Carl Bettinger of Albuquerque, was already well-acquainted with the defendant, having previously litigated more than half a dozen similar negligence trials against Manor Care, a nursing home chain based in Toledo, Ohio. After a two-and-a-half week trial, jurors found Manor Care liable for negligence and attempting to cover up the cause of death of 78-year-old resident Barbara Barber.

Rather than do a better job caring for residents, the trend is for nursing homes to set up shell corporations which have no assets in order to avoid being held financially accountable. In Texas, residents are at an even greater disadvantage as Bush allies have enacted legislation to protect the business interests of negligent Drs and nursing homes at the expense of the rights of the consumers. Their efforts in SC to enact similar legislation have failed.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice.