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Major Verdict against Chain of Nursing Homes with Numerous Locations in Kentucky

On Behalf of | Jul 29, 2016 | Firm News |

After three tragic death of residents, a nursing home chain is facing a $5.5 million verdict for its negligence which was found to cause the most recent of those deaths. The company has been the subject of numerous complaints, has a history of health and safety violations, and is currently facing charges from the US Justice Department.

The recent jury verdict came in the wrongful death trial of Sophia Alcon, brought on Alcon’s behalf by her son, George Alcon. Alcon was a resident of the Life Care Center of Pueblo in Colorado, owned by the national corporation Life Care Centers of America. During her six month stay in the Life Care Center, Alcon was repeatedly subjected to abusive and neglectful treatment. Alcon was found to be covered in unexplained bruises. She had developed bedsores, as well as numerous infections. Her body weight dropped precipitously shortly after she moved into the facility, and she was frequently discovered to be suffering from dehydration. Alcon also contracted multiple cases of aspiration pneumonia, as well as urinary tract infections and renal failure. Alcon was regularly visited by her ten children, who would go so far as to bathe her when nursing home staff had not, and she was found by her visiting family to be lying in her own fecal matter. George Alcon filed a claim for the suffering, loss of dignity, and wrongful death of his mother, as well as for the pain and trauma caused to his nine siblings. During the trial, several nurses who had cared for Alcon before leaving their jobs with the nursing home testified to her treatment. Additionally, the Colorado Department of Public Health presented evidence that it had issued numerous citations and fines to the Life Care Center on similar grounds to that which formed the basis of George Alcon’s claims. Ultimately, the jury awarded $500,000 in damages based on Alcon’s wrongful death, $57,066.43 in economic damages, and $5 million in punitive damages, intended to punish Life Care Centers for its cruel and abusive treatment of the victim.

Life Care Centers of America has 200 facilities across the country, with several located in Kentucky. The company has received a negative rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, having received over $28,000 in fines for poor conditions in its facilities. In one state alone, the nursing home’s facilities had been the subject of 24 reports of physical abuse, as well as that of a patient who died after falling out of bed.

If your loved one has been the victim of abuse or neglectful treatment in a Kentucky nursing home or assisted living facility, contact the compassionate and dedicated Lexington nursing home negligence attorney Stephen M. O’Brien for a consultation on your case, at 859-317-2056.

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