Canby nursing home found not liable

We often see reports of poor conditions in nursing homes, where patients are mistreated in a number of ways. Well, here’s a switch, as there was just an article in the Oregonian about a Canby nursing home that was found not liable in a wrongful death suit. The nursing home, Marquis Care at Hope Village, was accused of being responsible for the death of a wheelchair-bound patient, who fell out of his wheelchair in the nursing home and died four days later at a hospital.

The patient was recuperating from surgery in the nursing home and was by himself in his room when he fell. He was taken to the hospital, where he developed pneumonia, fell into a coma, and died after being taken off of a ventilator (per his request). The lawsuit, filed by the patient’s widow, asserted that the patient had been recovering nicely and his condition improving at the time of his fall, but the nursing home’s attorney argued that the nursing home was not responsible for his fall or subsequent death and that the patient received adequate supervision.

The trial lasted over a week, but the jury deliberated less than 30 minutes. The lawsuit asked for $1.1 million in damages.

This was posted on Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 and is filed in the Legal, Patient Care, Patient Death categories.