A recent $29 million verdict in a nursing home abuse and wrongful death case was upheld by a Sacramento Superior Court Judge last week. The underlying case involved the death of a 79 year-old former civil servant who fell at a Horizon West Healthcare facility and thereafter developed a Stage IV bedsore that became infected. The plaintiff in the case argued that the Horizon facility was deliberately understaffed and as a result, provided inadequate care and monitoring. We previously discussed the case at the time of the verdict here on the New York Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog.

Judge Roland Candee rejected Horizon West Healthcare's arguments for a new trial or significantly reduced damages. Candee said "overwhelming" and "devastatingly powerful" evidence in the trial in May supported the jury's verdict and damage awards against Horizon, which owns 33 nursing homes mostly in California.

The jury ruled that Horizon and Colonial committed elder abuse and awarded $1.1 million in damages for Tanner's pain and suffering and for her daughter's loss of companionship. A day later, after hearing evidence about the corporation's finances including its net worth of about $200 million, the panel made the $28 million punitive award.

Candee reduced the pain and suffering damages to $800,000. Including $1.2 million in attorney's fees, the total judgment is for $29.1 million, believed to be the largest ever for an elder abuse case in Sacramento County.

Website Resource:

$29 million verdict upheld against Rocklin nursing home firm, Sacramento Bee, Cynthia Hubert, July 15, 2010.

A Sacramento Superior Court jury recently awarded $28 million in punitive damages to the family of an elder abuse victim. Earlier this week, the jury returned a $1.1 million dollar verdict for the decedent's conscious pain and suffering and found the facility, Colonial Healthcare of Auburn, to have acted with "malice" as defined under the CA Elder Abuse statute. Frances Tanner was 79 when she died. Plaintiffs claim that the cause of her death was an infected bedsore.

The jury on Wednesday found Colonial Healthcare of Auburn and its parent company, Horizon West of Rocklin, guilty of elder abuse in the death of Frances Tanner, 79, a Stockton native and lifelong civil servant. They heard testimony about the corporation's finances today before deciding punitive damages.

Sacramento lawyer Ed Dudensing, who represented Tanner's daughter Elizabeth Pao in the case, urged jurors to make sure that Horizon paid dearly for the lapses that he argued led to Tanner's death. Plaintiffs contended that the nursing home corporation made profits their priority as opposed to quality patient care. The nursing home claimed that appropriate care was provided to Ms. Tanner. Representatives of Colonial Healthcare have vowed to appeal the verdicts.

Website Resources:

Jury hits Auburn nursing home with $28 million in punitive damages, Modesto Bee, Cynthia Hubert, May 13, 2010.