Type of Action: Medical Malpractice/Nursing Home
Injuries Alleged: Decubitus Ulcers/Sepsis/Wrongful Death
Name of Case: Ronald Carter, Administrator of the Estate of Louise B. Purdie v. Cumberland Care, Inc. d/b/a Whispering Pines Nursing and Rehab Center
Court: Mecklenburg County Superior Court
Case No.: 04-CVS-15358
Tried Before: Jury
Name of Judge: Richard Boner
Verdict/Settlement: Verdict
Amount: Defense verdict
Verdict Date: Nov. 30, 2006
Demand: Plaintiff asked the jury for $2.3 million. Plaintiff's last demand was $850,000.
Offer: N/A
Experts: N/A
Insurer: N/A
Defense Attorney: Christopher West & Erin McNeil, Raleigh
Person Submitting: Christopher West
Description: After two days of deliberations, a Mecklenburg County jury ended a four-week trial of a medical malpractice lawsuit against a nursing home with a unanimous verdict of no liability on the issue of wrongful death and a finding of contributory negligence on the part of a family member of the deceased on the issue of survivorship damages for injuries. The estate of the resident of the nursing home brought suit alleging that the nursing home staff was negligent in failing to prevent and treat decubitus ulcers. The estate also contended that the resident of the nursing home died as the result of sepsis that was allegedly developed from bacteria that entered the body through the decubitus ulcers.
The attorney for the estate of the deceased presented the case that the deceased's decubitus ulcers developed and failed to heal as the result of inadequate care provided by the nursing staff at the nursing home. The defendants, represented by Christopher M. West and Erin D. McNeil of Raleigh, contended that the deceased's decubitus ulcers were the result of the deceased's multiple medical conditions and not the result of inadequate care.
Four treating physicians testified at trial. All four of the treating physicians testified that the decubitus ulcers could develop even with the proper precautions being taken. They also testified that the decubitus ulcers could fail to heal even with proper treatment.
Two of the treating physicians testified that the deceased's decubitus ulcers were the result of her multiple medical conditions, including severe contractures, dementia, and Parkinson's disease.
An internist/geriatrician called by the defendants testified that the death certificate inaccurately cited sepsis as the cause of the death. According to the internist/geriatrician, the actual cause of death was cardiac failure resulting from the multiple medical conditions of the deceased. He also testified that the lab findings and clinical presentation did not support a diagnosis of sepsis.
"It is believed that this is the first case in North Carolina where the judge allowed and a jury found contributory negligence based on apparent agency by a family member — the deceased's sister who signed as the 'responsible party' on admission documents," the case report states.
According to the case report, the contributory negligence stemmed from an alleged dispute over the refusal of a feeding tube during a two-month period. The treating physicians and plaintiff's own medical expert testified that the placement of a feeding tube could have helped the decubitus ulcers to heal and aided in the prevention and the development of additional decubitus ulcers.
The plaintiff moved to exclude any contributory negligence instruction, but trial judge Richard Boner concluded that the case law and evidence supported such an instruction.
After the trial, six of the jurors indicated that they did not believe there was any negligence on the part of the defendants, according to the case report.
"The only reason they conceded to a verdict of negligence on the issue of the survivorship damages was after the one hold-out juror indicated that she would agree to contributory negligence if the remainder of the jurors would agree to negligence on the survivorship claim," the report states.
January 1, 2007
