ARP Partners Susan Hannigan and Anne Nelson get "Not Guilty" Verdict in Long Term Care Case
11/30/2010
On November 17, 2010, a jury in the Circuit Court of Cook County returned a defense verdict in favor of the defendant, an independent living facility, on both survival and wrongful death claims. An 83 year-old resident at defendant's facility was found on the floor of her apartment by a daughter who claimed that her mother had remained undiscovered on the floor for a period of two to three days based on the number of newspapers that had accumulated outside the door of the apartment. The resident, who had an indwelling Foley catheter, was hospitalized acutely for treatment of a urinary tract infection, sepsis and rhabdomyolysis. During the admission, she experienced a massive gastrointestinal bleed and died three weeks later.
Plaintiff alleged that defendant voluntarily undertook a duty to perform well being checks on its residents by implementing a voluntary, resident-run daily check program within the facility and by having an established procedure for checking on residents which required a resident check when newspapers were outside of a resident's door at a time when they should not be present. Plaintiff claimed that the defendant was negligent in implementing a voluntary daily check program that in practice did not provide daily checks, and in failing to check on the resident when newspapers were outside her door.
It was defendant's position that, as an independent living facility, it did not owe its residents a duty to perform well-being checks; and even if it did voluntarily undertake some duty by virtue of its resident-run daily check program and/or procedure for checking on residents when newspapers were outside a resident's door, it was not negligent in carrying out that duty, insofar as it was not on notice of any concern about the decedent until the daughter contacted its receptionist and asked for assistance. Defendant also contended that decedent's death was caused by treatment of her unrelated respiratory symptoms with steroid therapy which aggravated her chronic gastritis and resulted in a bleeding gastric ulcer, hemorrhage and death.
It was defendant's position that, as an independent living facility, it did not owe its residents a duty to perform well-being checks; and even if it did voluntarily undertake some duty by virtue of its resident-run daily check program and/or procedure for checking on residents when newspapers were outside a resident's door, it was not negligent in carrying out that duty, insofar as it was not on notice of any concern about the decedent until the daughter contacted its receptionist and asked for assistance. Defendant also contended that decedent's death was caused by treatment of her unrelated respiratory symptoms with steroid therapy which aggravated her chronic gastritis and resulted in a bleeding gastric ulcer, hemorrhage and death.
