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When a nursing home accepts a resident who needs assistance to stand, walk, and use the bathroom safely, the facility has a responsibility to provide that care. For 91-year-old Lucy Riker, the failure to provide that assistance had devastating consequences.
Dalli & Marino secured a $5.5 million jury verdict on behalf of Lucy’s family after proving that Townhouse Nursing and Rehabilitation Center failed to provide the care she required, leading to a preventable fall, a catastrophic hip fracture, and ultimately her death. The jury found that Townhouse violated Lucy’s rights under the New York State Public Health Law, was negligent in causing her conscious pain and suffering, and engaged in conduct warranting punitive damages.
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What Happened?
Before entering Townhouse, Lucy Riker lived in Nassau County with her husband and one of her two daughters. She maintained an active lifestyle and did not have dementia or other serious underlying health conditions.
In October 2022, Lucy fell at home and fractured a vertebra in her lower back. The injury required her to wear a back brace whenever she was standing or walking. The brace later caused a pressure injury on her back that became infected, requiring a short hospital stay. After becoming somewhat weakened during that hospitalization, Lucy was discharged to Townhouse for what was supposed to be short-term rehabilitation before she returned home.
Townhouse knew when Lucy arrived that she was at risk for another fall. Because of her back fracture and pressure injury, she required two people to assist her with toileting, and staff needed to put on her back brace before helping her stand and transfer to the bathroom. Yet she was not placed on an individualized toileting schedule. Her only way to request assistance was to use her call bell.
Lucy’s daughters visited every day and, at times, had to help toilet their mother themselves because there were not enough aides available to assist her. Despite their presence and repeated concerns about the care Lucy was receiving, the problems continued.
Early on January 3, 2023, Lucy needed to use the bathroom. She repeatedly rang her call bell for help, but no one came. Rather than soil herself, she attempted to reach the bathroom alone, using furniture for support as she crossed the room.
She fell backward near the bathroom, striking her head and sustaining a devastating hip fracture. Lucy was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital in Mineola and underwent major surgery to repair the fracture. After surgery, she developed delirium and encephalopathy. Her condition did not recover, and she spent her final days in hospice before dying on January 16, 2023.
What the Evidence Showed at Trial
Townhouse knew Lucy was a fall risk, knew she required two-person assistance to use the bathroom, and knew she needed her back brace before standing. The evidence at trial showed that the facility repeatedly failed to provide the level of care those needs required.
Lucy’s daughters provided firsthand testimony about what they observed during their daily visits. They described call bells that went unanswered, having to toilet their mother themselves because aides were unavailable, finding her in soiled briefs, and seeing her crying in pain when medication had not been properly or timely administered. They also testified that their complaints to staff and management did not result in meaningful improvement.
Their testimony helped establish that what happened on the morning of Lucy’s fall was not an isolated breakdown. Problems with unanswered call bells and inadequate toileting assistance had been occurring throughout her stay.
The Result
After a two-week trial in Nassau County Supreme Court, the jury returned a $5.5 million verdict for Lucy’s family. The award included:
- $2 million for violations of Lucy’s rights under the New York State Public Health Law that caused injury and death
- $2 million on the negligence claim for Lucy’s conscious pain and suffering
- $1.5 million in punitive damages
The jury reached its decision after approximately one hour of deliberation.
After the verdict, attorney John Dalli said, “We proved that Townhouse violated multiple sections of the public health law in its care and treatment of Lucy, violating her rights as a nursing home resident, causing her serious injury and causing her death.”
The verdict held Townhouse accountable for the failures in care that left Lucy without the assistance she needed and ultimately led to her fatal injuries.
If Your Loved One Was Hurt in a New York Nursing Home, Call Dalli & Marino
Families should be able to trust that a nursing home will follow a resident’s care plan and provide the assistance necessary to keep them safe. When call bells go unanswered, residents are left without required assistance, medications are delayed, or staffing shortages interfere with basic care, those failures can expose vulnerable residents to preventable harm.
Nursing home neglect cases require more than identifying the injury that occurred. Our attorneys investigate what the facility knew about the resident’s needs, what care was supposed to be provided, whether staff followed the care plan, and what happened in the hours and days leading up to the injury.
If you are looking for nursing home abuse lawyers with proven results, contact our firm today to schedule a free consultation.
