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West Virginia Jury Awards $91.5 Million in Nursing Home Death

August 9, 2011

A jury in Kanawha County, West Virginia has awarded $91.5 million in damages to the family of an 87-year-old woman who died after her stay at a Charleston nursing home.

The jury ruled that Heartland of Charleston failed to feed and care for Dorothy Douglas, who died of dehydration complications after she left.

Lawyers for her son, Tom Douglas, argued that during a three-week stay at Heartland while awaiting an opening in another nursing home, staffers confined her to a wheelchair even though she could walk. Heartland workers testified that the place was so grossly understaffed that it was impossible to properly care for all residents.

Charlie Johns, a lawyer for Heartland owner ManorCare Inc., said nurses did all they could to care for Dorothy Douglas.

Topics Virginia

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Latest Comments

  • July 3, 2013 at 9:33 am
    heather says:
    I read another article, posted by the company who runs the home, stating their annual profit the previous year to this incident was $4 billion. Maybe they could make $3 billio... read more
  • August 15, 2011 at 11:23 am
    Plaintiffs Attorneys Rock says:
    Youngin', some assumptions are not really assumptions to those who have worked in the medical malpractice arena for a while.
  • August 15, 2011 at 10:42 am
    Ins staffer says:
    Last year we had a senior citizen in two different nursing homes. Sad to say, both were understaffed - and although we WERE there every day - meals and medicines were missed... read more

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