Kentucky Injury Lawyers Blog
A Circuit Court jury in Lexington, Kentucky entered a verdict requiring Cambridge Place Nursing Home to pay more than $1 million to a resident who was neglected and severely injured in an equipment storage room. Irene Hendrix was in her late 80’s and had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease when she had to be hospitalized due to the injuries she suffered. The doctors found that she suffered broken facial bones and bleeding in her brain.
The suit for abuse and neglect by the nursing home was brought by Hendrix’s daughter and her guardian against the owner of the nursing home and the management company. The nursing home denied negligence in the case but, after deliberating for about two hours, the jury awarded Hendrix $1 million for pain and suffering and awarded more than $27,000 for her medical costs.
Before the trial, investigations were conducted by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office. A state adult-protection worker found that Hendrix had been subjected to caretaker neglect, but the attorney general’s office determined that the injuries were caused by an accidental fall.
Our nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys have repeatedly seen the devastating injuries nursing home and long-term care residents can suffer as a result of abuse or neglect by the staff, attendants or medical providers to whom they have entrusted their care. Due to the vulnerability of nursing home residents, Kentucky has enacted statutes aimed at protecting them from nursing home abuse and neglect. Kentucky law requires that, except in emergencies or except in limited circumstances justified in writing by a physician, residents must be free from any type of abuse including mental and physical abuse, and free from chemical and physical restraints. Continue reading
