Jury Awards $3.35 Million Against Nursing Home

Plaintiff, 55, was admitted to a nursing home due to mental disorders. While there, his mental condition continued to deteriorate. Approximately three years after admission into the nursing home, Plaintiff wanted to go to Wal-Mart on a supervised visit in the nursing home�s van, but the nursing home employees refused his request because of behavior issues on a prior trip. According to the suit, Plaintiff became upset and sneaked out of the unlocked facility later that day. Nursing home employees did not realize he was missing until 7 p.m. the police were called in to aid the search. They didn�t find the man�s body until two months later in a wooded area less than a mile from the nursing home. He had died of natural causes. Plaintiff, on behalf of Decedent, sued the nursing home for failing to properly perform assessments to determine the patient�s ability to remain in an unlocked facility and for failure to observe the property and monitor the patient the day he disappeared. The jury agreed and awarded $3.35 million.