Nursing home lawsuit settled
Posted on Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A four-day civil trial scheduled to begin Monday was avoided after parties agreed to an out-of-court settlement in a case involving patient care at a Fayetteville nursing home.
Mona Casey, the guardian for James Casey, filed the lawsuit in 2005 against Rose Care Inc., KMJ Enterprises, Rochier Heights LLC, NWA Nursing Center LLC and Reliance Health Care Management Inc.
James Casey entered Rochier Heights Nursing Center on July 31, 2003, when he was 53. He had been diagnosed with a stroke, diabetes and temporal brain abscess, according to filings by the plaintiff in the case.
Mona Casey said her husband, James Casey, died two years ago because of medical reasons unrelated to the nursing home or the lawsuit.
However, the nursing home was accused in the suit of failing to provide proper care for James Casey because of inadequate staffing.
The plaintiff alleged that her husband suffered fractures, infections, bruises, skin tears and verbal abuse during his stay at the facility. She said he stayed at the nursing home for about 90 days before she was able to bring him home and care for him there.
Mona Casey said she does not know the final terms of the settlement that was worked out between the attorneys in the case. She said the settlement funds remaining after attorney fees will go toward Medicaid for outstanding medical bills.
"We pretty much settled for what we owed the state (for medical bills )," Casey said.
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