Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly
Type of action: Nursing home malpractice
Injuries alleged: Wrongful death
Name of judge or mediator: Judge Michael Allen (Ret.)
Date resolved: 3/8/2022
Special damages: $81,000
Verdict or settlement: Settlement
Amount: $300,000
Attorney for plaintiff (and city): Carlton F. Bennett, Virginia Beach
Description of case: Doe, age 81, was admitted to a skilled nursing home in 2012, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and insulin dependent diabetes. On May 19, 2018, Doe was transferred to the hospital with pneumonia and returned to the nursing home six days later. The hospital physician order sheet written and signed by a nurse practitioner documented continuing the insulin as previously ordered. Doe received insulin for three days after her return from the hospital, but the nursing home’s director of nursing discontinued her insulin and stopped her blood sugar checks without explanation. The nurse practitioner continued to see Doe at the nursing home but failed to notice why the order for blood sugar checks and insulin were discontinued and made no intervention. Doe’s family was never notified that the insulin was stopped. As a result, Doe suffered life-threatening hyperglycemia and died on July 11, 2018. Doe was survived by her two daughters. The nursing home and the nurse practitioner contributed to the settlement.
Carlton Bennett, counsel for the plaintiff, provided case information.
[022-T-049]
