HCR ManorCare to appeal $91.5 million verdict in negligence suit

HCR ManorCare Inc. will appeal a recent $91.5 million verdict after a jury found one of its units to be negligent in the care of an 87-year-old woman who died after spending 20 days in the home, Bloomberg reported. The jury reached its verdict on August 5.

“Dorothy Douglas of Barboursville, West Virginia, suffered dehydration and renal failure before dying, her son Tom Douglas claimed in his 2009 lawsuit filed in state court in Charleston, West Virginia,” Bloomberg reported. “Dorothy Douglas, 87, suffered from dementia and Parkinson’s disease.”

The lawyers representing Douglas said the nursing home was understaffed, a claim HCR ManorCare denied in a statement saying the facility was staffed above state requirements at the time of the resident’s death two years ago.

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