$19 Million Awarded in Glen Mills Nursing Home Negligence Case
By Alex Rose
A nursing home in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, was ordered by a Delaware County jury to pay $19 million, including $15 million in punitive damages and $4 million for pain and suffering, for the 2019 wrongful death of 70-year-old Patricia O'Donnell. In late 2020, O'Donnell's daughters filed suit against Brinton Manor Center SNF, which was found to be 15% liable; Vita Healthcare Group LLC, which was found to be 60% liable; BM Rehab and Nursing Center, which was found 20% liable, and Imperial Healthcare Group LLC, which was found 5% liable. The jury found all four defendants negligent, and that the negligence resulted in O'Donnell's death. According to the complaint, O'Donnell suffered at least eight documented falls between April 25, 2018, and Dec. 12, 2018, the latter causing a hip fracture that required surgery; led to pain, anxiety, and decreased mobility; and contributed to an overall decline in her health. A care plan on April 2, 2019, indicated that O'Donnell had lost weight and had pressure wounds to her left upper and lower buttocks and coccyx, and on May 2, 2019, a nurse noted deep tissue injuries to O'Donnell's buttock and an open area to her coccyx. The complaint said, "Brinton Manor's wound care documentation was inconsistent and absent at times from the first nursing note describing a facility-acquired pressure ulcer on May 2, 2019, until the time of her discharge to Riddle Hospital on July 21, 2019." O'Donnell's daughters called 911 during a visit to the facility on July 21, 2019, when upon admission to the emergency room, the complaint said she was lethargic and disoriented and had a left-sided facial droop, a 100.3-degree fever, severe malnutrition and dehydration, and an acute kidney injury. The complaint alleges that the facility failed to address O'Donnell's approximately 70-pound weight loss while at Brinton Manor, update her care plan, or inform a physician. Among other things, it noted that O'Donnell's charts from July 16-21, 2019, were "completely silent about wound assessments, treatments, or turning and repositioning." After O'Donnell's death on Aug. 5, 2019, an autopsy concluded that her cause of death was hydromorphone intoxication contributed to by an infected Stage IV sacral wound, osteomyelitis, and sepsis.
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