Martha Jane Pierce, of Memphis, moved into Allenbrooke Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center. Martha suffered from dementia and had to be administered after it got increasingly difficult for her family to cope with. Martha’s husband soon joined her in the nursing home and rehabilitation center.
Cameron Jehl, the family’s attorney, claimed that Martha “suffered from malnutrition, dehydration and just a bunch of different problems.” Martha also suffered from pressure sores, an all too common problem that many nursing home patients have. Martha’s pressure sores were bone deep and had become infected. The sores had bacteria around them that contained the “same bacteria that’s found in feces, [she] wound up having to have her leg amputated as a result.” She died at Allenbrooke Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in 2009, Martha was 82-years-old.
A year later, her family filed a case and sued Allenbrooke, their parent company, and several of their executives. Jehl explained, “for a woman in her 80s, even with progressing dementia, she was doing okay.” In August of 2016, a jury ruled in the family’s favor and granted damages worth more than $30 million.
The suit suspected that many of the issues the nursing home encountered resulted from a lack of staffing. The family then found that Allenbrooke was trying to hide their staffing issues; they “saw individuals that would document providing care to Mrs. Pierce after she was dead.” There are many resources that grade nursing homes; Allenbrooke was given two stars overall by a federal government website.
The Pierce family hopes that they can improve nursing home care and safety after the case. They hope that their award will primarily result in a push for poorly structured nursing homes all over the country to revamp and properly adjust their business for our loved ones.
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