The family of a former resident of Beachwood Pointe Care Center has won a $1 million lawsuit against the nursing home. (Eli Saslow, Washington Post)
By Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.com
BEACHWOOD, Ohio — A jury has awarded the family of a former Beachwood nursing home resident $1 million in a lawsuit filed more than two and a half years ago.
The resident, 71-year-old Mary L. Stevens, died in May 2012 at Beachwood Pointe Care Center on Chagrin Boulevard. She suffered infected pressure wounds, or bedsores, caused by “negligence and recklessness” of the nursing home staff, according to the lawsuit, filed in March 2013 by The Dickson Firm LLC in Beachwood.
The verdict came Wednesday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. The jury awarded David P. Lang, on behalf of Stevens, $560,000 in punitive damages and $440,000 in compensatory damages, according to the electronic court docket.
In addition to suffering from bedsores , Stevens also sustained “severe” and “fatal” injuries while at Beachwood Pointe, according to the lawsuit. Nursing home staff allowed her to become “very ill” and her condition deteriorated.
Beachwood Pointe did not tell Stevens’ family about her condition. Decisions about her medical care were made by non-medical staff, the lawsuit says, adding that the nursing home’s staffing levels and supervision were inadequate, and it failed to give Stevens palatable food.
Officials from Beachwood Pointe did not return calls Tuesday. Its attorney could not be reached about whether the nursing home would appeal the verdict.