Location: Confidential
Verdict: 1,150,000
The plaintiff, 76, was admitted to the defendant’s facility with end-stage vascular dementia, a history of multiple strokes, and an active diagnosis of dysphagia. At the time of her admission, she was classified as a choking risk and placed on a modified diet order.
After undergoing speech therapy, she was eventually placed on a regular diet order with a requirement that she receive no less than direct supervision with all meals. Shortly after the change in her diet order, the plaintiff’s decedent experienced a choking event which necessitated emergency medical care. Ten days after returning to the defendant’s facility, the plaintiff’s decedent was found unresponsive after being permitted to consume a lunch meal without direct supervision. She was transported for emergency care but never recovered her neurologic functions. Resuscitation efforts were withdrawn, and she was subsequently pronounced dead.
The defense argued through their medical expert that the plaintiff’s decedent had no more than a year and a half of remaining life expectancy, due to her end-stage vascular dementia. The plaintiff, represented by Derrick Walker, did not offer any expert testimony rebutting the defense’s life expectancy opinion.
She was survived by her husband, daughter, and son.
