1.84 Million Jury Verdict for Nursing Home Resident’s Hip Dislocation

A jury has found that a skilled nursing home was negligent in choosing not to detect a dislocated right hip of one of its residents. One of the patients, P.G., 85, was admitted to the nursing home on a short-term basis following her right hip replacement surgery. P.G. was a fall risk, meaning she was noted in the records to be at greater risk of falling on scale. The practice of assessing nursing home resident’s propensity for falling is standard practice and required.

About two weeks after admission to the skilled nursing unit, the resident’s sister came to visit and noticed that her sister, P.G., was in pain and unable to bear weight on her leg. It was then that an X-ray showed P.G.’s dislocated right hip.

As a result, emergency surgery was required to remove P.G.’s hip prosthesis from her earlier hip replacement. P.G. was confined to a wheelchair for several months until she was able to undergo the revision surgery. Recovery has been slow, and P.G. has not been able to return to her home.

A lawsuit was filed against the nursing home alleging that the hip dislocation resulted from an undocumented fall at the skilled nursing facility. It was also alleged that the nursing home chose not to obtain prompt medical care after P.G.’s fall. The jury returned a verdict of $1.84 million, finding that the nursing home was responsible for punitive damages as well as attorney fees. The parties then settled later for a confidential amount.

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling nursing home abuse cases and nursing home injury cases for individuals and families for more than 36 years, in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Chicago (Jefferson Park), Park Ridge, Prospect Heights, Northbrook, Oakbrook, Hickory Hills, Brookfield, Berwyn, Cicero, Chicago (Lawndale) and Midlothian, Illinois.