$586,600 Arbitrator Award in Assisted Living Facility Injury and Death Case

Violet Moseson, a 97-year-old resident of an assisted living facility, was mandated to be checked on every morning. The facility was to perform safety checks each morning for this resident and others. At the time of this occurrence, the electronic system through which the facility was supposed to communicate with Moseson was not turned on in her apartment when she moved in.

A week later, Moseson fell in her apartment at night. It was alleged that she spent the next 2-3 days trying to get help. There was a trail of blood and excrement in her apartment when a family member found her lying on the floor. Because of the severity of the fall, Moseson suffered spinal fractures, contusions as well as progressive dementia. Moseson died several months later and is survived by her two adult sons.

The decedent’s estate and family brought a claim that was arbitrated against the assisted living facility. It was maintained that the facility chose not to check on Moseson every 24 hours and chose not to activate the call system in her apartment. The defendant facility disputed the length of time that Moseson had been left in the apartment after her fall and countered that she was at fault for failing to purchase an emergency pendant. Many elderly people wear a pendant around their necks for emergencies. The pendant has a call button that alerts a switch board that then contacts family members.

A binding arbitration hearing was held wherein the family of Moseson received $586,600 for her injuries and subsequent wrongful death.

The attorneys that handled this case for the family were Colleen Durkin Peterson and Jessica Holman Duthie.

The Moseson family engaged experts in emergency medicine and internal medicine. The assisted living facility engaged an expert in psychiatry.

Moseson v. Merrill Gardens, LLC, No. 15-2-07646-4 (Wash. Super. Ct. Pierce County, June 11, 2016).

Kreisman Law Offices has been successfully handling nursing home abuse cases, nursing home negligence cases and wrongful death cases for individuals and families who have been harmed, injured or died as a result of the carelessness or negligence of a medical provider for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Arlington heights, Orland Park, Inverness, Tinley Park, Schaumburg, Schiller Park, Wheaton, Evergreen Park, Countryside, Country Club Hills, Clarendon Hills, Antioch, Gurnee, Chicago (Wicker Park, Bucktown, Rogers Park, Jefferson Park, Washington Park, Garfield Park), Palos Hills and Palatine, Ill.

Robert D. Kreisman has been an active member of the Illinois and Missouri bars since 1976.