A jury imposed a $200 million verdict against a nursing home management company accused of not doing enough to prevent a 92-year-old resident’s fatal fall.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, an hour passed before anyone noticed that Elvira Nunziata got away from a group of residents at Pinellas Park Care and Rehabilitation Center in October 2004.
When someone checked the emergency exit stairwell they found Nunziata, still strapped in her wheelchair, at the bottom of about 10 stairs.
Her estate, which was represented by her son, sued Trans Health Management Inc., in 2005. The case went to trial last week and after deliberating for less than an hour handed down the verdict of $60 million in compensatory damages and $140 million in punitive damages.
During the trial witnesses testified the facility was understaffed and that before her death, Nunziata, who lived in the nursing home since 2003, suffered other falls, injuries and illnesses.
Trans Health no longer manages the nursing home.
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