Glasser
CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County judge has entered a judgment order in a case against HCR Manorcare, reducing a portion of the $91.5 million jury award.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Paul Zakaib Jr. entered the judgment order on Oct. 20 that reduced a $5 million portion of the award by $405,385 because the portion was subject to the state's half-million dollar cap on damages in medical malpractice cases.
In August, the jury found Heartland of Charleston had failed to feed and care for a resident who died of dehydration complications after she left the nursing home.
The nursing home resident, Dorothy Douglas was 87 years old and had Alzheimer's Disease. She died in 2009, not long after she was transferred from Heartland of Charleston to a Huntington facility. Douglas was only a resident of Heartland of Charleston for about three weeks.
The jury stated 80 percent of Heartland of Charleston's fault was ordinary negligence and the other 20 percent was medical negligence. The jury awarded Douglas' family $11.5 million in compensatory damages and $80 million in punitive damages.
Brian Glasser of Bailey & Glasser represents HCR Manorcare, which owns Heartland of Charleston, while Lance Reins of McHugh Fuller represents the Douglas family.
