Woman sues HealthSouth for mother's wrongful death

CHARLESTON - A woman is suing HealthSouth Corporation for her mother's wrongful death.

Rebound LLC, which is doing business as HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Huntington, and Mike Zuliani, the CEO of HealthSouth, were also named as defendants in the suit.

Juanita Spears was admitted to HealthSouth from Dec. 20, 2011, until Dec. 27, 2011, for the purposes of rehabilitation, according to a complaint filed May 21 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Debra Richardson, Spears' daughter, claims during her admission, the defendants failed to provide Spears with the necessary care and services to decrease her risk of falls; failed to provide supervision during care; failed to implement appropriate interventions according to her safety issues prior to admission; and failed to document the usage of bed and chair alarms, among other things.

As a result, Spears suffered from a fall, resulting in a subdural hematoma, according to the suit.

Richardson claims the defendants were negligent in caring for her mother and, as a result, the subdural hematoma resulted in her being in a coma.

The defendants' negligence caused Spears to sustain bodily injuries; pain and suffering; mental anguish; inconvenience; physical impairment; loss of capacity to enjoy life; aggravation of existing diseases and physical defects; and incurred medical expenses, according to the suit.

Richardson claims the defendants are also responsible for Spears' wrongful death.

As a result of the defendants' negligence, Spears' survivors and/or estate have incurred medical expenses for the care and treatment of the conditions that led to her death and, additionally, the estate has incurred funeral expenses, according to the suit.

Richardson is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. She is being represented by Andrew L. Paternostro, Sprague W. Hazard and Jeff D. Stewart of the Bell Law Firm PLLC.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge James C. Stucky.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 13-C-1000