this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2024
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Just finished my jury duty and it was a wild ride
Other jurors shocked me with how antaganostic they were to the plaintiff for asking for compensation and punishment for a nursing home's negligence. We ended up awarding money for clear negligence- specifically for injuries (physical and financial) and pain, but it was a struggle to find agreement from them for clear facts that neither side disputed (and verbally acknowledged this nondispute). When it came time to answer if the doctor was negligent in not consulting a wound physician, they didnt agree because the nursing home policy said "do it if wound doesnt improve in 2-4 weeks". Wound got worse over the 5-6 weeks they waited and by the time they did, she was so bad from not participating in therapy (due to being laid on the wound constantly and the ensuing pain) that she had had to be put on hospice and died from a lack of dialysis.
Because they didnt find the violation of her rights (violations were agreed to) to be reckless or willful (such as by understaffing or poor care), we could not award additional damages to punish the nursing home
I take solace in the fact that it gave the family closure for a 6 year lawsuit
That second part is surprising to me. "Facility policy" and/or signed paperwork don't allow a provider to be negligent to someone under their care.
Hell, it wouldn't even protect individual nurses' licenses. Any licensed individual who provides care is responsible for following the law, even if "policy" contradicts it.
Thats what I was trying to argue but the other jurors were more concerned with not having to come back on Monday and a "that's what it says" with no critical thinking. Esp when the plaintiff expert witnesses (an excellent nurse who has a practice investigating nursing homes for compliance with the federal regulations and an excellent doctor who worked for CMS writing the very regulations) outlined what care the law requires
I don't know anything about this stuff, but if there's bad judgement because people didn't want to have to come back, then something is seriously rotten about the system and it doesn't work. What the hell.