Richmond County Jury Awards $1.1 Million in Nursing Home Neglect Death of Alzheimer's Patient

Rose Nieves was 73 years old and living with Alzheimer's dementia, partial paralysis from a prior stroke, and a rectovaginal fistula when she was admitted to Clove Lakes Health Care and Rehabilitation in Staten Island in January 2011. Staff assessed her as a high fall risk on intake. She stayed at the facility for roughly four weeks.

On February 7, 2011, a staff member placed the decedent in a wheelchair in a hallway directly across from the nurses' station. Within seconds of being left there she stood up on her own, lost her balance, and fell. The fall caused hemorrhaging from the existing fistula. She died on March 9, 2011, approximately one month after the fall.

Parker Waichman LLP, with Jay L.T. Breakstone of counsel, filed suit on behalf of the family in Supreme Court, Richmond County, seeking damages for negligence, wrongful death, and violations of New York Public Health Law Section 2801-d, which protects the rights of nursing home residents. The case turned on whether the facility's decision to leave a documented high-fall-risk patient unattended in a hallway, rather than in a secured room or with adequate supervision, fell below the applicable standard of care.

The jury found the facility negligent and found that the negligence was a proximate cause of the decedent's injuries. It also found that the facility had violated Public Health Law Section 2801-d and that the violation was a substantial factor in causing her harm. The February 14, 2017 judgment totaled $1,102,000: $400,000 for deprivation of statutory resident rights, $400,000 for pain and suffering, $200,000 for loss of services, $100,000 for medical expenses, and $2,000 for funeral expenses.

Clove Lakes appealed. On January 22, 2020, the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed the judgment with costs and remitted the case to Supreme Court, Richmond County for a new trial on both liability and damages. The reversal means the $1,102,000 award did not stand; the litigation was returned to the trial level.