L.P., an 80-year-old woman, entered a nursing home for therapy to help restore her ability to walk. On the sixth day of her admission she sustained a fractured right femur (large bone in thigh) while being pushed in a wheelchair by a nursing home attendant.
Surgery and extensive therapy at various inpatient facilities followed. L.P. incurred large medical bills and has residual problems limiting her ability to walk. The incident happened when the nursing home attendant failed to secure her leg to a wheelchair leg brace, her leg then dragged on the floor and got wedged under the wheelchair while she was being pushed.
Treatment for the injury lasted for four (4) months. Immediately after suit was filed, the nursing home’s lawyer made known their desire to settle. A mediation was conducted before a retired judge, as a result of which the nursing home agreed to pay L.P. $225,000.00. Typical for a nursing home abuse case, L.P.’s medical bills were paid by Medicare, which had an automatic right to recover its payment, to the extent L.P. was successful in her case. After negotiation, we were able to get Medicare to waive all but one-third (1/3) of its payments.