Kentucky Nursing Home Negligence Lawsuit Results in $8M Verdict

The family of a retired doctor, who died after his legs were broken at a Louisville nursing home, has been awarded $8 million through a wrongful death lawsuit. 

Dr. David Griffin died in late 2008, about two months after his legs were broken while a resident at Treyton Oak Towers. According to the family, Griffin was dropped by a nursing home employee who was transferring him from a chair to his bed.

The complaint alleged that the employee failed to exercise the appropriate standard of care and that the facility then attempted to cover the incident up by changing medical records.

On Monday, a Jefferson Circuit Court jury awarded Griffin’s family and estate $2 million for pain and suffering. They also hit the nursing home with a $1 million penalty for violating Kentucky nursing home laws and another $5 million in punitive damages, which are rare in nursing negligence lawsuits.

The nursing home has vowed to appeal the verdict, and maintains that the incident did not occur as plaintiffs claim it did. The facility claims that there was no cover-up following the alleged nursing home fall.

Griffin was supposed to be transferred into bed using a lift attended by two nursing home employees, family members claimed. That, they say, did not happen. They alleged he was lifted by one employee, dropped, and then placed in bed. Because he had suffered a stroke that inhibited his ability to communicate, he was unable to tell anyone he was in pain, the plaintiffs said.

Attorneys representing the nursing home say Griffin had severe osteoporosis and that it is unknown exactly how his legs were broken.

The injuries were discovered on September 24, 2008 and Griffin was hospitalized before being transferred to a different nursing home where he died on November 3.