LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Clark County jury has ruled that a Las Vegas health care facility must pay a man over $2.6 million after he fell several times and seriously injured himself while being cared for.
The incidents happened in 2020 at Silver Hills Health Care Center. According to the facility's website, Silver Hills is a 155-bed nursing and rehabilitation facility, which is located near N. Buffalo Drive and W. Cheyenne Avenue.
Court documents state the man, identified as Kurtis M. Roberts, was 66 years old at the time. He had stereotactic deep brain stimulation procedures on Sept. 30, 2020 and Oct. 7, 2020 at Sunrise Hospital to treat advanced Parkinson's disease.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the procedure involves implanting electrodes in the brain, which send electrical pulses to different parts of the brain that are responsible for body movement.
After the second procedure, Roberts was admitted to Silver Hills for inpatient physical and occupational therapy.
Roberts' lawyers state due to the procedure, Roberts had physical and mental impairments that "substantially limited many of his major life activities and he had a medical record demonstrating that impairment". They add Roberts also had a Morse fall risk assessment to indicate whether or not he had a high risk of falling. Anything above 45 indicates a high risk and Roberts scored a 75 after being admitted.
Court documents state Roberts fell on Oct. 11, Oct. 12, Oct. 13, Oct. 14, and Oct. 22. He was transferred out of the facility to Mountainview Rehab following the last fall because according to Silver Hills records, he "would benefit from a higher level of care and increased therapy".
According to the complaint, as a result of the falls, Roberts suffered a spinal fracture, which also delayed his recovery from the deep brain stimulation procedures.
Roberts' lawyers stated the facility breached the standard of care by "failing to institute proper fall precautions, failing to update the care plan to reflect interventions instituted to prevent frequent falls, failing to properly supervise [Roberts], and failing to initiate a timelier transfer to a higher-level care facility".
"Corporate sent a directive down saying don't use bed alarms, don't use bedrails, even though Medicare states they are required in certain circumstances," Roberts' lawyer Gerald Gillock said. "Their directive was to not even tell the family that these safeguards are even available to be used."
On Monday, a Clark County jury ruled that Silver Hills was negligent for four of the five falls and Roberts should receive $2,616,848 in total damages.
Gillock said the verdict was noteworthy because non-economic damages for medical malpractice are capped at $430,000 in Nevada. However, this case was sent to the jury on ordinary negligence, which is not capped.
"The rationale was that it doesn't take medical judgment to know that if someone falls, you need to be doing something to prevent it," Gillock said. "This is a case of common, ordinary negligence, and I think it may be one of the first of its kind to result in this type of verdict."
