MO: did nursing home cause patient's death?: Court found question of fact for jury to decide.(Hospital Law Decisions of Note)(Ca

CASE FACTS: Kenneth Sundermeyer admitted his mother to Villa Marie Skilled Nursing Facility in June 2001. During her stay at the Nursing Facility, she was noted to have a number of falls, bruises and skin tears. Family members photographed the injuries and calculated that she had 26 separate bruises. After approximately 13 months at the Nursing Facility, she was admitted to a hospital with a diagnosis of electrolyte disorder, dehydration, and oral thrush. Hospital staff referred her to the Division of Aging for her bruises. She later asked her family never to send her back to Nursing Facility. She entered another long-term care facility after she was discharged from the hospital. She died there 25 days after she had left Nursing Facility. Her son brought suit against Nursing Facility, alleging that his mother's death resulted from Nursling Facility's negligent care. He alleged that Nursing Facility was negligent in failing to prevent her falls, to provide her proper nutrition and hydration, to adequately monitor her condition, and to adequately supervise its employees. Nursing Facility filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that the plaintiff had failed to present causation evidence linking its conduct to the plaintiff's mother's death. The trial court granted Nursing Facility's motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff appealed.

COURT'S OPINION: The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed the order of the trial court granting summary judgment for the defendant. The court held, inter alia, that the plaintiff presented sufficient causation evidence to survive a motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff's expert medical witness opined that "I think that [Mother's] nutritional decline and her emotional and psychological status all contributed to her death." He also testified: "I think after reviewing the depositions as well as some of the records of [Nursing Facility] ... it is clear to me that she had been neglected at the least. Certainly from the standpoint of the photographs and the descriptions of the falls she had perhaps been abused from that perspective not just physically but emotionally from the standpoint of having the telephone withdrawn. From the span, I believe it was late February early March of 2002, it appeared those instances became more numerous. She had a tremendous weight loss the last month between June and July none of which was really addressed. I think overall her nutritional status suffered and eventually that neglect contributed to her demise." Viewing the record in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, as required, the court found that the plaintiff's expert's testimony was sufficient to withstand a motion for summary judgment. Sundermeyer v. SSM Regional Health Services, 2008-MO-1217.291 (12/16/2008) S.W.3d--MO

A. David Tammelleo JD Editor & Publisher

Meet the Editor & Publisher: A. David Tammelleo, JD, is a nationally recognized authority on health care law Practicing law for over 40 years, he concentrates in health care law with the Rhode Island firm of A. David Tammelleo & Associates. He has presented seminars oil medical, nursing and hospital law throughout the United States. In addition to his writings as Editor of Medical Law's, Nursing Law's & Hospital Law's Regan Reports, his legal articles have been published in the most prestigious health law journals. A prolific writer, his thousands of articles, as well as his achievements as an attorney and lecturer, have won him recognition ill Martindale-Hubbell's Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. Marquis Who's Who in American Law. Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World.

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