Joseph Reese and Brad Prosch recently obtained a defense award in a wrongful death case brought against a skilled nursing facility following an arbitration hearing. While residing at the facility, the resident fell, sustaining a hip fracture, and died four months later. The claimant alleged facility negligence was to blame for the fall. The defense countered with expert testimony that there was no negligence and that, at the time of the fall, the resident was provided the type of assistance she had previously been assessed to need following therapy evaluations and her past performance. The defense also maintained the claimant failed to prove the fall and resulting injury was the probable cause of the resident’s death. After considering all the evidence, the Arbitrator returned a defense judgment finding the Claimant failed to prove the resident’s fall and resulting hip fracture probably caused her death.
