Shuttered nursing home sued for malpractice
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By Ann McGlynn | Friday, November 30, 2007 |
A woman is suing the company that owns a now-closed Davenport nursing home, saying the home provided inadequate care to her mother, who died shortly after leaving the home.
Trina Curtis of Muscatine, Iowa, is suing Petersen Health Care of Peoria, Ill., which owns Meadowlawn Health Care
Center, on behalf of the estate of Janet Martin. Named in the lawsuit as well is Kevin Blechle, a physician who oversaw Martin’s care, documents state.
The lawsuit states:
Martin lived at the nursing home until Jan. 4, 2006. Until that time, Meadowlawn failed to properly manage her medical tests, failed to properly manage her wounds and failed to refer her to appropriate medical care.
She developed “uncontrolled health issues,” including life-threatening medical complications related to the wounds and improper diet and hydration, the lawsuit states.
Martin “experienced a loss of normal life, was rendered totally disabled, experienced pain and suffering, required extensive further medical care and ultimately died.”
Martin died at age 70 on Jan. 24, 2006, according to her obituary, three weeks after she left Meadowlawn. She was living at the Muscatine Care Center at the time of her death.
In a statement, officials from Petersen Health Care said the company will fight the allegations.
“The care provided for the former resident had no impact on the death of the individual. The company feels that the lawsuit is frivolous and appears to be taking advantage of the negative publicity the home has been receiving for months.
“We will continue to maintain the fact that Meadowlawn Health Care Center had provided good acuity care for the residents who lived at the home. The recent publicity that was passed on to the public was both inaccurate and misleading. It is unfortunate that someone is now trying to take advantage of this inaccurate opinion of the home.”
The statement continued: “The home did take care of a large number of people that literally nobody else would care for. The home was asked on numerous occasions to care for individuals that were denied admission from several area skilled-care facilities. That fact allowed the home to be scrutinized inaccurately regarding the level of care provided.”
Meadowlawn closed at the end of September after the federal government pulled its Medicare and Medicaid funding, and the state moved to pull the center’s license.
Meadowlawn was fined several times in the past two years for inadequate care. The last fine was for $12,000, for the nursing home moving residents out, with little notice or choice, as the company shuttered the facility, according to the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals.
Ann McGlynn can be contacted at (563) 383-2336 or amcglynn@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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