Sample Nursing Home Complaint

Jack Dakota
– Plaintiff

v.

Manor Care of Rossville
– Defendant

Jack Dakota, Individually, and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Lindsay Dakota, claimants herein, by and through his attorneys, Ronald V. Miller, Jr., Rodney M. Gaston and Miller & Zois, LLC, and files this claim against the above-named Defendants, and in support thereof states as follows:

FACTS

1. That the Plaintiff, Jack Dakota, is a resident of West Virginia.
2. That the Estate of Willonell Dakota is an Estate that was opened in the State of Maryland and is a bonafide legal entity under Maryland Law.
3. That Jack Dakota is the Personal Representative of the Estate of Willonell Dakota, and is a surviving son of the late Willonell Dakota and is represented by undersigned counsel.
4. That Larry H. Dakota, Jr. is a surviving son of the late Willonell Dakota.
5. That Mary A. Halcott is the surviving daughter of the late Willonell Dakota.
6. That under Maryland Rule 15-1001, Larry H., Dakota, Jr., and Mary A. Halcott are named as use Plaintiffs. They are currently not represented by counsel.
7. That Willonell Dakota died on April 29, 2016, in the State of Maryland.
8. That this action is being brought under both the Maryland Wrongful Death Statute and the Maryland Statutes pertaining to actions involving medical malpractice.
9. That all of the Defendants herein are Maryland corporations, or corporations licensed to conduct business in the State of Maryland, and at all times relevant to the complaint herein were providing medical services to the citizens of Maryland, including the late Willonell Dakota, with Manor Care’s principal place of business located at 6600 Ridge Road, in Baltimore County, Maryland.
10. That at all times relevant herein the Defendants owned and operated a Nursing Home located at 6600 Ridge Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21237, in Baltimore County, Maryland.
11. That the late Willonell Dakota was a resident of the Defendants’ owned and operated Nursing Home located at 6600 Ridge Road, Baltimore County, Maryland 21237, in Baltimore County, Maryland and was receiving medical care and treatment at the Defendants’ Nursing Home for the period from March 29, 2013 up to the time of her admission to Franklin Square Hospital on April 13, 2013.
12. That at all times relevant, the Defendants employed various medical providers and medical staff at their nursing home at 6600 Ridge Road facility in, Baltimore County, Maryland 21237, and these employees/servants/agents whose names and identities are not yet fully known due to the illegible nature of the Defendants’ medical records, were acting within the scope of their employment when they rendered medical care to the late Willonell Dakota, and they failed to follow the applicable standard of medical care during their care and treatment of the late Willonell Dakota, at Manor Car at 6600 Ridge Road, Baltimore County, Maryland 21237, which proximately resulted in a physical injury to the late Willonell Dakota, and proximately caused her death.
13. That the amount of this claim exceeds the jurisdictional limit of the District Court of Maryland and the appropriate venue for this claim is Baltimore County, Maryland because the medical care provided to the late Willonell Dakota, and breaches of the standard of medical care by the Defendants occurred in Baltimore County, Maryland.
14. That the acts of medical malpractice occasioned by the Defendants that proximately resulted in the death of the late Willonell Dakota, occurred on or about March 29, 2013, and after that, occurred in Baltimore County, Maryland.
15. That the standard of medical care applicable to the Defendants was to provide the proper medical follow-up care for the late Willonell Dakota (also referred to herein as “the patient”) following a surgical procedure which included: taking proper care of the ostomy bags and tubes inserted into the body of the late Willonell Dakota to insure that the tubes and bags were functioning properly, preventing the surrounding skin from breaking down and dissolving by carefully monitoring the tube and bag sites, preventing stomach and intestinal contents from leaking into the patient’s body by carefully monitoring the flow of the stomach and intestinal contents, preventing the patient from becoming infected from the introduction of stomach and intestinal contents into her body cavity, identifying and properly caring for any such leakage of stomach content and intestinal contents into the patient’s body, conducting periodic blood testing to monitor the levels of any infection in the patient’s body, monitoring to promptly inform the treating physician of any breaking down of the patient’s skin around the ostomy bags, and promptly informing the supervising Nursing Home physician of the progression and deterioration of the patient’s condition throughout the time that the patient was at the Defendants’ Nursing Home.
16. As a direct and proximate result of the Defendants actions, by and through their employees/servants/agents, by breaching the applicable standard of medical care owed to the late Willonell Dakota by failing to provide all of the proper medical care mentioned in number 15 above, the late Willonell Dakota sustained a physical injury to her body, became infected and later died as a direct result of the infection and sepsis she developed while under the Defendants’ care.
17. That as a direct and proximate result of the breach of the applicable standard of medical care by the Defendants, by and through their employees/servants/agents, the late Willonell Dakota: 1) suffered conscious pain and suffering in the past; 2) incurred medical expenses in the past; 3) suffered mental anguish; 4) suffered permanent physical injuries and death.
18. That all of the injuries and damages sustained by the late Willonell Dakota, are now being brought by the Estate of the late Willonell Dakota, by and through its Personal Representative, Jack Dakota, were the direct and proximate result of the negligent actions and breaches of the applicable standards of medical care by all of the Defendants, by and through their employees/servants/agents, without any act or omission on the part of the late Willonell Dakota, or on the part of any of the Plaintiffs herein, directly thereunto contributing.
19. That the late Willonell Dakota and all of the Plaintiffs herein did not assume the risk of the injuries and death of the late Willonell Dakota.

COUNT I: NEGLIGENCE – MEDICAL MALPRACTICE (Jack Dakota, as Personal Representative of the Estate of the late Willonell Dakota as against all Defendants)

The Plaintiffs re-allege and incorporate by reference herein all of the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-19 above.

20. That on or about Mar
    ch 29, 2013, and thereafter, the Defendants, by and through their employees/servants/agents breached the applicable standard of medical care owed to the late Willonell Dakota, which directly caused a physical injury to the patient and was the direct and proximate cause of all of the injuries and damages being pursed by the Plaintiffs in the case at bar.

WHEREFORE: The Plaintiffs claim monetary damages against all Defendants individually in an amount to be determined at trial, plus costs, and for any further relief that this Honorable Court determines necessary and appropriate.

COUNT II: WRONGFUL DEATH (Jack Dakota, Larry H. Dakota, Jr., and Mary A. Halcott, individually, and as the surviving children of the late Willonell Dakota, against all defendants)

The Plaintiffs re-allege and incorporate by reference herein all of the allegations contained in paragraphs 1-21 above.

22. That as a direct and proximate result of the Defendants’ beach of the applicable standard of medical care owed to the late Willonell Dakota, the Defendants caused the death of Willonell Dakota and the Plaintiffs Jack Dakota, Larry H. Dakota, Jr., and Mary A. Halcott as the survivors of Willonell Dakota, sustained pecuniary loss, mental anguish, emotional pain and suffering and other damages.
23. This Complaint is timely filed within three years after the death of Willonell Dakota under §3-904 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland (Wrongful Death Statute).
24. That the Defendants, by and through their employees/servants/agents, deviated from the acceptable standard of medical care during the care and treatment of the late Willonell Dakota, and that deviation from the applicable standard of care was the direct and proximate cause of the death of Willonell Dakota.

WHEREFORE: The Plaintiffs claim monetary damages against all Defendants in an amount to be determined at trial, plus costs, and for any further relief that this Honorable Court determines necessary and appropriate.

Respectfully submitted,
Miller & Zois, LLC

Ronald V. Miller, Jr.
1 South St, #2450
Baltimore, MD 21202
(410) 779-4600
(410) 760-8922 (facsimile)
Attorneys for Plaintiff

Sample Nursing Home Lawsuit Materials

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• Sample Attorney Deposition of Medical Malpractice Doctor
• Sample Attorney Deposition of Defendant Doctor’s Medical Expert
• Expert Report (sample certificate of merit and expert report defending Manor Care in a nursing home case)
• What to Expect in a Nursing Home Lawsuit?