Christensen, Dan. "Nursing Home Wins Abuse
and Neglect Case After Patient’s Widow Testifies
She Received Good Care There," Daily Business
Review. 3 December 2001: A7.
Nursing Home Wins
Abuse and Neglect Case After Patient’s Widow
Testifies She Received Good Care There
December 3, 2001
Case: Randall A. Moylan, as
personal representative of the estate of Robert
L. Moylan, Jr. deceased v. National Health Care
Corp. and Sarasota Health Care Partners Ltd. Circuit
Court for Sarasota County, Case No. 20005138.
Winning attorneys: George Quintairos,
Edward Prieto and Eric Boyer, partners at Quintairos
McCumber Prieto & Wood in Miami.
Plaintiff’s attorneys:
Michael K. Houtz and Alejandro Fiol, partners at
Morgan Colling & Gilbert in Tampa.
Judge: Paul E. Logan
The verdict: On Oct. 30, after
a 2 _ week trial, a jury found that the Sarasota
Health Care Center was not negligent in the death
of 80-year-old Robert Moylan. While the jury found
that the nursing home had violated Moylan’s
state-mandated nursing home resident rights, it
also decided that the violation was not the legal
cause of any loss or injury to Moylan.
Details: Moylan was admitted
to 120-bed Sarasota Health Care Center in May 1998
with a history of severe osteoporosis, heart problems,
dementia, weight loss issues and a suspicion of
cancer. He died in March 1999 of kidney failure
and senile dementia. Last year, his son Randall
filed a three-count complaint alleging wrongful
death, negligence and violations of Florida’s
nursing home bill of rights. The nursing home was
then managed by defendant National Health Care Corp.
and owned by Sarasota Health Care Partners.
The plaintiff’s case:
Moylan entered the facility at risk for falling,
the plaintiff attorneys agreed. But the nursing
home failed to take adequate precautions. In February
1999, he fell and fractured his hip; Moylan’s
health went into a tailspin and he died a month
later. The suit alleged Moylan suffered significant
weight loss due to malnutrition and developed bed
sores as a result of the center’s shortage
of staffing and supplies, dirty facilities, poor
surveys and fraudulent record keeping.
The defense’s case: Moylan’s
fall had nothing to do with negligence, and his
care at the home was first-rate, the nursing home
attorneys said. The fall likely was precipitated
by a spontaneous hip fracture. Still, they said,
Moylan died from underlying medical conditions.
Key ruling: Logan disqualified
Byron Albeit, a former nursing home administrator
from Hillsborough County, as an expert witness for
the plaintiff. Albeit was going to discuss alleged
staffing insufficiencies at the nursing home. The
defense argued that Albiet’s method of determining
whether such a facility was short-staffed was unproven.
Key testimony: Called as a
plaintiff’s witness, Moylan’s widow testified
about how, before her husband was admitted to the
nursing home, she’d fractured her hip, been
admitted to the same facility, and felt she’d
gotten good care.
