Nursing home’s wrongful death case to go to trial
The estate of Martha O’Neal moved forward with a wrongful death suit against Bethlehem Woods Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. O’Neal fractured her femur in August 2001. After surgery she was transferred to the nursing facility. A few days later, O’Neal’s surgical incision was torn because the wheelchair given her was too small. During her stay at Bethlehem she was left on a bed pan for six hours causing her severe ulcers. The following September, a Bethlehem employee found O’Neal lying in a pool of her own blood following a dialysis treatment. She was then transferred to a hospital, but died Nov. 6th. Her estate filed the wrongful death claim against Bethlehem Woods in October 2003, but Bethlehem argued that O’Neal’s case should be handled under the medical malpractice law where the statute of limitations is two years from the occurrence. The trial court agreed and dismissed the case, but attorneys for the estate appealed and argued the case should be handled under the wrongful death statute of limitations, which is two years from the date of death. In this case, the estate met the limitation for wrongful death, but was filed a month late for medical malpractice. The appellate court ruled that the wrongful death law applies and was sent to the trial court for further proceedings, including a possible trial.
