$3.1 million Verdict in Morphine Overdose case
The Orange County Register reported the jury verdcit in conservative Orange County of $3.1 million to Barbara Lefforge who suffered a brain-damaging morphine overdose at St. Edna skilled nursing home. Lefforge went to St. Edna on Sept. 17, 2007, to recuperate from tendon repair surgery. Her doctor, Kobayashi, mistakenly recommended 50 mg of morphine for pain instead of 50 mg of Demerol. The mistake clearly should have been caught by staff at St. Edna's. The pharmacist warned that the dosage was too high. But nurses at the facility, unable to immediately retrieve the full dose, obtained 30 mg from an office emergency kit and gave it to Lefforge. The woman suffered an overdose but was not monitored or taken to the hospital until the next morning, causing brain injury.
St. Edna Subacute & Rehabilitation Center is one of 25 homes in California owned by Covenant Care. After two days of deliberation, the jury found that St. Edna was 90 percent responsible for the damages and Kobayashi was 10 percent responsible. Jurors awarded Lefforge $2 million for pain and suffering and $1.1 million in medical costs, Wacker said. The unanimous jury also awarded punitive damages -- which will be set on Tuesday --who was barely at the hospital 5 1/2 hours when the overdose occurred.
Covenant Care facilities are among hundreds of California skilled nursing centers that received $880 million in additional compensation from the state since 2004 to increase staffing and wages at homes that serve Medi-Cal patients. An analysis by the non-profit newsroom California Watch found 232 of those homes statewide slashed staff and let nursing ratios fall below the state minimum. St. Edna and 12 other homes in the Aliso Viejo-based Covenant Care chain stood out: they accepted $15 million in additional compensation from the state -- but still cut caregivers.
