$54 million???
Only in America could a diaper-clad elderly nursing home resident's life be worth that much.
Labels: bullshit
posted by scalpel at 6:53 AM
Saturday, June 30, 2007
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12 Comments:
The woman might well have died even if she'd been transported to the ER immediately, but to simply clean her up and leave her there is inexcusable.
The verdict is excessive, but I can understand their anger. $4 million in compensatory damages, though? I don't think that could be lost wages, and the punitive damages are out of control as well. The nursing home will get all that reduced on appeal no doubt.
I found this link with more detail http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/jun/29/new-mexico-jury-awards-54-million-nursing-home-cas/
Apparently she was within days of being able to stay with family when she died.
I thought this was going to be about the guy who lost his pants at the dry cleaners.
Fixed!
"The verdict is excessive, but I can undestand their anger."
Ditto to that.
But I think $1 million would have sufficed as a spanking, a publicly written apology in te local newspapaer, fire the nurses that took care of her in the home, and shut them down forever if any incdents of abuse or neglect happen there again.
The numbers are excessive no doubt.This kind of over the top award probably is the jury venting their frustration with the entire medical establishment.The general public is largely made up of "sheeple" following the the news outlet that screams the loudest.The sheeple don't have a real grip on the situation. We,those in medicine, have only seen the tip of that iceburg.
However, the care in nursing homes in general is deplorable at best.It will be interesting to see how the boomers respond to what they are currently creating by placing their parents in these SNFs.I don't think many of my generation(boomers)will want to be warehoused and treated like we treat these seniors who helped build and defend the country we now enjoy.
First question I always wonder is how anyone puts a price tag on a human life. Having said that, I agree that 54 million miles too high. The nursing home should be put out of business and the guilty parties tossed in jail. What they did was criminal. No one should die this way.
question. can you put a price on life? if the answer is no, then how is this figure of 54million obtained? certainly not by any rational method. it is a punishment akin to a criminal verdict. if a crime was committed then charge the accused with a crime. second question, can ten dollars alleviate grief? no? how about ten thousand dollars? maybe? then 54million must make you fucking joyous. seem silly? me too.
What you won't read about is how much that award will be reduced when reviewed or appealed.
The $50 million is punitive damges, and not really designed to compensate the plaintiff. It's designed to punish, or deter, the defendant from future conduct. The amount is typically what the jury believes is sufficient based on the defendant's total net worth. In other words, it wouldn't really be a deterrent to hit them for $100 if they net $100 million a year.
Should it go to the plaintiff? Probably not - if someone said it should go into some victims' compensation fund for those hurt by others without assets, I have no objection. But it should not be eliminated. And it will almost certainly be knocked down on appeal.
As for the $4 million compensatory, without hearing the facts, who knows if that was appropriate.
And the dry cleaner guy got his case dismissed, and was ordered to pay costs.
As to will any amount suffice? No. But does that mean it shouldn't be compensated? Of course not. Money is an imperfect form of compensation, but it's all we have, unfortunately. Would you prefer that the value of killing someone be zero, while injuring them have value?
"The $50 million is punitive damges, and not really designed to compensate the plaintiff. It's designed to punish, or deter, the defendant from future conduct. The amount is typically what the jury believes is sufficient based on the defendant's total net worth."
At least someone here has a brain.
It is awarded to the plaintiff, so it was designed (by the jury) to compensate the plaintiff. Nobody else gets it, except for the greedy lawyers. The family isn't going to donate it to some nebulous "victim compensation fund," sorry. Whether the plaintiff ultimately receives the full judgment or whether the amount is reduced on appeal is irrelevant.
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