When someone in Kentucky sues the company that caused a loved one's suffering or death after nursing home neglect, it is not always about compensation. It is often more about holding the people responsible for their actions, making them answer for their actions in a court of law.

For the son of a 92-year-old woman that was exactly the case. His mother had been a resident a nursing home. Trust was placed in the operators of the nursing home that they would care for the needs of elderly woman suffering from severe dementia.

While in the care of the nursing home, the woman was wheelchair bound. The combination of her physical ailments and her mental condition required constant attention. In 2004, a door was negligently left open at the premises most likely by an employee who had gone out for a smoke. Although in a normal situation this would not seem like such a problem, but in a nursing home it can be a serious problem.

The serious problem was that the open door was at the top of a concrete staircase, and behind the open door was the elderly woman -- unsupervised at the time. At some point the woman's wheelchair slipped out the doorway and down the stairs. The fall caused severe injuries which led to her death.

The elderly woman's son filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home that failed to care properly for his mother. A jury sat and listened to the facts surrounding the incident and with no question determined that the nursing home had been at fault and determined the damages at $200 million.

What happened when the son attempted to collect from the nursing home? In our next post, we will cover the other half of the case, the half that many people forget exists.

Source: Tampa Bay Times, "Who should pay the $200 million for nursing home death? It's complicated," Stephen Nohlgren, Feb. 5, 2012